06/10/2026
Excuse our absence over the last month due to technical difficulties, but we are back! Our posts from May will be appearing this month as we get back on track.
In early May of 1948, a unique train passed through Minnesota, stopping in Duluth on Saturday, May 1, and in Minneapolis and St. Paul on Monday, May 3, through Thursday, May 6. It was only seven cars long, and its passengers were crew, including its own maintenance team, 27 http://U.S. Marines, and a curator from the National Archives. Its cargo was 127 documents and 6 flags, representing the founding documentation for the nation, as well as milestone documents from more recent history.
The train was an idea pushed by Attorney General Tom Clark, and made a reality by the American Heritage Foundation, along with donations from individuals, organizations, and private companies to fund the trip. Seven cars were donated by several railroads, fitted with special wall mounts, mobile control of the humidity and temperature, and no windows to protect from light.
The train planned to cross 48 states, stopping in over 300 cities, though it refused to stop in any city enforcing segregated viewing of the documents. This forced the cancellation of two planned stops in Memphis, Tennessee, and Birmingham, Alabama, when it became known that city officials planned to segregate the lines anyway.
Minnesota greeted the train with parades that marched through Minneapolis and St. Paul on Friday and Saturday before the train’s actual arrival. The cars were pulled into the state fairgrounds for several days, then relocated to Minneapolis.
Included were a draft of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, George Washington’s copy of the Constitution, the notes written by Lincoln for the Gettysburg Address, and General Dwight Eisenhower’s copy of his formal appointment as Supreme Commander for Overlord, the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, countersigned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Minnesota dignitaries included Governor Luther Youngdahl, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey, and St. Paul Mayor John McDonough, seen in the photograph below, inspecting the Bill of Rights. It was estimated that about 8,000 people visited the train each day. Adults were encouraged not to visit until after 4 pm to allow thousands of local schoolchildren this unique opportunity. Lines were sometimes hours long, with many turned away, though the exhibit was open from 10 am - 10 pm daily.
