By Dave Cucchiara
Communications & Program Associate
On July 4, 2026, the United States will mark an extraordinary democratic milestone. Two hundred and fifty years since a group of young delegates, bound by their collective and unwavering conviction, signed their names to a piece of parchment that would ultimately change the world. The ideals of freedom, liberty, and equality were aspirational then, and they remain so now. They have never belonged to any single generation. Instead, they are continuously inherited, each era called to receive, question, and evolve.
America250, the nonpartisan initiative established by Congress and supported by a bipartisan coalition of more than 350 members of Congress — the largest caucus in U.S. history — invites every American to participate in this commemoration. With honorary co-chairs that span the political spectrum, the effort reflects something exceptional in our current moment: the common ground of shared history and shared hope. Its aim is to engage all 350 million Americans in pausing to reflect on where we have been, to honor the contributions that built this country, and to envision the future we want to create for the generations that will carry these ideals forward.
The F. M. Kirby Foundation believes that the strength of civil society is measured not only by its institutions, but by the vitality of its communities. This includes the schools, arts organizations, civic groups, and social service agencies that give American life its texture and meaning. The semiquincentennial can be a moment for pageantry and civic renewal. The grantees highlighted below have each answered that invitation in their own distinctive way, weaving the spirit of America250 into programs and initiatives that educate, connect, and inspire. Their work is a reminder that history is not only something we study — it is something we make, together, every day.
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is using America250 as an occasion to reacquaint Americans with the ideas and debates at the heart of the founding, through its “We Hold These Truths: America at 250” initiative. The centerpiece is a multivolume essay series edited by Yuval Levin, Adam J. White, and John Yoo that examines issues central to the founding era across eight distinct themes, convening leading scholars of history, political science, and law to grapple with questions about the Revolution’s democratic character, its religious dimensions, its economic legacy, and its evolving relationship with equality and individual rights. Beyond the scholarship, AEI has paired the essay series with a robust public engagement strategy, including speaking events in cities with strong ties to the Revolution and campus visits by AEI scholars. The initiative also takes a notable turn toward younger audiences, distributing box sets of the essay volumes to high schools and universities and developing a comprehensive high school civics curriculum.
Bill of Rights Institute
The Bill of Rights Institute (BRI) is making America250 a centerpiece of its civic education mission, bringing the founding era to life for students and teachers across the country. The Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit is participating in multiple A250 initiatives, including the creation of a curriculum kit to support educators in teaching about the meaning of the semiquincentennial. The kit supports BRI’s new middle school curriculum, “Building a Self-Governing People,” and includes a document-based activity called “Decoding the Declaration.” On the multimedia front, BRI has produced a playlist of mini-documentaries spanning the full arc of American history, covering pivotal moments from Lexington and Concord to the March on Washington — all tied to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. BRI is also supporting “In Pursuit,” an essay collection headed by former U.S. Archivist Colleen Shogan, for which BRI is producing video content on figures including James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, Grace Coolidge, and Lady Bird Johnson. The organization is also partnering with iCivics on the Civic Star Challenge, a nationwide initiative to inspire educators of civic learning in the lead-up to Independence Day.
Friends of Jockey Hollow
Friends of Jockey Hollow (FOJH) is marking America250 by helping protect, preserve, and promote one of New Jersey’s most storied Revolutionary War sites. The nonprofit — established in 2022 as both historical and ecological stewards of the more than 1,400 acres and 27 miles of trails comprising Jockey Hollow’s portion of the Morristown National Historical Park — has channeled its energy into both physical restoration and public engagement. The organization’s annual Spring Encampment served as an America250 signature event this year, drawing record crowds with re-enactors from across the Northeast, a performance by the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, guided hikes to the mutiny monument, and appearances by figures portraying George and Martha Washington — all free to the public. On the infrastructure front, FOJH is partnering with the National Park Service to develop the Pennsylvania Line Mutiny Trail, a roughly 0.33-mile interpretive path that would, for the first time, connect the Bettin Oak Monument to the former Fort Hill redoubt and illuminate the story of the largest and first major mutiny of the war. An archaeological investigation concluded with no findings to impede the project, and the Friends hope to have the trail ready in the near future. The group has also overseen renovations to the Jockey Hollow Comfort Station, with a broader reboot of the park’s 50-year-old visitor center in the early planning stages.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is bringing the Declaration of Independence to the center of America250 through its multi-year “Declaration at 250” initiative, a sweeping effort to reintroduce one of history’s most consequential documents to students, teachers, and general audiences alike. The initiative draws on the Institute’s archive of historic documents and its network of scholars to examine the Declaration’s enduring impact, producing digital and print materials including historic primary sources, educator tools, and video content. An Annotated Declaration resource walks users through the document’s three key sections with historical context, explanatory notes on notable phrases, and reading quizzes, making the founding text newly accessible to modern learners. A traveling exhibition, “Declaration 1776: The Big Bang of Modern Democracy,” is also making its way to communities across the country, a complement to the Foundation’s five-part webinar series, “We the People: Reflections at 250,” which launched in April with President James G. Basker describing the Declaration as the “Big Bang of Democracy,” its ideas radiating outward to inspire independence movements around the world.
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum
Macculloch Hall Historical Museum is turning its deep Revolutionary-era roots into an America250 moment. The museum sits on the foundation of a house once owned by Revolutionary War General Doughty, and its America250 programming draws on an equally remarkable collection that includes letters written by the Founding Mothers and Fathers and portraits of George Washington. At the center of the museum’s commemorative programming is its “America at 250 — One Place, Many Stories” initiative, which has produced two new exhibitions: “Washington, Dolley, Franklin: Voices that Shaped a Nation” and “Thomas Nast Celebrates Independence in the United States,” bringing history to life through the stories of Washington, Dolley Madison, Benjamin Franklin, and artist Thomas Nast. The museum has also expanded its public hours and introduced special guided tours focused on the Revolutionary and Founding eras, inviting visitors to explore the ideas and individuals behind America’s founding in the very spaces where that history unfolded. Rounding out its America250 programming, the museum will host the Dolce Trio on May 31 for “250 Years of Music in America,” a concert tracing the arc of American musical life from 18th-century Colonial compositions through the 20th century, spanning European classical music, Irish tunes, fiddle music, and parlor songs — performed by a Juilliard-trained ensemble celebrating its own 32nd anniversary. Looking ahead, Macculloch Hall will also be hosting a Historic District House Tour on Sunday, October 4, from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. More information on that event to come.
Morris County Historical Society
The Morris County Historical Society is marking America250 by turning the entire county into a classroom, through a sweeping Walking Tour Series that runs from April through October. Partnering with local historians and history organizations, the Society has assembled free guided tours spanning almost two dozen communities, covering everything from Revolutionary War sites and colonial industries to overlooked figures and underrepresented histories. Highlights with particular America250 resonance include a Fourth of July tour of the Whippany Burying Yard, Morris County’s first colonial graveyard, led by costumed guides bringing Revolutionary-era figures to life, and a June tour, “Rocks in the Garden,” which traces the history of slavery in Morristown through visits to the Green, the Presbyterian Church Burial Ground, and other sites with direct ties to the institution. The series also ventures into less-traveled corners of local history, with tours covering the Morris Canal, a Victorian-era Methodist camp meeting ground in Mount Tabor, and the inspiring story of Morristown’s Female Charitable Society, founded in 1813 by women who organized their community decades before they had the right to vote.
