A lot of events are taking place to mark the country’s 250th birthday and this tour offers visitor in multiple cities a chance to see a bundle of rare and historic Founding-era documents all in one place.

A Boeing 737 with a special Freedom Plane livery and a cargo that includes a half dozen historic documents linked to founding of the United States will take off from Washington, D.C. next month and make stops in 8 cities.

The original articles going on tour as part of the “Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation ” traveling exhibition are usually housed at the National Archives and have never traveled together before.

They include:

• An original Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, 1823.

One of only about 50 known engraved copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed from a copperplate of the original

• Articles of Association, 1774

Signed by all 53 delegates, the Articles of Association urged colonists to boycott British goods and was the Continental Congress’s first major unified act of resistance against Britain.

• George Washington’s, Alexander Hamilton’s, and Aaron Burr’s Oaths of Allegiance, 1778

Oaths of Allegiance that all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War. 

• Treaty of Paris, 1783

Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, this Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.

• Secret Printing of the Constitution in Draft Form, 1787

A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in draft form, with the delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 

• Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787

The voting records of the Constitutional Convention reflecting the debates, resolutions, and eventual vote on the final text that would become the Constitution. 

Here are cities the “Freedom Plane” will visit:

The exhibition is touring from March through August 2026 and will be free and open to the public at all eight venues listed below. The first stop is the National WWII Museum and Memorial, from March 6 though March 22, the final stop is July 30 through August 16 at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, WA.

To get tickets, visit the individual museum websites.

Here’s the full line-up:

Kansas City, MO: National WWI Museum and Memorial: Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 22

Atlanta, GA: Atlanta History Center: Friday, March 27 – Sunday, April 12

Los Angeles, CA: University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art: Friday, April 17 – Sunday, May 3

Houston, TX: Houston Museum of Natural Science: Friday, May 8 – Monday, May 25 

Denver, CO: History Colorado Center: Thursday, May 28 – Sunday, June 14 

Miami, FL: HistoryMiami Museum: Saturday, June 20 – Sunday, July 5 

Dearborn, MI: Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: Thursday, July 9 – Sunday, July 26 

Seattle, WA: Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI): Thursday, July 30 – Sunday, August 16 

Document images courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

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