Thousands of bells will ring across Iowa today in commemoration of the U.S. Constitution being signed on this date 239 years ago.
Susan Klein, a member of the Abigail Adams Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, says there will be a short program at Old Main Bell Tower at Drake University in Des Moines at 2:30 this afternoon, followed by a ringing of the bells at 3 o’clock — for one minute.
“They are choosing patriotic songs to play for that minute,” Klein says, “and the members of DAR as well will be bringing along their little bells that they have around their house and ring those at the same time.”
The national society is encouraging everyone to join in the celebration by ringing bells at 3 PM, and then to pause and remember the Constitution and the history it represents.
“There are almost 50 DAR chapters in the state, and each one throughout the state will be doing their own thing, as well as across the United States, this is something that’s being done by DAR groups,” Klein says, “so it probably will be thousands of people ringing bells.”
The Constitution is the foundation of our nation’s government, and Klein says it continues to serve as a testament to generations of Americans who have worked to preserve the liberties, freedoms, and rights established by the nation’s founding principles. When Iowans hear the bells today, she hopes they’ll remember that.
“This is the first day of National Constitution Week,” Klein says, “and we’re hoping to remind people of the importance of the Constitution in our lives, that it’s an everyday thing, not something that is just when you’re in a courtroom or talking to an attorney. It’s a personal thing.”
The bell ringing tradition, she notes, dates back centuries.
“It used to be in Colonial America that in order to announce anything in a community, they would ring either the church bell or a community bell of some kind, and then they would come together and read whatever the announcement was,” Klein says. “National Constitution Week was declared by Congress in 1959 and we have been ringing our bells since then.”
Bells famously called the people of Philadelphia together to hear the Declaration of Independence read publicly for the first time on July 4, 1776. More than 11 years later, on September 17, 1787, bells again called people together as the newly adopted Constitution was publicly read.