PORTSMOUTH — For two hours on Friday, March 6, residents will have a rare chance to stand face to face with the document that started it all.

The original Portsmouth Compact will be on public display at Portsmouth Town Hall as part of the town’s annual Founders Day observance. The event, hosted by the Portsmouth Historical Society in cooperation with the Rhode Island State Archives, marks the 388th anniversary of Portsmouth’s founding.

Often described as the first document in American history to sever both political and religious ties with England, the Compact has been called “the first instrument for governing as a true democracy.” Signed in 1638 by a group of religious dissenters who settled on Aquidneck Island, it laid the groundwork for what would become Portsmouth.

The document will be transported from the State Archives to town hall by a state archivist, accompanied by a police escort — a reminder that this fragile sheet of parchment is both priceless and irreplaceable.

Also on display will be the 1776 Southwick printing of the Declaration of Independence, believed to be the only Rhode Island copy that has remained at its original intended destination — a town clerk’s office or town hall. About 36 copies were printed by Newport printer Solomon Southwick on July 13, 1776, for the Rhode Island General Assembly and distributed to municipalities across the state for public reading.

A brief ceremony is scheduled for noon and will feature remarks by Gregg Amore. Members of the Newport Artillery Company will stand guard in full uniform, adding to the colonial atmosphere.

Historian will be missed

Still, for many longtime attendees, this year’s ceremony will feel different.

For years, beloved Town Historian Jim Garman stood before the crowd and delivered a short lecture about the Compact — what it meant, who signed it and why it still matters. He had a knack for making 17th-century politics feel immediate and human. And his eyes always seemed to light up at the sight of the original document resting in its protective case inside town hall.

Garman died Feb. 22 at the age of 87. His absence will be felt not just in the program, but in the quiet moment when the case is opened and residents lean in for a closer look.

The documents will be available for public viewing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at town hall, 2200 East Main Road. Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact the Portsmouth Historical Society at phsinfo@portsmouthhistorical.org.