Col. Matthew Singleton Chapter holds reading of Declaration of Independence

The Col. Matthew Singleton Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution organized an America 250 commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Sumter at the steps of the Sumter County Courthouse on July 8.

Originally proposed by the America 250 Hawaii Commission, the "Sharing the Spirit of America" event grew into a worldwide event. At least one reading occurred on all seven continents; final tally of locations included 46 overseas locations, with readings in all 50 states, five territories, the District of Columbia and U.S. Minor Outlying Islands for a total of 1,133 locations worldwide according to hawaiiamerica250.org. All 1,133 locations started simultaneously at 6 p.m. Eastern daylight time on July 8.

This event commemorates the actions of Col. John Nixon, who took a Dunlap Broadside print of the Declaration of Independence to Liberty Square, just outside Independence Hall, and after church bells had rung to signal for people to gather, he began reading shortly after noon. This was one of three planned readings for the day.

In Sumter, the event started at 6 p.m. with a welcome by Larry Gamble, president of the Col. Singleton Chapter, who introduced Tasha Gardner-Greene, Sumter County District 7 representative. Councilwoman Gardner-Greene delivered an inspiring welcome on behalf of Sumter County Council "as we pause to remember the 250th anniversary of our great nation" and asked that "we stand on the same principles that continue to make America great every single day" and as "we continue to work together in this great nation that we serve."

Leading off with background information, Eric Barnes, founder and creator of the Historyman Podcast, shared highlights of the 1774 Camden Resolves. Then Michael Burgess, South Carolina 2023-24 History Teacher of the Year, shared his introduction to the Declaration of Independence and introduced the first of 10 readers sharing a portion of the document. Readers, in order of presentation, were Wilhelm Jardon Groves, Cheryl R. Moye, Bruce Knoblock, Patrick Boucher, Barb Kucharczyk, Hal Gonzales, Kylie Cordell, Debra Gibbs, Judy Newman and Joshua Byrne.

To conclude the event, Gamble delivered a short summary of the impact of The Declaration of Independence over the last 250 years starting in 1777 when Vermont outlawed slavery followed by Massachusetts and then Pennsylvania. By 1804 as the abolition movement was gaining ground in the USA, the country of Haiti had a rebellion that resulted in the first Black-led nation in the Americas. Its impact included the first women's rights movement at Seneca Falls, where it was declared that all men and women were created equal. Even with the creation of the United Nations after World War II, more than half the member nations have a declaratory document they describe as a "declaration of independence" or its equivalent.