{"id":230369,"date":"2024-08-27T18:44:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T18:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/27\/illuminating-the-national-archives-building-pieces-of-history\/"},"modified":"2024-08-27T18:44:37","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T18:44:37","slug":"illuminating-the-national-archives-building-pieces-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/27\/illuminating-the-national-archives-building-pieces-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Illuminating the National Archives Building \u2013 Pieces of History"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Seventy years ago, the National Archives Building\u2019s exterior was illuminated for the very first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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National Archives Building lit up for the very first time, its beautiful columns and attic story glowing while onlookers gather to witness the occasion, 8\/29\/1954. (National Archives Identifier 7873481<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

While several\u00a0other Washington, DC, landmarks were illuminated, the National Archives Building stood dark every night for the first 19 years it was open. Although John Russell Pope, the building\u2019s architect, had made plans for exterior lighting, a lack of funds prevented the National\u00a0Archives from being lit. It was not until 1954 that funds became available to turn on the 280 exterior built-in light bulbs to light up the structure.<\/p>\n

The first-ever illumination of the National Archives coincided with the American Legion\u2019s National Convention in Washington, DC, in August of 1954. A brief test lighting occurred on August 28, with the official ceremony on the evening of August 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ceremony took place on the Constitution Avenue steps. It was preceded by a drill team exhibition and began with music by the United States Army Band and an honor guard posting of the colors.<\/p>\n

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Color bearers during the National Archives Building lighting ceremony, August 29, 1954. (National Archives Identifier 74229099<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Archivist of the United States Wayne C. Grover presided over the ceremony. He had advocated for the lights because he believed they symbolized the light Americans derived from the building\u2019s precious contents, including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n

General Services Administrator Edmund Mansure gave a brief address, saying that lighting the National Archives for the first time was \u201ca fitting symbol of patriotism\u201d with which to begin the American Legion National Convention.<\/p>\n

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Wayne Grover (left) with American Legion National Commander Arthur J. Connell (middle) and GSA Administrator Edmund F. Mansure, (right), August 29, 1954. (National Archives Identifier 74229107<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

National Commander of the American Legion Arthur J. Connell also gave remarks, then\u00a0flipped the switch to light the structure. Unfortunately, nothing immediately happened, prompting Mansure to jokingly ask into the microphone, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, hasn\u2019t the National Archives paid its light bill yet?\u201d The delay was brief though, and the lights came on, thus\u00a0putting\u00a0the final piece of Pope\u2019s vision for the National Archives Building into place.<\/p>\n

Since then, in addition to its regular exterior lights, the National Archives Building has been illuminated in various colors for special occasions and commemorations. For instance, the building gets decked out in red, white, and blue lightning on July 4th, our biggest holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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National Archives Building with its July Fourth holiday weekend lighting, July 1, 2016. (National Archives Photo by Jeff Reed)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Other recent commemorations include the celebration of\u00a0the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2019, when the building was illuminated in purple and gold\u2014the colors used to represent the woman suffrage movement.\u00a0In 2022, to show solidarity with Ukraine, the National Archives Building was illuminated in yellow and blue, the colors of the national flag of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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National Archives Building awash in gold and purple marking the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, August 2019. (National Archives photo by Susana Raab)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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National Archives Building illuminated in blue and yellow in solidarity with the people and heritage institutions of Ukraine, March 2022. (National Archives staff photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Learn more about the history of the National Archives Building on our website<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Seventy years ago, the National Archives Building\u2019s exterior was illuminated for the very first time.\u00a0 National Archives Building lit up for the very first time,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":230370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newhampshiredigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}