National Archives Building
The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. The rotunda entrance is on Constitution Avenue, and the research entrance is on Pennsylvania Avenue.[3] A second larger facility, Archives II, also known as A2, is located in College Park, Maryland.
For the museum in Indonesia, see National Archives Building, Jakarta.Location
Constitution Avenue between 7th Street and 9th Street, NW, Washington, D.C., U.S.
1933–1935
May 27, 1971
December 11, 2023
October 15, 1966
In December 2023, the National Archives Building was designated a National Historic Landmark. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site.
Exhibits[edit]
The National Archives building holds original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are on display for the public in the main chamber's rotunda, known as Charters of Freedom, at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
The building hosts additional important American historical items, including the Articles of Confederation, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, the Emancipation Proclamation, and collections of photography and other historically and culturally significant American and international artifacts, including an original version of the 1297 Magna Carta confirmed by Edward I.[4]
Inside the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, there are no lines to see the individual documents and visitors are allowed to walk from document to document as they wish. Photography with natural light is permitted in research rooms.[5]
History[edit]
Before the National Archives Building[edit]
From its founding, the U.S. federal government has documented its policies and decisions, but for almost 150 years it had virtually no method or place to safeguard historically important records. During those years, officials occasionally decried federal neglect, or too often, fires destroyed important documents, reinforcing the need for an archives. By the end of the 19th century, a few architects had even submitted plans to the government for an archives or a hall of records. By the early 20th century an organized effort aimed at creating the National Archives began, but not until 1926 did Congress finally approve the National Archives Building.[6]
Planning stages[edit]
That year, Congress authorized construction of the National Archives Building as part of a massive public buildings program designed to beautify the center of Washington, DC, and provide office space for the growing federal bureaucracy. This program led to the design and construction of buildings within the Federal Triangle. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon gave the responsibility for designing the Triangle grouping to a Board of Architectural Consultants. Louis A. Simon, an architect of the Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury, drafted a preliminary design for the Archives, placing it along Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets, NW. (This was prior to Simon's appointment as Supervising Architect in 1933.)
In late 1927, preliminary drawings of the individual Triangle buildings were incorporated into a formal presentation of the entire project. The drawings became the basis for a three-dimensional scale model that was publicly unveiled in April 1929. The next month, after examining the model, the Commission of Fine Arts was highly critical of Simon's design for an archives. Commissioners suggested that the noted architect John Russell Pope be added to the Board of Architectural Consultants and that he design the National Archives. Pope was asked to join when the death of a board member created a vacancy.
Pope's architectural vision transformed both the location and design of the National Archives Building. He successfully proposed relocating the Archives to the block between Seventh and Eighth Streets, a site he believed demanded a monumental building such as the National Archives. In place of Simon's design, Pope's National Archives was to be a neoclassical temple befitting an institution dedicated to American history.[6] The site was already occupied by a prominent landmark, the Center Market. The building was demolished to make way for the archives building.[7]
Breaking ground[edit]
Ground was broken for the National Archives on September 5, 1931, by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Ferry K. Heath.[8] By the time President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the building in February 1933, significant problems had arisen. Because the massive structure was to be constructed above an underground stream, the Tiber Creek, 8,575 piles had been driven into the unstable soil, before pouring a huge concrete bowl as a foundation. Another difficulty arose over the choice of building materials. Both limestone and granite were authorized as acceptable, but construction began during the darkest days of the Great Depression, and suppliers of each material lobbied fiercely to have the government use their stone. Ultimately, as in the other Federal Triangle buildings, limestone was used for the exterior superstructure and granite for the base. The limestone was provided by Ingalls Stone Company of Bedford, Indiana.[6]
Warren Commission[edit]
Investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Warren Commission met formally for the first time on December 5, 1963 in a hearing room on the second floor of the National Archives Building.[12]
