RALEIGH North Carolina’s original copy of the Bill of Rights will be on display at the North Carolina Museum of History to celebrate its 225th anniversary, which is on Dec. 15.The Bill of Rights can be viewed from Dec. 14 to Dec. 18, and attendees will be able to enjoy several programs on Dec. 14. Linda R. Monk, an award-winning author, journalist, and constitutional scholar, will present “History à la Carte: The Bill of Rights, How North Carolina Saved the Constitution” at noon. Sarah Koonts, the director of the Division of Archives and Records, will trace the history of the document with a presentation entitled “North Carolina’s Original Copy of the Bill of Rights” at 1 p.m. Koonts will describe how it was stolen from a Union solider during the Civil War and its recovery by the FBI in 2003.The North Carolina Bill of Rights was ratified Dec. 15, 1791. North Carolina’s copy is one of the 14 original copies. The state retained custody of the copy in 1971 after the ratification of the first 10 amendments.The document will be on view for a limited time only to protect it from light. Admission is free.
