The Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence is a memorial depicting the signatures of the 56 signatories to the United States Declaration of Independence. It is located in the Constitution Gardens on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial is accessible to the public by crossing a wooden bridge onto a small island set in the lake between Constitution Avenue and the Reflecting Pool, not far from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
History
Public Law 95-260 was passed by Congress in 1978 to create a memorial to the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The memorial is a gift from the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration and consists of 56 stone blocks, each with a facsimile of the signer's actual signature, his occupation, and his home town. It was dedicated on July 4, 1984, exactly 208 years after the Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence.
Memorialized signers Fifty-six delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence and are honored at this Memorial:
President of Congress 1. John Hancock (Massachusetts)
New Hampshire 2. Josiah Bartlett 3. William Whipple 4. Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts 5. Samuel Adams 6. John Adams 7. Robert Treat Paine 8. Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island 9. Stephen Hopkins 10. William Ellery
Connecticut 11. Roger Sherman 12. Samuel Huntington 13. William Williams 14. Oliver Wolcott
New York 15. William Floyd 16. Philip Livingston 17. Francis Lewis 18. Lewis Morris
New Jersey 19. Richard Stockton 20. John Witherspoon 21. Francis Hopkinson 22. John Hart 23. Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania 24. Robert Morris 25. Benjamin Rush 26. Benjamin Franklin 27. John Morton 28. George Clymer 29. James Smith 30. George Taylor 31. James Wilson 32. George Ross
Delaware 33. George Read 34. Caesar Rodney 35. Thomas McKean
Maryland 36. Samuel Chase 37. William Paca 38. Thomas Stone 39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia 40. George Wythe 41. Richard Henry Lee 42. Thomas Jefferson 43. Benjamin Harrison 44. Thomas Nelson, Jr. 45. Francis Lightfoot Lee 46. Carter Braxton
North Carolina 47. William Hooper 48. Joseph Hewes 49. John Penn
South Carolina 50. Edward Rutledge 51. Thomas Heyward, Jr. 52. Thomas Lynch, Jr. 53. Arthur Middleton
Georgia 54. Button Gwinnett 55. Lyman Hall 56. George Walton
See also
Robert R. Livingston, who helped to draft the Declaration as a member of the Committee of Five but was recalled by the state of New York before he could sign the document John Rogers, Maryland delegate who voted for the Declaration of Independence but left Philadelphia before the signing. Matthew Tilghman, Maryland delegate who voted for the Declaration of Independence but left Philadelphia before the signing. Henry Wisner, New York delegate who voted for the Declaration of Independence but left Philadelphia before the signing. Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, he and John Hancock's names were the only two to appear on the first printing of the Declaration Timothy Matlack engrossed the Declaration of Independence, which was then signed by the Founders. Founding Fathers of the United States Physical history of the United States Declaration of Independence Independence Hall Syng inkstand List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2 Adams Memorial (proposed) Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Jefferson Memorial Signers Monument Washington Monument Architecture of Washington, D.C.
References
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence – Constitution Gardens – National Capital Planning Commission
External links