Freedom rings at Eric Sloane Museum

Community members gathered Saturday, July 6 for the Eric Sloane Museum’s annual bell-ringing ceremony in observance of Independence Day.

The Eric Sloane Museum in Kent celebrates the work of the late Eric Sloane, a Connecticut artist and author. In addition to his works, the museum also displays a series of tools which Sloane collected. According to the museum’s page on the State of Connecticut’s official website, “Sloane himself arranged and labeled his extensive collection, telling a fascinating story about bygone times and the great American heritage of craftsmanship.”

Museum Curator and Administrator Andrew Rowand began the ceremony by introducing the history of bell-ringing as an American tradition. He explained that Sloane, along with Connecticut author Eric Hatch, wanted to revive an old American tradition of ringing bells on Independence Day to commemorate the reading of the Declaration of Independence.

“They wanted to get back to the idea that bells were a sound of peace rather than fireworks, which were construed as a sign of war and a sign of violence,” Rowand said.

The bell atop the Eric Sloane Museum.Emma Benardete

Sloane and Hatch campaigned to garner official recognition for the tradition. On June 26, 1963, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution encouraging the practice.

“Whereas the tolling of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the 4th day of July, 1776, proclaimed the signing of the Declaration of Independence … Now, therefore be it Resolved … that the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence should be observed each year by the ringing of bells throughout the United States at the hour of 2 o’clock, eastern daylight time, in the afternoon of the 4th day of July…” the resolution reads. According to Rowand, the museum held a virtual bell-ringing ceremony on July 4 in addition to the one on July 6.

In 1964, Sloane and Hatch continued to display their enthusiasm for bells by publishing a book titled “The Little Book of Bells.” In 1968, Sloane published another bell book titled “The Sound of Bells.”

Gankofskie donated a bell gifted to her father by Eric Sloane and Eric Hatch.Emma Benardete

During the July 6 ceremony, after giving his introduction, Rowand read the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. Visitors then took turns ringing the bell outside the museum. The first to ring it was Margaret Gankofskie, the daughter of the late Connecticut governor John Dempsey, who served from 1961 until 1971. In addition to attending the ceremony, Gankofskie donated a bell which she inherited from her parents to the museum. The bell was gifted to Dempsey by Sloane and Hatch in 1963, and is engraved with the phrase “Let Freedom Ring,” as well as the governor’s name, the year and “From the two Erics.”

The museum has more special programming planned for the remainder of the summer, including a blacksmithing workshop July 28 and a spoon-carving workshop Aug. 10. The museum will also host two TradesUp youth programs for participants 10–17, including a plumbing-based workshop and a painting and drywall workshop.