United States Centennial Celebration, Kalamazoo Michigan Collection
Scope and Contents
Kalamazoo hosted a major Centennial event on July 4th, 1876. Fireworks, speeches, a major parade, a public reading of the Declaration of Independence, and numerous songs. Celebrations began at 6pm on July 3rd. The events of the 4th were affected by rain at 4pm. After about a half hour the rain ended and the activities resumed.
Dates
- Creation: 1876-07-04
Biographical / Historical
In 1876 the United States celebrated its Centennial. The most important day of the celebration was July 4th, as that date corresponded with the Declaration of Independence. Although in reality the Declaration of Independence was not publicly known until a few days after July 4th, 1776, the date became enshrined as the 4th of July holiday and thus, was the focal point for the Centennial Celebration.
The July 4th Kalamazoo Gazette was published before news of the Battle of Little Bighorn reached the East. Custer is mentioned and there were rumors of a battle, but the full extent of the defeat was unknown.
Extent
1 Sheets ; 12" x 6"
Language of Materials
English
Physical Description
The collection contains a program from the Centennial Celebration in Kalamazoo, July 4th, 1876. The collection takes .05 cubic feet. The program is 12” x 6”.
The condition of the program is fair. The item has crease lines which have weakened the paper. The edge of the program is worn and has a number of tears in it.
Provenance
The collection is comprised of a program from the Centennial Celebration in Kalamazoo.
General
This collection was acquired through the Starring Endowment.
- Title
- United States Centennial Celebration, Kalamazoo Michigan Collection Finding Aid
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Dylan Tilbury
- Date
- 2014-09-12
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Western Michigan University Archives & Regional History Collections Repository
Charles C. and Lynn L. Zhang Legacy Collections Center
1650 Oakland Drive
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5307 US
(269) 387-8490
arch-collect@wmich.edu