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Since becoming the nation's chief archivist, Allen Weinstein has embarked on a campaign to expand what he calls "civic literacy" _ teaching people to better understand and appreciate the origins and meaning of American democracy.
Where better to do this than on the site of the Wall Street building where the U.S. government was founded and George Washington was inaugurated as the first president? And who better to be there than the latest crop of immigrants to take their own oath of allegiance to the Stars and Stripes?
On Thursday, some 80 immigrants from 35 countries will officially become Americans against a unique historical backdrop _ a parchment copy of the first amendments to the Constitution as ratified by New York's state legislature in March 1790.
New citizens, meet the Bill of Rights.
What does it mean that they will stand and raise their right hands at the place where that seminal declaration of liberty and equality was actually drafted more than two centuries ago?
"It sends chills up my spine. It seems to me there could be no more appropriate setting for the reaffirmation of the values that this country has always lived by and will continue to live by," said Weinstein, a son of Russian immigrants who has made the advocacy of American ideals his life's work as a university professor, prolific author and self-described "democracy activist."
He said the symbolism should be most meaningful to new citizens making the transition from countries controlled by dictators and repressive regimes, where there is nothing resembling an American-style bill of rights.
"The first questions that many people ask about the United States are about the rights that Americans have, and can they have those rights for themselves," Weinstein said in an interview.
"And when new citizens are sworn in, you can always tell those people _ they are the first ones to tell you about their admiration for the Bill of Rights."
Australian-born musician and actor Ian Phillip Stephen, who is among those taking the oath Thursday, called it "a tremendously big deal for me," especially at a historic site like Federal Hall. "I love Australia, but my problem is I believe in equality, not royalty."
Although the original Federal Hall was torn down in the early 19th century and replaced by the U.S. Customs House that stands today, a statue of Washington marks the spot where in 1789, Congress first met to establish the federal government, and he took the oath of office as president.
New York's ratification document normally rests among other priceless artifacts at the National Archives. It comes back to Gotham for the first time in 217 years, and visitors will have only four days to view the original before it is returned to its vault in Washington, said Susan Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Archives.
Once the document goes back to Washington, a facsimile will replace it in a permanent interactive exhibit.
The Bill of Rights has a storied history in New York City.
The U.S. Constitution was signed and sealed in Philadelphia in 1787, but delegates from the 13 states continued fierce debate over its lack of a declaration of "individual rights" to protect citizens from government oppression _ the very issue that had spawned the American Revolution.
Thomas Jefferson, who more than a decade earlier had written the Declaration of Independence, joined fellow Virginian James Madsion, author of the Constitution, in arguing for the list of amendments to protect freedom of speech, religion, assembly and other personal liberties.
"A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse," Jefferson told his colleagues.
The proposal was opposed by "anti-federalists" who believed it gave too much power to a central government, but key supporters Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay campaigned for it in what became known as the Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays published anonymously in New York newspapers in 1787-88.
With a majority of states approving the Constitution only on condition that amendments be added, it was a matter of time before all fell in line.
The result was the Bill of Rights _ drafted at Federal Hall in 1789 as 12 amendments, but reduced to 10 by the time they were added to the Constitution in 1791. Of the two that fell by the wayside, one concerned apportionment. The other, dealing with congressional pay, was resurrected in the 1980s and became the 27th Amendment.
The New York ratification document, listing 11 amendments, is a parchment sheet, 26 inches across and 15 inches high, its tiny script still legible after more than two centuries. Dated March 27, 1790, it bears the signature of New York's first governor, George Clinton, and the state seal in wax.
Weinstein said its display at Federal Hall was "an incredibly exciting prospect" in view of that site's history in the creation of American democracy, and part of his 10-year "strategic plan" to teach its history and values to a far wider audience through "civic literacy" educational programs around the United States.
"We want people to be inspired by the origins of their country," he said.
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