Those who experienced the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, with its primary focus the Founding Fathers and American Revolution, are likely to find a different approach when the country ramps up celebrations of its 250th birthday.
At least at the local level, the goal is to address the entire swath of the nation’s sometimes complicated history.
“It’s about the entire 250 years – there’s good, there’s bad. We should celebrate the good and commemorate the bad,” said Annette Benbow, who has been tasked by the Arlington government to lead events heading into the 250th anniversary in July 2026 of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Benbow, long active in the Arlington Historical Society, on July 18 briefed members of the Kiwanis Club of South Arlington on the efforts. She said she was excited about the challenge that lurked on the horizon.
“I love to talk about history and I love to plan events,” said Benbow, a retired CIA analyst.
History, she noted, was taught very differently in 1976, the last time the nation held a big birthday bash. Today, there is a broader perspective.
“There is so much new history coming out, stuff that was never taught in school, perspectives that were never shared,” she said. “We love sharing stories about history and we love hearing stories people bring us. When you find an unsung story and get to talk about it, that’s my favorite thing.”
Activities at the local level already have begun, with more moving through the transom and others in the embryonic stage. The local effort will begin to really spool up in 2025.
(As with the recent commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, state officials are creating an 18-wheeler that will serve as a rolling museum to mark the 250th birthday. Benbow says her committee will be requesting it for the 2025 Arlington County Fair.)
The local initiative formally began last November, with several organizational meetings since then. All Arlington groups are invited to participate and can e-mail arlington250@gmail.com to be added.
To date, the county government has not offered any funding for local efforts – a situation not unlike the county’s celebration of its bicentennial in 2001, when it took some cajoling to shake coins loose from government leaders. But Benbow’s committee is working on gaining state funds and philanthropic grants.
“You have to ask for money – it doesn’t just come to you,” she said. “It takes energy and someone who knows how to do this stuff.”
The 2001 celebration of the county’s “founding” – it was cleaved from Fairfax County and incorporated into the new District of Columbia – was the last major historical bash in Arlington. In 2019, things were gearing up to mark the centennial of the community’s current name (having been “Alexandria County” before that), but the arrival of COVID resulted in a downscaled series of activities.
Perhaps the next big local anniversary will be in 2046, when the county will mark 200 years since “retrocession,” when the land encompassing present-day Arlington and Alexandria were returned to Virginia after nearly a half-century of being part of the District of Columbia.
• • •
For information on the local celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday, see the Website at https://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/2024/03/arlington-va250/.
