A Commemoration in Washington or a Commemoration for Washington? The Federal Government and the DC Bicentennial Assembly

This article examines planning for the United States Bicentennial in Washington, DC, focusing on the work of the DC Bicentennial Assembly in the early 1970s, as well as the Nixon administration’s response. While the national bicentennial is often remembered through large federal celebrations on the National Mall, planning in the capital became a venue for local political engagement and advocacy. I show how Washington residents used bicentennial planning to articulate claims about representation, citizenship, and the city’s political future, framing the anniversary as an opportunity to press for greater local control and a more meaningful realization of democratic ideals in the nation’s capital. Federal officials, meanwhile, sought to channel commemorative activity into redevelopment efforts that targeted tourists and visitors, putting forth a different vision for the city. The resulting bifurcation, characterized by Nixon as a “civic schizophrenia,” remains in the present day

Democracy · General assembly · New Deal · Political capital · Politics · American Environmental and Regional History · History of Emotions Research · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration