America250 

• America250 is a nonpartisan initiative working to engage every American in commemorating the 250th anniversary; this is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the nation's past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look ahead toward our future
  • https://america250.org/
  • Calendar of Events
    https://america250.org/calendar/?view=map&date=allFutureEvents

  • Playbook and funding directory
    https://america250.org/news/america250-releases-national-programming-playbook-and-funding-directory/

     

     

National Initiatives and Resources

Learn how your organization can celebrate

American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) resources

• Field Guide with broad themes (create a free account to download)
  • Making History at 250: The Field Guide for the Semiquincentennial (English PDF)
  • La guÍa de campo para el semiquincentario (Español) (PDF)
• Handbook with programming ideas
• 50th Anniversary Program Handbook (2024)(create a free account to download)

• More planning resources
  • https://aaslh.org/programs/250th/
• Reframing Toolkit with suggestions for having more productive public conversation about history
  • https://aaslh.org/reframing-history/

State and Territories Commissions

• Connect with your state and local commission
  In some states, each county also has a commission
• https://america250.org/state-and-territory-commissions/
• https://aaslh.org/programs/250th (Choose State Commissions in left navigation menu)

Made by Us 

• https://historymadebyus.org/
• Youth 250 Toolkit 
  Resources for designing programs ages 16-30 (Gen Z)
  https://historymadebyus.org/youth250/toolkit
• My Wish for U.S. 
  Submission of wishes for America’s future
  https://www.mywishforus.com/
• OnOur250th.org 
  Submit a wish online and explore other notes from across the country - share your hopes, dreams, and ideas for the future of America
  https://www.onour250th.org/

PBS Film 

• In conjunction with six-part film THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (released November 16, 2025), PBS and PBS member stations across the country will build community partnerships to develop local engagement plans, centered around the film
  • https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution/
  • https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/kenburnsclassroom/film/the-american-revolution/
  • Community engagement
  • Education resources

Handwork: Celebrating American Craft

• Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026 is a national Semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America
  https://www.handwork2026.org/about/

Smithsonian

• Our Shared Future: 250 
  • https://www.si.edu/250
  • https://www.si.edu/educators/teaching-250th
  • Smithsonian National Education Summit 2025 One Nation, Indivisible recordings
    Smithsonian Education YouTube Channel

Science Across America - for libraries 

• STAR Net invites libraries to showcase local scientific advances, engage communities in a discussion about how local science is relevant to their lives with focused Community Dialogues, and host educational and inspirational activities that shine a light on the past, present, and future of science in our lives. 

  115 Partner Libraries have already been chosen for this project, but we’re now opening applications for cohort 2, who will receive free resources, with only optional reporting requirements! Libraries that register for cohort 2 will receive a Science Across America map for their state or territory, project logo stickers, and sticky notes to facilitate patrons adding their own “moments in science” to your state/territories map and other resources listed at the end of this blog post.

• https://community.starnetlibraries.org/join-science-across-america-cohort-2-free-resources-and-no-requirements/
• Libraries will also gain access to edit our Science Across America digital map, where libraries across the nation are highlighting their local science achievements. You can view the map here: https://www.scigames.org/ScienceAcrossAmerica/Map/ 
• The deadline to register is July 1st 2026, to ensure adequate time to ship maps. 
  Please note the maps and other supplementary materials will also be available online if you wish to use them sooner. 

America's Potluck - July 5, 2026

• America's Potluck is an opportunity for neighbors to join with one another to share a fun, communal meal, creating a sense of connection and belonging and fostering interactions among people from all walks of life. America250 Utah is leading America's Potluck efforts alongside all 50 states and Puerto Rico, national partners, and with a growing number of cities across the country.
  https://america250.utah.gov/americaspotluck/

Light to Unite - July 4, 2026

• The National Flag Foundation asks all of America, to the extent possible, to light red, white, and blue on July 4th, 2026 as a national evening of unity to celebrate our nation's 250th Birthday. 
  https://nationalflagfoundation.org/light-to-unite/

Additional National 250 Initiatives

• https://250initiatives.aaslh.org/
• US Chamber of Commerce 
  https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/civics/250th-business-playbook

Museum Exhibitions
 

Celebrating American Innovation
Poster Exhibition, Planetarium Show, and more

The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (Frost Science) is celebrating the American spirit of creativity and discovery through championing 250 American scientists, innovators, and engineers across the fields of marine science, paleontology, human health, astronomy, and aeronautics and flight. The Frost is offering the following resources to institutions interested in celebrating innovation: poster exhibition, short planetarium show, resource guide highlighting 250 American scientists, innovators, and engineers, and a lesson plan for grades 9-12.

