Heritage

President John Quincy Adams’s 4th of July address, 1821, Part 1

An Address delivered at the request of a committee of the citizens of Washington: on the occasion of reading the Declaration of Independence, on the Fourth of July, 1821 WASHINGTON, 5 July, 1821. GENTLEMEN: In placing at your disposal a copy of the Address yesterday delivered in compliance with your invitation, I avail myself of […]

The Modern Little Red Hen

Author unknown, published in Gulf Islands Driftwood, June 30, 1976, page 4. Once upon a time there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered some grains of wheat. She called her neighbors and said ‘If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me […]

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Christmas Greeting to the Nation, 1933

WE in the Nation’s capital are gathered around this symbolic tree celebrating the coming of Christmas; in spirit we join with millions of others, men and women and children, throughout our own land and in other countries and continents, in happy and reverent observance of the spirit of Christmas. For me and for my family […]

President Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving, October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, […]

President Woodrow Wilson, Independence Day address, 1914

“The most patriotic man, ladies and gentlemen, is sometimes the man who goes in the direction that he thinks right even when he sees half the world against him. It is the dictate of patriotism to sacrifice yourself if you think that that is the path of honor and of duty. Do not blame others […]

John Adams’s Salute to Independence Day

“But the Day is past. The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion […]

The Saga of Sergeant York

In April 2012, Adventures in Odyssey, America’s longest-running radio drama, broadcast a four-part series dramatizing the life of Alvin C. York, a Tennessee backwoodsman who became a World War I hero. Under heavy fire, York successfully overpowered a German machine gun emplacement, ultimately capturing 132 soldiers. Remarkably, York was a conscientious objector. Sound designers Christopher […]