Constitution Hall | FactVote

From a revolution

Detail of the Boston Tea Party mural showing people throwing tea chests from a ship into moonlit Boston Harbor. The complete original photograph also includes the ceiling map above the scene. — Boston Tea Party · 1773 (detail)

Patrick Henry stands with an arm raised as he addresses the Virginia Convention, surrounded by delegates. — Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death · Peter F. Rothermel

American militia confronting British soldiers on Lexington Green, with wounded men, musket smoke, and village buildings. — Battle of Lexington

John Trumbull’s painting of General Warren’s death at Bunker Hill, with soldiers, flags, and smoke across the battlefield. — The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill · John Trumbull

George Washington on horseback raising his hat before ranks of American soldiers at Cambridge. — Washington Taking Command of the American Army

Handwritten petition addressed to the King, with colonial delegates’ signatures on the facing page. — Petition to the King

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense title page, third edition, Philadelphia, 1776. — Common Sense

To a declaration

A painting of Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson working around a table with papers. — Writing the Declaration

Handwritten Declaration of Independence draft with crossed-out passages, revisions, and a narrow attached paper strip. — Declaration of Independence draft

Trumbull painting of the Declaration draft being presented to Congress, with delegates gathered in a hall. — Declaration of Independence · John Trumbull

The engrossed Declaration of Independence on parchment, with text and signatures. — Declaration parchment

Thomas Jefferson in a dark coat, painted by Rembrandt Peale. — Thomas Jefferson

Through a war

General Mercer lies wounded amid British and American soldiers at Princeton, with George Washington on horseback behind the fighting. — The Death of General Mercer at the Battle of Princeton · John Trumbull

George Washington rallying American soldiers at Princeton, riding a rearing white horse beneath a gold flag. — Washington Rallying the Americans at the Battle of Princeton · William T. Ranney

Soldiers storming a fortified redoubt, with a United States flag, cannons, and a broad evening sky. — Storming of Redoubt 10 at Yorktown

British officers surrendering at Yorktown before Benjamin Lincoln on a white horse, with French officers on the left and American officers on the right. — Surrender of Lord Cornwallis · John Trumbull

And an uprising

An illustration of armed rebels approaching troops firing cannon outside a building. — Shays’ Rebellion

A hand-colored political cartoon with figures pulling a wagon marked Connecticut, ships, and allegorical characters. — The Looking Glass for 1787

The handwritten Articles of Confederation, beginning To all to whom these Presents shall come. — Articles of Confederation

James Bowdoin’s printed proclamation, headed Commonwealth of Massachusetts and A Proclamation. — James Bowdoin · A Proclamation

Worn brown leather binding of The Federalist Papers, displayed on a warm paper backing. — The Federalist Papers

Newspaper page from the Massachusetts Centinel containing The Federal Edifice woodcut, with pillars representing states ratifying the Constitution, August 2, 1788. — The Federal Edifice

Came a Constitution

United States Constitution, page 1, beginning We the People.

United States Constitution, page 2, with handwritten articles.

United States Constitution, page 3, with handwritten articles.

United States Constitution, page 4, including the delegates’ signatures.

Constitution of the United States of America

User-supplied painting reproduction depicting the signing of the United States Constitution, with delegates gathered in a hall. — Signing of the Constitution

Bill of Rights: the 1789 joint resolution proposing twelve amendments to the United States Constitution, reproduced from the historical parchment. — Bill of Rights ↗

Historical portrait of George Washington — George Washington

Historical portrait of Alexander Hamilton — Alexander Hamilton

Historical portrait of James Madison — James Madison

Historical portrait of John Jay — John Jay

Historical portrait of George Mason — George Mason

Historical portrait of Benjamin Franklin — Benjamin Franklin

Historical portrait of Roger Sherman — Roger Sherman

Historical portrait of Thomas Jefferson — Thomas Jefferson

To resist kings

A historical painting of a crowd pulling down the equestrian statue of King George III in New York. — Pulling Down the Statue of King George III · Johannes Adam Simon Oertel

Washington embraces an officer in the Long Room at Fraunces Tavern, surrounded by officers of the Continental Army. — Washington’s Farewell to His Officers at Fraunces Tavern

George Washington presenting his resignation to Congress, with seated delegates and spectators in the gallery. — The Resignation of General Washington · December 23, 1783

Washington’s handwritten Farewell Address — Opening page. — Opening page

Washington’s handwritten Farewell Address — National Unity. — National Unity

Washington’s handwritten Farewell Address — Political parties and factionalism. — Political parties and factionalism

