Standing in front of the Pratt Library branch in Roland Park, I was again honored to read excerpts from the Declaration of Independence before the 4th of July parade began.: For the first time, in my memory, I made brief remarks beforehand.

On this July 4th, as we hear Jefferson’s words, we are reminded that these truths are self evident, and it is our sacred obligation to preserve them.

Later that day, Steve Sachs, former attorney general of Maryland, sent me the link to a reading of the entire Declaration of Independence by then Senator John F. Kennedy in 1957.

It’s well worth listening to.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/07/04/awe-inspiring-listen-to-john-f-kennedy-read-the-declaration-of-independence/?utm_term=.4abe7d2eae49

In October of 1963, at the ground breaking for the Robert Frost Library at Amherst College in Massachusetts, President Kennedy would declare, “When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.”

His speech is also worth listening to.