How to Host a Constitution Day Reading in Your Town on September 17

Here is a radical idea. Instead of listening to somebody on a panel explain what the Constitution means, gather your neighbors and read the thing. Out loud. In public. The whole document. It turns out that the most subversive act in American civic life is reading the founding charter to people who were told it was too complicated to understand.

Let me tell you why this works. A lecture asks people to trust the lecturer. A reading lets them hear the words themselves. They hear "Congress shall make no law," and they hear "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," and they start asking questions nobody planned. That is citizenship in its best form, and any one of you can make it happen in your town.

Below is the plan, step by step. The steps are plain on purpose. You can print this page and work from it.

Why September 17

On September 17, 1787, thirty-nine delegates at the Convention in Philadelphia signed the Constitution. Three delegates still present, George Mason, Edmund Randolph and Elbridge Gerry, refused to sign. Benjamin Franklin, then 81, had urged them all to doubt their own infallibility a little and put their names to it, a speech we explore in Franklin's Closing Speech Asked Delegates to Doubt Themselves and Sign Anyway.

Federal law now marks the date. Under 36 U.S.C. 106, September 17 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, a day for honoring both the document and the Americans who have become citizens. And a 2004 federal law, section 111 of Division J of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, championed by Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, requires every educational institution that receives federal funds to hold an educational program on the Constitution on September 17 each year. When the date falls on a weekend or holiday, the program is held during the preceding or following week.

That requirement matters for your planning. Every public school, and every college that takes federal student aid, already has to do something. Many of them do the minimum. Your reading can give them something better to point to. For how Americans marked the date in earlier generations, see Constitution Day and How Americans Marked the Charter's Great Anniversaries.

Step 1: Set the format and the length

Decide first what you are reading. Here are three workable formats.

1. The full text. The Preamble, all seven articles and all twenty-seven amendments. The original document runs about 4,500 words, and with the amendments the total is roughly 7,500.
2. The original document only. The Preamble, the seven articles and the signers' names. About 4,500 words, or roughly 35 minutes aloud.
3. The Constitution plus the Declaration. For an evening event, add the Declaration of Independence, about 1,300 words, at the start.

Now do the arithmetic for timing. A clear public-reading pace is about 125 to 150 words a minute, slower than conversation, because readers pause and listeners need time.

• 7,500 words at 150 words a minute is 50 minutes.
• 7,500 words at 125 words a minute is 60 minutes.

So the full text takes about an hour. Add 10 minutes for a welcome and 10 for a closing, and you have an event of 70 to 80 minutes. That is a long time for small children, so if families are coming, plan a short break after Article VII.

Step 2: Pick the venue

You want a public place with symbolic weight, seating, shelter from weather, and decent acoustics. In rough order of preference:

1. The county courthouse steps or lawn. The rule of law, literally. Call the county administrator or the court clerk's office to ask whether outdoor gatherings need a permit and whether there is a power outlet for a microphone.
2. The public library. Libraries usually have free meeting rooms, chairs and a public-address system, and many librarians welcome civic programs. Book the room at least a month ahead.
3. A church hall or fellowship room. Comfortable, available on weeknights, and often near the center of town. Make clear the event is open to everyone.
4. A town square, park or veterans' memorial. Beautiful in good weather. Check with the parks department about permits, and have a rain location ready.
5. A school auditorium. If a local school agrees to co-host, this also helps the school meet its federal Constitution Day obligation.

Ask for a written confirmation of the booking, with the date, time and any rules. Bring a printed copy on the day.

Step 3: Assign the readers

This is the step that makes the event. The goal is many voices, not one.

Divide the text into roughly equal parts of about 400 to 600 words. At 140 words a minute, that is three to four minutes per reader, long enough to matter and short enough not to tire anyone. With 7,500 words, you need about 15 to 18 readers.

Here is a sample assignment for the full text:

Who should read? Mix it up on purpose. A veteran. A teacher. A high school student. A pastor and a rabbi. A local business owner. A recently naturalized citizen, since September 17 is also Citizenship Day. A city council member or county commissioner, if one will come. A retired judge or lawyer, if your town has one who is willing.

Give each reader the text in advance, printed in large type, with their section highlighted. Ask them to read it aloud twice at home. Old spellings like "chusing" and "defence" trip people up the first time and never the second.

Step 4: Invite officials, schools and the press

Send invitations four to six weeks ahead. Keep each one short: what, when, where, and the specific thing you are asking.

1. Elected officials. Invite your mayor, county commissioners, state legislators and the district offices of your member of Congress and senators. Ask each to read a section, not to give a speech. Find their contact information on the My Representatives page. Invite officials of both parties. The Constitution belongs to everyone, and an event that welcomes all of them is harder to dismiss.
2. Schools. Write to the principal and the social studies department chair of each local high school and middle school. Point out that the federal law requires an educational program on September 17, and offer your reading as one their students can attend or join. Offer student readers a slot.
3. Civic groups. Veterans' posts, the local historical society, service clubs, churches and synagogues, scout troops and homeschool co-ops. Ask each to bring members and, if they like, to supply a reader.
4. Local press. Send a brief notice to the local newspaper, radio station and community calendar two weeks before, and again three days before.

