Celebrating the First Amendment and the Newseum

The Newseum celebrates its history and legacy with a final program in the building celebrating the First Amendment and looking forward to a new chapter in the Freedom Forum’s work of fostering First Amendment freedoms for all.

The program will feature speakers who will discuss the importance of the First Amendment along with a panel of “First Amendment Heroes” who will discuss how they have used the amendment’s five freedoms in their work.

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Speakers include:

• Floyd Abrams, award-winning legal scholar and America’s best-known First Amendment lawyer;
• Eleanor Holmes Norton, congresswoman for the District of Columbia and chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit;
• Chris Wallace, anchor of “Fox News Sunday.”

The program will also include a panel moderated by Lata Nott, executive director of the Freedom Forum Institute’s First Amendment Center, featuring:

• Charles Watson Jr., director of education, Baptist Joint Committee;
• Anne Havemann, general counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
• Donna Redmond Jones, director of learning, achievement & administration, Montgomery County Public Schools Office of School Support and Improvement
• Virginia Brown, student, Emory University
• Nicola Schmidt, student, University of Toronto

Audience members are welcome to tour the Newseum beginning at 6 p.m. A reception will be held at the conclusion of the program.

After more than 11 years and nearly 10 million visitors, the Newseum will close its doors on historic Pennsylvania Avenue on Dec. 31, 2019.

The Freedom Forum remains committed to continuing the Newseum’s mission to increase public understanding of the importance of a free press and the First Amendment.