OLYMPIA [ANNIKA HAUER] — Legislators, students, historical society members, reenactors of Founding Fathers, and more gathered March 2 in the Capitol to read the Declaration of Independence, interpret it for today, and celebrate the 250th year since it was signed.
“We can be inspired by the enduring ideals of liberty and equality articulated in the Declaration, and we can also grapple with the discomfort, frustration, or even anger at the language used in personal views of Founding Fathers like Thomas Jefferson,” Heather Miller, 2025 WA History Teacher of the Year, said.
Miller teaches at Vashon High School. She had noted Jefferson’s owning of hundreds of enslaved people.
“See this not only as an exercise in history, but an opportunity to witness how words written 250 years ago continue to challenge and inspire us today,” she said.
Six students from Kitsap, Woodinville, and Sumner read the Declaration of Independence.
“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,” it reads. “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Among those students was Madeline Johnson of Central Kitsap High School. She was recognized at the gathering for winning second in a nationwide art contest with the theme “What does America mean to you?” Her piece was titled ‘Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.’
“It’s controversial times right now, and a lot of things are going on,” she said in an interview. “With my art, I wanted to remember our fundamental rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Because if all else fails, we have that.”
Johnson recently wrote an essay with a similar theme, about joining a group of older ladies who knit.
“They taught me a lot about how it was really hard for them to be educated when they were younger,” Johnson said. “It made me a lot more grateful to have the opportunities that I do.”
The Washington Semiquincentennial Committee organized the gathering. More than 750 businesses, historical societies, schools, and more across the state have posted upcoming events for the anniversary online. The website also sponsors a short video made by TVW.
“We are gathered here today to mark this historic occasion,” Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, chair of the Semiquincentennial Committee, said. “And perhaps to be reminded why the founders were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and their sacred honor in pursuit of this audacious and radical, and for the time completely radical, idea of democracy.”
Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, was also in attendance.
“This is a partnership birthday party,” Wilson said in an interview. “The present is we get to keep going…You have 250 years of experience, and you use that as a tool for the next 250.”
The Washington State Journal is a nonprofit news website operated by the WNPA Foundation. To learn more, go to wastatejournal.org.
Author: Washington State Journal
