The Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas displays historical artifacts in the fourth and final part of "The American Experiment," an exhibit series. The LBJ Presidential Library and the Briscoe Center jointly curated the series to mark America's 250th anniversary. The exhibit covers politics, war, invention and popular music, and it will be on display through Jan. 10 on the library's 10th floor.
The exhibit includes signed letters from Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Jackson, who later became U.S. presidents. One is an 1779 letter from Thomas Jefferson, then Virginia governor, to Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana. The story says Gálvez's success was due in large part to longhorn cattle sent from Texas to feed his troops.
Other items include an 1815 letter from Andrew Jackson about the Battle of New Orleans, and a diary kept during the Civil War by Union Cpl. Mahlon W. Barber.