> CONTACT: Phil Sheridan, INHP
>
> \(215\) 597-0060, phil_sheridan@nps.gov
>
> Cara Schneider, GPTMC

\(215\) 599-0789, [***cara@gptmc.com***](mailto:rebekah@gptmc.com)

BACKGROUNDER

#### The Liberty Bell's Journey

**PHILADELPHIA,** **September 9, 2003 --** Although it is now one of the
world's great icons of freedom, the Liberty Bell wasn't always a
symbolic force. Originally used to call the Pennsylvania Assembly to
meetings, the Bell was soon adopted not only by abolitionists and
suffragists, but also by Civil Rights advocates, Native Americans,
immigrants, war protestors and so many other groups as their symbol.
Each year, two million people journey to the Bell just to look at it and
ponder its meaning.

##### [Humble Beginnings]{.underline}

The bell now called the Liberty Bell was cast in the Whitechapel Foundry
in the East End of London and sent to the building currently known as
Independence Hall, then the Pennsylvania State House, in 1753. It was an
impressive looking object, 12 feet in circumference around the lip with
a 44-pound clapper. Inscribed at the top was part of a Biblical verse
from Leviticus, "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto all the
Inhabitants thereof."

Unfortunately, the clapper cracked the bell on its first use. A couple
of local artisans, John Pass and John Stow, recast the bell twice, once
adding more copper to make it less brittle and then adding silver to
sweeten its tone. No one was quite satisfied, but it was put in the
tower of the State House anyway.

From 1753 until 1777, the bell, despite its crack, rang mostly to call
the Pennsylvania Assembly to order. But by the 1770s, the bell tower had
started rotting and some felt ringing the bell might cause the tower to
topple. Thus, the bell was probably not rung at all to announce the
signing of the *Declaration of Independence,* or even to call people to
hear its first public reading on\
July 8, 1776. Still, officials considered it valuable enough to move,
with 22 other large Philadelphia bells, to Allentown in September 1777,
so that invading British forces would not confiscate it. It was returned
to the State House in June 1778.

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Page 2/Liberty Bell Backgrounder

While it remains unknown what exactly caused the first crack in the
Liberty Bell, presumably every subsequent use caused further damage. In
February 1846, repairmen attempted to fix the bell with the stop
drilling method, a technique in which the edges of a crack are filed
down to prevent them from rubbing against one another and then joined by
rivets. Unfortunately, in a subsequent ringing for Washington's birthday
later that month, the upper end of the crack grew and officials resolved
to never ring the bell again.

By that time, though, it had hung around long enough to gain a
reputation. Because of its inscription, abolitionists started using it
as a symbol, first calling it the Liberty Bell in the *Anti-Slavery
Record* in the mid-1830s. By 1838, enough abolitionist literature had
been distributed that people stopped calling it the State House bell and
forever made it the Liberty Bell.

##### [On the Road]{.underline}

Once it was no longer used as a working bell, especially in the years
after the Civil War, the Liberty Bell's symbolic position strengthened.
It started going on what were essentially barnstorming patriotic trips,
mostly to World's Fairs and similar international expositions where the
United States wanted to show off its best wares and celebrate its
national identity. The first trip was in January 1885, on a special
railroad flatcar, making 14 stops along the way to the World's
Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans.

Following that, it went to the World's Columbian Exposition -- otherwise
known as the Chicago World's Fair -- in 1893, where John Philip Sousa
composed "The Liberty Bell March" for the occasion. In 1895, the Liberty
Bell made 40 celebratory stops along the way to the Cotton State and
International Exposition in Atlanta, and in 1903, it made 49 stops en
route to Charlestown, Massachusetts, for the 128^th^ anniversary of the
Battle of Bunker Hill.

This periodic Liberty Bell road show continued until 1915, when the bell
took an extended trip across the country, first to the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition in San Francisco, and then, in the fall, down
to another such fair in San Diego. When it came back to Philadelphia, it
was put back inside the first floor of Independence Hall for another 60
years, during which time it was only moved once around Philadelphia to
promote War Bond sales during World War I.

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Page 3/Liberty Bell Backgrounder

###### Liberty To Vote

But again a group of activists were eager to use the Liberty Bell as its
symbol. Women suffragists, fighting for the right to vote, put the
Liberty Bell on placards and other collateral materials to promote their
mission of making voting in America legal for women.

**[No Place Like Home]{.underline}**

After World War I, the Liberty Bell stood primarily in the Tower lobby
of Independence Hall, the climax of visitor tours to the building. But
city fathers worried that the celebration of the bicentennial of the
*Declaration of Independence* in 1976 would bring undue stresses of
crowds to Independence Hall and, consequently, the Liberty Bell. To meet
this impending challenge, they decided to build a glassed-in pavilion
for the Bell across Chestnut Street from Independence Hall. On the
extremely rainy early morning hours of January 1, 1976, workers trundled
the Liberty Bell across the street, where it has hung until the
construction of the new Liberty Bell Center this year.

On October 9, 2003, the Liberty Bell will be moving to its new home, a
larger center with an interpretive exhibit on the Bell's significance
over time. A large window will allow visitors to see it against the
backdrop of its old home, Independence Hall.

Part of the National Park Service, Independence National Historical Park
preserves sites associated with the American Revolution, including
Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and other historic sites that tell
the story of the early days of the nation. Covering 45 acres in Old City
Philadelphia, the park has 20 buildings open to the public. For park
information, call\
(215) 597-8974 or go to www.nps.gov/inde.

For more information about travel to Philadelphia, visit www.gophila.com
or call the new Independence Visitor Center, located in Independence
National Historical Park, at\
(800) 537-7676.

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Note to Editors: For story angles and photographic images of
Philadelphia and its surrounding countryside, visit
www.gophila.com/pressroom.