News Release

July 1, 1999

AT&T Commits $1 Million Towards Preservation of
America's Charters of Freedom

President Bill Clinton thanks AT&T for its $1 Million gift to help preserve the nation's "Charters of Freedom."

AT&T today announced a $1 million grant to the Foundation for the National Archives to support the preservation and enhanced public display of the nation’s "Charters of Freedom" — the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

AT&T Chairman and CEO Mike Armstrong joined President Bill Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Archivist of the United States John Carlin for the announcement in a ceremony at the National Archives in Washington. Armstrong called the company’s support "AT&T’s millennium gift to America."

Since 1952, the Charters of Freedom have been on continuous view for millions of visitors to the National Archives in Washington. In 1995, Archives conservators observed signs of deterioration in the Charters’ encasements and recommended that they be re-encased in the near future. Subsequently President Clinton made the preservation of the Charters a national millennium priority. Supported by a combination of public and private funds, the National Archives plans to renovate its Rotunda to accommodate the re-encased Charters and to display all four pages of the Constitution for the first time (only the first page and signature page can be seen now). You can learn about the history of the Charters by visiting the the National Archives Online Exhibit Hall, and preservation efforts by reading the feature story on the Save America's Treasures website.

Besides supporting the preservation and improved display of the Charters, AT&T announced several educational and public initiatives related to the millennium project. These include:

AT&T Chariman and CEO Mike Armstrong unveils the Save America's Treasures Web site, designed and developed by the AT&T Learning Network.

AT&T Learning Network's design, development and promotion of a website for Save America's Treasures, a partnership of the White House Millennium Council and the National Trust for Historic Preservation dedicated to the preservation and protection of buildings, monuments, documents and artifacts that tell America's story. The new site brings information on the nation's threatened historic and cultural treasures and the efforts to save them for future generations to students, teachers and families across the country.
A collaboration between AT&T and The History Channel to distribute a free 40-page interdisciplinary teachers' manual on the Declaration of Independence. The manual includes a study guide to accompany The History Channel special presentation, "Save our History^TM: The Declaration of Independence," which premieres July 3 at 8 pm ET/9 pm PT. The manual also will be made available online through The History Channel Web site.

Announcing these contributions to the Charters project, Armstrong said, "We’re delighted to make the first corporate contribution, and we certainly hope that our gift is just the beginning of a successful campaign among corporations and other donors." Armstrong praised the President and First Lady for being "so personally committed to preserving these American treasures, making them both safer and more accessible than ever."

AT&T is the world’s premier voice and data communications company, serving more than 90 million customers including consumers, businesses and government. With annual revenues of more than $51 billion and 126,000 employees, AT&T provides services to more than 280 countries and territories around the world.

The AT&T Learning Network is the company's award-winning, $150 million program that links families, teachers and schools to the technology tools and support they need to improve teaching and learning.

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