News

As the nation prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its founding, the University of Michigan is marking this historic milestone with a wide variety of events, activities and invitations to reflect.

This past winter, students, staff, and faculty came to the Michigan League to take part in the U.S. at 250 Community Quilt Workshop. By the end of the night, they had not only made art but also shared ideas, life stories, and hopes for the future.

A Petoskey stone. A piece of copper. The official state gem. Michigan has just room enough for a few items in the 3-foot-tall stainless steel cylinder that, in a few months, will be buried for the next 250 years.

Museums, exhibits and historic sites around Michigan are shining up in celebration of America’s 250th birthday this year.

Exploring local history through new exhibits, modernizing museum signage and preserving historic cemeteries are just some of the ways that more than $1 million will be used to help bring the stories of Michigan’s past to life as part of our state’s c...

Three student members of the University of Michigan community have been selected as the winners of the U.S. at 250 Sticker Design Contest, a creative project inviting students to help mark the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

As part of America's 250th anniversary in 2026, a traveling exhibition from The National Archives will visit metro Detroit this summer. The "Freedom Plane National Tour" will be at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation from July 9-26.

After 2025 became 2026 and I had watched the ball drop in Times Square, I saw a short clip of the projections on the Washington Monument celebrating the beginning of America’s 250th anniversary. Semiquincentennial festivities will surely be at their ...

The library holds 58 editions of Paine’s iconic pamphlet, published in January 1776

Michigan is bringing back another retro license plate ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

July 4, 2026, will mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. democracy. To mark this milestone, the Initiative for Democracy and Civic Engagement, the William L. Clements Library, and the Arts Initiative have joined forces to create U-M’s U.S. at 250 progra...

Scholarships for nearly 50 students. Dozens of events that engaged the university community in dialogue on democracy. More than $500,000 in grants to uplift interdisciplinary democracy projects from across all three U-M campuses. The University of Mi...

Bass to premier Civilities in 2026 – a bold and inventive exploration of American identity for the United States Semiquincentennial.  JUNE 10, 2025—The U-M Stamps School of Art & Design and the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) announced to...

Americans have long been taught the basics of Paul Revere's famed midnight ride — which he completed exactly 250 years ago Saturday — to alert U.S. minutemen of British troops' approach, signaling the start of the American Revolution.

By Jamie Sherman BlinderMichigan News The start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago can be traced to one manuscript containing the orders for the Concord Expedition on April 18, 1775. The physical quill-to-paper draft orders written by famed Briti...

In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is bringing some of the most important and beloved works of art to communities across the country. As part of the program, the FIA will r...

   University of Michigan musicologist Mark Clague is one of the nation’s foremost experts on “The Star-Spangled Banner,” among many other facets of American music. This week, Clague, an associate professor at the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance...