Join us at 11 am on Friday July 4 for a celebration of the Declaration of Independence on our Town Common.

Honor our Democracy on Independence Day. Our program includes State Senator Barry Finegold with State Representative Tram Nguyen reading the Declaration of Independence.  Local activists and leaders will read other historic speeches.  Local musicians will perform several songs relevant to our readings including I Hear Them All/This Land is Your Land original medley by Rockwood Taylor and an original song entitled United in America, written and performed by the Choral Majority. Joanna Kerr, Director of the North Andover Historical Society will narrate the program.

If there is rain, the event will be held in the Meeting House at North Parish Church on the Common.

The Event is sponsored by the Friends of the 1836 Meeting House, the North Andover Historical Society with support from the North Andover Festival Committee and a generous grant from Mass Humanities provided through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. 

Our Event Program includes:

  • Opening Remarks & Program Narration – Joanna Kerr, Director, North Andover Historical Society

  • North Andover Land Acknowledgement – read by Alex Bace, Governors Academy student.

  • United in America – performed by the Choral Majority

  • The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) – read by State Rep Nguyen, Sen Finegold.

  • The Bill of Rights (12/15/1791) – Introduced by Pat McGravey, NAMS Civics in Action teacher,

    • His students will read and talk about Amendments One, Four, Five and Eight.

  • I Hear Them All/This Land is .. Medley – performed by Rockwood Taylor

  • Excerpts from What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? by Frederick Douglass (7/5/1852) – read by Pastor Lydon Myers, Andover Baptist Church

  • Wade in the Water – performed by the Choral Majority

  • Excerpts from Imperialism, by William Jennings Bryan (8/8/1900) – read by Judy Eskin, co-leader of Greater Andover Indivisible.

  • Change is gonna come  – performed by Rockwood Taylor

  • Excerpts from I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr (8/28/1963) – performed by Ralph Bledsoe, North Andover African American History Committee

 

THE FRIENDS 4TH ANNUAL FOURTH OF JULY DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE RECITATION EVENT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS WITH ABOUT 250 GUESTS ATTENDING A RAIN FREE PROGRAM.

Many thanks to State Senator Barry Finegold and State Representative Tram Nguyen for reading the Declaration of Independence.  Thanks also to our readers including Braver Angels ambassador Lisa Mair, Lynn Public Schools Social Worker Virginia Leigh, North Andover High School student Alex Bace and our narrator, North Andover Historical Executive Director, Society Sheila Hoffman.

Special thanks to our musicians Lynne Taylor, Charlie Rockwood and Kristine Malpika of Rockwood Taylor, members of the White Street Band Bill Putnam & Martin McGrath and our soloist Annakiya Kilpatrick-Marshall.

The Fourth Annual 4th of July Declaration of Independence Recitation Event was held on Tuesday, July 4 at the North Andover Common starting at 10:30 am. It did not rain! The event featured State Senator Barry Finegold and State Representative Tram Nguyen reading the Declaration of Independence.  The audience also heard highlights from speeches by Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr and Lyndon Johnson. 

The Event was sponsored by the Friends of the 1836 Meeting House, the North Andover Historical Society, and the North Andover Festival Committee with financial support from Mass Humanities which provided funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council.  The Event Coordinator was John Lennhoff, board member of the Friends of the 1836 Meeting House.  Contact him at with questions at Friends@1836MeetingHouse.org 

Visit the Meeting House

for GPS Directions go to North Parish, 190 Academy Road, North Andover, MA 1845