Origin The Illinois Freedom Bell is located in
Mount Morris, Illinois, and was cast as a replica of the Liberty Bell in 1862. The church members then decided to reconstruct the church on the south side of the lake. In 1966, an article was published about the bell's submersion and resurfacing at Geneva Lake. The people of Mount Morris decided to purchase the bell; a committee was formed and obtained a loan from the
Mount Morris VFW. The group also collected donations from local residents to purchase the bell for
US$500. A plaque was added to the tower on July 4, 1972, with an inscription from Governor Ogilvie that reads:
Festival On February 17, 1963, an issue of
This Week contained an article, "Make Freedom Really Ring", written by two
Connecticut writers, Eric Hatch and Eric Sloane. The first freedom bell was a small 16 inch (40.6 cm) bell. The first national bell-ringing took place on July 4, 1963; Mount Morris also participated in that ringing. A year later, in 1974, Richard Blake, a noted
Abraham Lincoln impersonator, appeared at the festival to speak as Lincoln. Several times the Let Freedom Ring festival has been broadcast nationally. During the 1964 festival, Governor
Otto Kerner was the speaker at the bell-ringing observance, and his address was transmitted via telephone to the Illinois pavilion at the
1964 New York World's Fair. The 1965 bell-ringing was broadcast over the
public address system at
Wrigley Field in
Chicago. Over the years, the committee for the festival requested that the bell-ringing be part of the Illinois Sesquicentennial, the
U.S. Bicentennial, and the
Statue of Liberty Centennial celebrations, all of which were allowed. The "Let Freedom Ring" celebration hosts a "Freedom Run", arts and crafts, a parade, a fireworks display, and the highlighted ringing of the Illinois Freedom Bell. ==Description==