September 11, 2023: The Hendrick Hudson Chapter, NSDAR, 2023 Speaker Series begins on Sunday, September 17, which is Constitution Day and the beginning of Constitution Week. The public is invited to the chapter’s Historic Robert Jenkins House to hear attorney Louis J. Oggiani present “What the Constitution Says About Citizenship.” The house is located at 113 Warren Street in Hudson but unfortunately is not yet handicapped accessible. The talk, which begins at 3:15pm, is free.
Mr. Oggiani, a lifelong resident of Great Barrington, has had a general law practice for 45 years and has helped many immigrants become naturalized citizens. He has a degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School in Boston. For more than 30 years, he has been one of Berkshire County’s Bar Advocates counseling indigent criminal defendants; a certified EMT with the Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad and County Ambulance; a planner and organizer of the annual Josh Billings Triathlon, a Berkshire United Way fundraiser; and a member of the Human Rights Commission for Berkshire Meadows, a residential community for individuals with intellectual and medical disabilities.
Mr. Oggiani will discuss the uniqueness of the Constitution and how it defines citizenship.
Constitution Week was initiated by the Daughters of the American Revolution, which is a patriotic organization that encourages education and historic preservation in communities across America.
In 1955, DAR’s President General adopted a project to promote the observance of the U.S. Constitution with a memorial week beginning on the anniversary of the signing of this document, September 17. She asked DAR chapters, committees, and members to study, teach, and discuss the U.S. Constitution. She also encouraged members to invite their governors and mayors to issue proclamations celebrating the Constitution.
Constitution Week was officially declared by President Eisenhower on August 2, 1956. This was the culmination of a proposal the DAR sent through Senator William F. Knowland of California.
DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC honors the Constitution. The inscription on its pediment reads, “Constitution Hall – a memorial to that immortal document, the Constitution of the United States, in which are incorporated the principles of freedom, equality and justice for which our forefathers strove.” DAR Constitution Hall is the only structure dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.
The Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the DAR was chartered in 1896. The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is a nonprofit, nonpartisan women’s volunteer service organization welcoming eligible women without regard to race, creed, or religion. The Hendrick Hudson Chapter includes 133 members who trace their lineage back to a patriot in the American Revolution–whether serving as soldier, shopkeeper, or seamstress. The mission of the DAR is to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism.
The chapter and the chapter house can be accessed at hudson-dar.org, facebook.com/HudsonDAR, instagram.com/robertjenkinshouse, hendrickhudsonchapterdar@gmail.com, and (518) 828-9764.
Hendrick Hudson Chapter, NSDAR 