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-nine years ago, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence.
Church bells rang out over Philadelphia as the Continental Congress adopted this draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Below is the original text of the Declaration, alongside photos of the NPR staff members who performed the reading.
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1 of
— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR
2 of
— Rachel Martin
Stephen Voss / NPR
3 of
— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
4 of
— Julie McCarthy
/ Wen Wang
5 of
— Sam Sanders 2017 square
Corey Seeholzer / NPR
6 of
— Don Gonyea
Doby Photography / NPR
7 of
— Deborah Amos
/ Steve Barrett
8 of
— Joe Palca
Doby Photography / NPR
9 of
— Audie Cornish 2010
Doby Photography / NPR
10 of
— Shankar Vedantam
Gary Knight / VII
11 of
— Lourdes Garcia-Navarro
Lourdes Garcia-Navarro
/ Dario Lopez Mills
12 of
— Sylvia Poggioli
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
13 of
— Langfitt
/ Steve Barrett
14 of
— Cheryl Corley
Steve Barrett / NPR
15 of
— Nina Totenberg
Steve Barrett / NPR
16 of
— Michel Martin
Steve Voss / NPR
17 of
— Elizabeth Blair
Doby Photography / NPR
18 of
— Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
/ Jacques Coughlin
19 of
— Mary Louise Kelly 2010
Doby Photography / NPR
20 of
— Mara Liasson
Doby Photography / NPR
21 of
— Linda Wertheimer
/ Steve Barrett
22 of
— Sonari Glinton 2010
Doby Photography / NPR
23 of
— Jackie Northam
/ skphotomedia
24 of
— Gene Demby 2013
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
25 of
— Ari Shapiro
Doby Photography / NPR
26 of
— Eyder Peralta
Kainaz Amaria / NPR
27 of
— Susan Stamberg
Doby Photography / NPR
28 of
— Scott Horsley
Doby Photography / NPR
29 of
— Cokie Roberts
Steve Fenn / ABC, Inc.
30 of
— David Greene
David Gilkey / NPR
31 of
— Rachel Martin 2016
Stephen Voss / NPR
32 of
— Steve Inskeep
Doby Photography / NPR
33 of
— Mary Louise Kelly 2010
Doby Photography / NPR