Plymouth Old Home Day and Re-enactment of the Coolidge's Inauguration #PlymouthVT #VT #CalvinCoolidge

Saturday August 1, 2015
Plymouth VT

Back in the early 20th century Plymouth Old Home Day was very popular and continues to be today. The event is a step back in time to a Vermont village that remains as it did in the 1920s.  

The day included a special presentation by agricultural historian Paul Wood (sponsored by the Vermont Humanities Council’s Speakers Bureau) at 1:30. Wood spoke about farm patents and how these inventions helped the farmers, especially dairy farmers in our region.

There were wagon rides, chicken barbecue, old-time music, sheep shearing, traditional craft demonstrations, and “Clara’s Games” (historic children’s games organized by the Vermont Historical Society).

At 2:47 there was reenactment of Calvin Coolidge’s “Homestead Inaugural” On August 2, 1923, Coolidge was vacationing at his father's home in Plymouth, Vermont. It took several hours for the news of President Harding's death in California to reach the small town. Traditionally, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court swears in the president, but he was 500 miles away. So at 2:37 a.m., Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath of office to his son by the light of a kerosene lamp. 

He is the only president to be sworn in by his father. Never before (or since) had a father sworn in his son as President. Plymouth Notch, with its population of 29 inhabitants, was immediately thrown into the world's limelight. In typical understated fashion he wrote in his biography: "It seemed a simple and natural thing to do at the time, but I can now realize something of the dramatic force of the event." Coolidge was portrayed in this re-enactment by Christopher Coolidge Jeter.

More images: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/VermontStandard/August-2015/Plymouth-Old-Home-Day/

Plymouth Old Home Day
Calvin Coolidge Homestead
Plymouth, VT August 1, 2015
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