Efforts Continue To Get Public Display of Washington's Letter To Newport Hebrew Congregation

The Forward last week reported on efforts to restore to public view an important document in the history of religious freedom in the United States-- George Washington's Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. In the 1790  letter, Washington says:

It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

The letter is owned by the Morris Morgenstern Foundation which is controlled by reclusive private collector Richard Morgenstern.  Until 2002, the letter was displayed, on long-term loan, at the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.  That museum closed in 2002 and its contents-- apparently including the famous letter-- were placed in storage.  The National Museum of American Jewish History and the Library of Congress have both tried to persuade Morgenstern to again place the letter on public display. Apparently the Library of Congress is still negotiating on the matter.