May 19, 2026
02:00 PM
Until
May 19, 2026, 03:00 PM
1h
Book Club: The First American Declaration of Independence with PHC Director Anne Chesky
Presbyterian Heritage Center
318 Georgia Terrace, Montreat, NC 28757, USA
PHC Director Anne Chesky will lead a discussion of the book The First American Declaration of Independence? by Scott Syfert. The official opening of the PHC’s MecDec exhibit will be Wednesday, May 20.
Scott Syfert’s book, The First American Declaration of Independence?, explores the historical mystery of whether Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, declared independence from Great Britain on May 20, 1775, over a year before the official Declaration of Independence. The book examines the evidence for and against the existence of the “Mecklenburg Declaration,” a document that local legend claims was created after news of Lexington and Concord arrived, and which was delivered to the Continental Congress by James Jack. Syfert presents a balanced account of the controversy, detailing the arguments and evidence for both sides, and leaves the reader to weigh the facts in this “great historical detective story”.