LIBERTY BELL

      The Liberty Bell represents political freedom, religious freedom and freedom of slavery. “In 1950, the United States Department of the Treasury selected Paccard Bell Foundry to cast 55 full-sized replicas of the Liberty Bell. The bells were shipped as gifts to U.S. states and territories and the District of Columbia to be displayed and rung on patriotic occasions. Many states chose to place their replicas in their capitol buildings; however, the Texas governor at the time, Allan Shivers, entrusted the state’s replica to Texas A&M at an Independence Day ceremony in recognition of Aggie contributions during World War II. He famously stated that, “No one suffered more than the Aggies, so we will give it to them.” More than 20,000 Aggies fought in World War II with about 14,000 of them serving as officers; 953 died in service. The one-ton bell, which is mounted in the rotunda of the Academic Building, has rung out only on a few special occasions to remind past, present and future Aggies of the sacrifices that have been made before us”.

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     The bell was originally just called the “State House Bell,” and was renamed the “Liberty Bell” in the 1830s by an abolitionist group. Following the Civil War, the bell traveled around the country to “help reunite a divided nation” before settling in Philadelphia for good in 1915. It was also used as a symbol of religious freedom and a symbol of suffragists for the right of women to vote.

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But does the Liberty Bell really fulfill its purpose and is it a real symbol of justice?

“Liberty Bell? Liberty Bell? That’s a lot of bunk,” shouted Charles White as he hurled a one-pound stone paperweight at the national icon. “There is no justice.”

Guards quickly arrested him, and the huge bronze bell had minor damage. But White made national headlines. His attack was both personal and patriotic, he explained after being taken into custody.

“I have a brother who is in [Army] camp in Virginia. He has five children,” he told Common Pleas Court Judge Harry McDevitt. “And yet war workers are being kept from their jobs and stopped from turning out equipment necessary to win the war. … I want my brother and others in service to have a chance.

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What happened to Charles White?

He was ordered to undergo a mental evaluation, but a former New York judge intervened and offered to provide a psychiatrist at his own expense to examine the defendant. “There is nothing unstable about publicly proclaiming the ideals and principles for which the nation is fighting,” Nathan Sweedler wrote in a telegram to McDevitt.

 

We see here the apparent “liberty” that this bell represents masks the sentiment it brings. 

 

“Defining what a place means and to whom those meanings resonate is what history is all about,” Diethorn said. “But, an emotional perception of a place can’t be challenged. What does an historian do when facts no longer form the basis of investigation,” she said. “Is there any such thing as historical truth?”  - Kary Diethorn

 

Questions

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Interesting Facts

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