The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence

Based on the 2005 children's picture book written by Judith St. George and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand, the iconographic-animated The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence, narrated by Jeff Brooks, follows the history of America's birth certificate from its initial drafting in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson through its 1952 enshrining in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. During the intervening years, the “one and only” was engrossed (i.e., transcribed from the original), signed, copied, engraved, and repaired, while facing numerous dangers, including both specific threats (from the British—during both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812) and more general hazards (grubby hands, direct sunlight, and cigar smoke). During WWII, the famed document resided in gold bullion compartment no. 24 at Fort Knox, returning to the Library of Congress in 1944, where it remained until a longstanding argument between the LC and National Archives was resolved in the latter's favor. Although it has been constantly shuffled around the Eastern seaboard—all the while surviving eight wars, two attacks on the nation's capitol, and four years of separation between the North and the South—the true home of the Declaration of Independence, the narrator tells us, has always been in the hearts of the American people. Backed by Ernest V. Troost's solid soundtrack, this lively overview nicely encapsulates the rough and tumble history of one of our most cherished documents. Recommended. Aud: E, P. (R. Pitman)