Step 5: Prepare the handout and the supplies

A one-page handout turns listeners into readers. Print it double-sided and put one on every chair.

Side one: the program. The date, the venue, the order of events, and the list of readers with their sections. People like to see their neighbors' names in print, and readers like to keep the program.

Side two: five questions to take home. Keep them short and answerable from the text. For example:

1. Which article comes first, the one on Congress or the one on the president, and why might the Founders have ordered them that way?
2. How many powers does Article I, Section 8 give Congress? Count them.
3. Which amendments begin with the words "Congress shall make no law" or say what government may not do?
4. What does Article V require to amend the Constitution?
5. Which right in the Bill of Rights surprised you most?

The supply list. A folding table for the sign-in sheet, pens, programs, pocket Constitutions if a civic group will donate them, a flag on a stand, a timer or watch for the emcee, and a printed copy of the full text in large type in case a reader forgets theirs. If you are outdoors, add a battery-powered speaker and a backup microphone.

Count your copies with a little arithmetic. If you expect 60 people, print 80 programs: the extra third covers walk-ins and the people who want one for a friend. Print the readers' scripts separately, one per reader plus two spares.

Consider Constitution Week. Many communities observe September 17 to 23 as Constitution Week. If the 17th falls on a weeknight that does not suit your town, a reading on the following weekend still fits the observance, and families can often come more easily.

Step 6: Run the event

Here is a simple order of events.

1. Welcome (5 minutes). One sentence on why you are there. Then the Pledge of Allegiance. If a veterans' group can present the colors, invite them.
2. Optional: the Declaration (10 minutes). Read by one strong voice.
3. The reading (50 to 60 minutes). Readers come up in order. Have the next reader standing nearby to avoid gaps. No commentary between sections; let the text speak.
4. A short break after Article VII, if there are children.
5. Closing (5 minutes). Read the names of the signers, or ask the audience to stand while the last reader reads the 27th Amendment. Thank everyone.

Practical details: a microphone and speaker if outdoors; a podium or music stand; water for readers; printed programs listing readers and sections; pocket Constitutions for anyone who wants one; a sign-in sheet for people who want to hear about next year.

A word on tone. This is not a rally. Do not invite anyone to give a partisan speech, and ask readers not to editorialize. The persuasive power of the event comes from the text. When a room full of people hears the Tenth Amendment read aloud, nobody needs a speech afterward to make the point. If someone asks a pointed question, invite them to a follow-up discussion.

Step 7: Follow up after September 17

A reading is a beginning. Here are follow-up activities that keep the momentum.

1. A monthly reading group. Take one article or a few Federalist Papers each month. A library room and a sign-in sheet are all you need.
2. A civics test night. Use the civics test and compare scores. People are always surprised. We have argued that graduates should pass the same test new citizens do in If New Citizens Must Pass the Civics Test, Graduates Should Pass It Too.
3. A myths evening. Pick a handful of common misunderstandings and check them against the text, using Eight Myths About the Bill of Rights That Civics Classes Keep Repeating as a starting point.
4. A Preamble memorization challenge for children, with a small prize. For why the Preamble limits government rather than empowering it, read We the People Wrote a Preamble That Limits Government Instead of Licensing It.
5. A thank-you letter to every reader, official and venue, with a photo and a note of the date for next year.

Why this matters more than it looks

Let me close the plain steps with a word about why this is worth an evening of your life.

The Founders did not expect the Constitution to defend itself. They expected citizens to know it. Madison warned in Federalist 48 that mere "parchment barriers" could not by themselves restrain power. Words on paper last only as long as people know them and expect their officials to honor them. Every generation of Americans has to be introduced to the document anew, and the people who do the introducing shape how it is understood. If the only voices a child hears about the Constitution are those who call it outdated, the child will believe it. If the child hears a veteran, a neighbor and a new citizen read it with respect, the child will believe that instead.

And here is the optimistic truth: this works. The text is persuasive. Read the enumerated powers aloud and people notice how short the list is. Read the Bill of Rights and they notice how many of its sentences begin with what government may not do. You do not have to win an argument. You only have to let people hear the words. In the country's 250th year, there may be no better gift to your town, as we suggest in America at 250 and What the Centennial and the Bicentennial Can Teach Us.

The case in brief

1. September 17 marks the signing of the Constitution in 1787, and federal law designates it Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
2. Schools that receive federal funds must hold a Constitution program on that date each year, so a public reading meets a real need.
3. The full text with amendments runs about 7,500 words, roughly an hour aloud, best divided among 15 to 18 readers.
4. Choose a meaningful venue, invite officials of both parties, schools and civic groups, and let the text speak without speeches.
5. Follow up with reading groups, civics nights and memorization challenges so the reading becomes a habit.

What you can do: book a library room or courthouse lawn for next September 17 this week, and download the text from the Constitution page to begin assigning sections.