About three hundred people gathered this morning under a bright April sun on the east end of the Charlottesville downtown mall to be among the first to watch someone write on the new community chalkboard. The 42-foot-long slate wall is a monument to the First Amendment built by the Thomas Jefferson Center for Free Expression. Area celebrities were in attendance, and short remarks were made by George Garrett, John Grisham and Boyd Tinsley. We present the entire event in this downloadable recording,
along with reactions from people who were there.

00:00 – 00:34 – Introduction
00:34 – 03:41 – Robert O’Neill, Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center
03:41 – 06:24 – Bruce Sanford, Chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees
06:24 – 08:16 – Charlottesville Mayor David Brown
08:16 – 13:00 – Former Virginia Poet Laureate George Garrett
13:01 – 18:12 – Bestselling author John Grisham
18:12 – 27:05 – Dahlia Lithwick, legal writer for Slate and host of WHTJ’s For the Record
27:05 – 30:10 – Violinist Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band
30:10 – 33:31 – Brandon Dudley, Charlottesville High School Senior
33:31 – 35:20 – Closing remarks from Bruce Sanford
35:20 – 37:00 – Closing Remarks from Robert O’Neill and the unveiling
37:00 – 42:47 – Montage of reactions and first words written