AISD's Photo Gallery - Hundreds of Austin students and community members viewed a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence on display at Anderson High School on February 5. At a preview event held for local, state and Disctirct leaders, AISD Social Studies Supervisor Joe Ramirez explained to Superintendent Dr. Meria Carstarphen that the document was printed before the alphabet had been standardized. Austin was the second stop of a six city tour for the Declaration of Independenc, which was sponsored by the Pearson Foundation. Anderson earned the privilege of hosting the document because of the high percentage of student participation in the 2008 Mock Presidential Election.

The broadside is one of about 200 original copies of the then newly drafted Declaration of Independence that was printed in John Dunlap's Philadelphia shop on the evening of July 4, 1776. The documents were then rushed to the 13 colonies and to the militia to be read aloud to the people. The Dunlap broadsides predate the original hand written and signed Declaration if Independence house at the National Archives in Washington D.C.

The broadside on display at Anderson High School was only discovered in 1989, when a shopper purchased a frame at a flea market for $4. He found the document inside the frame. Sotheby's Auction House, and independent experts, certified it as being authentic. Television Norman Lear purchased this particular broadside in 2000 with the intent of having the document made accessible to people across the nation. Additional photos of of the preview event are posted on the District's online gallery at http://www.austinisd.org/gallery.