First Copies Made to be Delivered to All 351 Massachusetts Cities and Towns Before July 4
Renowned historical printer Gary Gregory holds one of the printed copies of the Declaration of Independence at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill on Friday, June 12. (Photo Courtesy Revolution 250)
HAVERHILL — The first reproductions of the Declaration of Independence were printed on Friday, June 12, as part of Revolution 250’s “Declaration Delivery Day” initiative, which will see handmade copies delivered to all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts before July 4.
Historian and printer Gary Gregory began printing the copies at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill using 18th-century techniques, recreating a labor-intensive process similar to that used in 1776. The effort brings to life a lesser-known chapter of Revolutionary history, the distribution of the Declaration across all Massachusetts cities and towns just weeks after the Founding Fathers drafted the original document on July 4, 1776.
After its adoption, more than 300 printed copies of the Declaration were sent to towns throughout the state, where they were read aloud to residents by their parish ministers, and recorded into official town records. Dozens of the original copies remain preserved today.
“This is one of the defining moments in Massachusetts history,” said Jonathan Lane, Executive Director of Revolution 250. “In July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was printed and distributed throughout the Commonwealth to churches in towns large and small, regardless of denomination. As ministers read the Declaration aloud to their congregations, hundreds of thousands of people heard, often for the first time, the words that would forever change the course of history.”
“Imagine nearly 250,000 people gathered in meetinghouses and churches across Massachusetts, listening as the Declaration proclaimed that ‘all men are created equal’ and ‘endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.’ For many, it was the moment when the Revolution ceased to be a political debate and became a shared public commitment to independence. Even 250 years later, it is a powerful image, and one that still gives us chills.”
Gregory’s work reflects the precision and scale of 18th-century printing. The process requires more than 10,000 individual pieces of hand-set type, each carefully placed to form the document. Each sheet of paper was handmade one by one by a specialized company, Twinrocker Paper, of Brookston, Indiana. The ink used was also made to replicate that of the Revolutionary era.
Often dressed in period clothing reminiscent of colonial printer Benjamin Franklin, Gregory can produce approximately 100 copies per day and is working toward a goal of a total of 400 copies ahead of Declaration Delivery Day.
The newly printed reproductions will be distributed across Massachusetts, echoing the original journey of the Declaration as it moved from town to town nearly 250 years ago.
A freshly printed copy of the Declaration of Independence. (Photo Courtesy Revolution 250)
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