The listings below offer a broad view of many of the national initiatives currently being planned by private nonprofits, federal agencies, and other organizations in the museum, history, civics, and education space. We hope this tool will help practitioners better understand the national context for the Semiquincentennial commemoration as they advance their own plans. You can filter the initiatives using the tags on the right and click any initiative title to get more information! Click here to return to the main AASLH 250 page.
Do you know of a project that should be included in the National Initiative Tracker? Send us information here!
This nationwide scholastic competition will ask elementary, middle, and high school students to submit art, poems, essays or videos responding to the prompt “What does America mean to you?” – the submissions will be judged by a panel of educators, and 25 students in each age group will be awarded airfare and hotel accommodations to experience once-in-a-lifetime / behind-the-scenes field trips provided by our federal and private partners at iconic American historic sites and destinations.
“We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
How can museums across our nation participate in the 250th celebration in a way that unifies and inspires while strengthening our democracy for many years to come? The American spirit of service is fundamental to our character and essential to our democracy. By honoring the American spirit of service in ALL its forms, a spirit so powerfully expressed in the closing words of the Declaration. Service may be America’s best and most important story, but that story is not being told as it can and should be. Together, we can change that.
A national grass roots coalition of service organizations, museums, schools, and libraries is working to create inspiring, inclusive, and enduring exhibitions of service in nearly every community by 2026. Every community has three essential resources to make this possible:
In September 2024, live and online, we will share resources and examples demonstrating how state and local museums can co-create service exhibitions by the 2026 celebration and enduring for many years beyond.
From Juneteenth to July 4th, annually since 2021, Civic Season empowers young people to skill-up and school-up to shape the nation’s future. Co-designed by institutions and young adults, Civic Season’s local events and public activations are made to educate, inspire and welcome our newest active citizens: Gen Z.
We’ve been building year over year towards our nation’s 250th anniversary, testing on-the-ground approaches, materials and programming that is appealing, accessible and compelling to young adults ages 18-30. Civic Season is the ultimate “test kitchen” for the 250th, trialing our capacity for coordination and impact!
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the National Archives launched “Declaration 250,” a multiyear celebration of the principles enshrined in the Declaration. The ambitious program of events are designed to commemorate 250 years of American resilience and the pursuit of happiness. As the home of the Declaration, the National Archives will host exhibitions, special programs, themed events, civic education initiatives, and other activities, culminating with a special Independence Day celebration in 2026. This will include:
Celebratory Exhibits
Celebratory exhibits include Road to Revolution, a rotating exhibition that opened in June 2024, highlighting National Archives records that document major milestones in the lead-up to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Spirit of Independence honors the enduring legacy of the Declaration of Independence, which will launch in February 2026. As part of the celebration, the National Archives will reopen newly renovated signature exhibit spaces, including a new discovery center where students and people of all ages can engage in educational activities to enhance their knowledge of civics and American history.
Special Programs
Special programs include both virtual and in-person informative, educational, and inspirational events designed to engage with Americans of all ages from across the country. A series of National Conversations, titled “In Pursuit,” will feature thought-provoking discussions by prominent public figures about the meaning and impact of the Declaration of Independence. Held in various locations across the United States, these events will also be available online.. Public programs related to the new exhibits and honoring veterans will take place throughout the celebratory anniversary. Finally, a challenging scavenger hunt featuring puzzles and clues from historic documents will entice visitors to channel their inner “treasure hunter” spirit and learn about America’s past.
Special Initiatives
Other special initiatives include “100 for 250,” a joint endeavor by the National Archives, the National Archives Foundation, and More Perfect to celebrate the most notable 100 documents from the Archives. The public will vote on document choices, and teachers can incorporate preparation materials, guides, and an online collection of documents into daily lesson plans. 100 for 250 will help classrooms across the country join the broader public for discussions and add their voice about our collective history. Another special initiative, called “Letters to the Presidents,” is a collaboration among all Presidential Libraries to feature letters to Presidents and First Ladies as a way to highlight the ongoing conversation between citizens and their government.
How We Became America: The Untold History is the result of a partnership between the American Battlefield Trust and the Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement (DFI). It is associated with DFI’s larger Untold initiative, which is produced and distributed by Makematic and the University of Southern California’s Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education (EDGE). How We Became America is filled with eye-catching animation based on iconic period images, plus a slightly irreverent attitude designed to show that history is dynamic.
Made for students and teachers, but easy-to-consume by all, the series is designed to fill in the gaps and bring new stories to life. Our goal with the videos is to complement existing civics-related articles, primary sources, and videos. Video is a compelling way for people to learn and made even more important in the age of distance learning. It’s an extremely portable format that works at home, in a classroom, on TV, and on a mobile phone.
