Huyen Luong and Sterling Ulrich pose for a photo with their daughter Aurora ahead of the reading of the Declaration of Indepdance on July 4, 2024.
MURRAY, KY — As America celebrates 248 years of American democracy, people gathered throughout the region to ring in day, including in Murray, Kentucky.
Murray’s Freedom Fest started with a breakfast, followed by a parade, and then the reading of the document that started it all — the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” said one of the young people attending read to a crowd of around 50.
In total 17 people read sections of the document, some reading more than one section until the whole thing was read.
Winfield Rose is a retired professor of political science at Murray State University and led today’s reading at the Calloway County Courthouse.
Winfield Rose, a retired professor of political science at MSU, rehearses with one of the readers of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2024.
“One of my primary subjects was political philosophy, or political theory… and we spent a great deal of time on this period,” Rose said. “Independence and natural rights, unalienable rights as Jefferson called them. Rights that are endowed by God to man as his highest creation. That’s where this comes from.”
Rose said these rights worked their way into politics because the colonist thought their government — the British empire at the time — was depriving them of their rights.
Rose had several ideas about the meaning of the Fourth of July, but summed it up in two words.
“Liberty. Freedom,” Rose said. “It means the First Amendment, it means the Second Amendment, and so forth. It means due process of law…That’s what it means.”
The reading of the Declaration was only one of several events planned for the day, including private events at family homes.
Matthew Carroll is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and now lives in Georgia. He came up to visit family, and said while they come up several times of year.
“I met my wife at University of Kentucky 20 years ago, so we’re out here visiting her family,” Carroll said. “We get up here once or twice a year, but this is our Fourth of July out here. It’s awesome.”
Maddie Beard, 3, enjoys a blowup water slide with family on July 4, 2024.
They had an inflatable water slide set up, and were preparing for a long day in the sun followed by the big firework show they can see from their yard.
On the note of the importance of the Fourth of July, Carroll said the holiday is about celebrating freedom, and he wished everyday was Independence Day.
"Love one another, enjoy the holiday, you know, and make it every day,” Carroll said. “Everyday should be Independence Day where we come together, we have parades, we get together with our neighbors; have a great time… So yeah, I think we should do this everyday of the year."
