Voices in Olympia joined others around the nation at 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, July 8, for a simultaneous reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The America 250 civic event commemorated the first public readings of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776.
On that date, the declaration was read simultaneously at three designated locations on the East Coast after being ratified several days prior on July 4.
Despite being on the other coast now, those who recited the Declaration of Independence in Olympia’s Capitol on Wednesday are direct descendants of families who were present for the first readings of the historic document in 1776.
Those first families were predominantly farmers, as well as clergy members and tradesmen.
What they all had in common was a common belief “that all men are created equal,” said Arthur “Art” Dolan of the Sons of the American Revolution.
He was joined Wednesday by fellow Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, Sacajawea Chapter, in reading the Declaration of Independence.
The document cited 27 grievances against the British King George III and asserted several natural and legal rights the colonies possessed, including the right of revolution.
Among the rights asserted by the Declaration of Independence are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and due process under the law.
As one of America’s founding documents, “it applies just as much today as it did 250 years ago,” organizers stated.
“This is our beginning, the beginning of the democratic republic experiment that goes on today,” Dolan said.
Wednesday’s reading of the Declaration of Independence took place inside the Legislative Building, beside the bronze George Washington Bust sculpted by Avard Tennyson Fairbanks.
Members of the public were invited to take photos with George, and the members of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution in their colonial garb, following the reading.
