Delmar Robb – Pieces of History

December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, which commemorates the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Today we’re looking at the man who cared for the original Bill of Rights—and 126 other documents—during the 16-month Freedom Train trip across the country. 

The Freedom Train was a seven-car train that traveled across the United States from September 1947 until January 1949. It was dedicated to the history of American democracy and contained some of the country’s most priceless historical documents, many of which came from the National Archives, including one of our most prized documents: the Bill of Rights.

The idea of the Freedom Train was to allow all Americans—from all over the country—the opportunity to view these important documents and learn more about our nation and its history. The Freedom Train was extremely popular—more than 3.5 million Americans came to view the documents it held. The train was open to all and did not stop in cities that insisted the train be segregated.

In addition to the train’s three exhibit cars, it had three Pullman cars for personnel and one car for equipment. Personnel included 24 enlisted Marines, three Marine officers, and nine civilian employees. 

The most important person traveling with the Freedom Train was Delmar F. Robb. Robb was a staff member of the Division of Cleaning and Rehabilitation at the National Archives, and was tasked with monitoring and caring for the documents and their cases.

To do this, he took hourly readings of the temperature and humidity within the cases, adjusting them as needed. His goal was to keep the temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and keep the humidity levels around 50 percent. Maintaining this humidity level was not an easy task on the train, especially when it rained or snowed.

On days that the Freedom Train was under scheduled maintenance, Robb cleaned the document cases. He also wrote weekly reports to Archivist of the United States Wayne C. Grover and Arthur E. Kimberly, Chief of the Division of Cleaning and Rehabilitation (formerly the Division of Repair and Preservation) in Washington, DC.

Robb spent the entire Freedom Train’s run—16 months—on the rails. He slept in a berth and only took one week off during the entire time. He visited 308 cities, every state (48 at that time), and rode 37,000 miles. 

When Robb returned from the trip, he remarked, “I wouldn’t have missed the trip with the Freedom Train for all the money in the world—but I am very, very glad to be back home again and to have returned all these documents in the same condition as at the start of the journey.”

Robb left the National Archives shortly after his return to work for the private sector. He passed away in 2008. 

Learn more about the Freedom Train:

Learn more about the Bill of Rights: