OxfordPress.com

D.C. exhibit celebrates America's ties with Paris

WASHINGTON — Paris has always drawn Americans, from Benjamin Franklin's diplomatic mission in 1777 to ordinary people taking leisure trips today. An exhibit opening Friday at the National Archives looks at how they have left their mark.

The "Americans in Paris" exhibit "shows how Paris as a destination and metaphor became part of the U.S. culture," said Marvin Pinkert, director of museum programs. "The surprise we found was we were looking at Paris' place in American history."

Among the displays:

— Franklin's 1777 letter reporting on his diplomatic negotiations.

— Footage of crowds cheering Charles Lindbergh in 1927 as he completed the first solo transatlantic flight.

— A sketch of the hairdo Jacqueline Kennedy sported during her 1961 visit with President John F. Kennedy, when she proved so popular with the French that her husband later joked to reporters, "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris."

— The medal awarded to Thomas Edison at the 1878 Paris Universal Exposition for his inventions using electricity.

— Items from military history shared by the United States and France, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower's five-star insignia, Harry S Truman's captain's uniform from World War I, and the treaty ending the Vietnam War.

— The manuscript for Ernest Hemingway's Paris memoir, "A Moveable Feast."

The exhibit is the last in a "Paris on the Potomac" series celebrating cultural ties between the U.S. and French capitals.

"Americans in Paris" is free to the public and is scheduled to run from May 27 to Oct. 10 in the National Archive's Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery at 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.