Washington’s handwritten Farewell Address — Foreign alliances and neutrality. — Foreign alliances and neutrality

Confront slavery

A group of seated and standing Black adults and children surrounded by men in coats and hats at a slave market. — American Slave Market

A crowded street scene with adults and children gathered around a wagon, with buildings and an American flag behind them. — After the Sale

Painting of a cotton field with people working, wagons, plantation buildings, and a steamboat in the distance. — Mississippi Plantation

Two women carrying baskets and bundles in a cotton field beneath a hazy sky. — The Cotton Pickers

People gathered beside a wooden cabin, with washing hanging on a fence and chickens in the yard. — A Cabin Scene with Washing on Fence

Oval photographic portrait of Frederick Douglass in a dark coat, waistcoat, and patterned necktie. — Frederick Douglass

Brown embossed book cover of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, with gold lettering. — Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Complete cover of an oration by Frederick Douglass, delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester, July 5, 1852, published by request. — Oration · July 5, 1852

A family of three escaping slavery on horseback, with the woman looking back as the horse gallops across the landscape. — A Ride for Liberty · Eastman Johnson

People escaping slavery arriving at a snowy farmhouse with the help of Underground Railroad guides. — The Underground Railroad · Charles T. Webber

Seated portrait of Harriet Tubman, resting one arm on a chair, on a photographic card with a red border and her handwritten name. — Harriet Tubman

Seated photographic portrait of abolitionist Sojourner Truth, with the original card and inscriptions preserved. — Sojourner Truth

Political cartoon of men pulling apart a map of the United States while another man attempts to repair it with glue. — Ripping Up America

Historical illustration of armed men on horseback exchanging gunfire in a town street, with people falling and fleeing. — Bleeding Kansas

New-York Daily Tribune newspaper page dated February 28, 1860, printing Abraham Lincoln's speech delivered at the Cooper Institute. — Cooper Union Address · Abraham Lincoln

Title page of the 1857 report of the Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott versus John F. A. Sandford, cropped to the printed page. — Dred Scott v. Sandford

Detailed historical print of a nighttime Wide Awakes procession, with torchbearers, flags, and a Lincoln and Hamlin banner amid city buildings. — Grand Procession of the Wide Awakes

Historical print of a crowd gathered around a monument at night, with a snake banner reading Don't Tread on Me, surrounded by the original paper margins and inscriptions. — The First Flag of Independence Raised

Abraham Lincoln standing with one hand on books, cropped to the photograph inside its original mounting card. — President Abraham Lincoln

Black-and-white portrait of Jefferson Davis in a dark suit, standing with one hand resting on books. — President Jefferson Davis

Night bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, with shells arcing over the fort, smoke, and splashes in the water. — Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor

A wide view of Federal army tents and camp activity beside the Pamunkey River at Cumberland Landing, Virginia. — Federal encampment at Cumberland Landing

Emancipation Proclamation, manuscript page 1. — Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation, manuscript page 2. — Emancipation Proclamation

Panoramic Battle of Gettysburg print with cavalry, infantry, artillery, wounded soldiers, and smoke across an expansive battlefield. — Battle of Gettysburg

A Union sharpshooter perched on a tree branch, aiming his rifle through the foliage. — Sharpshooter · Winslow Homer

Soldiers from opposing sides seated and standing together between the lines, trading and talking. — Pickets trading between the lines

A soldier standing exposed atop an earthwork while other soldiers shelter behind the fortification. — Defiance, Inviting a Shot before Petersburg · Winslow Homer

Confederate prisoners standing before a Union officer on a battlefield, with soldiers and horses in the background. — Prisoners from the Front · Winslow Homer

Black Union troops at a picket station near the Dutch Gap canal, Virginia. This photograph depicts a different unit from the 54th Massachusetts shown in the Fort Wagner print. — Black Union pickets near Dutch Gap

The 54th Massachusetts storming Fort Wagner, with Union soldiers advancing beneath flags through smoke and gunfire along the coast. — Storming Fort Wagner · Kurz & Allison

Original paired stereographic views showing the ruins of Richmond in April 1865, with the photographic card preserved. — Richmond in ruins

Richmond burning at night, with towering flames and smoke over the city and a crowded bridge crossing the river. — The Fall of Richmond

The McLean house at Appomattox Court House, photographed in April 1865. — McLean House · Appomattox

Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee shaking hands in a room surrounded by Union and Confederate officers. — Let Us Have Peace

Allegorical print titled The Triumph, with figures beneath an American flag riding an eagle above storm clouds and defeated royal symbols. — The Triumph

Congressional resolution proposing the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, with signatures and Lincoln’s approval. — The Thirteenth amendment

A veteran in a white shirt harvesting a golden wheat field with a scythe beneath a blue sky, with his discarded uniform at the lower right. — The Veteran in a New Field · Winslow Homer

Powerful blue-green waves crashing into a dark rocky shoreline beneath a gray sky, throwing a towering plume of white spray. — Northeaster · Winslow Homer

A sweeping river bend and sunlit cultivated valley beside a wooded hillside and retreating storm clouds. — The Oxbow · Thomas Cole

Two men stand on a rocky ledge above a wooded gorge, with waterfalls and hazy mountains beyond the overhanging trees. — Kindred Spirits · Asher Brown Durand

Sunlit pale golden rocks overlooking distant water, with a seated figure beneath a soft peach sky. — Mount Desert Island, Maine · Jervis McEntee

A broad waterfall with green water, foaming rapids, mist, and a faint rainbow beneath a dramatic sky. — Niagara

A tranquil river framed by deep green woodland, with soft golden sunlight and blue mountains in the distance. — View on the Catskill—Early Autumn · Thomas Cole

Muted blue mountains rising behind small wooden cabins and warm brown and green foothills. — Untitled—Mountain Landscape · Thomas C. Campbell

A quiet mountain lake surrounded by dark wooded cliffs and a warm sunlit shoreline. — North Carolina Mountain Landscape · William Frerichs

Winslow Homer watercolor of trees draped in Spanish moss beside Tampa Bay, with a steamboat and sailboats on the pale water beyond. — Spanish Moss, Tampa Bay, Florida (1886)

An allegorical woman carries a book and telegraph wire over a landscape with trains, settlers, wagons, and displaced Indigenous people and wildlife. — American Progress · John Gast

A large crowd gathers around railroad tracks and steam locomotives for the ceremonial driving of the last spike. — The Driving of the Last Spike · Thomas Hill

Edwin Drake and another man stand beside a timber oil derrick and wooden well buildings. — The First Oil Well · Edwin Drake (1859)

An engraving of oil derricks, large circular storage tanks, workers, and buildings across the Pithole oil fields. — Oil Boom at Pithole, Pennsylvania · 1865

Opening manuscript page of the Interstate Commerce Act, titled An Act to regulate Commerce. — Interstate Commerce Act

A political cartoon depicting Standard Oil as a giant octopus whose tentacles reach around industry and government buildings. — Next!

Opening manuscript page of the Sherman Antitrust Act, addressing restraints of trade and commerce. — Sherman Antitrust Act

A black-and-white view of wooden oil derricks and small buildings covering a Pennsylvania hillside. — Pennsylvania Oil Fields · 1860s–1890s

A sepia stereograph with paired views of oil tanks, wagons, workers, and well buildings at Pithole. — The United States Well at Pithole · January 8, 1865

Sepia portrait of Theodore Roosevelt wearing pince-nez glasses and a dark suit. — President Theodore Roosevelt

Color political cartoon of gigantic financiers looming over a small Roosevelt holding a public service sword on Wall Street. — Jack and the Wall Street Giants · Keppler

Black-and-white cartoon of President Roosevelt riding an octopus labeled The Trusts, using trust control laws as a bridle. — The “Trust Buster”

First page of the 1906 law enlarging the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission, printed on page 584 of the Statutes at Large. — Hepburn Act · 1906

Opening typed page of Theodore Roosevelt’s statement on government regulation of railroads and other corporations. — Government Regulation of Railroads and Corporations · Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt stands behind a United States battleship’s cannon labeled Monroe Doctrine, facing Europe in the Hands Off! political cartoon. — Hands Off! · Monroe Doctrine

Printed page 33 of Roosevelt’s message discussing United States intervention and international police power in the Western Hemisphere. — Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Buffalo cross open grassland beneath dark approaching storm clouds. — Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm

Carleton Watkins’s albumen photograph of El Capitan and trees in Yosemite Valley, including the original photographic print margins. — El Capitan

Carleton Watkins’s paired stereographic views of the Grizzly Giant sequoia in Mariposa Grove, with the original card and inscriptions preserved. — Grizzly Giant · Mariposa Grove

