National Archives’ NATO Treaty Tours DC
By Cara Moore Lebonick | National Archives News
The North Atlantic Treaty on display in the Mellon Auditorium. National Archives photo by Stephanie Loden.
The North Atlantic Treaty on display at the Congressional Reception. National Archives photo by Stephanie Loden.
Participants in the National Archives’ education initiative “Civics for All of US” look at the North Atlantic Treaty, which established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, at the Rotunda on June 25. National Archives photo by Susana Raab.
WASHINGTON, August 30, 2024 — In honor of the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the National Archives and the U.S. Department of State have partnered to loan the North Atlantic Treaty to the Department of State National Museum of American Diplomacy through September 26. The treaty had also traveled to NATO Headquarters in Brussels for the anniversary celebration in April and was on display throughout Washington, DC, over the summer.
Also known as the Washington Treaty—for its signing in Washington, DC, on April 4,1949—the document established NATO. The original treaty has been held by the National Archives since 1999.
Extensive effort was needed to plan the tour, since Archives staff must accompany the Washington Treaty at every stop. Registrars, archivists, and our exhibits conservator all took part during various portions of the DC tour. Staff completed proper loan and possession procedures to ensure that the whereabouts of the record (called “chain of custody") would be recorded and thoroughly inspected the artifact’s conditions before releasing it for loan. In addition, a special display case had to be constructed.
Essential support for the display, including monitoring the document and its visitors, during the NATO summit, held in Washington, DC, July 9–11, was provided by NARA staff. NATO summits bring together heads of state and government a central platform to discuss relevant issues facing the Alliance.
“We got asked, ‘Is that the real thing?’ the most over the days of the summit,” said Karen Hibbitt, registrar for the National Archives. “All of this is here, NATO is here, because of this [document]. NATO exists because of this.”
Normally, the treaty is stored in the vault at the National Archives at Washington, DC. As the safety of the document is paramount, Archives staff ensured that the chain of custody was properly maintained from the vault to the exhibit locations.The National Archives followed all required protocols to share this important treaty with the public while preserving it for future generations.
“While this may be a new adventure for the NATO treaty being on display, this is a standard process for giving public access to our holdings, even those from the vault,” said Joshua Mason, an archivist at the National Archives at Washington, DC.
“Our diligence in the preservation, handling, transportation, exhibition, and security standards is what allows the National Archives to engage in public events and shows the public that we have prominent holdings from treaties to public laws, as well as those on permanent display," added Dong Eun Kim, exhibits conservator.
The treaty is currently on temporary display at the Department of State National Museum of American Diplomacy as part of the exhibit The Road to NATO: Building the Transatlantic Alliance. It will be featured until September 26 alongside other NATO-related documents and artifacts.