With Liberty
and Justice for All

Explore the proud and often painful evolution of American freedom, from the Revolutionary War through the struggle for civil rights, in this ground-breaking exhibit.

Daily Activities at With Liberty & Justice for All

While there are no scheduled activities today, be sure to see our complete activities listing for upcoming offerings.

This exhibit focuses upon four key transformative moments in the American quest for freedom: the Revolutionary Era, the Antislavery Movement and Civil War Era, the Woman’s Suffrage Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights the people and iconic artifacts that were involved in those moments, and encourages you to consider the important debates and struggles. From the Rosa Parks Bus to George Washington’s humble camp cot and the rocking chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated, you'll journey through America’s fight for freedom and celebrate the courage to maintain it.


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Highlights

Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823

  Details

Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

Artifact

Print (Visual work)

Date Made

04 July 1823

Summary

This is an exact, precise facsimile of one of America's greatest documents. It is one of two hundred copies commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams in 1820. It is an engraving made from the original document. Two copies each were given to the surviving signers and the rest distributed to Congress, state governments and colleges and universities.

Object ID

29.1060.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Dr. M.S. Seip

With Liberty & Justice For All
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

Engraved Copy of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Commissioned by John Quincy Adams, Printed 1823

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details

"Whites Only" Drinking Fountain, 1954

  Details

"Whites Only" Drinking Fountain, 1954

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

Artifact

Drinking fountain

Date Made

1954

Summary

From the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries, segregation laws in Southern states separated African Americans and whites in almost every aspect of public life -- from railroad cars and schools to restrooms and drinking fountains. Varying from state to state, these laws were supposed to establish facilities that were "separate but equal." In reality, these were almost never equal.

Place of Creation

United States, Ohio, Warren 

Object ID

2005.19.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

With Liberty & Justice For All
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

"Whites Only" Drinking Fountain, 1954

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details

Rosa Parks Bus

  Details
Artifact

Bus

Date Made

1948

Summary

Inside this bus on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a soft-spoken African-American seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man, breaking existing segregation laws. The flawless character and quiet strength she exhibited successfully ignited action in others. For this, many believe Rosa Parks's act was the event that sparked the Civil Rights movement.

Object ID

2001.154.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

With Liberty & Justice For All
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details

Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865

  Details

Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

Artifact

Rocking chair

Date Made

1855-1865

Summary

President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in this rocking chair during a production of Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., when he was assassinated on April 14, 1865. Henry Ford purchased the chair in 1929 for the Museum, where it remains one of the most revered objects associated with the "man who saved the Union."

Place of Creation

United States 

Object ID

29.1451.1

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

With Liberty & Justice For All
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

Rocking Chair Used by Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater the Night of His Assassination, April 14, 1865

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845

  Details

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

Artifact

Book

Date Made

1845

Summary

Frederick Douglass became a leader in the anti-slavery movement when he spontaneously stood up and spoke at an abolitionist meeting in 1841. Douglass wrote about his life as a slave to support the growing abolitionist movement. This book led to his career as a reform journalist. His gut-wrenching tales about life on the plantation in Maryland turned thousands of skeptical Americans into active abolitionists.

Object ID

66.143.763

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Location

Not on exhibit to the public.

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," 1845

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details

Political Banner, New York State Woman Suffrage Party, 1910

  Details

Political Banner, New York State Woman Suffrage Party, 1910

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

Artifact

Banner

Date Made

1910

Summary

This banner was carried in rallies and marches by members of the New York State Woman Suffrage Party. Reformers had been advocating giving women the vote since the 1840s. However, it was not until the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 that women gained the vote.

Place of Creation

United States, New York 

Object ID

33.466.4

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Alice R. Hepburn.

With Liberty & Justice For All
 On Exhibit

at Henry Ford Museum in With Liberty & Justice for All

Get more details in Digital Collections at:

thehenryford.org

Political Banner, New York State Woman Suffrage Party, 1910

View in our Collectionson thehenryford.org 

What is The Henry Ford?

The national attraction for discovering your ingenuity while exploring America’s spirit of innovation. There is always much to see and do at The Henry Ford.

VIEW CALENDAR

  Details


With Liberty and Justice for All

Bronze Bust of George Washington

A turn-of-the-nineteenth-century bronze bust of the first president of the United States.  

Challenging Segregation

The famous bus where, on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man.  

Rosa Parks Bus

Visitors sitting on the bus that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.  

Jail for Supporting Women's Rights

Women advocating for their right to vote were sometimes imprisoned in cells such as this.  

Let Women Vote!

The Suffrage Movement, most active in the U.S. in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, resulted in women's right to vote in 1920.  

Separate Entrances

Signs like this one were once common in certain areas of the United States.