An exhibition featuring original manuscripts and correspondence written by William Few and Abraham Baldwin, close personal friends who were Georgia’s two signers of the U.S. Constitution, is on display in observance of the 220th anniversary of Constitution Day, Sept. 17.
In May of 1787, 12 states sent delegates to Philadelphia to propose amendments to the Articles of Confederation, under which the 13 original states had been operating. After much debate and compromise the United States Constitution was completed on Sept. 17, 1787.
Documents relating to the two men are part of the collections at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, located in the Main library, where the exhibition is on display through Sept. 28. The UGA Libraries recently added to those collections when it acquired more than 250 letters of Few, his wife, Catherine, and their daughter, Frances.
Baldwin’s papers are located in the UGA Archives of the Hargrett Library.
Included in the exhibition are documents relating to life and the political climate in Georgia during that period, such as the Siege of Savannah, in which the casualties of the French allies were higher than that of the Americans; the scandal of the Yazoo Land Fraud; religion in Georgia camp meetings; and the establishment of the University of Georgia, also known as Franklin College.
The Hargrett Library is open Monday through Thursday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. and Saturdays 1–5 p.m. The Hargrett Library is closed on all home football game days.