It made national headlines when North Carolina’s original copy of the Bill of Rights returned to the Tar Heel State in 2005. After 140 years, the historic document was finally home.
An upcoming program at the N.C. Museum of History focuses on the saga of the Bill of Rights, from its theft from the State Capitol by a Union soldier during the Civil War to its recovery by the FBI in 2003.
The program History à la Carte: North Carolina’s Bill of Rights will be presented by Karen A. Blum, assistant attorney general at the N.C. Department of Justice, on Wednesday, April 8, at 12:10 p.m. Bring your lunch; beverages are provided. Admission is free.
North Carolina’s copy of the Bill of Rights is one of 14 original copies of the 12 proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution prepared by three federal clerks in 1789. A copy was drafted for the legislatures of the existing 13 states to debate; the other copy was for the federal government. After the ratification of the first 10 amendments in 1791, North Carolina retained custody of its copy of the document.
It is believed that North Carolina’s copy was stolen during the Union occupation of Raleigh in the final days of the Civil War. The document was recovered in an undercover operation in 2003. After legal battles in state and federal courts, North Carolina won possession of the document in 2005 and ownership in 2008.
The N.C. Museum of History’s hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The department’s Web site is www.ncculture.com