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Constitution Day - September 17th

"The National Constitution Center brings together people of all ages and perspectives, across America and around the world, to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution."

Mission

The National Constitution Center serves as America’s leading platform for constitutional education and debate, fulfilling its congressional charter “to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”

History

A private, nonprofit organization, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia brings together people of all ages and perspectives across America and around the world to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution.

A permanent memorial to the Constitution was first proposed around the celebration of the centennial of the Constitution in 1887. However, it did not begin to take shape until the idea was proposed again 100 years later during the document’s bicentennial celebration in 1987.

On September 16, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Constitution Heritage Act of 1988, which established the National Constitution Center. The act called for a national center “within or near the Independence National Historical Park” that “shall disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a nonpartisan basis in order to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.”