Resources for America’s 250th anniversary
A practical shelf of official links, primary sources, teaching materials, and local planning tools for communities preparing for 2026.
Official anniversary and federal sources
Use official sites first when describing the Semiquincentennial, federal programs, or national events. This site is independent, so these links help visitors distinguish official national planning from local civic content.
- America250 — national Semiquincentennial information and program announcements.
- GovInfo: Public Law 114-196 — law creating the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission.
- U.S. Capitol Visitor Center: America250 — includes the Capitol Visitor Center’s current Spirit of ’76 exhibit and programming.
- National Archives: Declaration of Independence — official founding-document page.
Primary-source research
Primary sources are the safest base for a serious civic/history site. Start with institutional archives, then add local material from historical societies, libraries, cemetery records, newspapers, town minutes, church records, and family papers.
Declaration
Use the National Archives pages for the Declaration image, transcript, and background.
Revolution
Use Library of Congress and archive collections for lesson plans, maps, letters, broadsides, and images.
Local history
Connect 1776-era national events to town, county, and state-level stories.
Teaching and civic education
Schools, libraries, museums, veterans groups, and civic organizations need usable material more than slogans. Keep the tone neutral, cite sources, and separate historical evidence from modern opinion.
Community planning tools
Local 250th projects can be simple and useful: a public reading, walking tour, classroom exhibit, veterans recognition, archive scan day, essay contest, or historical marker cleanup.
- Local celebration toolkit
- Events and listings
- Parade guide
- Walking tour guide
- Community service projects
- Sponsors and partners
Site resources
These pages explain how this independent site should be used, cited, and described.
This resource library is not an official America250 resource. It points visitors to official sources while also providing independent civic and educational planning pages.