By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga Staff Writer
The Elmore County Commission, in conjunction with the City of Wetumpka and the Elmore County School System, hosted a dedication ceremony on Tuesday, May 11th at 10 a.m. for the Charters of Freedom at the Wetumpka Civic Center.
The Charters of Freedom project is pushed by Foundation Forward. The actual location of the display is on the Main Street side of the historic downtown Wetumpka Courthouse.
Foundation Forward, Inc. is an educational non-profit that installs life-size replicas of the United States’ Charters of Freedom: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in communities across America.
The opportunity for a Charters of Freedom location to come to Wetumpka first arose back in 2019, when the Elmore County Commission was presented with the possibility. During that time, Rhett Pinkston, Eagle Scout and current student at Wetumpka High School, addressed the commission about working on the project for his Eagle Scout project. However, COVID complicated the process and timing for it did not work out.
Still, he was credited as a contributor in bringing in the Charters of Freedom, and spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony.
“One of the great things about Elmore County is how supportive we are of each other and our community. History, especially American history, has always been my favorite subject. The United States is a place where individuals, even a kid like me, have the opportunity to make big things happen – to make an impact that matters,” Pinkston said.
Elmore County Superintendent Richard Dennis said he was immediately on board with the idea when it was presented to him by the foundation.
“I thought, from an educational standpoint, we have the opportunity to showcase the foundation of our country. The County Commission does so many great things here in Elmore County, and especially with the courthouse. The renovations and improvements to it have been impressive, and I couldn’t think of a better place to house the Charters of Freedom,” Dennis said.
Wetumpka Mayor Jerry Willis took the stage and utilized his platform as an opportunity to speak about how the Charters of Freedom drives tourism to the area.
“There’s so many good things going on here in Elmore County and Wetumpka. As I came by last night, a group of people were gathered outside by these documents, walking their dogs. Thousands upon thousands of people are coming to Wetumpka to see what’s happening and what we’re doing and these documents, which are part of that, are going to stand for many, many years to come,” Willis said.
Vance Patterson, co-founder of Foundation Forward, spoke about the values and beliefs that go behind each individual Charters of Freedom location.
“This has been a long, drawn out process. One of the parts of the culture in Foundation Forward is patience. We’re dealing with 250 years of history, and 500 years of the future,” Patterson said.
“People ask us why we’re doing this, and yes it’s expensive, but we believe it’s more important than money. It gives us a direct link to our founding fathers by helping to preserve what it is that they gave this country. Our founding fathers believed, that in order to have a free and independent country, you must understand how government works.”
Foundation Forward has 35 different Charters of Freedom locations spanning across the United States. The Wetumpka location is the first in the state of Alabama.
“Our goal, in the next 10 years, is to have as many Charters of Freedom locations in the United States as possible,” Patterson said.
How It Began
In the fall of 2011, Vance and Mary Jo Patterson were in Washington, DC for meeting with some members of Congress and various organizations. They had some free time and decided to go to the National Archives because they had never seen The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution. Walking through the large bronze gates, they entered the Rotunda. There, on the other side of the room, were the founding documents on display –The Declaration of Independence on the left, four pages of The United States Constitution in the middle, and on the right, the original proposed amendments which contain our Bill of Rights. These three original documents are known as our Charters of Freedom.
When they got the chance, they stepped up to view The Declaration of Independence and began a very emotional experience. Vance recalls, “Seeing something our founding fathers had actually penned, and then their signatures – Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Rutledge and the others – I got goosebumps. And, when I moved over and saw the first page of The Constitution and the words, ‘We The People,’ I actually got a lump in my throat.”
In the spring of 2012, Vance tells how he remembers “sitting with Mary Jo on the Old Courthouse Green in Burke County, NC for a National Day of Prayer meeting, and towards the end of the service the thought came to me, ‘what if I could take the experience Mary Jo and I had in Washington at the National Archives the first time we saw the Charters of Freedom – what if we could bring that experience back to the citizens of Burke County?’ I started getting excited about it. After the meeting, I mentioned the idea to Mary Jo and we actually walked around picking out possible locations.”
Later that year, Vance began working on a project. It turned out to be an education project: to build a Charters of Freedom Setting on the Old Burke County Courthouse Green. Two years later on July 2, 2014 the first Charters of Freedom Setting outside of Washington, DC was dedicated in downtown Morganton, North Carolina.
For additional info on the Charters of Freedom, individuals with Foundation Forward will be present the day of the ceremony or you can visit www.chartersoffreedom.com
See more photos of the ceremony below
