Each year for the past 48 years, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello has hosted a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens on the lawn of Mr. Jefferson’s home atop his “little mountain,” on July 4th, the anniversary of his death and of American independence.
Independence Day Speakers
Featured speakers on Independence Day at Monticello have ranged from Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in 1963 to British-born actress Tracey Ullman in 2010. Other speakers include President Gerald R. Ford in 1976 and President George W. Bush in 2008.
This year on Independence Day, 71 immigrants from 32 countries took the oath of citizenship rendered by Judge Allyson Duncan of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Since November 2008, Leslie Greene Bowman has been president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which operates Monticello. As she put it in an exclusive July 4th interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner, “This is the second ceremony that I’ve enjoyed as the president of the foundation.”
Powerful, Moving
Bowman described the naturalization ceremony as “the most powerful and moving way to spend the Fourth of July. Jefferson would have been thrilled because he wanted everyone to celebrate the great birthday of our republic.”
Asked whether Thomas Jefferson could have imagined so many people from so many countries sitting on his front lawn, Bowman replied:
“I can’t tell you what he would have imagined but I think it’s safe to say he would have been thrilled.”
‘Little Ball of Liberty’
She explained that Jefferson “knew that what he had put in motion in the Declaration of Independence was for all men, everywhere. He talked about ‘this little ball of liberty is now so well in motion,’ [and] he hoped it would roll around the globe.”
Bowman added, with a smile, “We had 32 countries from around the globe with us today.”
While 2010 marked the 48th year of the naturalization ceremony, the fiftieth anniversary is coming up fast, in two years. Bowman was asked about whether there would be special plans for 2012, but she wants to keep them close to her vest.
“Oh, that’s a secret,” she said. “We’re working on it. Stay tuned.”
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