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.
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.
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 ...
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...
Inspired by the Bicentennial Freedom Train, the Freedom Plane National Tour will make original documents fundamental to America's founding accessible to Americans across the country as part of the commemoration of America's 250th anniversary.
On July 8 at 6:00 PM, communities across the country will simultaneously read the Declaration of Independence aloud — marking the exact date and time of its first public reading in 1776. Americans in all 50 States and 16 Territories of the United States will read the Declaration of Independence as part of 'Sharing the Spirit of America.'At the University of Michigan, the event will take place on the Diag. The reading will start promptly at 6:00 p.m. -- arrive early to get a red, white, and blue popsicle and U-M U.S. at 250 stickers!
Hear the Declaration of Independence brought to life through a public read-aloud in celebration of its 250th anniversary. With many voices sharing the text, this program highlights the power of words meant to be heard—then and now.
Today, debate rages over how to interpret the United States Constitution, especially what role history should play in that practice. When the generation that adopted the Constitution in the late eighteenth century first interpreted the document, what defined their debates? How do those debates compare to the ones structuring American constitutional law today? Join author and professor Jonathan Gienapp for a lecture exploring how to read the Constitution through lenses past and present and reflecting on what the creators can teach us about the Constitution today. A book signing and dessert reception will follow the program.
Join the Michigan State Capitol Education & History Department throughout 2026 as we commemorate our nation's 250th anniversary. Our monthly program series, Rise & Progress, will explore a range of America 250 themes and examine how our Capitol—and the community of people connected to it—fit within the larger American story.
Gerald Ford Jr. grew up in a region of the nation heavily shaped by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Ford Presidential Foundation Executive Director Gleaves Whitney will unpack the significance of this jewel among America's forgotten founding documents and discuss its impact on the civic and political culture in which our 38th President worked.
Join the Michigan State Capitol Education & History Department throughout 2026 as we commemorate our nation's 250th anniversary. Our monthly program series, Rise & Progress, will explore a range of America 250 themes and examine how our Capitol—and the community of people connected to it—fit within the larger American story.
In Accommodating the Republic: Use of Taverns in the Early United States, Kirsten Wood explores how Americans' use taverns in their pursuits of happiness helped flesh out the evolving meaning of citizenship in the young United States. In this talk, she looks at the years following the Revolutionary War, when Americans continued to use their neighborhood taverns as sites for gathering and political mobilization.
TEDxUofM is an independently organized TED event at the University of Michigan bringing together speakers, performers, and ideas worth spreading. Our 2026 conference, Radiance, takes place on March 14 at the Power Center and features talks from Olympic athletes, innovators, and changemakers exploring themes of resilience, creativity, and discovery.
How can everyday objects—like quilts—help us tell stories about where we live and imagine where we're going? In this hands-on community workshop, participants will use fabric and simple quilt shapes to reflect on their experiences of life in the United States and share hopes for the future.
Join us for a powerful conversation between artist and curator Julie Ault and archivist Julie Herrada as we celebrate the opening of American Sampler: Activating the Archive, UMMA's new landmark exhibition. Together, they'll discuss how archival research, curatorial practice, and artistic vision come together in the exhibition to illuminate histories of dissent that continue to influence the social landscape of the United States.
Join us for a tour of Stamps Gallery’s fall 2025 exhibitions led by Stamps Gallery curator, Srimoyee Mitra. Engage in discussion about the artwork and the role of art and artists as catalysts for civic empowerment and democracy.
