Revolutionary Narratives: Reconsidering Commemorations at the U.S. 250th

OI Coffeehouse, Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture

Description:

What will 2026 look like at historic sites, museums, in libraries and archives, at schools and universities, in community organizations and local cultural institutions, at art museums and on historic battlefields? We already know that U.S. Semiquincentennial commemorations will be diffuse, decentralized, and debated. At national conferences and with regional planning committees, the facilitators, members of the working group Revolutionary Narratives, are exploring the possibilities of 2026 while acknowledging the long and problematic history of commemorations in the United States.

In our Coffeehouse, we will explore seven questions that have come up in conversation over the last two years.

• How do we learn from past national commemorations?

• How does popular culture influence and is influenced by public commemorations?

• How do we encourage social responsibility during the 250th, especially when confronting gun culture, gender and race relations, climate crises, disinformation campaigns, etc.?

• How do we produce historical knowledge, and what are we overlooking or undervaluing?

• How can we think inclusively about the American Revolution and the 250th?

• How can we think expansively about the American Revolution and the 250th?

• How do we use this moment to bring the public together and respond to community interest, and who is the U.S. Semiquincentennial for?

We welcome anyone interested in the U.S. 250th to join the conversation—graduate students, public history practitioners, independent scholars, etc. Ultimately, our Coffeehouse will develop a short reflection piece, like a blog post, to reconsider the real-world implications of doing the 250th.

Schedule, Topics, and Texts

Note: Our 2023 OI Coffeehouse session began on July 19 and wrapped up on August 23. We framed our scheduled meetings with discussion questions and provided suggested—not required—texts (short articles, videos and a podcast) to help spur our conversation. We have shared the outline, questions, and texts so they can be used as a resource for considering the upcoming Semiquincentennial.