{ 19 octobre 2005 }
historical documents written with ink and thread
the only touristy thing i knew i wanted to do in d.c. was visit the national archives. i really wanted to see the declaration of independence, constitution and bill of rights, which are all located and guarded together in the rotunda for the charters of freedom. it was exciting to see the actual documents, but a bit sad because they are starting to fade a lot. right outside of the rotunda were some documents that aren’t as historically important, but i still found them quite intriguing. i’m speaking of samplers [examples: 1 2] that served as birth certificates and marriage licenses. nowadays we need official, signed, notarized documents to prove birth, marriage, death, whatever, so i found it quite fascinating that in the 1700s a cross-stitched piece of fabric would suffice.
posted at 12.50