Mount Vernon
George Washington’s Mount Vernon is positioning itself as the nation’s premier destination for semiquincentennial reflection. The estates signature gift to America is a trio of major capital investments: a fully restored Washington Mansion, a new George Washington Education Center featuring the exhibition “George Washington: A Revolutionary Life,” and a new George Washington and a Nation of Farmers exhibit. A sweeping calendar of events accompanies these openings, including a Women’s Leadership Summit featuring Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Revolutionary War Weekend, an Independence Day fireworks celebration over the Potomac, and a Democracy Symposium in November. Mount Vernon is also ensuring the semiquincentennial reckons honestly with the full scope of the founding era: its permanent “Lives Bound Together” exhibit, unveiled on Juneteenth 2025, explores the lives of the 317 enslaved people who lived and worked at the estate, telling the stories of individuals like Priscilla, Frank Lee, and Davy Gray, and tracing Washington’s evolution toward becoming the only Founding Father to free those he enslaved.
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia is marking America250 anchored by the conviction that the Declaration was just the beginning. The Center has opened two new galleries in 2026 — one focused on America’s founding, which opened in February, and another on the separation of powers, opening in May — where visitors can see an original copy of the Constitution up close. Beyond its physical galleries, the Center has assembled a sweeping digital toolkit for the semiquincentennial, featuring an interactive Declaration of Independence with full annotated text, audio narration, and original document images, alongside an interactive Constitution that explores how experts agree and disagree about its history and meaning. The Center has also trained its America250 lens on civic education, releasing classroom resources, family learning activities, and a monthly civic calendar, as well as a new podcast, “Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness,” exploring civic virtue through the lens of America’s most influential founders.
PBS North Carolina
PBS North Carolina is using America250 as a springboard for a multiyear public history initiative called Homegrown History that trains the lens of the semiquincentennial on North Carolina’s own rich and complicated past. The initiative combines community engagement events across the state, new broadcast and digital content, and resources for students and educators, with its inaugural year focused squarely on North Carolina’s role in the American Revolution. A signature element is the “100 Counties, Countless Stories” campaign, through which PBS NC invites residents to share family lore, local legends, and community history to help guide the development of new content, a grassroots approach that puts ordinary North Carolinians at the center of the telling. Original digital content explores the Revolution’s lesser-known dimensions in the state, including the deeply divided loyalties that made parts of the South look more like a civil war than a unified uprising, and the story of Thomas Peters, an enslaved man in Wilmington believed to have been a West African prince, who enlisted with the British after they promised freedom to Black soldiers who fought for them. The initiative also serves as a platform for Ken Burns’s new six-part documentary “The American Revolution,” which PBS NC is airing and contextualizing for North Carolina audiences with original interviews and companion programming.
Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey is marking America250 by putting the promise of American democracy center stage, through its season-long “Revolutionary Voices” play reading series at the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the campus of Drew University. The four-installment series examines critical periods of American history through dramatic works and provocative proclamations, tracing the arc of American ideals from the founding era to the present. One highlight is Robert Schenkkan’s “All the Way,” a riveting political drama set during the first year of Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency that chronicles the fierce battles behind the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a reminder that the work of the Declaration has never been finished. The series culminates in September with “We Declare: Words that Shaped a Nation,” a newly-devised performance weaving together founding documents and key writings from across the nation’s transformative history, making the case that America’s most consequential words are still very much alive.
F. M. Kirby Foundation’s Reflections at 250
Beyond our grantmaking, the F. M. Kirby Foundation is marking America250 with its own programming initiative, “We the People: Reflections at 250,” a free five-part webinar series running from April through September 2026 that brings together distinguished scholars and leaders from across the Foundation’s nonprofit partners to examine the ideals of 1776 and their relevance today. Topics span free speech since the founding era, the role of character and civic virtue in sustaining democracy, America’s tradition of voluntary association, and the relationship between trust and institutions across the nation’s history. The series features a roster of speakers drawn from the Foundation’s own constellation of grantees, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Vice President Nico Perrino, National Constitution Center CEO Emeritus Jeff Rosen, and AEI Senior Fellow Yuval Levin, closing the loop between the Foundation’s America250 investments and the ideas animating them.
