July 4, 1941. "Fourth of July parade in Watertown, Wisconsin." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1919. "Fourth of July tableau on the Ellipse -- 'Columbia,' 'Liberty' and dancers." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.

The 1967 Twin Cities (Larkspur & Corte Madera, California) Fourth of July Parade on the 300 block of Magnolia Ave. in Larkspur, right down the hill from our house. The "Leoettes" was an auxiliary of the Lions Club - see the toy lion over the windshield? Their garb commemorates the Spanish/Mexican history of the area; at the end of the block, the car will cross the boundary between two old Mexican land grant ranchos: Punta de Quentin (here) and Corte Madera del Presidio. Today this parade entry would be part of the vintage car contingent. This is a section of a 35mm Kodachrome slide. View full size.

Bill Bliss and friend playing on the roof in the mid-1950s in Southern California. I don't know for sure if this was actually taken on the Fourth of July but it's patriotic nonetheless. View full size.

Larkspur, California. Twin Cities Fourth of July Parade - the other one being adjoining Corte Madera. Here we're on the 300 block of Magnolia Avenue. I was into Polaroids those days, in the glorious pre-SX-70 era. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1915. "Klassy Kamp group." A summer camp on the banks of the Potomac. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., circa 1915. "Birth of the American flag." View full size.

July 4, 1966. Twin Cities Fourth of July Parade on Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur, California. And if two brand-new, dealer stock Mustangs weren't enough, an early Studebaker Lark in the used car lot. The other Twin City was neighboring Corte Madera. My Ektachrome slide. View full size.

July 4, 1922. Takoma Park, Maryland. "Fourth of July celebration." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Crowd on Bradford Beach, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Picture taken by my father, Everett Harding, on Fourth of July weekend 1954. Scanned from a Kodachrome transparency. View full size.

1861. "A pro-Union patriotic print based on Frederic Edwin Church's oil painting 'Our Banner in the Sky,' which in turn was inspired by the highly publicized Confederate insult to the flag at Fort Sumter in April 1861 and by a sermon by Henry Ward Beecher published shortly thereafter. The print shows a lone Zouave sentry watching from a promontory as the dawn breaks, his rifle and bayonet forming the staff of an American flag formed by the sky's light. In the distance is a fort, probably Sumter." Lithograph by Sarony, Major & Knapp. View full size.

July 4, 1973. My niece and nephews with sparklers. View full size.

July 1938. Ashville, Ohio. "Wrestling matches at the Fourth of July celebration." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the FSA.

July 1941. "Citizens of Vale, Oregon take off their hats during the Pledge of Allegiance (radio program) on the Fourth of July." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.

July 1941. Girls at the Fourth of July carnival in Vale, Oregon. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration.