A fragile piece of America's history is on display at the National Archives to commemorate the birth of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

The Emancipation Proclamation, which Abraham Lincoln issued on New Year's Day 1863, declared "all persons held as slaves" in the rebellious Southern states "are, and henceforward shall be free."The proclamation transformed the character of the Civil War, and some regard it as a precursor to the civil rights movement.

"Others have said that it was the greatest document of the 19th century," archivist Milton Gustafson said Thursday before the exhibit opened. "Lincoln said it was the greatest thing that he had done."

The proclamation was first displayed for its 130th anniversary in January 1993, and again in January 1994. It was written on two large sheets of paper that were folded to make eight pages. The last three pages are blank.

The five pages, each in protective plastic, are in a 6-foot-tall case, cordoned off by rope and under the watchful eyes of security guards in the rotunda of the National Archives, a grand neoclassical building on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol.

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The pages are displayed vertically so visitors can walk around the case and see both sides of the pages. But the first and last pages, exposed to the most handling and light, have faded somewhat.

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