Ohio University and the Athens community mark 250 years of the United States with “Re-Declaration”

Artists and community members from across Athens County will join members of the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m. for “The Re-Declaration of Independence,” part of the fall 2026 Concerts on the Green series. This free, large-scale performance at the West Portico of Memorial Auditorium on College Green will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The community is invited to bring picnics and experience the Declaration anew, as it is spoken collectively with great spectacle and accompanied by music, dance, puppets and singing.

“The Declaration belongs to all of us,” Dan Dennis, associate professor of theater and director of the performance, said. “We’re excited to celebrate and reimagine this extraordinary text, bringing it into the present using our own voices and bodies.”

Participating organizations include the Athens County Community Singers, Athens Community Music School, Calliope Feminist Choir, Factory Street Studio and Passion Works Studio, along with the Ohio School of Music Wind Symphony and students and faculty from the Schools of Dance and Theater. 

The “Re-Declaration” opens the Central Region Humanities Center Biennial Conference which takes place from Sept. 10–12. This conference, “250 Years: The Promises and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence,” will facilitate an exploration of the history, meaning and legacy of the Declaration of Independence. It will also highlight the many ways people and communities in the Ohio Valley and Northwest Territory helped to realize the lofty sentiments articulated in the Declaration of Independence in the 250 years since 1776.

Hear directly from organizers of the conference talking on the history and legacy of the Declaration of Independence.