Duke Arts Create: We The People: Iron Gall

Join historian Thavolia Glymph, Peabody Family Distinguished Professor of History at Duke University and instructor of America at 250: Founding and Forging a Democracy, for a guided critical reading of the Declaration. Through discussion and analysis, participants will examine the document's language, ideas, and historical context.

Following the reading, discover how iron gall ink-used to record all important documents for a 1,400-year period of human history, including the Declaration of Independence-is made during a live demonstration. The main ingredient of this ink is made when a gall wasp lays her eggs in an oak flower, triggering the growth of a gall, rather than an acorn. This workshop will provide context from artist, Leonid Tsvetkov. To conclude the evening, participants will have the opportunity experiment with the ink and to sign their own copy of the Declaration of Independence, recreating the experience of the signers on August 2, 1776.