State reps gift city Declaration of Independence replica

declaration

Left to right: Newton North student Kaitlyn Morra, District Attorney Marian Ryan, State Rep. Amy Sangiolo, Mayor Marc Laredo, City Council President John Oliver and State Rep. Greg Schwartz pose with a replica of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 2026. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

In the summer of 1776, Newton leaders met at the First Church Meetinghouse on the corner of Centre and Cotton streets, to read out loud the Declaration of Independence that had been signed, one that essentially gave birth to what would become the most powerful nation on Earth.

On Wednesday morning, state representatives Amy Sangiolo and Greg Schwartz met with Mayor Marc Laredo and District Attorney Marian Ryan, among others, at the City Hall War Memorial Auditorium to read that document aloud, and then the state representatives presented the city with its own very realistic replica.

“And it is a faithful reproduction of the Declaration as it was printed by Ezekiel Russell in Salem in July 1776,” Sangiolo said. “It was produced using a historically accurate printing press on linen and cotton paper, giving us a glimpse of what Massachusetts residents would have seen and held 250 years ago.”

Sangiolo noted that Massachusetts went above and beyond with spreading the word.

“We were the only state to distribute it to every town, ask ministers to read it publicly from their pulpits, and direct town clerks to copy it into the town’s official record books,” she said. “Today, we are proud to continue that tradition by helping Revolution 250, a private nonprofit who produced these replicas, present the historic reproduction to each of the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns.”

Laredo said:”Newton, in addition to unanimously voting to support the struggle for independence with their lives and fortunes, should the Continental Congress decline to split from Britain, also had a strong military involvement in the Revolution, sending about one-third of Newton’s then population off to serve. Today we remember their sacrifice and we celebrate their strong belief in democracy. I am proud that every single day, right here in the city of Newton, we uphold the truths that all are created equal and that we all enjoy the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

And Newton North student Kaitlyn Morra of Nonantum sang the national anthem and “America the Beautiful,” which was written by a Newtonian.

Check out the entire reading of the Declaration of Independence on NewTV.