The Oliver Wiley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will join other DAR members across the nation in celebrating Constitution Week, Sept. 17-23.

As part of the week-long celebration, Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford signed a proclamation declaring Sept. 17-23 Constitution Week in Troy.

The mayor’s proclamation encourages all citizens across the country to take time the week to guard that which is committed to Americans by their forefathers … freedom.

“The tradition of celebrating the Constitution was started many years ago by the Daughters of the American Revolution,” said Rebecca Skibba, regent Oliver Wiley Chapter, DAR.

“In 1955, the Daughters petitioned Congress to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week.

“The resolution was later adopted by the U.S. Congress and signed into public law on Aug. 2, 1956, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

The aims of the celebration are to emphasize citizens’ responsibilities for protecting and defending the Constitution, preserving it for posterity, inform the people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for the American way of life and encourage the study of the historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.

“The United States of America functions as a Republic under the Constitution, which is the oldest document still in active use that outlines the self-government of a people,” Skibba said.

“This landmark idea that men had the unalienable right as individuals to be free and live their lives under their own governance was the driving force of the American Revolution. Today, the Constitution stands as an icon of freedom for people around the world.”

Merry Ann Wright, president general of the DAR, said that Americans must remember and teach that those who wrote the Constitution believed that no government can create freedom but the government must guard freedom rather than encroach upon the freedoms of its people.

“The Constitution by itself cannot guarantee liberty,” Wright said.

“A nation’s people can remain free only by being responsible citizens who are willing to learn about the rights of each arm of government and require that each is accountable for its own function.
“Therefore, Constitution Week is the perfect opportunity to read and study this great document, which is the safeguard of our American liberties.”