Bells are ringing

Alex Contreras

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“Ring out for Freedom and Understanding” is inscribed at the bottom of the Freedom Bell, pictured here. Designed by Robyna Neilson Ketchum in the early 1970s and resembling the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, it was created to commemorate the bicentennial of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence. Shortly after her death in 1972, her husband, Alton Ketchum, donated it, along with the rest of her extensive collection of bells, to Yale’s Collection of Musical Instruments. Curator of the collection Susan Thompson says Robyna Neilson Ketchum, dubbed “the bell lady,” collected bells from different cultures around the globe. The Freedom Bell, cast in bronze, is one of 150 
created for distribution during the 1976 bicentennial.