Starting next week, visitors to the Ohio Statehouse will be able to see something new – but that something is actually two very old things. On November 28th, a new exhibit will be housed in the state's capitol.
Ohio has two constitutions. The original was passed in 1802. In 1851, the constitution the state follows today was drafted. Luke Stedke with the Ohio Statehouse says the earlier version gave more control to the legislature while the current version gives more control to the Governor. And Stedke says visitors to the Statehouse will soon be able to see both constitutions.
“So this it the first time in the history of the United States that the founding documents of a state will be housed in a public display in a Statehouse," Stedke says.
Stedke says the documents had been housed at the Ohio History Center in Columbus but he says they’ll now be displayed permanently in the Statehouse museum, so the thousands of people who tour the building each year can see them.