• https://www.frostscience.org/america250-celebrating-american-innovation/

• Fill out this interest form to receive resources

• Resources

  • https://www.frostscience.org/resource_type/america250/

• Poster Exhibit Specs

  • https://www.frostscience.org/resource/america250-poster-exhibit-specs/

  • If you plan to host the poster exhibit, you will need to fill out a partner agreement with Frost Science to receive the files

• Planetarium show 

  • will be ready by June 6, 2026

• Resource Guides

  • Celebrating American Innovation: Full Resource Guide
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Human Health
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Marine Science
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Paleontology 
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Astronomy 
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Aeronautics & Flight
  • Celebrating American Innovation: Timelines
• Lesson Plan
  • Stars of Science Lesson Plan and Stars of Science Innovator Cards
    This activity is geared toward grades 6-12 with some recommendations to alter for younger ages

Moments That Made US 
Customizable Exhibition Panels

As part of the commemoration of America’s 250th, Moments That Made US is a free, customizable, print-on-demand exhibition exploring defining moments in U.S. history through the lens of the Declaration of Independence. Developed as an exhibition at the History Colorado Center and adapted for sharing through a multi-state collaboration, the exhibition will feature 21 modular, ready-to-use panels with the option to add local content.  Materials will be free to download so the only cost is printing and mounting in your space, making it ideal for museums, libraries, schools, community spaces and anyone looking for a meaningful and affordable way to participate in America’s 250th. 

• https://www.historycolorado.org/initiative-exhibition-for-community-organizations

   

Ideas for Programming 

Imagining Our Future

• Host a Wish Wall 
  Wish Walls invite everyone to to contribute to our shared story, in our local communities. Made By Us has created a detailed host guide to help you create your own wish wall.
  • https://thecivicseason.com/wish-walls
  • Host guide for in-person wish walls
• Digital Wish Walls
  • My Wish for U.S. 
    Submission of wishes created Made By Us
    https://www.mywishforus.com/
  • OnOur250th.org created Made By Us
    Submit a birthday wish to the United States online and explore other notes from across the country - share your hopes, dreams, and ideas for the future of America
    https://www.onour250th.org/

• NISE Network futures thinking activities
  https://www.nisenet.org/society

Participating in Citizen Science

• 2.5 Million Acts of Science Citizen Science with SciStarter
  Join us as we invite all people in America to embrace their inner scientist, involve every community, inspire scientific discovery, and imagine a better future. Citizen science is a way for anyone and everyone to take part in science and imagine a better future.
  https://pages.scistarter.org/citizen-science-month-2026/
   

Program Ideas

• Time capsules - personal or community
  • American Museum of Natural History ArcheOLogy ideas for personal time capsules
    https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/archaeology/create-your-own-time-capsule2
  • Library of Congress advice for community time capsules
    https://www.loc.gov/preservation/resources/educational/timecapsule/
• Hosting a birthday party
  • Great for even very young children
• Commemorative tree plantings
  • National Wildlife Federation Trees for Wildlife Event Planning Guide
    https://www.nwf.org/Trees-for-Wildlife/Get-Involved/Request-Trees/Plan-an-Event
• Bell ringing
  • The National Bell Festival is coordinating a new bell to lead nationwide ringing tributes in 2026; you can join by having handheld bells and buildings with bells ring in unison
    https://www.bells.org/blog/celebrating-250-years-groundbreaking-american-women
• Lighting up buildings with red, white, and blue
  • National Flag Foundation's "Light to Unite" Campaign 
    https://nationalflagfoundation.org/light-to-unite/

• Sharing local history and personal stories
  • Collaborating with local historical societies
  • Documenting oral histories
    • StoryCorps DIY advice https://diy.storycorps.org/
    • Oral history best practices https://oralhistory.org/best-practices/
       

• Creating a location-based tour with audio and images
  • Clio free platform https://theclio.com/
  • Clio free mobile app is free in iTunes and Google Play
  • Learn more https://theclio.com/about
    
     

