What is the Semiquincentennial??
- LCHS
- 12 hours ago
- 7 min read
This article first appeared in the January/February 2026 edition of Home & Harvest magazine.
By Hayley Noble, Executive Director
It’s 2026! And that means it’s officially the Semiquincentennial, which is just a fancy word for the 250th anniversary of something. In our case, it’s the 250th anniversary of July 4, 1776, on which the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration stated that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject to British rule and that all men are created equal with unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This July 4th, the United States commemorates the Declaration of Independence.
The Semiquincentennial, or America 250, has been in the works since 2016, and includes a national America 250 Commission, White House Task Force, Idaho State Advisory Council and Agency Task Force, and local commemoration efforts like the Moscow America 250 Commission and the Committee for America 250 at the University of Idaho. The Moscow America 250 Commission, led by the Latah County Historical Society, and comprised of key stakeholders and partners, will plan commemorative activities throughout the community through 2027. The launch of these local activities began with the touring Smithsonian Museum on Main Street Voices and Votes: Democracy in America exhibition at the University of Idaho Library and its accompanying public programs. Community activities will continue throughout the year and include several notable anniversaries in addition to the 250th, including the 50th of the Moscow Farmers Market, the 120th of Moscow’s Carnegie Library, and the 140th of the McConnell Mansion Historic House.
For some, this may be news to you or maybe you heard about it from the new PBS series, The American Revolution. This new series is bringing Revolutionary history to the forefront for many audiences and centering the voices of women, Native Americans, free and enslaved Africans, poor Irish immigrants, and German mercenaries, in addition to the Founding Fathers, and demonstrating that the Revolution means different things to different people. As one of the series’ directors, Ken Burns has been promoting the project and reminding viewers that this story is incredibly inspiring but also dark and complex and meant to spark conversations beyond our romanticized depictions. One of the series’ historians, Kathleen DuVal, remarked that “people want to be reminded why having a republic is important and what people did to get it.” Since the Revolution, anniversary commemorations have served as those reminders.
The Centennial celebration in 1876 came a decade following the Civil War, as the country was amidst Reconstruction. This era witnessed a nation grappling with the abolition of slavery, economic depression, mass migration, and reuniting the Union. It was decided that in conjunction with the anniversary, Philadelphia would host the Centennial International Exhibition from May to November 1876. It was the first world’s fair hosted in the United States. More than 200 buildings were constructed for the fair including buildings for 26 of the 37 states in existence. The exhibition was designed to show off the nation’s “industrial and innovative prowess.” One of the impressive items showcased from France was the right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty. When the government could not finance the fair, wealthy Philadelphians raised funds. In doing so, they excluded lower and working-class Americans from attending or exhibiting at the fair and instead, showcased American upper-class elitism. Despite this, more than nine million people attended the Centennial Exhibition and celebrations in Philadelphia that year.
Additionally, on July 4, 1876, the National Woman Suffrage Association interrupted the celebrations to present the “Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States” to the Vice President. Before reading and handing the document over, Susan B. Anthony pleaded “We ask justice, we ask equality, we ask that all the civil and political rights that belong to citizens of the United States, be guaranteed to us and our daughters forever.” Anthony and the other members of the Association then distributed the Declaration throughout the Exhibition. It’s worth noting that Idaho granted women’s suffrage in 1896, only 20 years later. The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 - 44 years since Anthony presented the document at the fair.
Subsequently, the 150th Anniversary in 1926 hosted the Sesquicentennial International Exposition – another world’s fair in Philadelphia. Organizers relocated the fair to South Philadelphia and drained a swamp to do it. That huge expense, in addition to construction of the Sesquicentennial Stadium and Liberty Bell replica, left the city in crippling debt. Sheets of rain also meant that attendance was far lower than predicted. The Exposition lost money, and on August 25, 1926, Variety newspaper coined it “America’s Greatest Flop.” The Exposition was not the only activity, but it was the most visible next to commemorative coinage and stamps.