A mountain valley with a Native American encampment beneath distant snow-covered peaks. — The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak

Warm evening light illuminates Yosemite Valley between towering cliffs. — Looking Down Yosemite Valley, California

A vast canyon of layered rock, distant mesas, and drifting storm clouds. — Grand Canyon of the Colorado River

Golden cliffs rise above a river and a small traveling party under a colorful sky. — Green River Cliffs, Wyoming

John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt stand together on a rocky overlook above Yosemite. — John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt

Moonlit Pacific waves break against golden rocky islands, with seabirds overhead and fishermen’s huts near the shore. — Fisherman’s Bay, South Farallon Island · Herman Herzog

Through hardship

We Demand Work or Wages — 1930

National Hunger March — 1931

Unemployment Council Pickets · Aaron Siskind

Children Protest Poor Housing — c. 1930–1933

Young family, penniless, hitchhiking on U.S. Highway 99 in California. The father, twenty-four, and the mother, seventeen 2

Young family, penniless, hitchhiking on U.S. Highway 99 in California. The father, twenty-four, and the mother, seventeen

Homeless Mother

This family had lost a two-year-old baby during the winter as a result of exposure

"Sometimes I tell my children that I would like to go to Mexico, but they tell me 'We don't want to go, we belong here.'"

Japanese mother and daughter, agricultural workers near Guadalupe, California

Oklahoma mother of five children, now picking cotton in California, near Fresno

Mother of 5 now picking cotton

18 year old with baby

During the cotton strike, the father, a striking picker, has left his wife and child in the car while going to FSA

Mother from Oklahoma, migrant, awaits visit of resident nurse for sick baby

with sick baby and agricultural workers medical association card (FSA)

Allie Mae Burroughs, Wife of a Cotton Sharecropper

Floyd Burroughs, a Cotton Sharecropper

People waiting in a food line at a flood refugee camp, Forrest City, Arkansas

Mother Migrant Sewing

Migrant Mother

Migrant Mother 2

Migrant Mother 3

Migrant Mother 4

The discussion this evening centers on the possibility of buying kerosene oil in large quantities and distributing it cooperatively in camp, to cut costs.

Meeting of the Mothers' Club in Arvin camp for migrant workers, Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp in California, opens with prayer

Singing hymns before opening of meeting of Mothers' Club at Arvin Farm Security Administration (FSA)

Mothers on the sidelines watch the Halloween party at Shafter migrant camp

Public health nurse interviews and advises prospective mother, aged seventeen, before arrival of first baby. Husband, aged twenty-three, is out picking. Made seventy-three cents this morning

The nurse consults the migrant mother whose small boy is ailing.

While the mothers are working in the fields, the preschool children of migrant families

While the Mothers are away at the field

Mother of family camped near a creek bed, panning for gold.

That Boy of mine, he wants to go to University

Young Oklahoma mother, age eighteen, penniless, stranded in California.

Young migrant mother has just finished washing.

Mothers on the sidelines, watching the Halloween party.

Untitled photo, possibly related to- Tulare County, Farm Security Administration (FSA) camp.

Young migrant mother who lives in one of the tents.

Outstretched Hands · 1932 or 1933

Thousands Demand Relief — 1932

Tanks Confront the Bonus Army — 1932

Outstretched Hands · Hansel Mieth · 1932 or 1934

Franklin D. Roosevelt takes the presidential oath on a crowded, decorated inaugural platform. — FDR Sworn In

Opening page of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaign speech on the federal budget, Pittsburgh, October 19, 1932. — FDR Campaign Speech on the Federal Budget

