The Chapin Library of Rare Books at Williams College will host its annual July 4th reading of historical documents by actors from the Williamstown Theatre Festival at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 4, 2024. Readers at this year’s event include Rachel Bloom, Kamilah Bush, and President of the Stockbridge Munsee Community Shannon Holsey.
The event is free and open to the public.
Visitors are invited to gather in the atrium of Sawyer Library on the Williams College campus. The program includes:
- The Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the U.S. Constitution read by actor, writer, and comedian Rachel Bloom
- Excerpts from Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” read by playwright and dramaturg Kamilah Bush
- Excerpts from John Quinney’s Fourth of July, 1854, Address at Reidsville, New York, read by Shannon Holsey, President of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community
The Dunlap Broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence, a draft of the U.S. Constitution, and other documents from the Chapin Library’s collections will be on display in the Chapin Gallery after the reading. Visitors are encouraged to visit the Chapin Library copy of Frederick Douglass’s July 4 oration on display as part of “Emancipation” at the Williams College Museum of Art through July 14.