Letter to the Editor

Constitution's anniversary is today

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

To the editor:

Sept. 17, 2013 (today), marks the 226th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, and is the 58th anniversary of the observance of Constitution Week. This tradition was begun by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In 1995, the DAR made its own resolution for Constitution Week, which was adopted by the National organization. Members of the U.S. Congress received the DAR resolution the same year, and on June 7, 1955, the resolution was discussed in the Senate.

The first resolution to observe Constitution week was made June 14, 1955, by Sen. William F. Knowland of California. Following the passage of the resolution by both Houses of Congress, President Eisenhower issued his proclamation on Aug. 19, 1955. The first observance was so successful that in 1956, Sen. Knowland introduced a Senate joint resolution that the president designate Sept. 17-23 annually as Constitution Week.

The aim of this celebration is to emphasize citizens' responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution, thus preserving it for posterity, as well as to inform the citizens that the Constitution is the basis for America's great heritage and foundation for our way of life. Since its ratification in 1789, the Constitution has secured our fundamental rights, providing for an unprecedented degree of freedom, while upholding the rule of law. The Constitution is the framework for the building of a great, prosperous and just nation unlike any other. John Adams declared the three-and-a-half month convention in 1787 "the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen."

The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines that require all educational institutions to receive federal dollars to offer instruction to students on the U.S. Constitution each Sept. 17. Public law 108-447, a provision in the federal spending bill, applies to all colleges, as well as secondary and elementary schools.

Constitution Week is the perfect opportunity to read and study this great document which is the safeguard of our American Liberties. Therefore, I encourage all citizens to read, observe the anniversary, but especially to emphasize to your children and/or grandchildren the significance of they historical document and to encourage the study of historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September of 1787.

Rae Glidewell
Chairman for Constitution Week
Charlevoix Chapter, DAR