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Contact: Brenda Ling, 718-815-3652
The George Washington bible will be removed for safekeeping due to emergency repairs that will be made to the dome in the grand rotunda of Federal Hall. The repair project will begin in late January and is expected to be complete by late June 2020. During this period, the Federal Hall rotunda will be closed and the public will only be able to access Federal Hall through the Pine Street entrance. This alternate entrance is located at 15 Pine Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10005 and is ADA accessible.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington placed his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office, becoming the first President of the United States. The ceremony took place at the old City Hall (now Federal Hall National Memorial) located at 26 Wall Street, New York, N.Y. Interestingly, the Bible has also been used in the inaugurations of Presidents Warren G. Harding. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, and George H.W. Bush (whose 1989 inauguration was the bicentennial year of George Washington's).
The George Washington Inaugural Bible was loaned to him by a local Masonic Lodge, St. John's No. 1, Ancient York Masons. Members of the St. John's Lodge allow the Washington Bible to be permanently displayed in a special case in the Inaugural Gallery on the first floor of Federal Hall National Memorial when it is not in use by the Lodge or on tour.
Federal Hall National Memorial Superintendent Shirley McKinney says, "We are please that funding has been made available to complete these urgent repairs to this historic resource. Even though the Federal Hall rotunda will be closed to the public, Park Rangers will still be on site and ready to offer modified tours and history talks." The visitor center, exhibitions, restrooms, and other historic areas of the site will remain open to the public.
About Federal Hall National Memorial
For 17 momentous months, from 1789 to 1790, the location of Federal Hall National Memorial was the seat of the United States federal government under the new Constitution. Moving into the former New York City Hall, Congress passed many of the founding laws of the nation and approved the Bill of Rights for ratification by the states. The 1883 statue of George Washington commemorates where our first president took the oath of office on April 30, 1789. The original building, torn down in 1812, was also the site of the trial and acquittal of printer John Peter Zenger in 1735 and the location where the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, defined the process of creating new states. The current building, constructed in 1842 as the U.S. Customs House, is one of the architectural marvels of New York City. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/feha
Last updated: January 9, 2020