The NCC is developing projects and a series of partnerships to disseminate resources for the 250th. This will include:
The Semiquincentennial grant program was created by Congress in 2020 to honor the 250th anniversary of the United States by restoring and preserving sites and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that commemorate the founding of the nation. Historic resources supported by this program may include those associated with the political ideas, well-known individuals, pivotal events, or sites of conflict typically thought of in conjunction with this period of American history. For the purposes of this grant program, the “founding of the nation” is defined as the period ending December 31, 1800. This end date corresponds to the election of 1800, as the peaceful transfer of power following the contested election between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson represents a hallmark of democracy and a pivotal moment in American history. The founding of the nation does not have a defined starting period to be inclusive of the many cultures that combined to create the America of today.
Eligible applicants include non-profits, local, state and tribal governments. Non-federal match is not required. Congress has appropriated $7 million for the program in FY2024. Applications are anticipated fall 2024 and will be due winter 2025.
In 2022, the Academy began convening national, state, and local organizations planning to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. These organizations represent the arts, museums, libraries, local history agencies, state and jurisdictional humanities councils, and academic centers. Each convening has sought to identify both the opportunities and challenges that the commemoration of the semiquincentennial presents.
This group came up with a list of guiding principles for people and organizations planning for 2026: Listen and Dialogue; Include; Reckon, Celebrate, and Imagine; and Experiment. Each of these values will help to ensure that the anniversary is used as an opportunity to think openly about the nation’s past and develop a collective vision for the country’s democratic future.
Sharing Stories and Listening to One Another: The Declaration of Independence at 250 is a project devoted to positioning community institutions to help Americans, wherever they come from and whoever they are, mark and make sense of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence together. In this planning phase, five humanities councils are partnering with public libraries to train at least 175 discussion leaders and create toolkits to guide future library-based community conversations. Our project activates the long-standing partnerships between humanities councils and public libraries to ground conversations locally and hear from community members providing the stories that make up “a full and inclusive history.” As part of this project phase, the Federation convened 24 councils from all over the nation and their library partners in March 2024 to hear from those involved in this IMLS-funded planning grant and imagine what their own community conversations might look like if the Federation secures a future IMLS implementation grant.
Teaching the 250th with Historic Places: A Field Guide to Lessons for America’s Semiquincentennial contains lessons designed to give students both a sense of place and the big themes in American history. The lesson plans will help students evaluate the values of the Declaration of Independence through a diverse set of historical places. These lessons are inquiry-based, student-centered and built on primary source documents. Most of them will give students extensions to explore these themes in their own community.
The ideas from the Declaration or Constitution can often feel abstract to students. Here, four themes categorize the documents: liberty, equality, memory, and belonging. Anchoring these themes in specific places help students connect to the past. The guide will highlight specific lessons in different eras of American history that showcase these themes. Teaching with Historic Places lessons give a nuanced picture of the struggles and triumphs of different generations of Americans to form “a more perfect Union.”
New America’s Us@250 (pronounced “us at 250”) initiative seeks to accomplish this by employing three core themes in its work: pride in the nation’s progress from its origins, reckoning with historical and contemporary wrongs that have caused the nation to fall short of its ideals, and aspiration for an inclusive democracy governed by the principles of equality, fairness, and opportunity.
The Us@250 Fellowship provides funding, resources, and community for those engaged in projects that seek to tell a more comprehensive American story; expand our concept of American culture and identity; create connections across differences; and model how an inclusive multiracial society might thrive. The fellowship will facilitate projects in civic engagement, narrative change and storytelling, and cultural education that foster public participation.
“Visions of America: All Stories, All People, All Places,” is a digital-first series created by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in partnership with PBS. Over several episodes and web specials, former IMLS director Crosby Kemper III explores the places, people, and stories that have contributed to the America we live in today. Each episode explores the cities our institutions call home to probe what makes each of these communities important to the our national identity. Additional resources, including a discussion guide and reading list, can help public history organizations and educators use these videos as part of their 250th anniversary programming.
The National Park Service and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) are collaborating on a special project to transcribe the pension records of more than 80,000 of America’s first veterans and their widows. The project will make a permanent contribution to the historical record for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
For 250 years, the American story has been written by young people. Today’s young adults, Gen Z, are at the helm of a global youth wave, ushering in our future. How we mark this moment matters — for today and for tomorrow.
Youth250 is a dynamic, nonpartisan initiative to capture young people’s imaginations, ideas and input as the United States turns 250 years old in 2026. With workshops, a toolkit and a national youth bureau, we help institutions serve younger generations and create avenues for youth input across society.
What We’re Building
Visit our website to learn more and get involved!