Constitution Week 2007

Date: August 27, 2007
Contact: Carlin Timmons, [phone]

Join the National Park Service in celebration of Constitution Week by attending one of the free special events scheduled September 17-23, 2007 at Charles Pinckney National Historic Site on Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant. The park preserves the last 28 acres of Snee Farm, a plantation that was once owned by Charles Pinckney, a principal framer and signer of the U.S. Constitution.

On Constitution/Citizenship Day, Monday, September 17 at 10:30 a.m. the park’s tenth annual naturalization ceremony will be held when up to 150 candidates will be sworn in as America’s newest citizens. “Naturalization is a perfect fit here,” said Park Superintendent Bob Dodson. “We are happy that the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services has chosen to have the ceremony on land associated with Charles Pinckney, who included a provision for naturalization in the document he presented to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. We hope that our new citizens and those who come to observe the program will be inspired by Pinckney’s record of service to his country.”

United States District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy will administer the oath of allegiance. The Town of Mount Pleasant, the Citadel Color Guard and Pipers, the Wando High School Choir, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames, the Friends of Historic Snee Farm, the American Legion, the League of Women Voters and the Program on Constitutional and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute are all contributing to the event’s success. The public and school groups are invited to the free program, and are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets as seating will be limited.

On Friday, September 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. a day of living history is scheduled with reenactors in period dress.

Throughout the week visitors may take part in the “I Signed the Constitution” program, signing a scroll that will be sent to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the city where Charles Pinckney and 38 other delegates signed the world-changing document on September 17, 1787.

All events are free. For more information or group reservations, please call the park at [phone].