This achievement is the more remarkable given the undreamed-of growth of the federal government and the proliferation of paperwork during this period. The others are regional in character and are part of a National Archives centers system. These centers also house field archives branches. The holdings of these archives are chiefly of regional interest but also include microfilm copies of many of the most important records in the National Archives. The pages of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are sealed into individual bronze and glass cases in which air has been replaced by protective helium.
Light filters prevent fading.
At closing time, the documents are lowered from their marble setting into a vault below the floor. Thomas Jefferson presenting the Declaration of Independence to John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, and James Madison presenting the Constitution to George Washington, President of the Constitutional Convention. Other exhibits in the Rotunda and the Circular Gallery highlight major events in the nation's history. The National Archives Building has numerous sculptural decorations and inscriptions, but the words on the base of one statue have become identified with the institution itself. There is no better reason for preserving the documentary materials of the American experience.