On Tuesday, July 7, at 6:30 p.m., the Belfast Free Library kicks off the “Revolutionary Belfast” series of programs with a lecture by Professor Liam Riordan, “What Should We Remember about the Declaration of Independence?” The lecture will take place in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street, and is free and open to the public. 

This illustrated lecture sets the 250th commemoration of the American Revolution in both a historical and contemporary context. What did the Declaration of Independence mean in 1776? Equally important, what should it mean to us today? 

Liam Riordan is Department Chair and Adelaide and Alan Bird Professor of History at the University of Maine. He is a specialist on the American Revolution and has a book project about loyalists, those who opposed the rebellion that created the United States. In 2020 he received the Maine Historical Society’s Neal W. Allen History Award for outstanding contributions to Maine history. 

The Revolutionary Belfast series of programs at the Belfast Free Library is a commemoration America’s 250th anniversary leading up to a display of a rare copy of the Declaration of Independence August 13-15 in the Abbott Room. For more information about the series and to sign up for a time to view the Declaration visit belfastlibrary.org/revolutionary-belfast. 

Next in the series is a lecture on July 14 by Chip Lagerbom about the history and archeology of a revolutionary war trading post 1776-1779.