In 1955, the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned Congress to declare September 17-23 as Constitution Week to celebrate the history and importance of the document that sets the framework for the governance of the United States of America.
To continue that resolution – which was signed into law on August 26, 1956 by then-Presidnet Dwight D. Eisenhower – the Twentieth Star Chapter and the Norvel Robertson Chapter of the DAR are teaming up to promote Constitution Week in Hattiesburg and surrounding areas.
“The purpose of it is to encourage people to study the historic event that led up to the Constitution, and to remind the public of how important this document is – it is the basis of America’s heritage and the foundation of its way of life,” said Victoria Lawrence, who serves as regent of the Twentieth Star Chapter of the DAR. “It is our responsibility as U.S. citizens to protect, defend and preserve the U.S. Constitution, and that’s a lot of what the DAR stands for.
“This year is actually the 235th anniversary of Constitution Week.”
The main objectives of the DAR are three-fold and are as follows:
- Historical: to perpetuate the memory and spirit of the men and women who achieved American independence;
- Educational: to carry out the injunction of George Washington in his farewell address to the American people, which was “to promote, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge, thus developing an enlightened public opinion;” and
- Patriotic: to cherish, maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom, to foster true patriotism and love of country, and to aid in securing for making all the blessings of liberty.
To help with those objectives, DAR officials have reached out to three local mayors – Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker, Sumrall Mayor Joel Lofton and Petal Mayor Tony Ducker – who will soon issue proclamations declaring the week as Constitution Week in their respective cities.
“By looking at the Constitution and remembering it, and what it stands for and studying it, we’re actually covering the historic preservation because we do want to preserve this piece of history,” Lawrence said.
The DAR also is participating in Bells Across America, a nationwide effort in which groups or individuals ring bells to recognize the signing of the Constitution, which took place on September 17, 1787. At 3 p.m. (Central Standard Time in the local time zone), participants in Bells Across America coordinate with local churches and other residents to ring bells for one minute to mark that occasion.
“So our DAR ladies will of course get together, and we will have a bell ringing – the Twentieth Star Chapter as well as the Norvel Robertson Chapter – and we also reach out to schools,” Lawrence said. “The Twentieth Star Chapter, we have a member who is doing a program on the Constitution and Bells Across America at the United Christian Academy, and the Norvel Robertson Chapter is taking pamphlets to one of the Oak Grove schools to be distributed to a history class, and its’ all about understanding the preamble to the Constitution.
“Also, posters will be hung at the Oak Grove Library, as well as other various areas around Hattiesburg. We’re trying to encourage citizens to join in and take a moment to remember the Constitution and ring their bells at three o’clock. (We want them) to just study it, read over it, understand what the Constitution is all about and how important this document is to our lives as citizens.”
