In a letter to his wife Abigail, founding father John Adams declared that the Fourth of July “ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
Accordingly, the library will be closed this Saturday, July 4, as we celebrate the country’s 239th birthday. Stop by soon to score some fantastic finds for The Fourth:
- Travel back to 1776 with epic film The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson and the late Heath Ledger. Then fast-forward two centuries to Oliver Stone’s drama Born on the Fourth of July about a paralyzed Vietnam veteran, portrayed by Tom Cruise. Or watch Will Smith wage a whole different kind of war in the sci-fi thriller Independence Day.
- Don’t forget the marching music! Revisit our post on streaming Fourth of July tunes through Classical Music Library and the Naxos Music Library.
- More of a bookworm? Browse the Library of Congress subject heading “Fourth of July.”
The library will reopen Sunday, July 5 at noon.