Media Contacts
Shannon Konvicka, Communications Director
Department of Housing and Community Development
shannon.konvicka@vermont.gov
Rejoice Scherry, Historic Sites Regional Administrator
Department of Housing and Community Development
Division for Historic Preservation
Rejoice.Scherry@vermont.gov
The Brave Little State of Vermont Celebrates President Coolidge’s 150th Birthday
On the Fourth of July, celebrate the births of our nation and our 30th president in Plymouth Notch.
Plymouth Notch, Vt. – This year marks President Calvin Coolidge's 150th birthday on July 4, 2022. Coolidge, who was the first to describe Vermont as “The Brave Little State,” was born in 1872 in Plymouth Notch, where the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site preserves his birthplace and boyhood home. Our 30th president’s birthday will be honored with a day of festivities and events. The public and media are welcome.
“Calvin Coolidge preferred understated events, but the celebration of what would have been his 150th birthday, on the 246th birthday of our great nation, deserves some pomp and circumstance,” said Vermont State Historic Preservation Officer Laura V. Trieschmann. “On this special day we welcome everyone to explore and salute the life of President Coolidge in the place that formed who he would become as our 30th president.”
Calvin Coolidge is the only U.S. president born on Independence Day. On July 4, 2022, a day of festivities is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. All are invited to gather on the village green at 12:00 p.m. when a Vermont National Guard delegation will lead the march to the Plymouth Notch Cemetery, where a birthday wreath from the White House will be placed at the president’s gravesite. Enjoy Coolidge birthday cake, wave an American flag, listen to an old-time string band, explore the Notch, see cheesemaking in John Coolidge’s 1890 factory by Plymouth Artisan Cheese, and watch The Coolidge Cup, a national invitational speech and debate tournament sponsored by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation.
“Our family enjoys participating in the simple ceremony marking President Coolidge’s birth on July 4th and especially this year being the 150th anniversary,” said Christopher Coolidge Jeter, President Coolidge’s great-grandson. “It allows us time to pause and honor the contributions he made during his life. As much as things have changed since the 1900s, many of Coolidge’s speeches and ideals are as relevant now as ever.”
Visitors to the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site can always enjoy historic buildings, educational exhibits, the museum shop and country store, and walking and picnicking on 216 acres of the preserved village and farmland framed by Coolidge State Park. “The President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site is one of the best-kept secrets in Vermont,” said Historic Sites Regional Administrator Rejoice Scherry. “It is a time capsule of the past that preserves the buildings and landscapes Coolidge knew intimately: his birthplace, his boyhood home, the homes of relatives and family friends, his family’s cheese factory, and his father’s store that was used as the Summer White House in 1924.”
With limited food options due to Covid-19, visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic and relax at the Notch. For more information on the State Historic Site and events click here.
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About the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
The State Historic Sites Program is administered by the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD), which has a mission is to help Vermonters improve their quality of life and build strong communities. ACCD accomplishes this mission by providing grants, technical assistance, and advocacy through three divisions: The Department of Economic Development, the Department of Tourism and Marketing, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. For more information on ACCD please visit: accd.vermont.gov.