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Saving the National Treasures
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Program Overview
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NOVA traces the history of the nation's Charters of Freedom—the
Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence—and
documents the five-year, $5 million design and construction of the new
encasements that will house them.
The program:
reports on how the original sealed glass cases were constructed in the
early 1950s and expected to last indefinitely. notes that only 50 years later conservators began questioning the
condition of the original housing when microscopic analysis revealed
deterioration of the glass. reviews the team of physicists, chemists, engineers, and conservators who
were assembled to determine the best type of new encasements. recounts how the Declaration of Independence came to be made and details
its contents and travels during the Revolutionary War. relates how parchment is made from animal skin and how ultraviolet rays,
oxygen, and fluctuations in humidity can adversely affect it. details each part of the new encasement prototype and reports on
controversies that arose during its design. explains that the original document may have been subjected to water when
an engraving was made of it and to sun exposure when it resided at the former
Patent Office. reviews how the document's iron gall ink was made. details how the Declaration of Independence, a document written as a
declaration of war against England, evolved during its 200-year history into a
ringing declaration of equality for all. features the removal of the documents from their original cases and notes
the three-year process in which the documents were examined and
photographed. notes that conservators performed limited and reversible restoration to
the documents prior to their re-encasement and display at the National Archives
Building in Washington, D.C.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.
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