Next year, the nation will celebrate the Semiquincentennial marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the lead up to celebrations, Penn faculty, staff, and students will have a role to play.
Penn is planning two years of events around the Semiquincentennial theme, which marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.
(Image: iStock/Pgiam)
In the lead up to the nation’s 250th anniversary marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Penn faculty and staff have already been hard at work planning campuswide interactive programs, forums, lectures, and publications to mark that date as part of the city, state and national celebration.
“We’re not just trying to look back. We’re trying to understand where we came from, where we are now, and also where we’re headed in the future,” says Lynne Farrington, director of programs and senior curator of special collections with Penn Libraries, who has been leading the efforts, known as “America 250 at Penn.”
The University plays many roles within Philadelphia, an early capital of the United States, and these events are an opportunity to expand upon that, she says.
The fundamental principles that the founders asserted in the Declaration of Independence are the same as Penn’s guiding themes, including democracy, trust, and truth, Farrington says. “Reaching out to communities, fostering leadership, deepening our connections—all of these things tie into what we’re trying to do around 2026,” she says.
“The founding of our nation is one of the classic stories of democracy in action, a guiding principle in Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice,” says David Asch, senior vice president for strategic initiatives at Penn, who sees an opportunity for Penn to play a unique role in marking the anniversary.
“Penn's activities offer an opportunity to highlight both the historical underpinnings and importance of our democracy, and our commitment to its future. We look forward to marking the 250th anniversary of the United States along with the rest of America and elevating these messages,” says Asch.
Penn’s efforts began in early 2021, a full five years before the anniversary moment, and continues with members of the University working closely with public and private partners. The Semiquintentennial is actually the start of a series of anniversaries: the end of the Revolutionary War, the formation of the first government under the Articles of Confederation, and the drafting of the Constitution, says Emma Hart, director of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at Penn, which is involved in the Penn event planning.
The exhibition at the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library runs through May 27 and includes political pamphlets, broadsides, maps, prints, manuscripts, and a full-scale replica of a colonial coffee house. Two other panel discussions are also planned: “Exploring Epidemics in Philadelphia” on Feb. 25 and “Brewing a Revolution” on April 29.
Another event already scheduled is a community event to typeset and print the Declaration hosted by The Common Press, Penn’s letterpress studio.
While other events may center on the signing of the Declaration, the McNeil Center is aiming to focus attention on the broader history surrounding the 250th, particularly the complexities that arise from that period, Hart says. The center is focused on the institutions that came about at the “moment of the creation,” including the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, which were founded in Philadelphia in 1775, says Peter J. Olsen-Harbich, associate director. A conference is planned for October in conjunction with a public celebration. Beyond the Semiquincentennial, the center is planning for speakers in 2033, marking the conclusion of the war, and 2037, reflecting on the crafting of the Constitution.
The McNeil Center’s own early roots date back to the Bicentennial, in 1976, founded in the footsteps of a prior effort to connect historians in the mid-Atlantic around early American history topics.
One longer-term project that Penn is involved with revolves around the digitization of colonial-era documents, creating a historical archive under the umbrella of The Revolutionary City. Partners in this endeavor, including the American Philosophical Society, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and Museum of the American Revolution, are contributing historical materials from their collections. Penn has digitized materials from its own collections as well as from the Philadelphia City Archives. All this information is available on the website for public research. “The Revolutionary City will be a permanent resource, useful for both scholars and students studying our history, now and well into the future,” Farrington says.
Hart notes the founding period wasn’t a celebratory moment for people who didn’t have a voice at the time, including women, enslaved people, and indigenous populations. “We want to use this anniversary as a moment for discussion and commemoration, but also to reflect on the U.S. experiment and what it is,” Hart says.
The anniversary year is a starting point, not an endpoint, Farrington says. “It’s not just about the year 2026 but looks to our future as well,” she says.
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