The Boeing Company Supports Tour of National Archives -Eyewitness- Exhibition
Press Release · Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Washington, DC

Washington, DC…The National Archives announced that the six-city, two-year national tour of its acclaimed exhibition “Eyewitness – American Originals from the National Archives” will be supported by The Boeing Company. The gift from Boeing will also underwrite expanded educational opportunities and a learning center at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC.

“Eyewitness” draws on rarely-displayed documents, audio recordings and film footage culled from the extensive holdings of the National Archives and its Presidential Libraries and Regional Archives. This exhibition was created by the National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, and the Foundation for the National Archives.

"In an age when 24-hour news and high-tech communications seem to make us instant eyewitnesses to everything, this exhibit reminds us that most of our history was seen by the few and brought to life for ordinary Americans through the eloquence of extraordinary individuals," said Mary Foerster, vice president, Business Support, Communications and Community Affairs for The Boeing Company. "Boeing is proud to support the National Archives in bringing this important exhibit to so many across the country."

“The national tour of ‘Eyewitness’ offers Americans across the country a ring-side seat to some of the most noteworthy events in our history,” said Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein. “We are pleased that Boeing is joining with the National Archives and the Foundation for the National Archives in support of this extraordinary exhibition to share these eyewitness accounts with people in all parts of the country, and remind them that they do not need to travel to Washington, D.C. to take advantage of the many resources of the National Archives.”

The national tour of “Eyewitness” begins February 2, 2007 in Atlanta at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, where it will be on display through April 29, 2007. Over the next two years it will also travel to the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA (May 25-September 3, 2007); The Ford Museum of the Gerald R. Ford Library and Museum, Grand Rapids, MI (October-December 2007); Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, TX (February-April 2008); Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, CA (June-August 2008); Durham Western Heritage Museum, Omaha, NE (October-December 2008).

The gripping, firsthand accounts featured in “Eyewitness” are vivid and intensely personal, offering the visitor a unique view of events. The stories range across the entire American experience, stretching from a 1775 letter by General George Washington about his fear that the British will use biological weapons (small pox) on American troops to President Carter’s notes from his private meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1979.

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For press information or images of the items featured in the exhibition, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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