MANHATTAN BOROUGH PRESIDENT SCOTT M. STRINGER
CELEBRATES GEORGE WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY
AT NEW YORK CITY’S FACING HISTORY SCHOOL
WHO (Attended): Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr., Founder, George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom
Scott M. Stringer, Manhattan Borough President
WHAT: To mark the Washington’s Birthday holiday, Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer led a special reading and discussion ofGeorge Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, RI of 1790 with students at the Facing History School on February 15, 2011 at 10 AM. Washington’s Letter, which promised that the government of the United States will give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance,” is one of the nation’s clearest expressions of religious freedom and separation of church and state. Following Stringer’s reading of the historic document, three Facing History high school students read aloud their re-envisioned letters from Washington to Americans today— expressing her optimism, one student expressed “I believe in our country’s future.” The day’s final student presenter summarized an underlying message of the letter, “with religious freedom, everyone is happy…and they should be.”
Stringer is encouraging all schools in Manhattan and the other boroughs of New York City to read and discuss this important document. Stringer’s visit was part of a multiyear project called “Give Bigotry No Sanction” created jointly by the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom (www.GWIRF.org) and Facing History and Ourselves (www.facinghistory.org), an international organization that delivers classroom strategies, resources and lessons that inspire young people to take responsibility for their world.
Following the readings, GWIRF Founder John L. Loeb Jr. joined Stringer in a Q&A session with the students, encouraging students to strive for positions of leadership in order to effect change: “You have to believe that you can do these things,” stressed Stringer.
Founded by John L. Loeb Jr., the George Washington Institute for Religious Freedom supports efforts to educate students about religious liberty and separation of church and state through an exploration of Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI of 1790. In this historic letter, Washington promised that in the United States, “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.” The Institute supports educational programs for scholars, public figures, students and teachers who want to learn about and discuss religious freedom in America. His goal is to have Washington’s Letter read in schools across all fifty states. Teachers can download the letter and a curriculum packet for classroom use at www.gwirf.org.
A former U.S. ambassador to Denmark, John L. Loeb Jr. has long advocated for interreligious understanding. Regarding Borough President Stringer’s visit to the Facing History School, Loeb said, “Even New York, the world’s most diverse and tolerant city, has recently been divided over the issue of freedom of worship. The nation’s first president made it clear that religious liberty was not subject to majority opinion, but is an ‘inherent natural right.’ Every student, every American, should read Washington’s Letter to the Hebrew Congregation.”
WHERE: Facing History School
525 West 50th Street
New York City
WHEN: Tuesday, February 15, 2011
10:00AM
ShesDaily.com
Disclosure: the above publication is for entertainment purposes only and it is courtesy of PR
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