If you are a history buff, a collector of rare books or documents, or a bit of a Sherlock Holmes, you’re going to love being at the Justice For All Ball this year.
The 19th Amendment, signed by Speaker of the House Fred H Gallet, June 1919
The Justice Journey: From Founding to Freedom; Opening the Doors To Justice For All is an exhibit of historic documents that will take you on a ‘justice journey’ from the Declaration of Independence (1776 Journal of Congress) to a copy of the 19th Amendment signed by the Speaker of the House (1919), guaranteeing the right to vote for women. There is also the signature from a letter written by Susan B. Anthony. As the exhibit notes state: the “justice journey” wasn’t perfect, but without these efforts to blaze new trails and open new doors, combined with the experience and foresight of the nation’s founders and the many who followed them, there might not have been any justice, freedom or a ‘right’ to anything.”
The exhibit was prepared for The Pro Bono Project by Dr. Naomi Yavneh Klos, Director of the University Honors Program at Loyola New Orleans, and Executive Vice President of Historic.us Corporation.
In addition to the above-referenced documents, you’ll view
· An August 1787 printing of the Northwest Ordinance, which preserved the lands and rights of the American Indian nation and outlawed involuntary servitude or slavery within the territory;
· The Acts passed at the first session of the Congress of the United States of America: begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, in the year of 1789 opened to a full “Bill of Rights” printing, which emerged after the House and Senate debated and reduced more than 200 amendments to 27, and then finally proposing 12, to the state legislatures for ratification on September 25, 1789;
· The 1866 printing of William H. Seward’s ratification certification of the 13th Amendment.
· The 1868 Louisiana State Constitution as transmitted to the 40th U.S. Congress by President Andrew Johnson in the Message from the President, etc., Transmitting Documents and Papers Relating to the Proceedings in North Carolina and Louisiana to Which They Refer, viz: Constitutions of Those States.
· The 14th amendment’s and Louisiana ratification resolution as printed in the Acts Passed By The General Assembly Of The State Of Louisiana At The First Session Of The First Legislature, Begun And Held In The City Of New Orleans, June 29, 1866 enacted in New Orleans. (Note: The 1866 Louisiana Legislature along with several other ‘rebel’ states unanimously voted not to ratify the 14th Amendment) .
You’ll also see a framed Slave Emancipation Manuscript from the Northwest Territory; the original Pennsylvania v. Connecticut manuscript from 1782 that awarded disputed lands to Pennsylvania between the 41st and 42nd parallel – the only interstate dispute settled by Congress under the Articles of Confederation; and, from the 1781 Journals of Congress, the Articles of Confederation, which ratified the “Perpetual Union of the United States of America.”
Which of these documents is authentic?
Play Detective: Win An Historic Document
How good of a detective do you think you are? Do you have you a bit of Sherlock Holmes in your soul?
As part of The Justice Journey exhibit, you will have a chance to use your powers of deduction to select an authentic document from among a group of documents, two of which are imposters.
Here’s how it works: simply purchase a raffle ticket from Dr. Yavneh Klos at the exhibit - $2 each or 3 for $5 – and place your ticket(s) in the marked container for whichever document you believe, after careful examination, is the authentic document. At the 10:30 pm band break, we’ll announce which document is real and select a winner from all those tickets in that document’s container.
The winner will receive an original 1889 map of New Orleans, a Captain signed Delta Queen First Day Cover, and a Secretary of State Wade Omer Martin, Jr. signed letter quoting Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Come join in the fun and learn about how justice has journeyed from our founding fathers through time all the way to The Pro Bono Project! Oh, and don’t forget to check out the rare French document establishing the House of Orléans that’s up for bid in our live auction – check it out here.
Elementary, Watson!!