Local groups receive funding to commemorate American Revolution's 250th anniversary

On March 25, the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources distributed grant funding through America 250 NC, a commemoration for the signing of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary in 2026. 

Three Orange County organizations received grants, including the Orange County Historical Museum, Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and the Music Industry Center, a nonprofit offering music education and professional training.

The Orange County Historical Museum received over $24,000, Alliance for Historic Hillsborough received over $8,000 and the Music Industry Center received $30,000 in funding.

America 250 NC Project Coordinator Dan Brosz said his team immediately knew they wanted America 250 to be a grassroots effort throughout the state. Nonprofits and local governments know their areas more than the committee does, so it gives them resources to commemorate the anniversary in a way the groups feel would be most useful to their constituents, Brosz said. 

Brosz said grants were given to organizational events that aligned with the three themes for America 250 NC: gathering of voices, visions of freedom and common ground. 

With the grant, the Orange County Historical Museum will hold an event to celebrate the anniversary of the third Provincial Congress of North Carolina, Exhibit and Programs Coordinator Courtney Smith said. The provincial congresses were legislative bodies that helped transition from colonial rule to independent state legislatures established in ten of the thirteen colonies.

“Nobody's really talked about this, celebrated this in a long time, and it's a really big occasion for Hillsborough and for North Carolina in general,” Orange County Historical Museum Site Manager Catie Atkinson said. “So going with all the America 250 stuff that's happening starting this year and into next year for the real 250th anniversary of American independence, we thought it would be appropriate to intertwine that all together.”

Smith also said the museum is partnering with other organizations, including the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough.

The event will consist of three parts, including a series of speakers in the Orange County Public Library, a colonial market selling objects from the time period at the Historic Courthouse in Hillsborough and an interpretation of the third provincial congress, Atkinson said.

Smith said it is important to commemorate independence because it works toward greater freedom, liberty and recognizes democratic ideals — aspects that the community strives for and makes them proud to be American. 

“One of the important components of our celebration is to make sure that we look at all demographics and make sure that we are talking about Native Americans and African Americans and women, and different socioeconomic statuses — how did all of these people look at ideas of freedom and what did independence [and] liberty mean to them,” she said.

Brosz said through funding organizational events, the America 250 NC committee wants there to be a conversation about what it means to be an American, how the country got where it is and where it needs to go. Like the Founding Fathers stated, he said, there will always be the pursuit to form a more perfect union.

“So we want to see fireworks — we want to see people have a good time and celebrate, but also to reflect on the fact that not all Americans had the rights that were granted on July 4, 1776,” he said.

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