Editor's note on July 8, 2022: This story quotes the U.S. Declaration of Independence — a document that contains offensive language about Native Americans, including a racial slur.
In 1988, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence.
Church bells rang out over Philadelphia 243 years ago today as the Continental Congress adopted this draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Below is the original text of the Declaration of Independence, alongside photos of the NPR staff members who performed the reading.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
1/32
Steve Inskeep (Mike Morgan / NPR)
2/32
Rachel Martin (Mike Morgan / NPR)
3/32
David Greene, NPR ( / Mike Morgan)
4/32
Noel King (Mike Morgan / NPR)
5/32
Don Gonyea (Doby Photography / NPR)
6/32
Lauren Frayer (Sergey Gershkovich / NPR)
7/32
Joe Palca (Mike Morgan / NPR)
8/32
Audie Cornish (Allison Shelley / NPR)
9/32
Shankar Vedantam (Douglas Sonders / NPR)
10/32
Lulu Garcia-Navarro 2017 square (Stephen Voss / NPR)
11/32
Sylvia Poggioli (Wanyu Zhang / NPR)
12/32
Langfitt ( / Steve Barrett)
13/32
Cheryl Corley (Allison Shelley / NPR)
14/32
Nina Totenberg (Allison Shelley / NPR)
15/32
Headshot of Scott Detrow, 2018 (Stephen Voss / NPR)
16/32
Michel Martin (Stephen Voss / NPR)
17/32
Ayesha Rascoe at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 22, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley) (Allison Shelley / NPR)
18/32
Ofeibea Quist-Arcton speaks with an associate in the NPR office, 2006. ( / Jacques Coughlin)
19/32
Mary Louise Kelly (Stephen Voss / NPR)
20/32
Ailsa Chang ( / Mike Morgan/NPR)
21/32
Sam Sanders (Corey Seeholzer / NPR)
22/32
Renee Montagne (Allison Shelley / NPR)
23/32
Anthony Kuhn ( / Wang Zemin)
24/32
Gene Demby 2013 (Kainaz Amaria / NPR)
25/32
Ari Shapiro (Stephen Voss / NPR)
26/32
Eyder Peralta (Kainaz Amaria / NPR)
27/32
Susan Stamberg (Allison Shelley / NPR)
28/32
Scott Horsley (Doby Photography / NPR)
29/32
Cokie Roberts (Steve Fenn / ABC Inc.)
30/32
David Greene (Mike Morgan / NPR)
31/32
Rachel Martin (Mike Morgan / NPR)
32/32
Steve Inskeep (Mike Morgan / NPR)