ANNAPOLIS, Md. - "The Star-Spangled Banner" is sung in classrooms and public events across the United States.
The song -- originally a poem -- was penned by Francis Scott Key in 1814 as he watched Fort McHenry in Baltimore under attack by British naval ships during the War of 1812.
Almost 200 years later, the original version of the poem ended up in the hands of Bert Rice, Fort Meade's director of transformation.
During a ceremony March 1 at the Maryland capital in Annapolis, Rice held the original paper authored by Key.
"It was certainly an honor," Rice said. "It was a fun experience."
The ceremony was part of the 80th anniversary celebration of the congressional act that declared "The Star-Spangled Banner" the National Anthem in 1931. The original manuscript of the "The Star-Spangled Banner" was on display at the Miller Senate Office Building for the evening.
"There are later versions, but this is the very first one that he wrote down, and you even can see the scratch-outs that he made," said Alexandra Deutsch, chief curator at the Maryland Historical Society.
This was the first time the manuscript has been taken outside of the Maryland Historical Society. Dan Esmond, president of the National Anthem Celebration, said he doesn't think anyone other than personnel and curators have had the opportunity to hold the document.
"How many people get to say they carried the original 'Star-Spangled Banner' manuscript'" Rice said. "Not one in several hundred million, I'm sure."
As the celebration's guest of honor, the manuscript traveled from the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore to Annapolis in an armored truck with a motorcade. At Maryland's capital, Rice, dressed in military uniform and preceded by a color guard, carried the manuscript from the truck to the ceremony.
The retired colonel and Vietnam veteran then placed the document in a glass display case.
When asked about the importance of the document, members of the Maryland Historical Society and the National Anthem Celebration could only compare it to one thing -- the U.S. Constitution.
"I think it's just as important as the Constitution," Esmond said. "It's not just something we say at a stadium event; it evokes a lot of pride, a lot of patriotism."
After its display in Annapolis, the document traveled with another motorcade to its birth place -- Fort McHenry -- where it will remain on display at the new visitor center until June 14.
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