The Lower Manhattan Historical Association (LMHA) is set to hold the fifth annual Independence Day march through Lower Manhattan on Thursday July 4, at 12 pm and a 3 pm ceremonial reading of George Washington’s “Newport Letter.”
Starting behind Castle Clinton in Battery Park, with an opening ceremony at 11:45 am. the LMHA march will then step off at noon at the conclusion of the Veteran Corps of Artillery-State of New York’s Salute to the Nation, a fifty round firing from 75mm Pack Howitzers.
This march is part of an expansion of patriotic activities in Lower Manhattan on July 4, after a long hiatus. It is in recognition of the recent growth of Lower Manhattan as one of the City’s fastest growing residential neighborhoods and as one of the City’s major centers of historical tourism.
The march which traverses Wall Street and pass many of the historic monuments in Lower Manhattan, such as the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at Bowling Green, the New York Stock Exchange, Federal Hall and the South Street Seaport. The route is designed to provide marchers and spectators with an understanding of the historic importance of Lower Manhattan. It will include marchers from such patriotic and historical societies as the Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York the Sons of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames of America, and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
City Councilwoman Margaret Chin will serve as the parade’s Grand Marshall, and the parade will be led by the Sprague Celtic Bagpipers. Brian Carter, the acclaimed drummer from New Rochelle, New York, will also provide musical accompaniment for the march as he had for the last five years.
In addition to the noon march through Lower Manhattan, at 3 pm the LMHA, Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York, American Sephardic Federation, and the Temple of Universal Judaism will sponsor a ceremonial reading of George Washington’s 1790 letter to the Jewish Community of Newport Rhode Island from in front of Fraunces Tavern on Pearl Street. In the letter, Washington states that the United States will “give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” It was recently read on April 8, 2019 at the ceremonial co-naming of South William Street, a block away, as “Mill Street Synagogue/Seixas Way.”
Each of these activities are open to the public and are supported by contributions from the Howard Hughes Corporation and the Downtown Alliance of New York.
For more information, visit the Lower Manhattan Historical Association’s website.
It would have been nice if you gave more info about the parade route aside from steps off in battery park . I would have liked to have seen it, but I had no idea where you went outside of Battery Park.
The article says it goes past Bowling Green and along Wall Street. It also cites to our web site which had a flyer describing the full route.
Sorry you missed it.