Constitution Day – “Bells Across America”

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, will be celebrating Constitution Week, September 17-23. In commemoration of the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, DAR chapters across the United States are asking churches and their members to participate in “Bells Across America”. We are asking that on Sunday, September 17th, all churches with bells and citizens of Accomack County who have bells, gather at 4:00 PM and ring those bells.

The tradition of celebrating the Constitution was started by the Daughters of the American Revolution who petitioned Congress to set aside a date to commemorate this important document. Constitution Day was signed into public law Aug. 2, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and is observed every year on Sept. 17. During the colonial period of our country, bells were used to call people together to alert them to important announcements or events. Bells called the people of Philadelphia together to hear the Declaration of Independence read publicly for the first time on July 8, 1776. Then around 4 p.m. on Sept. 17, 1787, bells were used to call people to hear the first public reading of our new Constitution. The most significant statements they heard were in the Preamble to the Constitution, which outlined the organization of our republic and the rule of law that would hold the new country together.

In celebrating the Constitution, the DAR’s goals are threefold: to encourage the study of the historical events that led to the framing of the Constitution; to remind the public that the Constitution is the basis of America’s great heritage and the foundation for its way of life; and to emphasize U.S. citizens’ responsibility to protect, defend and preserve the U.S. Constitution.”

Members of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Chapter hope that you will join them in “Bells Across America”. The importance of the Constitution is something that people cannot be reminded of enough.