‘alternative CentennialCentennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future by Fergus M. Bordewich pub. by Knopf (2026)
I read this book about the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence just a few weeks before July 4, 2026. Half a century ago, I went to various events celebrating the Bicentennial in 1976. Now, as we prepare to mark the 250th Anniversary, I think back to those earlier celebrations and wonder how we ever got. Where are the meanings of those events that brought us together and promoted a common purpose? Of course the more I look at the earlier celebrations, the more comparable they seem to today under Trump.
In 1976 there was OpSail in which dozens of sailing ships arrived in New York Harbor and we were able to go onboard. There was a giant celebration in Washington and Philadelphia, and hundreds of smaller cities and towns had community events to celebrate the Spirit of ’76. The Federal government made grants available to local groups to mark their regions’ history, and many museums on African American and Women’s history today date back to those old grants. There were daily Bicentennial Minutes every night on TV in which an actor or a historian told a story related to the Revolution in only 60 seconds. All of these were prominently featured in the news media. Still, what I also remember was the disastrous close of the Vietnam War, the recent resignation of President Nixon, and the calling out of the official BiCentennial observance as a cleaning up of our history. I also remember that in July 1976 I attended anĀ alternative BiCentennial demonstration on the lawn in front of the Capitol trying to present a more realistic portrait of our nation’s history.
What about the Centennial? It was not ignored by our government as it now is. It had some major events like the inclusion of a women’s pavilion at the Centennial fair and a work of art by a Black woman that was the talk of the event. But, of course, not everything was copesetic. Two weeks before the celebration, Col. George Armstrong Custer led his men out on a genocidal adventure in the Dakotas and was defeated and his men were slaughtered. Throughout the South, formerly majoritarian governments were taken back by white supremacists who were unsparing in the use of force, and in Washington the race between Hayed and Tilden for the presidency would be resolve through corruption.
Please don’t ask to live through a celebration of our country’s Independence!
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