America at 250

250 Meeting Series

As part of a year-long collaboration, Indiana Humanities and the Local History Services department of the Indiana Historical Society will be offering a series of conversations to help prepare Hoosier public historians, librarians, educators, and others for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States. This series will be divided into two types of programs: Virtual Brown Bags and In Your Neighborhoods. 

With Virtual Brown Bags, attendees will utilize their lunch breaks to listen in on moderated Zoom panels. Each conversation will cover a guiding pillar from the AASLH Making History at 250 Field Guide and ask how Hoosiers can utilize that guidance in their work leading up to 2026. 

At In Your Neighborhood events, in-person visits to local historical organizations sites will encourage conversations about how engaging with the 250th can create meaningful programming in your community. While there, you will also be invited to tour the site and learn from our host museum.

SAVE THE DATE

Mark your calendar for these conversations:

• November 12 at 11:30 am – Virtual Brown Bag: Power of Place (RSVP here to join this conversation!)

PAST EVENTS

February 22 at 11:30 am  – Virtual Brown Bag: Doing History

Panel featured Kisha Tandy (Indiana State Museum), Nicole Poletika (Indiana Historical Bureau), and Stephanie Rowe (National Council on Public History)

March 13 at 11:30 am – In Your Neighborhood: Tippecanoe County Historical Association

April 24 at 11:30 am – Virtual Brown Bag: We the People

Panel featured Nicole Martinez-LeGrand (Indiana Historical Society) and Vicke Hudson-Swisher (Montgomery County historian)

May 30 at 11:30 am – In Your Neighborhood: Marshall County Museum

July 11 at 11:30 am – In Your Neighborhood: Wayne County Historical Museum

August 7 at 11:30 am – Virtual Brown Bag: American Experiment

Sept. 19 at 11:30 am – In Your Neighborhood: Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site

October 23 at 11:30 am – In Your Neighborhood: Dubois County Museum

Interested in signing up for a Brown Bag conversation or an In Your Neighborhood event in your community? You can RSVP for an event at localhistoryservices@indianahistory.org.

Any questions? Email Sam Opsahl from Indiana Humanities at sopsahl@indianahumanities.org.  

Facilitating Conversations

We’ve collected a short list of readings and discussion questions that you can use to guide your own
conversations about the 250th in your community. As you prepare to host 250th conversations, we encourage you to use texts to gather folks to discuss the big ideas that emerge from contemplating our history as a nation. Here are some big questions we’re thinking about as the 250th approaches:

• America was revolutionary in its founding, especially in its statement of the equality of all people. Was the equality stated in the Declaration achieved? In what ways does the revolution continue today?
• What big ideals were developed in the Declaration and how do they show up in your lives today? Do you feel connected to this document? Why or why not?
• How do we balance the ideal of individual freedom with the commitments we make to others when we live in community together?
• What responsibility do citizens have to their governments and to each other? What does it mean to live in a democracy, and what’s your role in it?
• How connected do you feel to the history of America? Why does knowing this history matter to our lives, families, and communities?

Request for 250th Materials

To encourage 250th anniversary programming that addresses the full sweep of our nation’s history and is relevant to present concerns, the American Association for State and Local History has developed Making History at 250: The Field Guide for the Semiquincentennial, a resource with guiding themes to help the history community prepare for 2026. Supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and created with the help of dozens of leading scholars, museum professionals, and public historians, these themes can provide cohesiveness to a multi-faceted, grassroots commemoration and entry-points for organizations all over the United States.

Do you need a physical copy of the AASLH’s Making History at 250 Field Guide? Fill out the form to receive a copies of the guide mailed to you free-of-charge, while supplies last.

You can also download the full guide in English and Spanish by visiting AASLH’s website.