A Reading Across 250 Years

After reading several history books this past year, including David McCullough’s “1776,” and Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” Michele Kulick wondered: How did the people of Manchester first learned about the Declaration of Independence in 1776?

“I was inspired by reading the Declaration and wanted others to actually read it,” Kulick said.

She put feelers out to several organizations, including the Manchester History Museum and the Manchester Public Library.  Neither had the specific answer.  Then a historian at the Peabody Institute Library, Richard Trask, provided the answer.  He shared a “proclamation copy” of the Declaration, printed on July 17, 1776 at the direction of the Massachusetts Council in Boston and sent to ministers of different denominations throughout Massachusetts, with instruction that the Declaration be read publicly.  Manchester was one of the first communities to receive the document, and the First Parish Church was the site of that initial 1776 reading. 

250 years later, this past Sunday, that very reading was repeated to attendees in a packed program organized by Kulick and others.

“It’s important to revisit history, to keep alive, and learn,” said Betsy Nickless, a Manchester resident who attended the reading.

Rev. Katherine Schofield said that the First Parish Church—which in Manchester’s colonial era served as both a house of worship and, because public buildings were so hard to come by, as a community meeting house—made an appropriate setting for Sunday’s reading.

“In August of 1776 in Manchester, the Declaration would have been read in the Meetinghouse, so this seemed the right place to read it for the 250th anniversary,” Schofield said. 

Before the event, locals met outside the church at the Town Common.  Meanwhile, at Masconomo Park, the American Legion’s Bruce Heisey and Bill Bell carried the current American flag and the old Forster flag and led a small parade that included Kulick, dressed in colonial garb.  They wound through downtown Manchester and up toward Central Street as Kulick played the role of “town crier,” encouraging the public to attend the reading. 

They arrived at the Town Common with a considerably larger line of followers, and bells rang as they entered the historic meetinghouse of the First Parish Church.

Manchester-by-the-Sea Museum Director Matthew Swindell was the program’s welcoming speaker.  He said he’d spent a month studying exactly what was happening in Manchester when the reading of the Declaration occurred in 1776.  He spoke of the First Parish Church and its role as the town’s meeting spot in colonial days.  The idea of reading the Declaration publicly, he said, is important to formally recognize the document. 

“As we continue to support this declaration, it can remain alive, be understood, and we can forge ahead,” Swindell said.

David Lumsden, a Manchester Museum and Library trustee, said Swindell’s reading surprised him and never realized what Manchester endured.

Eli Boling, Manchester’s town moderator, followed Swindell and recited the Declaration of Independence, bringing the historic document to light.

Rev. Schofield led a prayer, reflecting on the nation’s history, while also acknowledging its struggles with violence, slavery, and oppression.

“One of the foundational commitments of this country is Freedom of Religion,” Schofield said. “This event is meant to speak to the heart of everyone, regarding their beliefs.”

The program also included music. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was performed by Simone Argento.  The community joined in singing “America the Beautiful.”  Then, Schofield ended with one final prayer, reflecting independence.

“May we leave with hearts open to each other,” she said. “Go together and make it a place where freedom rings for all.”

Manchester resident Gene D’Angelo said the event was a wonderful experience to imagine what it was like to be read 250 years ago.

“These are the values that our founding fathers fought for,” D’Angelo said. “It forms our place in history, and we brought the community, from all generations, together.”

The town Declaration reading brought Cambridge resident Kim Hull, who said that he was looking forward to the reading.

“The reading brought a neat connection of where it was (originally) read and brings light to 250 years ago,” Hull said.

This, in fact, was Kulick’s goal: that residents might discover how true and relevant that historical reading back in 1776 remains today, 250 years later, in 2026.