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CNN Live Today

Interview With Jay Hakes

Aired July 04, 2002 - 14:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The real Declaration of Independence is on a road trip, or about to embark on one this fourth of July. It's on exhibit right now at the Carter presidential library here in Atlanta. The document is one of only 25 originals to survive -- original copies, that is -- to survive from 1776. And it's owned by TV producer Norman Lear.

And Jay Hakes is director of the Carter Presidential Library and he joins us live from the Carter center. Hi there, Jay.

JAY HAKES, CARTER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: Happy fourth of July.

WHITFIELD: Well, tomorrow this is hitting the road, right?

HAKES: Well, it's going to be here for one more day. And then it leaves Friday night and will hit the road and travel all over the country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, have folks gotten a good understanding as to what they're really looking at and why this is such a valued piece of property? It's one of the surviving copies of the original Declaration of Independence. But this one has a very interesting story behind the way in which it was found.

HAKES: Yes. It was found in an attic, but it was hidden behind an old picture frame. And the people didn't know what they had, so they sold it at a flea auction for about $4.

The person that purchased it opened up the back of the picture, found a Declaration of Independence. It was authenticated as an actual one printed on July 4th. And Norman Lear eventually bought that copy at auction for $8 million.

WHITFIELD: Wow! How remarkable. Now, what's really cool about this is, this is on display for all to see. It's about to hit the road and hit several other cities. But why not just go to the nation's capital and go to the National Archives and see the original?

HAKES: Well, that's a great question. Right now the National Archives in Washington is being renovated, so it's not open to the public. It won't reopen until the fall of 2003. So right now this is a great place to see the Declaration of Independence.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And I understand what's remarkable about this one as well is the clarity, the preservation of this document, versus the original, which is very faded and worn.

HAKES: Yes, there's a lot of things to like about this exhibit. It's a very clean copy. It's very well lit. It's in a beautiful setting that Mr. Lear had designed. And a person can actually get up very close to it. It's in a steel scroll.

And unlike most museums, a person can really stick their nose right next to the document. I think particularly for children, that's a great experience that they're going to remember for the rest of their life.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So if originally there were about 200 copies just like this one that were printed of the original, back in 1776, what's the thinking behind how it is that even 25 of them managed to survive, this one being one ready for public view?

HAKES: Well, these ones that were printed by John Dunlap were extremely important because they were the ones to be carried out to the colonies and to the troops to be read, and to inspire them to take up arms against the British.

Some of them were kept in attics and they actually survived in part because of this old parchment paper, that's very thick and much sturdier than the paper that we use today. And so a number of them have been found around. We have 25 that are known to exist today. Two of them are in Britain where, presumably, they were sent to let the king know that we were declaring independence. And a number of the others are around the country.

But Mr. Lear wanted one that would be available to go to the people. And that's been a great experience. It's out to where the people are. And it's our nation's birth certificate. And it's an experience that people are really enjoying.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so, it leaves Atlanta tomorrow. And what will the next few cities be, real quick?

HAKES: Well, it's going to the Bush presidential library. It's going to Charleston, it's going to Louisville. So in the original months, the Southeast will be a great place to see it. But eventually it's going all over the country. And I think people will love to see it because they're going to get such a chance to get up close to it and actually read it, and learn some things about the independence movement that maybe they didn't know before.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Jay Hakes, director of the Carter Presidential Library, thank you very much for joining us and for sharing that beautiful artifact with us. Appreciate it.

HAKES: Thank you.

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