A historic mural depicts the Founding Fathers’ moment.
A mural in the National Archives Rotunda depicts Thomas Jefferson of Virginia handing over his carefully worded and carefully edited draft of the Declaration of Independence to John Hancock of Massachusetts. Many of the other Founding Fathers look on, some fully supportive, some apprehensive. The murals were installed 85 years ago in 1936 and restored in 2002. The Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom is the permanent home of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States and Bill of Rights. In a vote held by the National Archives, 75.9% of the participants named the Declaration of Independence the most influential document in American history.
Who’s in the mural:
1. Robert Morris, Pennsylvania
2. Samuel Chase, Maryland
3. Charles Carroll, Maryland
4. Stephen Hopkins, Rhode Island
5. Samuel Adams, Massachusetts
6. Thomas McKean, Delaware
7. John Dickinson, Pennsylvania
8. Abraham Clark, New Jersey
9. William Ellery, Rhode Island
10. John Witherspoon, New Jersey
11. John Hancock, Massachusetts
12. Benjamin Harrison, Virginia
13. Samuel Huntington, Connecticut
14. Thomas Jefferson, Virginia
15. Roger Sherman, Connecticut
16. John Adams, Massachusetts
17. Robert R. Livingston, New York
18. Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania
19. Richard Henry Lee, Virginia
20. Thomas Nelson Jr., Virginia
21. Joseph Hewes, North Carolina
22. Edward Rutledge, South Carolina
23. Lyman Hall, Georgia
24. Josiah Bartlett, New Hampshire
25. Thomas Stone, Maryland
26. Francis Hopkinson, New Jersey
27. George Wythe, Virginia
28. William Floyd, New York