Play the Long Game”

For the last five years, I have had the honor of serving as series editor for “Considering the Revolution,” a collaborative project between the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Council on Public History (NCPH). Each year, a convenor has brought together a panel of scholars and practitioners to discuss themes related to the American Revolution for the purpose of helping NPS interpreters and other practitioners prepare for the upcoming Semiquincentennial. The topics of panels, which were also written up by panel conveners into articles published in The Public Historian, have been wide-ranging. Panels from “Indigenous Histories and Memory in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Indigenous Plateau” (2021) to “Citizenship and Sovereignty” (2024) substantially enlarged the field of possibility for programming about the histories and legacies, broadly conceived, of the American Revolution.1 As impressive—and as indicative of the creative and inventive ways that public historians had been imagining the interpretive opportunities surrounding the commemoration—is the list of topics generated at various brainstorming sessions between NPS and NCPH members: religion, belief and disbelief; disability and the Revolution; and climate and environment.2 I share these now because, together, this archive of preparation and planning depicts institutional investment in the potential of a Semiquincentennial that would meaningfully reshape the way that Americans understood the Revolutionary period.The upcoming 250th is significant because of the national scale of commemoration and also because the symbolic importance of the ideals and rhetoric of the American Revolution flows though all contemporary politics. It has been perceived by a variety of stakeholders—ranging from “official” federal planners to individual public historians—as an occasion to change how Americans understand democracy and their place within it. But beyond that, it will have substantial impact on public history writ-large: its methods, its practitioners, and its institutions. Over years of reflection, I have come to view commemorations—especially national ones—as accelerators and codifiers: wherein, because of attention and opportunity and resources, and through new or emergent forms of commemoration, insurgent but already-extant tendencies in historical interpretation and perspective tend to clarify, mature, and solidify. To wit: many of our current institutionalized forms of public history, from the emphasis on grassroots and community history approaches, to local and vernacular preservation initiatives, to institutions themselves (not coincidentally, formal public history education, and the National Council on Public History itself) come to us as a result of the 1976 Bicentennial, which brought with it a popular excitement about the past, a desire, from people, to see themselves within American history, and an enthusiasm for grassroots efforts, all of which encouraged robust funding and institution-building.3 In my capacity as series editor, and also as a public history scholar and educator, I saw the first four “Considering the Revolution” panels—alongside broader efforts across the field to tell more inclusive, representative stories, and to account for and grapple with the histories and legacies of exclusions and inequalities—as the seeds for a meaningful and impactful commemoration that would reflect the new directions in formal public history practice.4 The far-ranging conversation across each panel reflected and magnified efforts and initiatives across multiple arenas of public history—including, notably, and until recently, the National Park Service itself.5 Practitioners and publics have been, for several years now, reframing the American past and its remembrance and commemoration; the Semiquincentennial seemed to be an opportunity to reflect upon and further institutionalize these developments.6When planning began, at the end of 2024, for the final panel, which I was also asked to facilitate, the goal was to move from interpretive content to interpretive practice; we wanted to focus on how practitioners were applying the types of thematic frameworks that had been introduced in previous panels. But after January, and with each new month, it started to become increasingly apparent that the Semiquincentennial envisioned by the previous panels—as well as the very public history institutions and federal funders, including humanities councils and the Park Service itself, that would support and articulate the commemoration—were under existential threat. It seemed more urgent, then, to convene a panel in which practitioners and audience members could talk about how they were meeting the moment, but also, to reflect on the way that expectations had altered over the past year.In early June of 2025, our panel, “Considering the Revolution,” was convened online, where, we hoped, we could make it accessible to as many practitioners as possible.7 Together, planners decided to invite past panelists, so that their reflections on the commemoration would be framed by the series itself. Joining me were three panelists, all of whom are public history practitioners at institutions at the forefront of inclusive and impactful public history practice. Ista Clarke was part of the 2023 panel on “The Rhetoric of Freedom: A Conversation about the Conditions of Black Life in the American Revolution,” convened by historian Sylvea Hollis. With an extensive background in interpretation, Clarke is Cultural History Interpretation Specialist at Charleston County Parks. Clarke leads tours at International Site of Conscience McLeod Plantation Historic Site and works closely with descendent communities.8 Nicole Moore and Kristen Hayashi had both taken part in the 2024 panel on Citizenship and Sovereignty convened by NCPH President Gregory Smoak. Hayashi is Director of Collections Management and Access and Curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, and has worked with Los Angeles history organizations, including serving on the board of directors for the Little Tokyo Historical Society and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP). Moore is Senior Director of Education at the National Museum for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta and serves on the board of directors of the Slave Dwelling Project and Old North Illuminated. Together, these panelists brought a wealth of experience to draw from and reflect upon in our conversation.The developments that are impacting ideas and initiatives around the Semiquincentennial are so far-reaching that it seems strange for me to spell them out here, for a readership comprised of people who—whether they are federal employees, educators at federally funded universities, or recipients of grants from funders such as the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Institute of Museum and Library Services—have first-hand experience of those very developments, part of an ideologically driven effort to reshape public understanding of history.9 But one thing we are learning very fast is that it is always good to leave a record, many records, and in as many places as possible. Additionally, although much public history happens far outside of the realm of federally backed institutions, current events offer a good reminder of the profound ways that federal