Constitution Day 2013 at Yale

Tuesday, Sept. 17 marks the 226^th anniversary of the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, a document described by 19^th-century British politician W.E. Gladstone as “the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.”

In honor of Constitution Day, the Yale Law School is hosting a talk on “Journalists and National Security” by visiting lecturer Floyd Adams, an attorney specializing in constitutional law, especially the First Amendment. The talk will take place at noon in Rm. 122 of the Law School, 127 Wall St. It is free and open to the public.

In his talk, Abrams will draw from his new book ,“Friend of the Court,” a compilation and exploration of issues such as censorship and national security. The book’s sources include articles Abrams has written for The New York Times, testimony he has delivered before congressional committees, lectures in foreign locations such as Kuala Lumpur, as well as his frequent televisions interviews. 

Other ways to commemorate Constitution Day at Yale

• Learn how the nation’s founders crafted the historic document in “The Road to the Constitutional Convention” and “Creating a Constitution,” lectures 22 and 23, respectively, in the Open Yale Course “The American Revolution,” taught by Professor Joanne Freeman.

• Listen to the netcast “Whatever Happened to Freedom of Association?” — the Ralph Gregory Elliot Lecture at Yale Law School, presented by Stanford law professor Michael McConnell.

• Read the document in its entirety via the Law Library’s Avalon Project for Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy.

• Enjoy the video below, originally created in 2012, featuring students, staff, and alumni reading the preamble to the Constitution.

Image via Shutterstock.

This video celebrates Constitution Day 2012, marking the 225th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787. In the video, alumni/ae and staff of Yale University read the Preamble of the Constitution at the grave of the Hon. Roger Sherman (1786 Hon. MA), one of America's founding fathers, in the Grove Street Cemetery next to campus. Sherman, the Treasurer of Yale from 1765 to 1776, was the only person to sign all the great founding state papers of the U.S.: the Articles of Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. Yale University celebrates and studies the United States Constitution throughout the year. Numerous courses focus on the Constitution and related topics. Yale scholarship on the Constitution includes Professor Joanne Freeman's Open Yale Courses lectures for Hist 116: The American Revolution, viewable free anytime online http://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-116#overview.