//March 1, 2011
The original manuscript of “The Star-Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key is leaving Baltimore for the first time in nearly 200 years for an event in Annapolis.
The document will be moved from its home at the Maryland Historical Society on Tuesday in an armored car. It will be placed on view during a private two-hour reception hosted by the National Anthem Celebration Foundation for the Maryland General Assembly.
The group is preparing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the writing of the anthem in 2014. It was written during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.
On Wednesday, the handwritten document will be lent to the National Park Service for public viewing at Fort McHenry for three months.
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