investments in history have the power to shape the field. This is another reason why thinking about and watching the Semiquincentennial—instead of, as more people seem to be doing, hoping that it goes by, and then, away—remains important.And so, here are some of the immediate contexts that inform where public history practice is right now, that inform the shape of the conversation of the panel, the experiences and outlooks of the panelists and the audience, and how we are all thinking about the Semiquincentennial. First, the losses: material and operational cuts to the Institute of Museums and Library Service, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Wilson Center, federal museums and historic sites, federally subsidized student loans, Medicaid, and other funders of public history and of public historians.10 Second: attacks—some federal, some from the state level—in the form of firings, book banning, and threats of detention; to schools, universities, libraries, movements, and everywhere else that knowledge and knowledge communities reside.11The undercurrent running beneath this is a threat to organizations and people exploring and sharing the histories and experiences of nonwhite, nonbinary, non-able-bodied, non-Christian Americans—that is, those who are seeking to tell stories about our nation that are more complex, more nuanced; about times when the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness fell short, or even when they were withheld or wrested away—and to use those stories to make claims for freedom, equality, and access for those who have unjustly been left out of the promises of the very founding moment that the Semiquincentennial will be commemorating. These stories are difficult but also hopeful and aspirational. And they are always critical—for understanding the United States then, the United States now, and the United States of the future. As Nicole Moore said of the Semiquincentennial that she had been imagining during her previous panel, “I felt like we would be able to really dive into commemorating those men, women, and children whose voices hadn’t been heard...and seeing what their legacy in shaping who we are and where we could go would be.” But now, she continued, “that headspace has changed a lot.”It is impossible to overstate the reactionary nature of these attacks and silencings, as well as the degree to which they operate within the commemorative realm: the 1776 Project to counter the 1619 project, the renaming of forts and sites, the National Garden of American Heroes in response to contested statues.12 The Semiquincentennial that was envisioned by the first four panels of this series—a commemoration borne out of these inquiries and efforts—was precisely what is now being stripped away. The Semiquincentennial that is arising in its place is going to look very different: sponsored by funders like Palantir, Coinbase, and UFC, staffed by individuals closely connected to the current administration, and flanked by actions such as the recent executive order “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which purports to combat a “revisionist movement [that] seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”13 Accordingly, institutional foundations for commemoration are changing. For example, the newly revised NEH grant guidelines state “[we] will only accept projects that promote a deeper understanding of our nation’s extraordinary heritage, including our record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”14 At the National Park Service, rangers and visitors are being asked to flag interpretive content deemed “inappropriate”: signs mentioning climate change, enslavement, and forced assimilation of Native Americans have all been tagged.15 In June of 2025, the White House announced an extensive of all museums in of the It is difficult to see a place within these formal institutional for inclusive and impactful public But it is up to us to make the of the panel, and Clarke were asked to reflect on these and what they for practitioners who are planning projects and for the upcoming Semiquincentennial. that of these are new developments, and that the histories of the experiences of people, of and of have been to and in the contexts of that, like the are to be Ista to the way that experience historical the American Revolution well as how history be to for some is for For the past several years, have been efforts by state history institutions, and by historians themselves to or efforts at history that contested or of the founding moment and its has been for example, to the of from public the of the histories of in schools, the of the desire, by to some history those the to all of this was a about or historians contemporary and when thinking or about the I that a part of what was at for the historians who were during this was an about and a of how a historian be in For practitioners, of the of interpretation for the public in this panelists the importance of the past to the for visitors who are and in of the the of public historians in the at that with Revolutionary history, we be commemorating. But we at and in our with the legacies of the American the promises of liberty, equality, and that have the American experience And so, up on the ideas this series and topics of their previous panels, and Clarke about the opportunities for thematic with this and what those themes look like over and into the they for a of the promises of what an to the of the American and where these promises were where they fell and when people for them to be Nicole Moore that is an opportunity now to have more about both the and the of the past, and to we on to what to what have we so that Kristen Hayashi and her at the Japanese American National Museum the potential for exploring and the themes of the Semiquincentennial. Hayashi programming by the for the Preservation of as well as upcoming the of of which will new on and by the history of Japanese Americans from the through and up to the At each Hayashi the new will the of the Japanese American experience within the contexts of American and Hayashi that in response to to and efforts at American institutions and in the American that are to the and has to out about past and how to understand contemporary events within their historical has been and in the between the of Japanese Americans during the and the in the of of and American by and this online, seeing how Americans are with these themes and also how Americans are with the past, and also what public historians to the for a and over the current moment, the experiences of their that the importance of to are who with the between the past and other in to them or to the way that public in with the and that public historians in these is Ista Clarke with visitors at them to at the they for and watching people have a it in ways that their and to Clarke that at this moment, to with to but also to and make for and that, what are seeking is to their knowledge and all three of our panelists are with their institutions and in their are all that come the way understanding and Clarke also us of the access to is the experiences by panelists and in places like make that in these Americans have become more and more in history, and in a in its Public historians have for a very that are but are of historical and historical interpretation, and increasingly so in their efforts on and about the past