For those around from 1971-76, the Bicentennial was almost the complete opposite, with the large, celebratory, patriotic sentiment: the “spirit of ‘76.” The nation was recovering from the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon’s resignation, the economic recession, and people looking for positivity amid widespread pessimism. According to the New York Times, the Bicentennial let people surrender to “unashamed nostalgia” and emotion. Part of this was due to an outpouring of artwork in all forms, parades, reenactments, exhibitions, new museums, and romanticizing “the good ole days.” Among the commemoration activities was a wagon trial pilgrimage from the west coast to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, a British royal visit, special coins, all kinds of sporting events in Philadelphia, and Operation Sail – a ship parade in New York and Boston. Locally, Latah County hosted parades, picnics, square dancing, ice cream socials, music performances, puppet shows, walking tours, and were visited by the wagon trail pilgrimage.
Despite the wave of patriotism and “new nostalgia,” some questioned Nixon’s increased politicizing of the commemoration and wondered if we should be celebrating the Bicentennial at all. This was particularly relevant among Black Americans, given the country’s history of slavery and continued racial inequalities. Others criticized the mass consumerism from all kinds of American brands who used this opportunity to merchandise a host of products with patriotic imagery and logos. People pushed back against the commercialization of the Bicentennial. In 1973, protesters recreated the Boston Tea Party, throwing oil cans into the harbor and calling for “environmental protection, racial justice, an end to corporate profiteering, and the impeachment of Nixon.”
Regardless of how you feel about the Bicentennial, its lasting legacies are still felt today. Many communities centered local history in their Bicentennial celebrations and created enthusiasm for all kinds of histories and stories. The book and television series, Roots by Alex Haley, ignited interests in genealogy and family history, with unprecedented visits to the National Archives for family information searches. Similarly, oral history interviews gained popularity, and the Smithsonian Institution began its oral history program in 1973. Many of the Latah County Historical Society’s oral history interviews date from the 1970s to document community histories amid the Bicentennial. Another example of this grassroots history is local historic preservation. Although the National Historic Preservation Act has been around since 1966, the Tax Reform Act of 1976 created greater incentives for preserving historic buildings. This new law made historic preservation more appealing to private property owners, thereby increasing the likelihood of adding properties to the National Register of Historic Places. Communities took advantage of these programs, with many of Moscow’s national register nominations dating to the 1970s. Genealogy, oral histories, and historic preservation are all still valuable tools in our local history arsenal.
This also matters for our local economy. Organizations across the country anticipate a surge in tourism in 2026 related to America 250 events. Similarly, the Route 66 Centennial brings additional attention to cross-country travel. Many outlets are already reporting boosts in early bookings for the year and estimating once of the biggest travel years in recent history. This means opportunities for local economies to harness the momentum for the commemoration for their communities.
After all this, you may be wondering why America 250 matters? In the past, commemorations around anniversaries have been a uniting force, bringing community divides and bringing attention to important history, but also fraught with protests and discussions about who is left out of the conversation. The anniversary of the Declaration offers chances to have nuanced and complex conversations about history and our founding principles that are needed to understand our current context. This anniversary is no different. There will be celebrations, but there will also be protests and those asking why we are celebrating at all.
The Declaration was an aspirational document and remarkable for its time. It influenced numerous other revolutions across the world following 1776, as the first successful declaration of independence in history. The document “enshrined what came to be seen as the most succinct and memorable statement of the ideals on which that nation was founded: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the consent of the governed; and resistance to tyranny.” In doing so, the nation began the on-going “American Experiment” in democracy, unsure if it would succeed. We are still taking part in that experiment.
With so much emphasis on tourism and history, museums, historical societies, and other cultural organizations have been thinking and preparing for the Semiquincentennial for years. The Moscow America 250 Commission seeks to understand how our region has changed in fundamental ways over the past 250 years. These changes have in turn helped create change at the state and national levels. We will examine this history with programs that add approachable, educational, and thoughtful discussions to the commemoration.
For the most up to date information, check out https://www.latahcountyhistoricalsociety.org/america-250. You can also view some of the Latah County Historical Society’s Bicentennial items at the Latah County Courthouse lobby display case.
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