July 1, 2026

The Public Historian Releases Special Issue for the US Semiquincentennial

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we are pleased to announce a special virtual issue of The Public Historian. This issue gathers five years of conversations about the content and substance of commemoration in the lead-up to the 2026 US Semiquincentennial. 

Since 2021, the National Council on Public History (NCPH) and the National Park Service (NPS) have co-sponsored plenary roundtables at the NCPH annual meeting to discuss the long and complex legacy of the founding years of the nation. These offered multiple perspectives to enrich and broaden interpretation of the 250th, especially for those engaged in programming focused on the commemoration. Edited versions of the plenaries, conceived as a series titled “Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution,” have appeared in The Public Historian, and are now collected together as a virtual issue, with a new introduction by series editor M. J. Rymsza-Pawlowska. Also included are recordings of the original roundtables. These recordings highlight conversation itself as a form of engagement, embodying public history values such as collaboration, participation, and multivocality. We hope this collection provokes ongoing conversations about the complexity of commemorating the American Revolution and its legacies during a difficult time for those of us engaging critically with the nation’s past.

This special virtual issue of TPH is freely accessible and will be available through the end of 2026.