in ways that are by their experiences and they are in history out into the of these projects are in with public but are outside of the realm of public history practice. and all only that many people are about the past, but also that they are thinking about it in ways that are outside of the of forms of public history interpretation and to these developments, as well as outside to the of history itself, Nicole Moore practice has to be but also really creative and encouraged public historians to from popular to with vernacular and into going to audience where and them with As an example, she the of an that with museums and historic sites, including both and the National Museum for Civil and Human with the goal of For its which between and the of and their institutional of some online, some all to about American such as and equality, what these ideas to them and learning about how they have been in the from and at institutions, to to of by or In to helping and resources, such as a to institutions become for Moore that in these of people to history in more ways that are that public historians have to change the way they talk about history and new ways to with where they helping them for the Semiquincentennial Moore that this that the historical is public historians to a way to and are many for practitioners and institutions to in commemorative Kristen Hayashi the National for the Japanese American The of the project is the a book that for the first the of all of Japanese who were during The which was on at from to 2024, is now to other around the United including of Hayashi at the visitors to see the and to honor the by their would the book as an opportunity to and In one a with her and her to the project has been for and its as well as for its by the of commemoration, are to the of the a into and national is by a on which record and to the of the Project with several other the Japanese American and with the project in to and share its Together, Hayashi these projects have changed how the people who and experience them about history and their within it. continued, of as and but this is it power as more people with Hayashi that this is a new and collaborative way of thinking about commemoration that as a for the 250th and with new ways to and in interpretive and commemorative it is to make the of historical and more and The is a significant that of visitors with their and their Nicole Moore that this of access and that one of the impactful a is so them out of the so that people with Ista Clarke that at both and when other from the for the of the of people in the on the Clarke that, when visitors to the it is the impactful part of their some of the were by the of for visitors or for their when they come to understand what the of the It is these of experiences that institutions for in helping visitors understand the between the past and the the in to as of to commemorative sharing ideas about the histories and legacies of of American or with the material of But they also new beyond the of over history and into the of meeting where they are to them where public historians them to the material and attacks on inclusive, accessible history, panelists the importance of for the only the that they see from and the from them to but also because of the importance of the stories that they are to and In the all that to the Semiquincentennial also beyond the and that public historians and their be the as Nicole Moore Moore we have how are we going to the public And we thinking how are we going to them to come that with that right now, it is for public history practitioners and institutions to be thinking about how they are going this moment, that how they talk about and new or new that people understand the Ista Clarke encouraged practitioners to focus on people, ways to and for new funding grassroots and to the that public historians have been and for that we that we are in an of a and from also the investment that people have in the that are by the Kristen Hayashi us that museums and historic are the where they to about the past and make of the This is, of why they are under a that how institutions about history to and Hayashi us an of a American flag that will be part of the new under at the Japanese American National The Hayashi was in by the of Japanese American and their Japanese it for the occasion of the of that the flag that these in the ideals of this and that that would in four years them into they their and their effort into this a of the of of the United Nicole Moore the to American who in I and out that they were for that they could Moore that legacy me to Hayashi continued, the power of these stories, that she wanted for to be able to with and and across To this Hayashi also an from a recent at by from history, history because it has who we The of the nation is at this past, learning from the past and the past to us a Director continued, for us to our history, and in that history but that this history is one community and us three panelists saw the potential of the 250th as a to an opportunity to people to become and and to use the of history to make of the and to inform the future. As Hayashi Americans have and in It is to these stories and commemorating these these stories and understanding between past and that broadly in the Semiquincentennial commemoration but will move far beyond the another for public history that meaningful ways to the public as a collaborative in the of and legacies of At the National for Civil and Human Truth practitioners to a understanding of individual and to change by and Moore the which is around closely with communities of and other that, community us to this are some of the that is their to we to them to over the of efforts, it is to see the between that both from the of each history and the of each with the County the National for Civil and Human Rights a public to the understanding of the Atlanta through a collaborative and as well as a for Atlanta and institutions to to the as a The National is also to forced around including at of the and the This effort has a and an experience that members of the public through them as of The of these their across communities and institutions, and their emphasis of past and are all of how projects public to end by around to my of as and what will this one and will come out of this As this panel in it is up to has been from this as well as from each of the previous panels in this series is that an of has been in recent years to tell more inclusive stories, to make history more to with and community and of these developments have been in the of funders like the in the of this and at the of the National Council on Public in initiatives from the National Park Service, the the National and other institutions, and through the of these panelists, and else who has been a part of this of it will be taken or or The historians recent events as an on it But it is also an on impactful historical interpretation it a of the of that the panelists, our audience, this and their publics have all been funding and are all at historians from this as Nicole Kristen and Ista Clarke the will go go As Clarke has been on the It look or with people, or be with At some during the the panelists the audience to the more of we the we and we on our our as individual public and as the field of public history, will be in

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