America 250

Ahead of the main event on July 4, 2026, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Penn students, faculty, and staff will have multiple early opportunities to engage with America’s 250th anniversary.

Penn archivist J.J. Ahern has been putting his professional experience and personal passion for the past to work as a volunteer for the Navy’s 250th anniversary curating an exhibition about the human side of the service’s history.

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States Post Office, Penn Today highlights postal-related items in the Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections.

Next year, the nation will celebrate the Semiquincentennial marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the lead up to celebrations, Penn faculty, staff, and students will have a role to play.

A roundup of experts at Penn for media outreach as the country celebrates its semiquincentennial.

Today, the Declaration of Independence stands at the center of America’s founding moment and as a tribute to a new nation’s idealism. In 1776, the language was treated like any other document, edited in ways that caused author Thomas Jefferson angst over its “mutilations.” This year, a special project at Penn’s Common Press this year brought the Declaration to life through a public, interactive papermaking and printing exercise that will continue through this fall, and Penn experts on the Declaration reflect on its words and meaning. 

In 1776, America stood at a crossroads. This diverse set of stories illuminates Revolutionary Philadelphia and the emerging nation, including the stories of the daily lives of ordinary people as told by students, an exploration of early institutions and the economic forces shaping the era, and the cultural and intellectual landscape of the Revolution and its era.

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