the museum's president, anne gam grimes rand, gave us a tour of some of the museum's exhibits and artifacts which trace the history of the ship from its construction to its role in the war of 1812 to the present day. >> welcome to the "uss constitution" museum. my name is anne games rand. i'm the president of the museum, and i'm pleased to be able to share some of the stories of "constitution's" fascinating career with you. we're here on the first floor of the museum, and the exhibit about me is about "old ironsides" in war & peace. for over 200 years "uss constitution" has been a part of our navy, and if you start here we have a beautiful portrait painted in the 1800s by marshall johnson showing "constitution" with the wind pulling at her sails. she's charging through the water there. a beautiful iconic image of this ship which has become such a wonderful symbol of our country. congress authorized the construction of six ships in 1794 with the naval armament act and "constitution" was one of those first six ships built for our united states navy, and she's still with us today. in this exhi