The bicentennial of the United States Constitution was observed in Newton County on September 12, 1987, by the Newton County Bicentennial Commission, whose chairman was Mary Jane Dixon and whose members were Henry A. Baker, Herbert Burnsed, Mellie Carson Davis, Janet A. Goodman, Richard L. James, Jewelene Epps Jones, Samuel D. Ozburn, Dula Vaughn Smith, and Frank E. Turner, in connection with the Constitution's September 17, 1787 bicentennial.