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George Washington could not tolerate a lie. Therefore, it’s fitting that he would not put up with bigotry of any kind – particularly when it came to religious freedom in the new world.

In his historic letter from August 1790 to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, Washington avowed rights and privileges to Jews that had been generally unknown to them for centuries, all the while underscoring the new nation’s commitment to religious liberty and equality for all faiths.

This extraordinary and courageous letter is the centerpiece of the National Museum of American Jewish History’s first special exhibition, “To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington and Religious Freedom.” This letter has been generously lent to the museum by the Morris Morgenstern Foundation.

The letter, along with Washington’s letters to the Quaker and other Jewish communities, early printings of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson’s Act for Establishing Religious Freedom and a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Charles Stuart, form the heart of this new exhibition that explores our country’s roots with regard to religious freedom.

As a special bonus, the museum will also offer the George Washington Walking Tour that will feature sites related to the exhibition. By guiding guests to historic locales and former residencies of those included in the exhibition, the walking tour will reveal how the City of Philadelphia played a vital role in early America.

The exhibition opens on June 29 and will continue through September 30.

To Bigotry No Sanction: George Washington & Religious Freedom
When: June 29-September 30
Where: National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East
Cost: Free with museum admission
More info: www.nmajh.org