Tomorrow we celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Honestly, I am very excited. This week, I had the privilege of working with Newark Public Schools for their Third Annual Summer Social Studies Institute. Since I was nearby, I carved out some time to visit the New York Public Library at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Both museums had American Revolution or America250 themed exhibits, so naturally, that is where I spent most of my time.
The artifacts at the NYPL were incredible. Early copies of the Declaration of Independence, an original copy of the Bill of Rights, the Olive Branch Petition (!?), a copy of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral and much more. I was awestruck by the rich U.S. history from the founding era in a little room.
Then, the art at the MET was also inspiring. A bust of Ben Franklin, dozens of paintings of George Washington, including the MASSIVE painting of Washington crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze. There were portraits of Abigail Adams and John Adams, positioned so that they faced each other, and all I could think of was Abigail’s 1776 letter to her husband calling him to “Remember the Ladies,” in the new government, because “your Sex are Naturally Tyrannical.” The fact that I could go from an exhibit on Egyptian Art, to there, and then to medieval European art, was honestly delightful. It was a great way to commemorate our nation’s 250th birthday!
Also this week, we dropped a new, and very appropriately timed, episode of our Thinking Historically About podcast. I loved my conversation with Andrew Tremel, the Visitor Operations Manager at the United States Capitol Visitor Center. Tremel shared such rich history about the U.S. Capitol, especially as it served as a place embodying the sectional tensions of the early republic and antebellum eras. Take a listen as you commemorate the 250th!
Finally, I cannot stress enough the importance that we don’t just see tomorrow as a commemoration, but as a commencement. This mindset is at the heart of our New Minimum Standard for History Education (Sign the Pledge!). I wrote about this spirit of commencement a couple months ago over at The Fulcrum and a couple weeks ago over at Danielle Allen’s substack, The Renovator. If you want to learn more about how Thinking Nation is commencing an America250+, please read one of those pieces.
I hope all of you celebrate, commemorate, and consider the ways that you, as part of “We the People,” can work together to “form a more perfect union.”
Hurrah!