Communities Minister has announced that original
documents highlighting the deep historical links between the
United States and Northern Ireland will be coming here later this
year.
The Minister visited the Library of Congress in Washington, DC,
where he viewed the documents first-hand in specialist storage.
The Minister said: “I am delighted that my Department has secured
the loan of some remarkable original documents that form an
important part of America's history. They will be carefully
transported across the Atlantic to feature in an exciting new
exhibition celebrating the legacy created by the many thousands
who left these shores for America in the late 1700s.
“This will be the first time in history that the documents have
been on loan outside of the USA. This has been achieved through
direct engagement between my officials and the Library of
Congress over several months, with my recent visit sealing the
deal in person.”
Documents relating to the commemoration of the 250th anniversary
of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence will be
shown in the ‘Voices Across the Atlantic: The Ulster Legacy in
America' exhibition in the Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland (PRONI).
Among the highlights that will form part of the exhibition are
papers relating to Charles Thomson, originally from Gorteade,
Upperlands, Co. Londonderry and Secretary to the Continental
Congress that formulated the Declaration, and , the seventh US President,
whose parents hailed from Carrickfergus.
The Minister added: “I encourage everyone to come along later in
the year to explore these documents and much more.
“The exhibition in PRONI is one of the events that will help
Northern Ireland commemorate the deep historical and ongoing
connections that exist between here and the USA.”
Dr. Kevin Butterfield, Acting Chief of the Manuscript Division at
the Library of Congress said: “The Library of Congress is happy
to play a role in this exhibition by loaning materials that can
help people in Northern Ireland learn more about the rich and
complex history of the founding of the United States. It's a
history shaped in important ways by people from Ulster, as these
documents bring to life.”
PRONI's ‘Voices Across the Atlantic: The Ulster Legacy in
America' exhibition will take place at its headquarters in
Titanic Quarter, Belfast this autumn. More details will follow.
To find out more about events across Northern Ireland marking the
250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence and its
links with Ulster, visit www.usa-ni250.co.uk.
Read the Minister's oral statement to the Assembly: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/news/ministerial-oral-statement-visit-united-states
Notes to editors:
1. Three documents will be on loan from the Library of Congress
Manuscript Division:
- Second Continental Congress – Charles Thomson's address to
George Washington on his election to the first Presidency of the
United States
-
– one page of his second
annual address setting indigenous land clearance policy in the
context of his forefathers' migration.
- General Assembly of United Presbyterian Church – Scots-Irish
congregational organisation setting out opposition to slavery in
a letter to Abraham Lincoln.
