Revolution 250 Announces ‘Declaration Delivery Day’ Celebrating United States Semiquincentennial 

Every City. Every Town. One Declaration.

All 351 Communities in MA to Receive a Copy of the Declaration of Independence Made Using 18th-Century Printing Methods

BOSTON — Revolution 250 is pleased to announce an endeavor entitled “Declaration Delivery Day: Every City. Every Town. One Declaration.” in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

This historic project recreates the original printing and distribution of the Declaration authorized by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, executed by a Salem printer and distributed by the authority of the Provincial Congress in July 1776. 250 years ago, over 300 copies of the Declaration of Independence were sent to each parish in Massachusetts, read aloud to residents by their minister and then ordered to be copied into official Town records. Many of these original copies still exist today and are stored within Town Clerk offices, libraries and archives across the nation, including the Massachusetts Historical Society, Harvard University and Williams College. 

For the first time since 1776, and with support from the William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Chair of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, each community in Massachusetts will receive its own authentic copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed as it was in 1776 by Ezekiel Russell. Revolution 250 will send the Declaration to all 351 towns and cities in Massachusetts before July 4, 2026. This statewide initiative is unique to Massachusetts and honors the Commonwealth’s role as one of the thirteen original colonies and one of the earliest proponents for American independence. 

The replicated documents will be created by the Edes and Gill Print Shop, a reconstructed 18th-century printing press utilizing the same purpose molden movable type of the 18th century. Each copy will be printed on a cotton-linen blend paper produced one sheet at a time by Twinrocker Paper of Brookston, Indiana. Gary Gregory, a local Massachusetts resident and leading expert in printing history, will create each copy using a custom-made type with approximately 10,000 pieces. 

“The Declaration gave a clear rationale for the decision to declare independence, and also a base on which to build a new republic and nation,” said Robert Allison, Revolutionary 250 Chair and President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. “The Declaration binds Massachusetts together with the people of the other states in this new venture in world history, a nation formed on the idea that all people are created equal, and that people create governments to secure the people’s rights. The people of Massachusetts joined in pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to make these ideas into reality.”

The project will also celebrate the many handwritten copies of the Declaration of Independence that several Massachusetts towns still possess in their Town Meeting records. Each copy is a unique piece of history, having been written by the Town Clerk in 1776, and several versions have distinctive traits or stories behind them. Clearly, some Town Clerks, such as the one in Kingston, Mass., were inspired to make their handwritten copies resemble the printed broadside. For a variety of reasons, other Towns never got around to writing the text into their record books. Scores of record books contain these handwritten copies and will soon be joined by the recreations of the original broadside, produced and delivered by Revolution 250 with the support of the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

While preparations are still underway, a press event is anticipated later this month to celebrate the delivery of the copies to every community in the Commonwealth. 

###