The National Archives Celebrates Constitution Day
Press Release · Friday, September 16, 2022

Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, September 16, 2022 – The National Archives celebrates the 235th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution with special programs for the public and students. The programs include a series of interactive webinars from Civics for All of US, its national civic education initiative; an author book talk on “Equality and the Constitution” from the FDR Library; and a lecture series from the Nixon Presidential Library. 

September 17 is designated as Constitution Day and Citizenship Day to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. 

The National Archives has the original U.S. Constitution on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Museum. Museum hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day; admission is free.

Learn more online about the U.S. Constitution through our public programs, family activities, and online resources.   

(Virtual Only) Distance Learning Programs for Students – Civics for All of US
Through September 23, multiple times, ET
View the full schedule and Register online
We’re offering two weeks of live, interactive programs for K–12 students, presented as part of Civics for All of US, the national civic education initiative of the National Archives. The 30-minute webinars use primary sources to explore the big ideas of the Constitution. Each program is led by one of our educators located at National Archives sites, the Center for Legislative Archives, and Presidential Libraries across the country. 

Featured programs include:

• The Constitution Rules! (Grades K–2)
• The Constitution and Our Community (Grades 3–5)
• Voting Rights, the Constitution & Representative Government (Grades 6–8)
• No Conscription Without Representation: Voting Rights and the Constitution (Grades 9–12)

Can’t make the Constitution Day programs? Visit civics.nara.gov to discover how you can request a program for groups of 10 or more students. 

(In Person and Virtual) Book Talk – Equality and the Constitution: A Conversation & Book Signing with Kermit Roosevelt III and John Q. Barrett
Saturday, September 17, at 2 p.m. ET
Register in advance for in-person attendance; watch the livestream on FDR Library’s YouTube, Twitter and Facebook accounts.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY
St. John’s University law professor and Library Trustee John Q. Barrett and University of Pennsylvania Professor of Constitutional Law Kermit Roosevelt III will discuss how the "standard story" of the origin and development of American values has helped—or hindered—the nation's journey toward a more universal equality for all Americans. Following the program, Roosevelt will sign copies of his new book, The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story.

(In Person and Virtual ) Lecture Series – Becoming America: How We Gained and Secured Freedom and Self-Government
View full schedule online
Watch the videos on the Nixon Library’s YouTube channel
Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, Yorba Linda, CA
Tuesday, September 20, at 6 p.m. PT
Tuesday, September 27, at 6 p.m. PT
Tuesday, October 4, at 6 p.m. PT
In this three-part lecture series, we will reflect on our history as a nation with an overview of our founding documents. The first session of six lectures will  be on the theme “From British America to the United States of America.” The series, including a short Q&A session with the speaker, will be hosted at the Nixon Library from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (PT), beginning Tuesday, September 13th, and concluding Tuesday, February 28th. For a full list of lectures, please visit nixonlibrary.gov/news/becoming-america-how-we-gained-and-secured-freedom-and-self-government.

(In Person and Virtual) Historical Reenactor – Meet George Washington
Tuesday, September 20, at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m CT
Register in advance
The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, College Station, TX
The Bush Museum Storytellers Guild proudly hosts historical impressionist Peter M. Small as President George Washington. Hear from Washington as he shares historical milestones such as the development of the Constitution and its checks and balances, challenges he faced as President, and precedents he set to make the new government succeed.

Constitution Day Teaching Resources

Civics for All of US - our new national civic education initiative 
Bring the Constitution to Life! - DocsTeach page highlighting related primary sources and teaching activities
Amending America on DocsTeach highlighting the amendment process and struggles for rights throughout U.S. history
“Teaching the Constitution…Virtually”
First Amendment - “Upholding Student Rights in the 20th Century: An Examination of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District”
Fifth Amendment - “Pleading the Fifth: Lillian Hellman and the HUAC Investigation of Hollywood”
Eighth Amendment - “Locked Up: Exploring Prisoner Rights and the Eighth Amendment”
19th Amendment - “Forging a Path to the 19th Amendment: Understanding Women’s Suffrage”
Founders Online - Read about the creation of the Constitution and the founding of the nation through the words of the Founders themselves. 

Commemorating Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
This resource page on the Department of Education website links to Constitution resources from the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian, and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Related past public programs:

The Electoral College and the Constitution (2020) with Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Georgetown Law professor Anthony Cook 
OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say? A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work (2020) - with political savant and entertainment veteran Ben Sheehan
“George to George” Shaping the Nation by Our Constitution (2020) Constitutional Law expert Thomas Borcher examines how the Constitution shaped the Presidencies of George Washington and George H.W. Bush
The Nature of Constitutional Rights
For Us, By Us: Trust In, and Expectations of, the Constitution
The New American Constitution
The Future of Policy Making
Is the Constitution Still Working for America?

The National Archives, permanent home to the original Constitution, is an independent federal agency that preserves and shares with the public records that trace the story of our nation, government, and the American people. From the Declaration of Independence to accounts of ordinary Americans, the holdings of the National Archives directly touch the lives of millions of people. The National Archives carries out its mission through a nationwide network of archives, records centers, and Presidential Libraries, and online at www.archives.gov.