Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence/start of the Revolutionary War | We aren't doing very well

In 2007, Virginia spent a lot of time and money promoting the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown as the first successful British settlement on US soil.  

They especially focused on Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown, but had investment programs that supported historic interpretation and tourism elsewhere in the site.  They got the Smithsonian Folklife Festival to feature the anniversary as one of their threads, etc.

-- Official site of America's 400th anniversary
-- "Every American Should Stand Here Once": Jamestown's 400th Anniversary Commemoration and the Creation of an American Origin Narrative," William and Mary master's thesis
-- "T he Jamestown Commemoration of 2007: Remembering Our Diversity in the Past and Present," Southern Anthropological Association
-- "One nation, two founding stories: A study of public history at Jamestown and Plymouth," University of Massachusetts Boston master's thesis

1976 was big for the US Bicentennial founding and for federal government involvement (Report to the Congress: Planning For America’s Bicentennial Celebration- A Progress Report, 1975).  Theoretically, 2026, the 250th anniversary would be an equally good opportunity to focus on American's founding and national memory and historiography.  

Philadelphia has been known for promoting this anniversary every 50 years ("Late for the Party: Philly’s preparations for America’s 250th anniversary lost momentum amid COVID and other challenges. Is it too late to pull off a great party in the nation’s birthplace?").  A series of articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer focused on this wrt Independence Mall, which has suffered from under-investment for years ("A Much-Needed Makeover: How Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park is getting ready for America’s 250th birthday") totaling about $200 million as of 2024.

“This is really an opportunity to build the profile of the city and, certainly, of Independence National Historical Park,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center Corp., which cooperates with the National Park Service to operate the Independence Visitor Center — where tens of thousands start their journey to the park.

The park has an annual budget of about $27 million. But more than $85 million, a mix of funds from the federal government and private donations, is targeted this year to begin tackling the maintenance backlog in time for 2026.

Renovations of the First Bank of the United States are the most ambitious projects facing Independence National Historical Park ahead of 2026 celebrations. The work is projected to cost $27 million. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

People “think the park should be able to just pay for everything. But those extra things that enhance the visitor experience might not be in the budget,” said Jonathan Burton, director of development for Independence Historical Trust, a nonprofit organization that raises philanthropic funds for the park. Private funds are necessary, he says.

Also see "Philly 250," an ongoing articles collection, "Independence Park is ‘woefully behind’ for 2026 and in ‘grave need of resources,’ stakeholders say" and "Boston’s Freedom Trail is annoyingly great. Could Philly do the same by 2026?."

Plus, the Park Service has an excellent interpretative plan for the Independence Mall, even if it doesn't have the money to execute it.

-- Independence National Historical Park Long-Range Interpretive Plan

Similarly, the Boston Globe reports, "The plans by Massachusetts for the Revolution’s 250th anniversary are being questioned," that only $2 million has been allocated for support for programming there.  From the article:

Massachusetts proudly calls itself the birthplace of the American Revolution, but critics say the state’s plans for its 250th anniversary might be too little, too late for a celebration that begins in only two months at the Lexington and Concord battlefields. 

Less than $2 million in local grants for the 250th has been awarded so far in Massachusetts for this once-in-a-generation commemoration, and a mix of historians, lawmakers, and nonprofit officials are concerned that Massachusetts has fallen behind compared with other key Revolutionary states in its grass-roots programming.

Time is running short, the critics say. Nearly all of the remaining major 250th anniversaries in Massachusetts will occur over the next 13 months, coinciding with the evacuation of British troops from Boston in March 1776. Afterward, the fighting moved elsewhere.

"On a misty morning in Lexington, muskets ring out, recalling first shots of Revolutionary War," Boston Globe

 “We’ve prepared poorly. It’s never really been seen as a Massachusetts priority,” said state Senator Michael Barrett, a Democrat whose district includes Concord and parts of Lexington. “Random grants are being handed out now, but there doesn’t seem to be a plan other than making people happy with small amounts of money.” 

By contrast, legislators in Virginia have appropriated $27 million to date, primarily for hundreds of local grants. New Jersey has allocated nearly $30 million for the 250th, including $25 million for improvements at battlefield sites. And South Carolina lawmakers have set aside about $12 million, mostly for site preservation. 

 "Thousands of dollars for the 250th anniversary of battles of Lexington and Concord fail to pass Legislature, frustrating organizers," Boston Globe

Pennsylvania has raised $9.4 million, a sum that officials there expect to double, including funding for a major celebration of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed an additional $10 million to market the state and attract tourists next year.

Interestingly, the Trump Administration has created a commission to address the anniversary, but most of the efforts thus far, unlike the Bicentennial, have been at the state and local level.  

And one year is hardly enough time ("Trump signs order to plan nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, punish those who vandalize statues," AP).  Although according to Politico, "Trump’s latest policy pitch: A massive birthday party for the nation," he put the concept forward in 2023.

Especially if you fire lots of NPS personnel ("US Forest Service and National Park Service to fire thousands of workers" and "‘The greatest propaganda op in history’: Trump’s reshaping of US culture evokes past antidemocratic regimes," Guardian).

Planning is key.  Philadelphia started but didn't finish.  From ("Late for the Party: Philly’s preparations for America’s 250th anniversary lost momentum amid COVID and other challenges. Is it too late to pull off a great party in the nation’s birthplace?"):

USA250 eventually floated heady plans to spur billion-dollar infrastructure improvements that would last the city until the next party in 50 years. By 2018, the dignitaries of the United States Semiquincentennial Commission, a congressionally appointed body established after lobbying by Hohns, were holding ceremonial sessions in Independence Hall.

But the efforts of the commission — and its affiliated nonprofit, the America250 foundation — fizzled in 2022 after a lawsuit alleged sexism, cronyism, and corruption in the organization.

It's an example of the need for long term planning, and the Transformational Projects Action Planning approach.