It is believed that as part of the Underground Railroad, the mansion's secretive closets hid slaves seeking freedom.

Seeking his own religious freedom, Delaware's first Jewish governor left his indelible mark on Woodburn by affixing a mezuzah to the parlor doorframe.

"I do this for Jewish kids around the state, and for all children," Gov. Jack Markell told a standing room only crowd. "To see a mezuzah hanging at the governor's mansion in Dover is a pretty amazing thing."

During the ceremony, Glenn Engelmann, president of Delaware's Jewish Federation, talked of the symbolic importance of the day not only for Delaware's Jews, but for Jews around the world.

"My relatives left Europe just ahead of the Nazis. We have children of Holocaust survivors here today," Engelmann said. "To think about where we came from, to affix a mezuzah to the executive mansion of one of the 50 states of the wealthiest country in the world speaks well of the country. This is a joyous occasion."

Rabbi Steven Saks said that historically when Jews rose to a position of power, they typically hid their Jewish identity or downplayed it altogether.

"Only in America would you have a governor put a mezuzah on the door and publicly do so," he said.

Commenting on the meaning of the mezuzah, a small case containing a scroll of parchment with two chapters from the Torah, Saks said that some people mistakenly believe it is a good luck amulet. The mezuzah, he explained, comes from the story of Exodus.

"When G-d struck down the Egyptians, he told the Israelites to place the blood of a paschal lamb on the doorpost," Saks said. "So when G-d 'passed over' he would know this is an Israelite's home and this is an Egyptian home.

"But does G-d really need a marking on the door to tell Him who was Egyptian and who was an Israelite? No. It was a symbol for the Jewish people. They were being reminded that they were being freed to do the will of G-d. So to you, Governor Markell, I say 'yasher koach' for following in the footsteps of your ancestors and publicly proclaiming that you're Jewish. And that mezuzah will remind you that you have been elevated to that position to continue G-d's work, making Delaware a better place."

Rabbi Peter Grumbacher, of the governor's synagogue and a longtime family friend, helped Markell affix the mezuzah in place. The son of a Holocaust survivor, Grumbacher said that "This speaks volumes of a country that would elect a Jew as governor and an African American as president."

The mezuzah, which literally means "doorpost," is traditionally hung on the doorposts of Jewish homes as a reminder of the commandments. The governor's mezuzah was given to Markell as an inauguration gift.

Markell is not the first governor to hang a mezuzah. In 2007, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist put a mezuzah on his office door at the state capitol in Tallahassee.

The Delaware mezuzah is the first affixed to a U.S. governor's mansion.