Temple for Our History

The National Archives Building became the first permanent repository for the original records of the federal government, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, along with many other documents on exhibit and in research collections. More than one million people visit each year, while thousands use census, land, military pension, congressional, Supreme Court, military, and Native American records to study family and national history. After decades of debate in Congress over how and where to preserve America’s most precious documents, many of which had already been damaged or destroyed, Congress in 1913 directed the treasury secretary to plan a National Archives building. Construction began in 1931, and in 1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation creating the National Archives as a government agency. Architect John Russell Pope designed the building to stand apart from the rest of the Federal Triangle, and its 72 Corinthian columns and sculptured pediments express the importance of protecting historical records. At the stairs, James Earle Fraser’s sculptures Heritage and Guardianship symbolize memory of past generations and the duty to safeguard records for the future. Today the National Archives and Records Administration maintains billions of records nationwide in presidential libraries, regional archives, federal records centers, and a research facility in College Park, Maryland.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States