Congress authorizes Washington bicentennial, Feb. 22, 1927
On this day in 1927, Congress initiated plans to celebrate the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth, the nation’s first president. While the bicentennial festivities would not occur until 1932, Congress nevertheless held a joint session to get the project rolling.
When President Calvin Coolidge entered the House chamber, the U.S. Army Band played “Hail to the Chief.” The floor and galleries were packed with lawmakers, Cabinet members, diplomats, military officers and assorted dignitaries. A number of Washington’s descendants were also invited to attend the kickoff event.Continue Reading
The president delivered a long speech in which he said of the nation’s first president: “His was the directing spirit without which there would have been no independence, no Union, no Constitution, and no Republic.”
Radio, a relatively new medium, allowed millions of people to hear what transpired. In all, 42 stations in the United States and Canada carried the broadcast. In addition, millions more around the world listened in with the aid of some 200 “ham” radio operators who relayed the broadcast on shortwave.
The U.S. Post Office Department, then an integral arm of the federal government, did its part by authorizing the issuance of a special series of 12 postage stamps in denominations of ½ cent to 10 cents that were sold during the anniversary period.
Five years later, the work of the eight-member bicentennial commission — drawn from four legislators from each side of the Capitol — bore fruit with a ceremony at the Capitol Plaza on Feb. 22, 1932. John Philip Sousa composed the “George Washington Bicentennial March” for this occasion, which was to be his next to last peformance before his death. He conducted the combined bands of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps in his new march, which was well received and is still performed today.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF HISTORY AND PRESERVATION, CLERK OF THE U.S. HOUSE
Get reporter alerts