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