Live Free or Die: The Contested History of the Words on Your License Plate

Join the Lebanon Historical Society for a fascinating talk by Upper Valley historian and former Valley News reporter Dan Billin. When officials decided in 1969 to put the state’s bellicose motto on license plates, many citizens viewed it as an endorsement of the deeply unpopular war in Vietnam, and some protested by covering it up. Authorities cracked down on this duct-tape dissent with arrests, heavy fines, and even jail terms—kicking off years of legal battles over freedom of speech that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In this illustrated presentation, Dan Billin will tell a uniquely New Hampshire tale highlighting the genius and the fragility of the First Amendment.