Independence Day Readings
The annual public reading by actors from the Williamstown Theatre Festival of the Declaration of Independence of July 1776, the British reply to the Declaration of September 1776, King George III’s speech to Parliament of October 1776, and the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution will take place – rain or shine – on Thursday, July 4th, at 2:00 p.m. at the Williams College Museum of Art. Admission is free, and families are encouraged to attend. The documents will be read this year by Robert Sean Leonard (House) and Paxton Whitehead (The Importance of Being Earnest). Both actors will be featured in the upcoming WTF production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, July 17–27.
The Chapin Library’s collection of original Founding Documents of the United States is on display at the Williams College Museum of Art until the completion of the Stetson-Sawyer project in 2014. On July 4th, the Museum galleries will be open from 1:00 to 4:00, with Library staff available to answer questions about the Founding Documents. – WGH