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The sounds of classical piano keys emanated from a Bluetooth speaker in the community room of the Dartmouth Public Library North Branch Tuesday evening as groups of people committed text to notebooks.
The 12 people gathered were there to hand-copy the U.S. Constitution, an exercise aimed at introducing the document to the public and encouraging interaction with it and meditation on it.
Just as the music switched to meditative tones, Louise LeComte had a thought.
“I’m trying to understand how we follow the rules [of governance],” LeComte, of Dartmouth, said. “And I’m wondering if we still are.”
These are the types of questions Linda Garibaldi hoped would be inspired by the event. A retired legal services attorney from Dartmouth, she said an article in The New Yorker magazine inspired her to organize the event. Participants were advised to bring their favorite writing implements, though pens and notebooks were available, and they could stay a few minutes or the entirety of the event’s two hours.
“I thought this was a very good idea,” she said. “I’m a retired attorney and I certainly never read it till law school.”
The first such workshops started in 2017 at the behest of Morgan O’Hara, an artist inspired to hand-copy human rights documents after noting the rancorous language of the 2016 election cycle. She described the practice as “activism for introverts.”
Garibaldi said the goal of the Dartmouth event was not to move people’s political opinions. Instead, it sought to inspire reflection on governing principles.
“It’s a quiet activity,” she said. “It’s not a place for political discussion.
“The U.S. Constitution has been interpreted in many ways over the years,” she continued. “It’s probably a political document but it’s got a lot to do with a person’s beliefs.”
Dina St. Pierre, the director of Dartmouth libraries, said the document’s political nature is unquestionable.
“It’s a political document but a bipartisan one,” she said. “I would hope that people look at it as understanding our roots.”
Garibaldi said she wants to expand the event to once monthly, hopefully being able to accommodate people’s schedules so they can have the estimated 12 hours necessary to do the copying.
For those participating, it serves as a moment where they get to interact with — and interrogate — the bedrock of U.S. governance.
“I’m not having so much of an epiphany,” said LeComte. “But I have so many questions.”
There will be a second U.S. Constitution copying workshop at the Dartmouth Public Library North Branch, 211 Cross Road, Dartmouth, on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Kevin G. Andrade can be contacted at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
What? Well it certainly is a feel good thing, but akin to preaching before the choir. It doesn’t embrace a larger audience or have the same effect as plastering flags all over your F-150 and parading around the streets! We have to salute you for at least trying in your own way. It just upsets me to know how our educational system has failed to educate our society when they had a chance. When things are going good, you feel no incentive to change out of the sense you might screw things up. Well just enough of the population, including gerrymandered districts and States with two Senators for less than a million voters, think things were not so good! And that is the way to fix it, through numbers! But with AI, deep algorithms and not having the power, your odds aren’t that good for just a U.S. Constitution review. Just a reminder, that Constitution you’re rewriting, the Supreme Court is doing a terrific job in rewriting it too! And it’s not looking anything like yours!
No problems with the excercise, could be informative, and educational, but I think the founding fathers were way ahead of their time, and did an excellent job creating and writing the constitution, I wouldn’t change a thing, God Bless America.
Thank God we did change the constitution — twenty-seven times. Prior to the first ten changes to the constitution there were no enumerated rights. Prior to the first nineteen changes human slavery was allowed, there was no requirement of due process or equal protection under the law and women could not even vote.