Museum admission is $12 per adult, $10 for veterans & seniors and $7 for students
The American Freedom Train
Founding Director Warren Motts
In 1975 Founding director Warren E. Motts was selected to be the Photographer for the 1975-1976 American Freedom Train’s Commemorative Program. He photographed the priceless artifacts from the 200 years of American history that were to be display on the train. Which include George Washington's copy of the Constitution, Judy Garland's dress from “The Wizard of OZ”, Robert Redford Jr. suit from the movie “The Sting”, Hank Aaron’s 714 Ball and Bat, Martin Luther King Jr. bible and robes, and Astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. space suite a rock from the moon, just to name a few.
The 1975-76 American Freedom Train had its beginning in the 1970s, Ross Rowland Jr., a young, successful New York commodities broker who had a love for steam locomotives and at times would don his engineer hat at the controls of a steam locomotive as its engineer. His friend John Wayne gave him the idea to celebrate the Bicentennial of the American by putting together a traveling exhibition of exceptional artifacts representing 200 years of our history pulled by a magnificent steam Locomotive. The (AFT) featured 12 display cars, ten of them filled with 500 artifacts from the past 200 years of America history that visitors could visit and go through. It began its epic journey April 1, 1975, and traveled for 21 months ending up December 31, 1976. More than 7 million Americans visited the AFT as it toured all 48 contiguous states. Many millions more stood by trackside to watch this beautiful train as it passed by. It was one great event, that brought America's Bicentennial celebration to the people.
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Motts became so fascinated by the train that he decided to continue on the train documenting the train’s travels as it traveled across America. The American Freedom Train was a traveling exhibit that toured the United States from 1975 to 1976, showcasing artifacts and artworks related to American history and culture, as part of the US Bicentennial celebrations. It was pulled by three different steam locomotives on different legs of the journey. We are about to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of America and Mr. Motts decided to write a book “Steaming Through History” with photographs and his experiences over those two years. If you would like to know more about his experiences this book can be purchased online or in the Museum’s gifts shop.
After traveling on the train, he learned about The first Freedom Train and Mr. Motts has now made it his mission to collect and preserve the history and Artifacts from both the “Freedom Train” and “The American Freedom Train”. He currently has some of these items on display in the Museum acquired from members of both these trains and is working on expanding this collection.
The 1947-1949 “Freedom Train” was a seven-car exhibition train that toured the United States, showcasing America's most important historical documents and artifacts to promote patriotism and civic engagement. Its purpose was to instill back into the American people the loyalty and appreciation for the nation's founding principles after World War II. The train visited all 48 states, and stopped at over 300 cities and towns, and was viewed by more than 3.5 million people.