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Across the Bronx are large and small tributes to Gouverneur Morris, such as this triangle near Bruckner Blvd. and East 138th St. Photo by Emily Swanson<\/p>\nCommunity members gathered at P.S. 83 in Morris Park to pay tribute to Gouverneur Morris, a son of the Bronx who contributed greatly to the United States\u2019 founding 250 years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The May 15 event, organized by the Foundation for the Revival of Classical Culture, Morris Park Business Improvement District (BID) and the P.S. 83 student chorus, featured a reading of passages from the Declaration of Independence, songs and tales from the founding era, and a lecture by Tim Schantz of the Philadelphia Historic Society, who highlighted Morris\u2019 significance as an early abolitionist and a \u201cPenman of the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the Bronx are large and small tributes to Gouverneur Morris, such as this triangle near Bruckner Blvd. and East 138th St. Photo by Emily Swanson<\/p>\n
Schantz explained that Gouverneur Morris was an exceptional thinker, a child prodigy who graduated from then-Kings College, now Columbia University, at age 16. In Morris\u2019 adult life, he was known for speaking out against slavery and pushing to have enslaved people counted under the law as full individuals, not as property or some other lesser status. <\/p>\n
Though most others of his time disagreed, Morris wrote, \u201cWe shall learn to consider all men as our brethren, being equally children of the Universal Parent [of God].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Gouvernor Morris was one of the signers and drafters of the Constitution. Photo by Emily Swanson<\/p>\n
He also called on the newly formed country to embrace people of all nationalities, religions and statuses, especially the most vulnerable. Schantz said that Morris\u2019 own words would be fitting on the Statue of Liberty: \u201cAmerica shall receive to her bosom and comfort and cheer the oppressed, the miserable and the poor of every nation and of every clime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Physically, Morris was easily recognizable for his wooden leg, the result of a carriage accident, which made him easily identifiable in the artwork of the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All in all, Morris was \u201ca local hero of the Bronx\u201d who had \u201ca vision well beyond his time,\u201d Schantz said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The rest of the event tapped into the texts and music of early America. The selections included \u201cGun Hill Raids,\u201d a song from a child\u2019s perspective on the American Revolution, and \u201cButtermilk Hill,\u201d traditionally sung by women left behind as the men went to war.\u00a0<\/p>\n
P.S. 83 students read the preamble to the Constitution in English, Spanish and Albanian and lead the audience in a sing-along of \u201cYankee Doodle.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
The event marked not simply the country\u2019s 250th birthday but its founding strive towards equality, inclusion and governance by the people \u2014 not by kings \u2014 which made Gouverneur Morris, as Schantz put it, \u201cone of our first true Americans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reach Emily Swanson at\u00a0eswanson@schnepsmedia.com<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0(646) 717-0015<\/a>. For more coverage, subscribe to our\u00a0newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>!<\/p>\n