By Ember Herrick
After being viewed by more than 50,000 visitors, an original copy of the Declaration of Independence is in its final week of display at the Utah State Capitol.
A multimedia exhibition has showcased the rare document to the world daily from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. through the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which end Friday, March 15.
Robert Bobrowski, document guardian, did research on the Declaration of Independence to be able to answer visitors'' questions.
'The document means a lot to me personally; it is the birth certificate for our country,' Bobrowski said. 'We would be a totally different society without it.'
Bobrowski met foreign dignitaries, visitors and athletes who waited up to two hours in line to see the document during the Olympic Games.
'It''s been very touching to see people come up and become very emotional to see the document,' Bobrowski said.
Free admission to the display has encouraged more than 11,000 schoolchildren from across Utah to travel to see the document.
Larry Bringhurst, document guardian, said answering the same questions day after day from visitors gets old, but is rewarding.
'I''ve learned a lot - it''s been very interesting,' Bringhurst said.
Bobrowski said the document is one of 200 copies of the original made on July 4, 1776, by John Dunlap of Philadelphia; the signed original is preserved in the National Archives.
According to Bringhurst, some little-known facts about this specific copy of the document are that it was printed on cotton-based parchment and it was discovered in 1989 when a flea-market shopper bought a painting for $4 because he liked the frame. A tear in the painting revealed to the new owner the historical document; it is one of only 25 of the original 200 still in existence.
The document displayed at the Capitol was sold for $2.2 million in 1992 and later to philanthropist Norman Lear in 2000 for $1.84 million.
Bringhurst said an interesting fact he researched about the document is that the original Declaration of Independence was not signed July 4, but a month later on Aug. 2, by most of the 56 members of the Continental Congress.
Dale Woodfield, scoutmaster of Troop 566 from Pleasant View, brought 10 boy scouts ages 11 to 13 to view the document and see firsthand how the Legislature runs.
'We are hoping they will come away with a little bit of understanding about American history and how government works, and spark some interest in their own lives to be involved,' Woodfield said.
The Declaration of Independence road trip is a non-profit, non-partisan project, which supervises the historical document on a cross-country, 3 1/2 year tour across the United States.
Utah was the first stop on the tour; the document will continue on to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, where it can be seen from April 27-July 5.