Strafford's Celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

The 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence held in the Strafford Town House at 4pm on July 4, 2026 will be a very special event that focus not only on the Declaration but on how those in Strafford have for the last 250 years struggled and sacrificed to have the ideals in the Declaration apply to all Americans.

Sarah Root, whose family was among the earliest to settle in Strafford in the late 1760's and who is the current Strafford School Board Chair will give the Welcome.  In the Welcome to the event, Root will also recognize the presence of the Abenaki people on this land we call Strafford for thousands of years preceding colonial times and that there are those descended from these indigenous inhabitants still living in our hills.

Next a chorus will lead all in singing "My Country Tis of Thee" which served as our first (de-facto) national anthem. This will be followed with a look from Strafford Historian John Freitag at how the Revolutionary War in Strafford was a bitter civil war between loyalist and patriots. Divisions were later healed when people who fought on both sides of the conflict came together in 1799 to build the Town House.

The Declaration is the centerpiece of the program, and Constitutional Scholar and past President of the Vermont Law and Graduate School Rodney Smolla will remark upon the importance of the Declaration. Smolla, a wonderful speaker and Strafford resident, will then read the Declaration with Newton School students Aubry Phelps and Elva Teachout reading the grievances part.

Strafford's Bob McAllister will read the Gettysburg Address in honor of his son Neil McAllister, a Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer who was assaulted and injured on January 6,2021 by rioters at the capitol attempting to prevent the certification of the Presidential election. Following the reading, the chorus will lead all in singing " The Battle Hymn of the Republic." After which there will be an acknowledgement that over 110 Strafford men served in the Civil War and 30 died either in battle or from disease.

This will be followed by an acknowledgement and appreciation of all those who over more than two hundred years who took the oath to defend the Constitution. Those at the celebration who have served out country in our armed forces will be asked to stand and accept our appreciation for their service. 

Strafford resident David McWilliams, dressed as Justin Morrill, will give remarks made by Senato in 1883 on Strafford's gifts to the nation. This will be followed by the chorus leading all in singing: "America the Beautiful"

Mariah Preston will then read her great-grandmother Maria Preston's 1913 letter to the White River Valley Hearld on woman suffrage. It will be followed by a woman's chorus led by Christina Robinson singing the song: Bread and Roses

Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream Speech" will be read in honor of Pamela Stubbs Ransom.  She was a civil rights activist who moved to Strafford in the late 1960's. She married Woody Ransom. They had four children: Berry, Earl, William and Louisa, who with their spouses and their children carried on her legacy of working for justice and equal rights.  After the reading, the chorus will lead all in singing "We Shall Overcome"

Finally, there will be a reading of Rev. William Sloane Coffin's Millenium speech made in Town House at the cusp of 2000 by his nephew Andrew Coffin.  In this speech we are encouraged to finish the work of those who have come before us striving to make a world where life liberty and the pursuit of happiness will be enjoyed by all.  The chorus wll lead all in singing "This Land is Your Land "

The program will start promptly at 4pm as the plan is to have it last around an hour so people can then go to the Strafford Fire and Rescue Chicken Barb-B-Que at the foot of the Town House hill.