UH Calendar

In Anticipation of the 250th: Lessons from the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial

Thursday, April 18, 2024

5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

How should the 250th anniversary of the 1776 American Revolution be celebrated? What can we learn from the 1976 Bicentennial commemorations?

Join the Center for Public History as Dr. Malgorzata J. Rymsza-Pawlowska looks back at how groups across the political spectrum tried to use the Bicentennial in 1976 to draw attention to local and national causes and interests - and the challenges those groups faced in the years leading up to 1976 as political, social, and cultural developments, on-going protests, activism, and emerging modes of neoliberal governance rapidly changed the national landscape.

Dr. Rymsza-Pawlowska will also discuss plans for the upcoming 2026 Semiquincentennial, specifically the ways that contemporary organizers have been trying to navigate rapidly changing political and cultural contexts.

Dr. Malgorzata J. Rymsza-Pawlowska is an Associate Professor of History at American University and serves as series editor for the National Park Service and National Council on Public History’s 2021-2025 American Revolution 250th Commemoration Scholars’ Forums.

4:30-5:20 Student Mixer with Dr. Rymsza-Pawlowska at the Digital Research Commons (MD Anderson Library, Room 266C)

5:30 PM - Reception with hors d’oeuvres (Honors Commons, Honors College, MD Anderson Library)

6:00 PM - Program (Honors Commons, Honors College, MD Anderson Library)

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