July 4, 1832 - "My Country 'Tis of Thee" Written

The popular patriotic song “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was first sung on July 4, 1832, in Boston Massachusetts, by a children’s choir at Park Street Church (pictured). The song is ironically set to the tune of “God Save the King.” Written by Reverend Samuel F. Smith while he was a student at Andover Theological Seminary, it soon became very popular as a celebration of the Independence of America. Smith was a classmate at Harvard with Oliver Wendell Holmes, and he would go on to become a Baptist preacher.