1776. Just so you know, todays the last day weve extended our museum hours to 7 00 p. M. The parchment sheet on display upstairs, though now much faded, is the original official version of the declaration of independence. Many versions have since have been made since Congress Approved it. Most notably the dunlap broadside printed on paper on the night of july 4th, 1776 and several facsimile reproductions made in the early 1800s. Today, with the copy of the declaration of independence, recently uncovered bu our two guests, Danielle Allen and emily sneff. This parchment document, the sussex declaration, is the same size as the original declaration on display in the ro dotunda an dates from 1780s. A notable feature of the sussex declaration is the arrangement of the signatures. Theyre not arranged by state delegation as they are on our declaration, and other early versions and danielle and emily will give us their theories on what this new arrangement thmay mean. Before we turn the stage
Todays discussion is Frederick Douglass and the meaning of july 4 for the negro. Manys program is one of the National Archives will present in washington and president ial libraries nationwide in celebration of the 241st anniversary of the adoption of the declaration of independence. Building is the only place to begin your july 4, as we will present our annual declaration of independence reading ceremony on independence avenue. Guests, thomas jefferson, benjamin franklin, adams,jefferson, john will read the constitution. Ceremony, there will be hands on a team of these for all ages until 4 00 p. M. Inside the National Archives building. The museum will remain open until 7 00 p. M. If you are not here in d. C. , the reading ceremony which begins at 10 a lot at 10 00 will be live streamed. We will conclude our celebratory with a noon program in this theater, discussing the sus sex resolution. The sussex resolution. The discovery of a second banks script of the declaration of the discove
[marching band playing] i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [applause] separate but equal station to which the laws of nature apply. I deeply accept that the opinions of mankind entails that they should declare their intent or separation. We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed certain unalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. [band playing starspangled banner] dr. Frank c. Baxter is an american, a man with many including theards famed peabody award. He is a dedicated student of American History and proud of the one thing he loves above all else, his country. Now, let us meet our distinguished host. Dr. Baxter i am at one of our cherished american institutions. I am only frank baxter. However, with the help of some pages of history, we will federal piece of parchm
Welcome. Im the director of the athenaeum and im delighted to welcome you to this, the third and final program in our wonderful collaboration with the poets theater. If you missed the earlier presentations, you will find. Ideos of those on our website at this point, it would be a perfect time to silence any noisemaking devices you might have with you. Just a note, there are illuminated signs that will lead you to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency. David is the playwright of this evenings performance. Professor emeritus of english at Simmons College and literary director of the poets theater, hes appeared in productions with the actors shakespeare project, the Harvard Center for the arts, the Repertory Theater committee drama club my National Public radio and many others. He holds a phd from the university of north carolina. Consumer of astute the rare materials in our library from all of which are available for anybody to see upon request. Think about inspiration you might t
Frederickatlas douglass. Is my pleasure to welcome our guest today. Our actor, moderator and the state which University Professor from the university of maryland. Professor levine has been an influential force in american and African American literature for over 30 years and recently has contributed important work to the burgeoning field of hemispheric and transnational American Literary studies. He is the author of the 2016 book the lives of Frederick Douglass, and after todays production will be signing copies in the archive store. Please welcome Professor Robert levine. [applause] thank you forne the introduction. Thank you to tom for organizing this. It is an honor to be here. My guess is that you would rather hear an actor over an academic, so i will be relatively brief with the introduction. About five minutes. As a lot of you know, Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818, in the Eastern Shore of maryland. For the first 20 years of his life, he was a slave, moving back a