Bank run, about 1933

Emergency Banking Act — March 9, 1933

Signing the Glass-Steagall Act

Signing the National Industrial Recovery Act

Camp Roosevelt

President Franklin Roosevelt visited with CCC enrollees near Camp Roosevelt

African American enrollees lived and worked in separate camps

Enrollees gather in Breen Burney Camp in Lassen National Forest, California

Enrollees of Companies 1951 and 2950 studied art

CCC spelling class

WPA pack horse librarians, Kentucky

FDR Fireside Chat

A WPA worker receives his paycheck

WPA sewing shop, New York City

Women learning lathe operation, WPA

WPA road crew, Tennessee, 1936

Norris Dam construction worker, 1936

Norris Dam workers at noon, 1933

CCC enrollee planting a tree

Sunnyside Park pool construction, 1936

CCC water-management work, Zion

Planning rural electrification, 1940

Rehabilitation Client Pays back loan

WPA nursery, Jere, West Virginia

WPA school lunch program

Mother and child, Greenbelt, 1938

Clinic bedside-care lesson, Alabama, 1939

Elizabeth Olds inspecting a print

Federal Art Project sculptor at work

Milwaukee Handicraft Project bookmaking

Printing press, Brooklyn Museum, c. 1937

The Cradle Will Rock rehearsal, 1937

Federal Theatre audience, 1937

NYA work at a YWCA, 1936

NYA music program, Mobile, 1937

NRA Code

Now is the Time to Buy! Do Your Part

Work Pays America! Prosperity (1936–1941)

Prints for the People

One Third of the Nation

Lakeview Terrace by Stanley Thomas Clough

Rural Electrification poster

See America Welcome to Montana

The national parks preserve wild life

Visit the Zoo · Hugh Stevenson

Finishing The Cathedral of Learning

Workers on the Cathedral of Learning

Employment of Negroes in Agriculture

Street Scene

Snow Shovelers

Tenement Flats

Radio Broadcast

Security of the People · Seymour Fogel

River Front

Golden Gate Bridge · Ray Strong · 1934

Through war

Mussolini in helmet and uniform. — Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini and a group of men walking past saluting Fascist marchers outside the Colosseum in Rome. — Benito Mussolini · March on Rome

Aerial photograph of a Fascist rally in Merano, Italy, 1935–37. — Fascist rally in Merano

Photograph shows a large group of Italian fascist troops, all with right arm raised holding dagger in salute to Adolf Hitler. — Italian Fascisti dagger salute to Hitler

Archival black-and-white portrait of Adolf Hitler, April 20, 1937. — Adolf Hitler

A large group of boys in Hitler Youth uniforms gathered closely together. — Boys of the Hitlerjugend

Rows of Nazi standard-bearers and spectators assembled at a large rally ground. — Thousands of SA standard-bearers

The Boerneplatz synagogue in flames during the Kristallnacht pogrom (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Frankfurt am Main, Germany, November 10, 1938. — Frankfurt synagogue burns during November pogrom

Historical portrait of Hideki Tōjō in military uniform, Japan’s prime minister from 1941 to 1944. — Hideki Tōjō

Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces wearing gas masks amid the rubble of Shanghai. — Japanese naval troops in Shanghai

Japanese troops in Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. — Japanese troops in Nanjing

Japanese Imperial Army soldiers advancing toward Lang Son in French Indochina, September 1940. — Japanese advance into Indochina

USS Arizona burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. — Pearl Harbor attack · December 7, 1941

America mobilizes · 1941–42

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the declaration of war against Japan. — America enters the war

Women learn skills for war production in a Florida vocational school. — Learning war work

An Army B-25 takes off from USS Hornet for the raid on Japan. — The Doolittle Raid

Two oceans · 1942–43

American Marines rest in the field during the Guadalcanal campaign. — Marines on Guadalcanal

American troops aboard a landing craft bound for Oran, Algeria. — Operation Torch · North Africa

Private Paul Oglesby stands at the altar of a bomb-damaged church in Acerno, Italy. — The Italian campaign

American soldiers leave a Coast Guard landing craft at Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion. — D-Day · Into the Jaws of Death

The advance · 1944–45

The U.S. 28th Infantry Division marches down the Champs-Élysées in Paris. — American troops in liberated Paris

American parachute infantry advance through snow beyond St. Vith, Belgium. — The Battle of the Bulge

Marines of the 5th Division advance from Red Beach toward Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. — Marines on Iwo Jima

Into Germany · 1945

American forces cross the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine at Remagen. — Crossing the Rhine at Remagen

Survivors in the barracks at Buchenwald, photographed after the camp was liberated by American forces. — Survivors at liberated Buchenwald

American Lieutenant William Robertson and Soviet Lieutenant Alexander Sylvashko stand beside an East Meets West sign. — Americans meet Soviet troops at the Elbe

The complete front page of The Stars and Stripes, Germany Edition, volume 1, number 28, May 2, 1945, with the headline Hitler Dead. — Hitler Dead · The Stars and Stripes

And in secret

President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev meet at the U.S. Embassy residence in Vienna. — Kennedy and Khrushchev · Vienna Summit

A Polaris A1 missile carrying a live W-47Y1 nuclear warhead launches from the submerged USS Ethan Allen during the Frigate Bird test. Photographed from USS Maddox. This is a different Operation Dominic test from Truckee. — Beneath the surface · a live Polaris launch

