The Wild Amount Norman Lear Paid For A Copy Of The Declaration Of Independence

According to CNN, after the ratification of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, it was sent to the printers in Philadelphia. As of 2000, only 25 copies from that first printing were known to still exist, and the majority were claimed by public institutions. Only four were in private hands. A pristine copy discovered in 1989, stuck behind a painting, was sold at auction to Donald Scheer for over $2 million in 1991. Nine years later, Scheer himself put the copy up for auction, and Norman Lear was ready.

Partnering with entrepreneur David Hayden, Lear put up $8.1 million for Scheer’s copy of the Declaration on behalf of the Lear Family Foundation (per AP, via The Topeka Capital-Journal). It was quickly announced that the copy would be put on tour as part of a multimedia exhibit. “We don’t have civics being taught in school very much,” said Lear, lamenting the difference between children’s contemporary experience with America’s founding documents and his own. The touring exhibit — which reached museums in all 50 states according to PBS — put the Declaration of Independence within easy reach of Americans of all ages. The tour operated for the 10 years that Lear’s family owned the copy.

In connection with the DOI Road Trip, as the exhibit was named, Lear established the voter initiative group Declare Yourself to encourage young people to register to vote. Between 2004 and 2008, it registered over 4 million new voters.