I’m Reverend George McKnight from Rochester, NY. Welcome to the Archives in Washington, DC
(fife & drum music)
Your job today is to keep the conversation going. The Twitter is @ US Nat Archives and
we want you to share in on the July 4th experience using the hashtag Archives July 4
There’s a couple of fun things that are new this year.
We want you to snap a picture with some of
the reenactors: Thomas Jefferson, General George Washington; anything that strikes you
as colonial. You need to use the hashtag Colonial Selfie, send it to us on Twitter
@ US Nat Archives and we’ll send it out.
(fife & drum music) (followed by applause)
We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Josiah Bartlett and William Ripple. Huzzah!
You’re going to enjoy this: four-time international whistling champion
Christopher Ullman, who will perform “America the Beautiful.”
(whistling)
Hashtag Archives July 4
To be here with, well, George Washington,
Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, and not to forget Mrs. Adams as well,
all who are here, I think makes for a remarkable day. We are just so delighted
to be a part of this wonderful celebration of our nation’s independence, so I’m always
here at the Archives if it’s Fourth of July. We came here to celebrate the birth of America.
It’s my first Fourth of July in DC and I knew of the event going on and it was really
special to witness the reenaction and be here on the Mall with everybody.
Be at the National Archives for the reading of the Declaration. It’s outstanding to
hear it read out loud, it’s really powerful.
Oh, I’ve enjoyed meeting every single one
of the children today. They’ve been very, very adorable and very enthusiastic, considering
that I know in many cases some of them are dragged along by their parents, but once they
get in here, they’ve been very, very enthusiastic and their eyes have been opened up. The activities
are wonderful. The more you give a child to do, the more involved they feel, the more
vested in it they will feel and the more they will appreciate the experience, so it has
been a truly-improved experience for them, that they have so many ways to get their hands
involved in history.
(music - National Anthem)