Thomas Jefferson’s lap desk

Photo: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
January 23, 2012
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Photo: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History

Thomas Jefferson’s lap desk, by Benjamin Randolph, Philadelphia, 1776
Mahogany
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History
Thomas Jefferson wrote his “rough draught” of the Declaration of Independence on this desk.

African American Museum