Editor's note on July 8, 2022: This story quotes the U.S. Declaration of Independence — a document that contains offensive language about Native Americans, including a racial slur.
Twenty-two years ago, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence.
It was 234 years ago this Sunday that church bells rang out over Philadelphia, as the Continental Congress adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Below is the original text of the Declaration, alongside photos of the NPR staff members and contributors who performed the reading.
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1 of
— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR
2 of
— Renee Montagne
Doby Photography / NPR
3 of
— Juan Williams
/ AP
4 of
— Jean Cochran
Doby Photography / NPR
5 of
— Julie McCarthy
/ Wen Wang
6 of
— Don Gonyea
Doby Photography / NPR
7 of
— Deborah Amos
/ Steve Barrett
8 of
— Carl Kasell
Doby Photography / NPR
9 of
— Mary Louise Kelly
Doby Photography / NPR
10 of
— Brian Naylor
Doby Photography / NPR
11 of
— Sylvia Poggioli
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
12 of
— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
13 of
— Cheryl Corley
Steve Barrett / NPR
14 of
— Nina Totenberg
Steve Barrett / NPR
15 of
— Eric Westervelt
/ NPR
16 of
— Elizabeth Blair
Doby Photography / NPR
17 of
— Robert Smith
Steve Barrett / NPR
18 of
— Mara Liasson
Doby / NPR
19 of
— Linda Wertheimer
/ Steve Barrett
20 of
— Tom Goldman
/ Steve Barrett
21 of
— Jackie Northam
/ skphotomedia
22 of
— Michele Keleman
Doby / NPR
23 of
— Ari Shapiro
Doby Photography / NPR
24 of
— Larry Abramson
Larry / NPR
25 of
— Susan Stamberg
Doby Photography / NPR
26 of
— Scott Horsley
Doby Photography / NPR
27 of
— Cokie Roberts
Steve Fenn / ABC, Inc.
28 of
— Renee Montagne
Doby Photography / NPR
29 of
— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR