Organizers across the country say 250th anniversary events celebrate a part of American history that is missing from the national conversation.
PHILADELPHIA — As the city prepares for its 250th anniversary party, artists at Huddle, a gallery in Northern Liberties, are reflecting on the nation’s 200th anniversary. And they’re not celebrating that milestone or the current one.
Instead, through photography, ceramic sculpture, textiles, and paintings, these artists celebrate the lesbian, gay, transgender, nonbinary, and queer activists who fought for civil rights in the 1970s, and the LGBTQ+ people and allies who do so today.
“This Is (Not) a Celebration” integrates archival materials from the William Way LGBT Community Center and Philadelphia Gay News, founded in 1976, and other publications and organizations to trace the gay rights movement of the 1970s.
This event is part of an ongoing national conversation about our history. It’s about whose voices are heard, whose stories are told, and who decides what and how we remember and learn from the past. Some organizers say America’s complex and sometimes difficult history is being glossed over by fireworks and flag-waving, or politicized by an administration that has actively worked to advance its interpretation of history.
The artists whose work is on display at Huddle, Scarlett Delorme, Justin Jayne, and Amy Cousins, aren’t the only people trying to expand the discussion of American history during the sesquicentennial. A growing number of people across the country are hosting events, exhibits, and programs to counter the Trump administration’s efforts to exclude or erase the stories of marginalized people during the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
Among the events will be Pioneer Days: Reunion of Hope, June 19 and 20 in Brooklyn, New York, where dozens of artists will exhibit their work, sponsored by the Black Liberated Indigenous Sovereignty (BLIS) collective, which advocates for reparations, land return to Native Americans, newborn bonds, and universal basic income.
“We didn’t want to make this about choosing a fourth or ‘cancel’ it,” said Trevor Smith, co-founder and executive director of the group. “We want to celebrate the contradictions and love of this country. We tend to judge things in black and white, but we also talk about the love and resilience in both the Black American and Native American experiences.”
“The virtue of being American,” he said, is “to be honest with our history” and “celebrate the victories and contributions of Black people, Indigenous peoples, and workers.”
The June 27 event will be held in a variety of locations, starting with an anchor event in Washington, D.C., co-led by two youth groups (Get Free and Next250) and the progressive protest movement 50501. Youth250 will host a national “Letter to America” initiative on June 27, showcasing a storytelling campaign, public art, and other participatory activities.
The Restoration Week campaign, which runs from June 19 to July 4, will bring together 23 projects coordinated by Liberation Ventures, an organization that advocates for community-level reparations and restoration efforts.
Nicole Carty, Get Free’s executive director, said the organization began planning for its semicentenary in 2020, but realized it might need to take a more confrontational approach when Donald Trump won a second term in 2024.
“Right now, our administration is working very hard… to erase history from museums, to try to shape university curricula, to roll back civil rights. There’s a clear movement to rewrite history,” she said.
Mr. Carty pointed to declining support for President Trump in polls and said that was partly due to efforts to change markers at national parks and historic sites such as the presidential mansion in Philadelphia.
“It turns out that erasing Americans from history is a really unpopular act,” she said.
She said she is “happy to work with” groups that take a more measured approach, “but we are working a little harder to fully consider our history and recognize that there is still much work to do to create an America that fully lives up to its promise.”
In response to those who question the patriotism of those organizing protests to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, Carty responded: “Being able to criticize this country is a form of patriotism.”
“There is so much to celebrate and we have come so far as a country,” she said. “Where we are is a testament to our ancestors who fought for equality and freedom for all of us.”
Meanwhile, public opinion polls show that many Americans are pessimistic about the future of our democracy and our country, but attitudes are sharply divided along political lines. More than two-thirds of Americans believe the United States is “at real risk of losing important democratic rights and freedoms.”
About half of respondents said they were very or very proud to be an American (51%) or proud of this country’s 250-year history (49%), according to the Public Religion Research Institute survey.
Organizers say ‘once-in-a-generation celebration’ is beneficial for everyone
Freedom 250, a group backed by the Trump administration, is planning large-scale events to celebrate America’s birthday, including a UFC fight at the White House and the Great American State Fair.
USA TODAY reached out to the organization about criticism from advocates surrounding the incident.
“The 250th anniversary belongs to all Americans, and that’s the whole point of Freedom 250,” Freedom 250 spokeswoman Julia Friedland said in an email response to USA TODAY.
“Freedom 250 is not interested in dealing with critics. We are interested in hosting a once-in-a-generation celebration that Americans can participate in on July 4th, in person or from their own backyards.”th backyard barbecue. So instead of debating who is welcome, I’d like organizers and skeptics alike to come see for themselves at the State Fair, the (FIFA World Cup) Fan Zone, the nearby Freedom Track, or the Mall on the Fourth. ”
Most of the artists originally scheduled to perform at the Great American State Fair in the days leading up to the Fourth of July withdrew from the event, many saying they were concerned about its partisan nature. After the UFC fight on the White House lawn, President Trump said, “We’re going to have fun and celebrate America!” and announced a July 4th rally at the Lincoln Memorial with a military band and fireworks.
How the LGBTQ+ community used its bicentenary
Back in Philadelphia, some people celebrate America’s birthday with mixed emotions.
Ceramist, actor, and producer Justin Jayne was inspired by the energy, joy, community, and creativity of not only activists but also the LGBTQ+ activists who came before him.
“There was a lot of anger[with early activists]but they pivoted to pleasure and tried to center pleasure as resistance,” he explained. “I’m struggling with that. How far should I lean into anger, and how far should I be truly happy?” myself?” The United States’ 250th anniversary evokes “mixed” emotions, he said.
Groups such as Dyke Tactics, Radical Queens, and the Gay Liberation Front, as well as activists such as George Lakey, Tom Wilson Weinberg, and Arlene Olshan, are all featured prominently in This Is (Not) a Celebration through archival materials such as photographs, sculptures, zines, newspaper clippings, and flyers.
Jake Foster, art exhibitions manager at the William Way Center, is 33 years old and has a deep appreciation for the queer activists who paved the way for LGBTQ+ people, becoming emotional as he talks about the discrimination, demonization and brutality many of them faced in their attempts to live and love openly.
What is Freedom 250?: America250 and Freedom 250 are celebrating the same thing. But they are different
Delorme’s tintype and ambrotype photographs of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ+ elders, such as Wilson Weinberg and Olshan, aim to show them as real people, loving and surviving their lives after years of activism. She wanted to ensure that their experiences were included in Philadelphia and American history.
“I ask them, ‘How did you do this and how did you overcome what you went through?'” she said, hoping to draw connections with young LGBTQ+ people. “Now that they’re older, I feel pressured to tell the story while they’re still here.”
Erasing or ignoring their stories “only serves to isolate us, isolate us, isolate us from each other, old and young, and benefit bigots,” she said.
“We’re positioning this against (Freedom250 and America250) in the same way that the LGBTQ community really leveraged the bicentennial,” Foster said. “More needs to be done because there are still too many people like them who do not have equal rights.”
Protests and the exercise of free speech are “essential to who this country is, but that’s not what we’ve always lived up to. We need to understand our history so we can draw inspiration from it.”
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Ad campaign claims American identity is not political
Viewers in some television markets, including New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C., are seeing ads that offer a different perspective on Philadelphia, the birthplace of American independence.
The nonprofit organization behind the ad says it’s not a political statement. Rather, they are a true picture of Philadelphia, and of American history.
The “Indivisible” series of ads focuses on the contributions of four American demographics: Latino/Black, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+.
“Too many Americans are being forced to choose between their heritage and their American identity,” said Neil Frauenglas, CEO of Visit Philly, a tourism nonprofit based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area that created the ad. “We thought it was the wrong choice.”
However, he stressed that the ad was not intended to be political or partisan.
“We’re not making a political statement. We’re stating a historical fact,” Frauengras told USA TODAY. “We are reminding people of where that truth came from: the American identity. teeth It’s multicultural. ”
Frauenglas acknowledged that “the line is getting thinner” between culture and politics, but said Visit Philadelphia responds to cultural cues, especially in a city with a diverse neighborhood where ethnic, religious and racial groups have lived in close proximity and coexisted for generations.
“We want to make sure we tell the complete story of Philadelphia, and we have a responsibility to tell the complete story of America,” he said. “We don’t just want to celebrate this milestone, we want to deepen its meaning.”
Frauenglas, a native New Yorker who has lived in Philadelphia for 10 years, said Philadelphia’s history and revolutionary roots are and remain a big draw for visitors. “We were founded with radical ideas about freedom, and we want people from all places, all countries, and cultures to come here to explore Philadelphia and celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary.”
Phaedra Torresan is a national correspondent for USA TODAY and writes about history and Americana. Email us at ptrethan@usatoday.com, X @wordsbyphaedra, BlueSky @byphaedra, or Threads @by_phaedra.
