WASHINGTON — About 1 million people visit the National Archives every year to see some of the cherished documents that formed the foundation of the United States.

In the dimly lit rotunda, the original, faded Declaration of Independence sits in a titanium and aluminum case filled with argon gas to help preserve it for future generations.

The declaration is 231 years old this summer, but it's not dusty history to senior archive curator Stacey Bredhoff. When she leads tours, especially for people from emerging democracies, they want to know about the Founding Fathers, what they were reading and thinking, what inspired them.

"They do look to these documents as a model. Those ideals that are so elegantly expressed in the Declaration of Independence are very alive to them," she said.

Bredhoff talked to Gannett News Service about the importance of the nation's historic documents.

Q. What are some things that people might not know about the Declaration of Independence?

A. One of the most widely held misconceptions about the declaration is that it was signed on July 4, 1776. (It was signed in August.) They had voted for independence on July 2, and that's the date John Adams thought would be the big day of celebration and fireworks. It was on July 4 the Congress finished editing Thomas Jefferson's draft of the declaration and agreed to the final wording of it. So July 4 was the final vote to adopt the Declaration of Independence.

Q. At over 200 years old what goes into the preservation?

A. All of the charters are on parchment, which is an animal skin. It is very long-lasting, which is why it was an English tradition to put important documents on parchment. But parchment is very sensitive to light, temperature and humid conditions, which is why there is all the concern for having them encased in very particular environments and monitored closely. Extraordinary measures have been taken to ensure they could be on permanent display.

Q. Have there ever been any close calls for the Declaration of Independence?

A. The Continental Congress moved around eight or nine times throughout the course of the Revolutionary War, with the British on their heels in some cases. Every time they moved, they took the Declaration of Independence and rolled it up, stuck it in a bag and carried it on to the new place, where it was unrolled. So the rolling and unrolling was not very good for the document. As early as the 19th century, in 1820, it was noted that the declaration was showing signs of fading, so the federal government commissioned a life-size facsimile to be made. It is believed whatever process used added to the deterioration of the document. And through the 19th century, it was exposed to light and exhibited for decades at a time. So the greatest danger it has been in is a result of the love and attention we have showered on it.

Q. Why is it important for people to come here to see the declaration firsthand?

A. I think there is some kind of magic in standing in front of the original document. You're standing in front of the original Declaration of Independence, faded as it is, but still you can make out some of the signatures and you think, "Whoa, these people were real. This really happened."

Q. What, outside of preservation, makes these documents difficult to display?

A: It's really hard to get to the life of the story behind them. We want to remind people that when the declaration was drafted, nobody knew how it was going to turn out. It was this emerging young country at war with the greatest superpower of its time, so it wasn't inevitable that the United States would be the victor and 200 years later the country would still be going strong. I think it's important to get back into that mindset in which the documents were created.

Q. What other documents are stored here?

A. The National Archives preserves and makes available to the public the permanently valuable records of the federal government. The rotunda is dedicated to telling the story of the charters of freedom, which are the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Also in the rotunda there is a changing display of important documents like the draft for the Articles of Confederation, which was the first constitution for the states. We have a report from President Thomas Jefferson on the progress of the Lewis and Clark expedition from 1803, along with the ratification of the 13th Amendment, which once and for all abolished slavery at the end of the Civil War.

But there are many, many other documents that Americans may not associate with official activity. There are family records, millions of photographs, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures. One of our most popular and famous photographs in our entire holdings is the one of Elvis Presley with Richard Nixon.