The Shakespearean quote “What’s past is prologue” evokes the idea that history sets the context for the present. At the National Archives Building, it can be found inscribed on the 1945 Robert Aitken statue Future. Here with the National Archives eagle logo on our ball point pen it makes a nice piece for office or home, is a great gift for observers of history.

In 1930, New York Architect John Russell Pope was selected to design the National Archives Building. Pope's neoclassical design included both practical and symbolic aspects of housing the nation's records. He proposed a monumental structure with highly decorative architectural features, giant Corinthian columns, 40-foot bronze doors, and inscriptions representing the building's historical importance. John Russell Pope also designed the National Gallery and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.