Remarkably, Bill of Rights Returned

In Raleigh North Carolina, The Cherokee Scout reports North Carolina's copy of Bill of Rights was stolen from the State Capitol in 1865 and remarkably recovered in a sting operation in 2003, will crisscross the state in 2007 during "Liberty and Freedom: North Carolina's Tour of the Bill of Rights. The precious copy of the first 10 amendments to the U. S. Constitution is one of only 15 known copies in existence today.

The Tour of the Bill of Rights is a fitting way to mark "History Happens Here, which is the cultural resources' departmental theme for 2007," said Lisbeth Evans, N. C. Department of Cultural resources secretary. "From the birth of the first English child in the New World, to the first formal sanction of independence, to the first discovery of gold in the U. S., North Carolina has much history to Share."

Stolen during the Union occupation of Raleigh during the final days of the Civil War, the Bill of Rights came home to North Carolina in 2005 after a remarkable 140 years. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley set in motion the creation of a team of law enforcement officials from North Carolina, Pennsylvania, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U. S. Marshal's Office. Dealers were trying to sell the document to a museum in Philadelphia.

"The Bill of Rights plays an important part in the daily life of the United States, and North Carolina played a key part in the birth of the Bill of Rights," said Dr. Jeffery Crow, deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History. "North Carolina refused to join the united States until a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution." Each stop on the tour will feature speakers who will highlight a different amendment.

"Liberty and Freedom" is presented by the N. C. Department of Cultural Resources, which includes the State Archives, 27 historic sites, seven history museums, historical publications, Offices of Archeology and Preservation, State Library, including genealogy, N. C. Arts Council, N. C. Museum of Art and N. C. Symphony. Many programs relating to "History happens Here" will be a part of the department's programming. Cultural Resources is a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina's arts, history and culture.