America’s 150th anniversary was a slow-developing celebration in Chattanooga 100 years ago, but a Chattanooga Times story on July 6, 1926, said of the eventual festivities, “Perhaps never in the history of this city has the birthday of the independence of the nation been more generally celebrated than it was yesterday.”
The reason the celebration was slow developing? Sunday, July 4, was reserved for church attendance.
Be that as it was, the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and other civic clubs planned a patriotic program at Memorial Auditorium on July 4, but news stories assured the reverent it would be a “short, snappy, but appropriate program which will have an appeal for every patriotic citizen,” and a Times editorial told readers the “exercises” would “be short, varied and interesting,” and “inspiring.”
Boy Scouts ushered, a 200-voice all-comers choir performed, the 6th Cavalry Band from Fort Oglethorpe entertained and a roll of the Declaration of Independence signers was read at the 2:30 p.m. event.
Chamber officials hoped it would provide a patriotic spark for the country’s sesquicentennial anniversary.