[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 20770]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CORNERSTONE LAYING OF THE 
            PILGRIM MONUMENT IN PROVINCETOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

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                        HON. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 25, 2007

  Mr. DELAHUNT. Madam Speaker, it is with enormous pride that I rise 
today to commemorate an important historical milestone in America's 
history, the 100th anniversary of the cornerstone laying of the Pilgrim 
Monument in Provincetown, MA.
  The Pilgrims arrived on our shores with their many hopes and dreams; 
they worked hard and suffered greatly in order to fulfill them. Now, 
people around the country, from schoolchildren studying them as part of 
their American history curriculum to families gathering together on the 
fourth Thursday of every November in the spirit of thankfulness, the 
story of the Pilgrims and America's First Thanksgiving is enshrined in 
our collective memory. On Monday, August 20, 2007, a variety of friends 
and admirers will gather at the Pilgrim Monument to celebrate the 100th 
anniversary of the laying of the Monument's cornerstone in 1907.
  The 252-foot-tall Pilgrim Memorial Monument was constructed between 
1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landing of the Pilgrims and the 
signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor in 1620. It was 
built by the Cape Cod Pilgrim Memorial Association, which was 
established by a special act of the Massachusetts legislature on 
February 29, 1892, to raise funds to build the Monument. The 
Association raised $92,000 in federal, state and private funds, while 
the land was donated by the town of Provincetown. The cornerstone of 
the Monument was laid on August 20, 1907 at a ceremony attended by 
President Theodore Roosevelt, and the completed Monument was dedicated 
in 1910 at a ceremony attended by President William Howard Taft.
  Since its completion in 1910, the Monument has become a symbol of the 
role Provincetown played in the early history of our country. In the 
century since its construction, the Monument has attracted millions of 
visitors from across the United States and around the world. The 
Provincetown Museum has excelled in its mission of detailing not only 
the events surrounding the Pilgrims' first landfall but also the place 
Provincetown occupies in New England's cultural and maritime history.
  On August 20, 2007, a host of well wishers will join the entire 
Provincetown community in a parade and gathering at the Monument to 
commemorate its place in Massachusetts' and America's history. And it 
is with equal pleasure that I enter this tribute into the Congressional 
Record so that this milestone is officially recognized and recorded in 
the official history of the United States of America.

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