Vienna Liberty Amendments Month Returns In 2023

VIENNA, VA — For the third year, Vienna's Liberty Amendments Month will celebrate constitutional amendments that extended rights to more people. The month-long celebration features various events kicking off with Juneteenth weekend.

Liberty Amendments Month will run from June 17 to July 17. The month will be split up into sections focusing on each of the amendments — the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments.

Liberty Amendments Month was started by Town Manager Mercury Payton as Juneteenth became a state holiday in 2021. The Constitution's amendments celebrated during the observance are: the 13th Amendment in 1865 that abolished slavery; the 14th Amendment in 1868 that granted citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the U.S. and reaffirmed the right to due process, life, liberty, and property; the 15th Amendment in 1870 protected the right to vote for people regardless of race, color, or past servitude; and the 19th Amendment in 1920 that extended the right to vote to women.

Events kick off with a Juneteenth Celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 17 at First Baptist Church, 450 Orchard Street NW, Vienna. Juneteenth is a state and federal holiday recognizing the end of slavery in the United States. A Liberty Amendments Month opening ceremony will start at 12 p.m. with a keynote address by Gregory Washington, the president of George Mason University. The event will also include live music from Common Ground Jazz, food trucks, craft vendors, children's book giveaway, children's games and activities, voter registration and other resources.

The observed Juneteenth holiday is Monday, June 19. Town of Vienna offices will be closed on June 19 for Juneteenth and Liberty Amendments Day.

After Juneteenth and other 13th Amendment events, 14th Amendment events include a discussion on library desegregation and plans for the Patrick Henry Library redesign on June 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center.

Events during the 15th Amendment part of the month include Vienna's Independence Day Fireworks at George C. Yeonas Park on July 2 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., public reading of America's foundational documents on July 4 at 11 a.m. at the Vienna Community Center, and Liberty Amendments Month Children’s Readers Theatre and Summer on the Green Concert with U.S. Navy Band Commodores on July 7 at 6 p.m. on the Town Green.

To conclude Liberty Amendments Month, 19th Amendment events include a Vienna Business Association Mixer and Empowering Women Panel on July 12 at 5:45 p.m. at the Vienna Community Center, Freedom House Museum & Lee-Fendall House Museum Trip on July 13, and Vienna Multicultural Festival on July 15 from 3 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Town Green.

Ongoing events for Liberty Amendments Month include the Liberty Amendments Learning Tour weekly displays outside the Vienna Community Center and Freeman Store and Museum, the self-guided African American Historic Sites Tour of Vienna, museum exhibits on different amendments at the Freeman Store and Museum and the Vienna Community Center, amendment flash card quizzes and more.

See events for each amendment: 13th Amendment from June 17 to 24, 14th Amendment from June 25 to July 1, 15th Amendment from July 2 to 8 and 19th Amendment from July 9 to 15.