The Freedom Train
One day while searching online for photos from the National Archives, I came across an album of photographs from the late 1940s. They illustrated a year-long national program that I don’t remember ever hearing about before. My husband Ray had not heard of it either.
Again and again in American history, some Americans have worried that citizens were forgetting their nation’s history and founding principles. One of those times was in the late 1940s. One of those Americans was Attorney General (and future Supreme Court justice) Thomas Campbell Clark. On April 11, 1947, Clark announced the idea of a Freedom Train. Its purpose was to “reawaken in the American people, the loyalty it is known they have for the American way of life.” Clark wanted to show Americans their founding documents.
Business leaders interested in the project formed the American Heritage Foundation to oversee the project. Irving Berlin wrote a song titled “The Freedom Train.” Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters recorded it. The movie industry produced “Our American Heritage,” which showed in theaters and public schools.
The Freedom Train began its journey in Philadelphia on September 17, 1947, the 160th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. The locomotive, Spirit of 1776, pulled the white train with its red and blue stripes.
On board were 126 original documents and historic copies, including the Treaty of Paris, the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Northwest Ordinance, and President Washington’s copy of the Constitution. The National Archives, the Library of Congress, universities, and private collectors loaned documents to the exhibit.
The U.S. Marine Corps provided guards for the train and its exhibits.
The Freedom Train traveled to New York City, through New England, and to Baltimore before arriving in Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving Day. Visitors had lined up early that morning waiting for it to arrive. President Truman, along with his Cabinet and the Supreme Court, viewed the display the following day. After his visit, Truman said:
I sincerely wish that every person in this country, and in every country, for that matter, could see those documents and appreciate just what they stand for—freedom of the individual and liberty to live as that individual sees fit, as long as he lives in harmony with his neighbors.
At every stop, integrated groups of citizens viewed the exhibits. The American Heritage Foundation had stated that the train would not stop in any city that would not allow African American and white Americans to visit the train together.
Only two cities would not allow integrated viewing. The Freedom Train did not stop in either one.
In every city where the Freedom Train stopped, residents participated in a week of meetings where they learned about citizenship. Meeting themes included Freedom of Religion Day, Veterans Day, Women’s Day, Organization Day, American Family Day, Youth Day, Freedom of Expression Day, and Good Citizenship Day. Communities had religious services, parades, school programs, and rallies. At every stop, visitors had the opportunity to sign the Freedom Scroll and take the Freedom Pledge:
I am an American. A free American.
Free to speak—without fear,
Free to worship God in my own way,
Free to stand for what I think right,
Free to oppose what I believe wrong,
Free to choose those who govern my country,
This heritage of Freedom I pledge to uphold
For myself and all mankind.
In its 413-day tour, 3.5 million people visited the Freedom Train.
The train returned to Washington, D.C., in January 1949. During the week of President Truman’s second inauguration, officials presented the Freedom Scrolls to the president. The scrolls, with 10,000 signatures on each, went to the Library of Congress as a permanent record.
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters;
only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh,
but serve one another through love.
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14