With Liberty
and Justice for All
Daily Activities at With Liberty & Justice for All
While there are no scheduled activities today, be sure to see our complete activities listing for upcoming offerings.
This exhibit focuses upon four key transformative moments in the American quest for freedom: the Revolutionary Era, the Antislavery Movement and Civil War Era, the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights the people and iconic artifacts that were involved in those moments, and encourages you to consider the important debates and struggles. From the Rosa Parks Bus to George Washington’s humble camp cot and the rocking chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated, you'll journey through America’s fight for freedom and celebrate the courage to maintain it.
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The Henry Ford is collecting feedback for a future revitalization of our With Liberty and Justice for All exhibition. Learn more about the project and take our survey.
Highlights
Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823
Details
Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823
Artifact
Print (Visual work)
Date Made
04 July 1823
Summary
This is an exact, precise facsimile of one of America's greatest documents. It is one of two hundred copies commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in 1820. It is an engraving made from the original document. Two copies each were given to the surviving signers and the rest distributed to Congress, state governments and colleges and universities.
Creators
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
29.1060.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Dr. M.S. Seip
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
"Whites Only" Drinking Fountain, 1954
Artifact
Drinking fountain
Date Made
1954
Summary
From the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries, segregation laws in Southern states separated African Americans and whites in almost every aspect of public life -- from railroad cars and schools to restrooms and drinking fountains. Varying from state to state, these laws were supposed to establish facilities that were "separate but equal." In reality, these were almost never equal.
Creators
Place of Creation
Object ID
2005.19.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
"Whites Only" Drinking Fountain, 1954
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Rosa Parks Bus
Artifact
Bus
Date Made
1948
Summary
Inside this bus on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man, breaking existing segregation laws. The flawless character and quiet strength she exhibited successfully ignited action in others. For this, many believe Rosa Parks's act was the event that sparked the Civil Rights movement.
Place of Creation
Keywords
United States, Alabama, Montgomery
United States, Indiana, Terre Haute
Public transit (Infrastructure)
Object ID
2001.154.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Rosa Parks Bus
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865
Details
Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865
Artifact
Rocking chair
Date Made
1855-1865
Summary
President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in this rocking chair during a production of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Henry Ford purchased the chair in 1929 for the Museum, where it remains one of the most revered objects associated with the "man who saved the Union."
Creators
Place of Creation
Keywords
United States, District of Columbia, Washington
Rathbone, Henry Reed, 1837-1911
Object ID
29.1451.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845
Artifact
Book
Date Made
1845
Summary
Frederick Douglass became a leader in the anti-slavery movement when he spontaneously stood up and spoke at an abolitionist meeting in 1841. Douglass wrote about his life as a slave to support the growing abolitionist movement. This book led to his career as a reform journalist. His gut-wrenching tales about life on the plantation in Maryland turned thousands of skeptical Americans into active abolitionists.
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
66.143.763
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
Political Banner, New York State Woman Suffrage Party, 1910
Artifact
Banner
Date Made
1910
Summary
This banner was carried in rallies and marches by members of the New York State Woman Suffrage Party. Reformers had been advocating giving women the vote since the 1840s. However, it was not until the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 that women gained the vote.
Place of Creation
Keywords
Object ID
33.466.4
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Alice R. Hepburn.
Get more details in Digital Collections at:
Political Banner, New York State Woman Suffrage Party, 1910
What is The Henry Ford?
The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.
With Liberty and Justice for All
Check out extraordinary artifacts that tell stories about the pioneering social innovators involved in the American quest for freedom. You'll see them first-hand when you journey through our With Liberty and Justice for All exhibit in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
Bronze Bust of George Washington
A turn-of-the-nineteenth-century bronze bust of the first president of the United States.
Challenging Segregation
The famous bus where, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man.
Jail for Supporting Women's Rights
Women advocating for their right to vote were sometimes imprisoned in cells such as this.
Let Women Vote!
The Suffrage Movement, most active in the U.S. in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resulted in women's right to vote in 1920.
