Press

ALBANY, N.Y. – A new two-day exhibition -- “From New York to the White House, New York Residents Who Became President” -- will open Presidents’ Day in the lobby of the New York State Museum featuring George Washington’s 1796 farewell address.

Open Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 20-21, the exhibition will honor the nation’s first president as well as New York’s political leaders who rose to the presidency.

The exhibition will include several important artifacts from the George Washington Collection at the New York State Library. Among these will be an original draft of George Washington’s Farewell Address, penned in his hand, which was sent to Alexander Hamilton for comment and revision on May 15, 1796. It was rescued from the fire that ravaged the State Capitol in 1911. One of General Washington’s dress swords will also be on display. According to Washington family tradition, the sword was presented to Washington by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. The sword was purchased by the State of New York directly from Washington’s family in 1871 and is depicted in the Washington portrait that hangs in the United States House of Representatives. The display will also include leaves from an extremely rare volume entitled “A Representation of the Cloathing of His Majesty's Household and of all the Forces upon the Establishments of Great Britain and Ireland,” 1742. This collection of colored engravings of British military uniforms was given to Washington in 1787.

Eight New York residents who became president are recognized including Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower..

Established in 1836, the State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/.