Hours: Open Tues-Sat, 10 AM to 5 PM
Join us July 8th at 3:50 at the Meeteetse School for Sharing the Spirit of America. This event features a public reading of the Declaration of Independence and a screening of the brand-new documentary Before Wyoming: The West in 1776.
Just as the Declaration of Independence was read to the people for the first time on July 8, 1776, now, 250-years later, Americans in all 50 States, 5 Territories, DC, and US Minor Outlying Islands will read the Declaration of Independence together. Sharing the Spirit of America is a nationwide program initiated and sponsored by the Hawai‘i America250 Commission. The scheduled start time for our time zone is 4:00 PM. Rev. George Pasek will lead the reading.
In addition to the public reading of the Declaration, we are hosting a watch party for the new documentary Before Wyoming: The West in 1776. This documentary enlarges the narrative of 1776 America, looking beyond the eastern seaboard to the vast interior of the continent, where another story of dramatic upheaval was unfolding.
The film explores the overlooked history of the American West during the Revolutionary era: a time when this vast region between the coasts was little more than a dreamscape for European and American expansion, sight unseen. Far from empty, these lands were home to thriving Indigenous nations with complex political systems, economies, spiritual traditions, and artistic practices, recorded in Winter Counts, hide paintings, and oral histories passed down through generations.
Before Wyoming: The West in 1776 was produced by Caldera Productions, Wyoming PBS, and Wyoming Humanities, with support from Wyoming’s Semiquincentennial Celebration. By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Treats and refreshments will be available.
