WHAT: Washington Foreign Press Center Tour to the National Archives Building in Washington, DC with Marvin Pinkert, Director of the National Archives Experience and Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs Specialist.WHEN: Wednesday, November 9, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
WHERE: Meet on site: National Archives Building 700 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20408-0002.
Metro: Green and Yellow Lines/Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter. See website for additional details: http://www.archives.gov/dc-metro/washington/
RSVP: Interested media should contact Jonathan Turner at TurnerJA5@state.gov or call (202) 504-6355. Space is limited – an RSVP does not guarantee participation. A confirmation email will be sent.BACKGROUND: Foreign journalists are invited on a reporting tour to the National Archives Building the records depository of the United States Federal government and keeper of the Founding Documents of the United States lead by National Archives Public Affairs Specialist Miriam Kleiman and Martin Pinkert, the Director of the National Archives Experience, the museum exhibition of the National Archives. The National Archives is famous for housing the Charters of Freedom, the founding documents of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, all of which are permanently displayed in the ‘Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom’ in the National Archives Building. The tour will include showings of the Rotunda of the Charters of Freedom, temporary exhibitions, and the permanent Public Vaults exhibit featuring some of the most fascinating original materials in the Archives’ collection, including correspondence from George Washington and Abraham’s Lincoln and home movies of the Presidents. The tour will also visit the National Archives state of the art, on-site conservation laboratory and other facilities where National Archives staff work to help preserve historical documents, including the Charters of Freedom, for a demonstration of some of the archival materials currently undergoing preservation as well as a lecture and discussion on the conservation efforts. The tour will conclude with a briefing session on how the Office of Public Affairs at the National Archives and Records Administration can assist journalists in a variety of ways including with interviews, conducting research and developing story ideas.
The tour will be accompanied by a public affairs escort for its duration and photography/video is allowed in the exhibit areas and in the laboratories although due to the extreme sensitivity of many of the archival documents and materials to the effects of illumination no additional light can be used in the facilities, including for photography and filming and extending to the “On” light on electronics as well, and additional restrictions may be necessary as determined by National Archives staff.
