Confederate Constitution on Display at Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Placed in a dark, dry, secure location most of the year, the Confederate Constitution is now on display at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The manuscript – which measures nearly 12 and a half feet long – is carefully unrolled and laid inside a plastic encasement for public viewing. 

The Confederate Constitution, adopted in March of 1861, was first in Montgomery, Al. Later, it was taken to Richmond, Va., and stayed there for the duration of the war. According to Toby Graham, Director of the Hargrett library, the document was then unceremoniously dumped by a railway station in April of 1865, toward the end of the war. 

“The Confederate government was fleeing to the Southern controlled territory of Alabama,” Graham said, “and stopped in Chester, South Carolina. They dumped a lot of the records they had with them.” 

The records were found by Felix de Fontaine, a newspaper correspondent and publisher who was looking for some blank paper to print on. 

“Paper was in short supply during the war,” Graham explained. 

After keeping them for a while, he eventually sold them to the Derenne family in Savannah. They owned the largest collection in all of Georgia. In 1938, the University of Georgia purchased the entire library, including the Constitution for $20,000. 

“Their library forms the nucleus of our rare books exhibit,” Graham said. 

The Constitution, handwritten on vellum, is only brought out once a year in order to preserve the document. The ink is fading due to time and light exposure.   

A few other exhibits are on display as well, including the women's history exhibit, Native American history and colonial history.  All displays are eyecatching and bring you back to a unique time in America's history.  You can read the entire document on the library's website.