Sharing the Spirit of America: A Community Read of the Declaration of Independence and Community Portrait

Join us for a community reading of the Declaration of Independence.
 This program is part of a national initiative organizing a synchronized community reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 2026 to mark its 250th anniversary. Led by America250 Hawaii, this event unites citizens across all 50 states and territories to read the document aloud, mimicking the first public readings in 1776. The reading is designed to occur at 6:00 PM (EDT) across different time zones to create a “together” experience.
The event also kicks-off our 3-day Community Portrait event, where GHM will once again invite the community to have their portraits taken as we update our One-by-One community portrait from July 2018. Tom Strycowicz – 53Tom – creates a mosaic of the whole community one photo at a time, and has extensive national experience. People will be invited to help us build the #onebyoneGSO community portrait with more than 700 faces. Participants also get free portraits of themselves to take home. The images will then be used to update the mural currently on display in the museum’s permanent core history exhibition “Voices of a City.” These free public events will bring our community together to reflect on our shared values and history and leave a lasting portrait for future generations.