Show and tell
Nothing ruins a 200-year-old document like a drooling reporter. That was the message at the National Archives on Wednesday morning, as the agency held a preview of documents related to the oath of office and the slaves who built the White House.
“When you come up to look at these documents, there is to be no heavy breathing, no drooling and no touching,” warned Susan Cooper, the Archives’ director of public affairs.
With that out of the way, she turned the podium over to Marvin Pinkert, director of the National Archives Experience, to explain the documents, which will be displayed in the Archives’ rotunda from Jan. 12 to 25.
Among the more interesting: a letter from George Washington to his secretary of War, Henry Knox, thanking him for the suit he wore during his first inaugural address. “The cloth and buttons which accompanied your favor … really do credit the manufacturers of this country,” writes Washington.
“He’s already thinking of the public image of wearing a suit that’s made in America rather than in the fashion centers of the world,” remarked Pinkert.
