Editorial Policy. Prologue is published quarterly by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Its primary purpose is to bring to public attention the resources and programs of NARA, the regional archives, and the presidential libraries. Accordingly, Prologue in the main publishes material based, in whole or in part, on the holdings and programs of these institutions. In keeping with the nonpartisan character of NARA, Prologue will not accept articles that are politically partisan or that deal with contemporary political issues. Articles are selected for publication by the editor in consultation with experts, but final responsibility for the decision to publish an article rests with the Archivist of the United States. The editor reserves the right to make changes in articles accepted for publication and will consult the author should substantive questions arise. Published articles do not necessarily represent the views of NARA or of any other agency of the United States government. Manuscripts should be double spaced. Footnotes should also be double spaced and numbered consecutively in a separate section following the text. Prospective authors are encouraged to discuss their work with the editor prior to submission. Correspondence regarding contributions and all other editorial matters should be sent to the Editor, Prologue, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408. Subscriptions and Reprints. U.S. subscription rates are $16 for one year; rates for subscribers outside the United States are $21. Single issues of the current volume are available for $4 each (add $3 shipping for orders up to $50). Please make check or money order payable to National Archives Trust Fund (NECD) and send to Prologue, National Archives, P.O. Box 100684, Atlanta, GA 30384. Notice of nonreceipt of an issue must be sent within six months of its publication date. Back issues are available from the National Archives and from Kraus Reprint Co., Millwood, NY 10546. Microfilm and paper copies of individual articles are available from University Microfilm, Inc., 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration (ISSN 0033-1031) is published quarterly by the National Archives Trust Fund Board, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Periodicals postage paid at College Park, MD. Postmaster, send address changes to Prologue, National Archives and Records Administration, NPOL/Room 4100, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. INDEXED in Acad. Abstr., Amer. Hist. & Life. Bibl. Cart., Hist. Abstr. (Parts A & B), Hum. Ind., Ind. U.S. Gov. Per., Mag. Art. Sum., U.S. Gov. Per. Ind., Writ. Am. Hist., & Winter Prologue. COVER: The daring Rough Riders, led by Teddy Roosevelt, charge San Juan Hill in a highly idealized image. Such patriotic visions reflected the popularity of the Spanish-American War, a conflict that bolted the United States into world affairs. From a lithograph by W. G. Read. ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES John W. Carlin MANAGING EDITOR EDITORIAL STAFF Benjamin Guterman ART DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT EDITORS Prologue in Perspective History's in the Rotunda, Too By John W. Carlin Out of those holdings we also are able to make available insight into less well-known aspects of famous events. In February, for example, we exhibited, in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C., a letter describing brave deeds that earned four African Americans the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Spanish-American War. These were members of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalries, known as "Buffalo Soldiers" from their earlier service on the western frontier. I hope that readers of Prologue know that such documentary exhibits are another way in which we at the National Archives and Records Administration regularly bring history to the public. Exhibits are a major feature of our presidential libraries. Our regional records service centers also offer exhibits. And in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., visitors will find on display the most important of all our nation's records-the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. The National Archives Rotunda was, in fact, constructed for these Charters of Freedom. It provides a dignified, monumental setting in which they can be well protected yet still made accessible to the public at large. The famed architect who designed the Archives building, John Russell Pope, selected artist Barry Faulkner to create huge murals on each side of the Rotunda's interior depicting the Founding Fathers presenting the Declaration and the Constitution. In the words of a historian of the building, when the Charters came into the Rotunda, "the architect's vision of the building was realized at last." Before that, the Declaration and the Constitution had moved around from here to there. First they traveled with the federal government from New York to Philadelphia to Washington. When the British attacked Washington in the War of 1812, fleeing Americans moved the two documents to Leesburg, Virginia, for safety, and at one point stowed the Constitution in a sack. Later in the century, the Declaration went on display in the State-War-Navy Building, but with so little protection that its text began to fade. In the twentieth century, the Declaration and the Constitution went to the Library of Congress, but its director, as well as Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt earlier, agreed that the Declaration and the Constitution should be with the Bill of Rights in the National Archives. The Archives' Rotunda was ready, the Federal Records Act of 1950 provided legal authority, and in 1952 a joint committee of the Congress ordered that the Charters be transferred to their permanent home. At the ceremony in the Rotunda, President Truman declared that "The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are now assembled in one place for display and safekeeping....We are engaged here today in a symbolic act. We are enshrining these documents for future ages....This magnificent hall has been constructed to exhibit them." Now, more than a million Americans and other visitors come to the National Archives to see the Charters every year. They are the central documents in the Archives' collection of federal records, from which we draw other historical documents to display, such as, in January, the Emancipation Proclamation, and in February, the Spanish-American War letter commending the Buffalo Soldiers. We hope you enjoy Prologue's articles, but we hope you also can visit the Rotunda at least sometime to see the Charters and other original records that illuminate the things we write about. We exhibit them, not just because they are historically interesting, but because it is our job to provide access to the records of our nation's government-records that document the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the national experience. ✦ |