• Civics Programs
  • iCivics resources https://vision.icivics.org/
  • Civic Learning Week resources https://civiclearningweek.org/
  • Collective for Youth Empowerment in STEM & Society (CYESS), an initiative of the Afterschool Alliance
    https://cyess.org/
  • Educating for American Democracy
    https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/
  • Exploring Civics through Historic Spaces: A Model for Civic Learning at Museums, Historic Sites, and Cultural Institutions from the Intrepid Museum
    https://intrepidmuseum.org/exploring-civics-through-historic-spaces-model-civic-learning-museums-historic-sites-cultural
  • The National Constitution Center’s (NCC) America at 250 Civic Toolkit 
    https://constitutioncenter.org/america-at-250
  • Collaboration on voter registration drives 
    League of Women Voters resources https://www.lwv.org/]
  • America's 100 Docs
    • Game: https://100docs.vote/
    • Toolkit
  • National Civics Bee
    • https://civics.uschamberfoundation.org/national-civics-bee/
  • AMERICA, THE BEAUTIFUL Recipe Box for Civic Activities
    A series of easily adaptable how-tos that introduce various offerings for engaging in civic activities with a dose of creativity.
    • https://americathebeautiful.civicjoy.org/
    • Toolkit
  • NISE Network discussion forums https://www.nisenet.org/forums

  • NISE Network science and society resources https://www.nisenet.org/society

     

Discussion Forums

• National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) https://nifi.org/
  • What’s Next, America? is a nationwide initiative of the National Issues Forums Institute designed to help communities come together locally to talk, decide, and act on the issues that matter most to them as the country approaches its 250th anniversary. “What’s Next, America?” asks participants in a community to work through three sets of deliberative discussion questions centering on the overarching questions: where are we now; where do we want to go; and how will we get there. The initiative is built on decades of experience working locally within communities.
    https://whatsnextamerica.com/
• NISE Network discussion forums https://www.nisenet.org/forums

Making and Creativity

• Making programs focusing on the importance of creative and handmade
  • Handwork: Celebrating American Craft https://www.handwork2026.org
  • Making resources https://www.nisenet.org/making
• Example: Ohio Creativity trail
  https://america250-ohio.org/ohio-creativity-trail/
   

Celebrating American Creativity, Inventions, and Innovations

• COSI American Innovation Kit
  https://cosi.org/connects/kits/american-innovation-kit.php
  • American Innovation Kit Activity Book (downloadable PDF)
  • American Innovation Kit Color of Science™ Passport (downloadable PDF)
  • American Innovation Educator Guide (downloadable PDF)
• Example: Ohio Air & Space trail 
  • https://america250-ohio.org/trails-and-tales/
• First humans landing on the Moon in 1969
  • https://nisenet.org/moon
• Engineering America: Celebrating 250 Years of Innovation
  • The National Academy of Engineering has produced a series of short videos that spotlight key engineering innovations and the impacts
    https://www.nae.edu/342572/EngineeringAmerica
• Coast-to-Coast Tour - Union Pacific Big Boy Steam Train
  • Big Boy No. 4014 is going on a coast to coast tour to celebrate our nation's 250th birthday
    Big Boy No. 4014 is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive; of the eight remaining Big Boys in existence today, No. 4014 is the only one still in operation. 
    https://www.up.com/about-us/history/steam/schedule
• Harnessing Radio Waves
  • National Radio Day https://www.nationalradioday.com
  • World Radio Dayhttps://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-radio
  • Making Waves with Radio kit https://www.nisenet.org/making-waves-radio-kit
  • Telescopes and the Electromagnetic Spectrum https://nisenet.org/telescopes
• Synthetic Biology
  • Building with Biology 
    https://www.nisenet.org/building-with-biology-kit
• Medical and health advances
  • Health resources https://www.nisenet.org/health
  • Genetics resources https://www.nisenet.org/genetics
• List of Inventors
  • National Inventors Hall of Fame list of inductees

• Airplanes and Aviation
  See Aviation Day (August 19) https://www.nisenet.org/seasons

  
   
  ___________________
  
  Past Events

• Two Lights for Tomorrow
  Display two lights at buildings and homes April 18-19, 2025 honoring the ride of Paul Revere, and to commemorate and remind ourselves that our history is about working together for a better tomorrow

  • https://va250.org/two-lights/