A Tale of (at least) Two 250s

This coming July will mark the 250th anniversary of the singing of the Declaration of Independence and the launch of what George Washington called "the American experiment." As I write these words, two federal commissions stand side-by-side (or perhaps in two completely different dimensions), both tasked with planning the nation's summer celebrations of itself.

America 250 is the "bipartisan initiative working to engage every American in planning the nation's 250th anniversary." It was created by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission appointed by Congress a decade ago, in 2016. Since its inception, numerous public historians, both those working for federal agencies and those working for private entities, have engaged in planning activities, imagining a summer of celebration, but also of reflection on the changing nature of democracy, citizenship, and inclusion in that "American experiement."

In December, the White House announced the creation of a parallel initiative known as Freedom 250 which claims to be a non-partisan organization working with "the White House Task Force 250, federal agencies, and the Commission," while being controlled entirely by the administration. This prompted the original commission to publish a new document outlining their specific programming. 

The content produced at the administration's behest has two sources: Hillsdale College and Prager University, both known for their commitment to the president and his politics. While the branding on the individual videos is clear, the nesting of the websites for Freedom 250 and whitehouse.gov/america250, make it harder to parse which initiative, exactly, is behind what stream of content. The Hillsdale College material has a very traditional "professorial lecture" tone, even as it opens its introduction with an explicit link between George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the current president. The Prager U material uses AI to animate images from paintings of the signers of the Declaration. Notably absent from any of the words placed in the mouths of the founders are mentions of slavery. Intriguingly, the only mention of slavery on the entire page of biographies of the Declaration signers is in the entry for Benjamin Rush. 

Just last week, the Smithsonian was informed that its Folklife Festival, which has been held in Washington, D.C., since 1967, would not take place as usual on the National Mall. Instead, the mall will be used for a "Great American State Fair" organized by Freedom 250. 

Reading over thirty years of literature calling for public historians to "share authority" and engage in various forms of "dialogue" as they work with communities to interpret shared historical narratives, I am struck by the absence of pathways for such dialogue or authority sharing as I explore the content endorsed by the White House. I'm in perfect agreement with the president of Hillsdale College that the Declaration of Independence is an extraordinary document. What else is extraordinary is the strangeness of the moment in which we are called to commemorate it.