Exhibition of artifacts and signatures from all 45 U.S. presidents exploring the power of the president's pen, tied to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
Presidential Ink: 45 Signatures that Shaped a Nation is on at the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site from March through December 2026. It's a long-running exhibition, so you've got plenty of time to fit it in whenever you're near the site.
The show brings together artifacts from the Holcomb Collection, the Huston Collection, and the site's own holdings to look at the power of the president's pen. It's tied to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and it traces the stories of all 45 presidents and their 47 administrations through the laws they signed or rejected, official and personal correspondence, commissions, autographs, and treaties. The handwriting itself gives a rare glimpse of the people behind the office: some signatures have a calligrapher's flourish, while others look hurried and workaday.
You'll find the exhibition in the third-floor ballroom, the same room where the Harrison family once hosted parties. It's now home to rotating exhibits curated by Jennifer Capps, the site's VP of Curatorship and Exhibitions. The carriage house serves as the gift shop and Welcome Center, so that's where you'll start your visit.
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The Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site is at 1230 North Delaware Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202. The exhibition runs from March 2026 through December 2026.
Date
17 October – 31 December
Recommended Age
+14 years
