Did you know that from 1975 through 1976, a twenty-six car train dubbed the “Freedom Train” toured all forty-eight contiguous U.S. states as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration, the 200th Anniversary of American Independence? The train carried over five hundred historically significant objects for Americans to see and learn from, ranging from George Washington’s personal copy of the Constitution to Martin Luther King Jr.’s ministerial robes and even lunar rocks collected by the space program!  In 1974, just before the Freedom Train began its journey, President Gerald R. Ford visited it in Alexandria, Virginia, where it was parked at the Alexandria Railway Station (pictured). Standing on the caboose, Ford spoke to the assembled crowd and called the Freedom Train “one of the focal points for our Bicentennial commemoration.” The precious cargo, meanwhile, represented to Ford “much of our Nation’s past history and our hopes for the future.” Today, the future is here as we prepare to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary! All aboard the Freedom Train! 📸: @Ford_Library / @USNatArchives