Mushroom cloud from the Truckee atmospheric nuclear test during Operation Dominic at Kiritimati (Christmas Island). This is an identified American test photograph, not a Soviet explosion. — The nuclear threat · Operation Dominic, Truckee

Ben Shahn’s antinuclear painting from the Saga of the Lucky Dragon series. Its mythic dragon and suffering fishermen respond to the Japanese fishing crew contaminated by the 1954 U.S. hydrogen-bomb test at Bikini Atoll. This is an American artist’s response to victims in Japan, not a scene of American civil defense. — We Did Not Know What Happened to Us · Ben Shahn

CIA-published map of U-2 reconnaissance overflights of Cuba in August–October 1962, reproduced in the later official history The CIA and the U-2 Program, 1954–1974. The archive upload is dated 2015; this is a later historical map, not a 1962 photograph. — Watching from above · U-2 flights over Cuba

U-2 reconnaissance photograph of MRBM Field Launch Site No. 1 at San Cristobal, Cuba, preserved with the original briefing annotations. — The Cuban Missile Crisis

Two shadowy officials covertly exchange papers. The Jewish Museum interprets Shahn’s work in relation to Cold War surveillance, suspicion, and political duplicity. This is symbolic commentary, not a record of a particular intelligence meeting. — Conversations · Ben Shahn

Vermont Governor Robert Stafford cuts the ribbon at a prototype fallout shelter constructed in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wackerman of Montpelier. The archive supplies a broad date range; the exact day is not established. — Living with the threat · a prototype fallout shelter

Annotated draft of a letter from President Kennedy to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev about Cuba and the Soviet missile buildup. The handwritten revisions show diplomacy being worked out behind the public confrontation. — Private words · Kennedy’s annotated draft to Khrushchev

President Kennedy meets the Executive Committee of the National Security Council about Cuba on October 29, after the agreement announced on October 28; implementing the settlement remained under discussion. — Kennedy and EXCOMM · the Cuban Missile Crisis

President Kennedy delivers the American University commencement address, calling for a reexamination of Cold War attitudes and announcing talks toward a nuclear test-ban agreement. — A Strategy of Peace · American University

President Kennedy signs the U.S. instrument of ratification of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the White House Treaty Room. The treaty had been signed in Moscow on August 5 and entered into force on October 10, 1963. — Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty · U.S. ratification

Rockwell portrays people of different nations and faiths under the Golden Rule. The painting developed from his earlier United Nations drawing, conceived during the Cold War as an expression of hope for international cooperation. It offers an aspiration toward peace rather than a literal depiction of nuclear danger. — Golden Rule · Norman Rockwell

William Pickering, James Van Allen, and Wernher von Braun hold a model of Explorer 1 after its successful launch on January 31, 1958. The early-morning press conference followed on February 1. The object held overhead is a model, not the orbiting satellite. — Explorer 1 · America’s first satellite

Alan Shepard prepares for the Freedom 7 mission in his pressure suit. His Mercury-Redstone flight was suborbital; he became the first American in space on May 5, 1961. — Alan Shepard · the first American in space

John Glenn enters the Friendship 7 capsule with assistance from technicians before becoming the first American to orbit Earth. — John Glenn · Friendship 7

President Kennedy addresses Rice University on the nation’s space effort and reaffirms the goal of a crewed Moon landing before the end of the decade. — “We choose to go to the Moon” · Rice University

Ed White floats outside Gemini IV, secured by his umbilical and tether. Commander James McDivitt photographed the first American spacewalk from inside the spacecraft. — Ed White · America’s first spacewalk

William Anders photographed Earth above the lunar horizon during Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon. The full NASA-published image is preserved, including its black sky. — Earthrise · Apollo 8

The Apollo 11 Saturn V launches from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin toward the Moon. — Apollo 11 · Saturn V lifts off

No matter how far we go

Buzz Aldrin stands near the lunar module at Tranquility Base. Neil Armstrong and the module are reflected in his visor. — Apollo 11 · Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

American astronaut Thomas Stafford and Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov shake hands after the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft dock. NASA reproduced this image from a frame of 16 mm motion-picture film. It marks cooperation between the former Space Race rivals. — Apollo–Soyuz · a handshake in orbit

No matter how many years pass

Panoramic painting reproduction supplied by the user. — The Defense of Human Freedoms