Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0193Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is a front view of Independence Hall, a statue is seen in the midground. Above the image "T25 (Star)" is printed, below the image "29575T Independence Hall, where Declaration of Independence Was Signed in 1776, Philadelphia, Pa." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
29757
INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA
This hall may be justly called one of the cradles of American liberty, along with Faneuil Hall in Boston, the State House in Annapolis, and the House of Burgesses in Richmond. Eventful history has been written within its walls and it is one of the Nation's most cherished shrines. The singing of the Declaration took place in 1776 on the ground floor room at the right of the tower, which still appears practically as it did at the time of that historic meeting.
And here in our day, history has repeated itself. In November, 1918, in the same room in which American liberty was born, the formal Declaration of Independence of the Czechoslovaks was signed by Thomas Masaryk who afterwards became the first President of the new nation of Czechoslovakia. It was in this room, also, that the Second Continental Congress met in 1775, and that George Washington was chosen Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.
The main structure was built in 1732-5 by the Province of Pennsylvania for a colonial State House. The old Liberty Bell is in the main corridor, where it hangs from its orignal beam, placed within an ornamental frame. The Hall is now in the care of the Pennsylvania Society fo Colonial Dames and has becmoe a museum to commemorate Revolutionary characters. It contains portraits by Benjamin West, Gilbert Stuart and other eminent artistis of the period.
In this square before the Hall, the Declaration of Independence was read to the public for the first time, on the eighth of July, 1776. The reader stood on the high platform of a little observatory which has since been removed.
Copyright by The Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection