Let us remember the true meaning of this day and our country’s principles
United States Declaration of Independence
Signed by the Continental Congress
July 4, 1776
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —
A Beacon of Hope for Immigrants
Statue of Liberty
Liberty Island
New York City, New York
Dedicated October 28, 1886.
A gift to the United States from the people of France.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me…”
Sonnet by Emma Lazarus – 1883
Inscribed in the base of the Statue of Liberty
Immigrants on an Atlantic liner bound for New York and the United States
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
A Defender of Democracy
United States Military Joint Services
The Old Guard transports a flag-draped casket in full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery
Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
The National Mall, Washington, D.C.
America the Beautiful
A poem penned by poet Katharine Lee Bates, a professor at Wellesley, during a trip to Pike’s Peak in 1893 and inspired by the beautiful expanse she viewed. Later printed in a weekly newspaper, The Congregationalist, on July 4, 1895, Bates’ patriotic words were soon set to music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. First published in 1910, it remains today as one of America’s most beloved patriotic songs.
Pike’s Peak
The highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The ultra-prominent 14,115-foot mountain located in Pike National Forest near Colorado Springs, Colorado
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Plaque commemorating Katharine Lee Bates’ inspirational poem
“America the Beautiful”
Placed at the summit of Pike’s Peak
Grace Church in Newark, New Jersey
Historical marker noting location where Samuel Ward, organist and choirmaster, wrote and perfected his tune “Materna” for Katherine Lee Bates’ poem, “America the Beautiful.”
Image by Max Woolley
4th of July fireworks Washington D.C.
God Bless America
One Nation under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All
Independence Day
July 4, 2017
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Tribute to Veterans 