MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee State University will play a major role in the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration thanks to a new grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

The Honors College and the university’s American Democracy Project have been awarded funding through the NEH’s “Celebrate America!” initiative to support a yearlong series of programs marking the United States Semiquincentennial in 2026.

Project director Joan McRae, a resident Honors College faculty member, said the $25,000 grant will allow MTSU to bring the humanities to the forefront of public life during this historic milestone. 

“We are thrilled that this grant offers us the opportunity to bring the humanities out of the classroom and into the public sphere, using the Semiquincentennial celebration to spark conversations about freedom, democracy, and the ideas that are foundational to our American life,” McRae said.

The initiative, titled “Celebrating America’s Semiquincentennial at Middle Tennessee State University,” is supported by the MTSU Foundation and will feature academic lectures, community events, museum exhibitions, documentary screenings, and educational programming for both university students and the broader Middle Tennessee community.

ADP Director Amy Sayward, co-leader of the project, emphasized the importance of civic learning during the Semiquincentennial year. 

“MTSU was established to teach the next generation as a normal school, and as a state university, we are intimately connected to civic learning and civic initiatives like the American Democracy Project,” Sayward said. “Celebrating and understanding the foundational principles of our nation during the Semiquincentennial is a natural outgrowth of our institutional history.”

Events throughout the year

The NEH grant will help fund a wide range of activities designed to explore the American Revolution, the nation’s founding ideals, and the continuing relevance of democratic principles. Events will be organized in collaboration with university departments, student groups, community partners and distinguished guest speakers.

Programming includes, but is not limited to:

• A campus screening of excerpts from Ken Burns’s new PBS documentary, “The American Revolution,” accompanied by a teacher‑education component in partnership with Nashville Public Television and local Sons of the American Revolution chapters.
• A campus celebration of Evacuation Day, featuring public readings of the Declaration of Independence and the reprinting of the document on MTSU’s historic Franklin Press.
• The Strickland Lecture, featuring historian Janet Polasky, along with a virtual “Conversations with Historians” forum.
• A Constitution Day program with Georgetown Law professor Sheryll Cashin, moderated by MTSU students.
• Honors College lecture series on “Revolutions” (Spring 2026) and “Legacies of the American Revolution” (Fall 2026), culminating in a published volume of essays.

Honors College Dean John Vile noted that the Semiquincentennial offers a rare opportunity to reflect on the nation’s founding principles. 

“Anniversaries of the Declaration of Independence that fall on multiples of 50 have been especially important throughout U.S. history, especially since both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, on the 50^th anniversary of the adoption of the document,” noted Vile, who will be presenting on America’s 250-year history at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro this summer. “The semiquincentennial will stand alongside the jubilee, centennial, sesquicentennial, and bicentennial of this document as important occasions both for reflecting upon and celebrating the nation’s cherished heritage of freedom.”

Humanities themes in focus

The 2026 celebrations will highlight major humanities themes, including:

• Heroes of the Revolution.
• Freedom and liberty in the Declaration of Independence.
• The Revolution’s impact on the Western world.
• The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment.
• Cultural expressions of American identity.
• Civic and voter engagement.

These themes will be explored through lectures, public readings, museum exhibits, and collaborations with organizations such as the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, Cannonsburgh Village, the MTSU First Amendment Center, and the Center for Historic Preservation.

“When we look at the history of the American Revolution, we see Americans willing to put everything — ‘our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor’ in the words of the Declaration of Independence — on the line to create a democratic republic that would allow Americans to create a government that would protect each person’s right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Sayward explains.

“The least we can do today is understand their commitment to sustain that democratic republic they created through our civic engagement today.”

The Semiquincentennial programming is expected to reach audiences across the MTSU campus, Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, and the greater Nashville metropolitan area. Many events will be livestreamed or recorded to ensure broad access, and local K–12 educators will be invited to participate in workshops and public programs.

Reflecting beyond 2026

The project’s impact will extend beyond 2026. In addition to public events, the project will produce lasting educational resources, including:

• A published volume of faculty and guest lectures.
• Reprinted copies of the Declaration of Independence.
• New teaching materials for K-12 educators.
• Continued partnerships with community organizations.

McRae said the goal is to ensure that the ideals of the Revolution remain relevant for future generations.

“The yearlong Semiquincentennial celebration offers a special occasion to honor our past while asking what the Declaration of Independence and the events of the Revolution still mean for our society today and in the future,” she said. “Support from the NEH grant lets MTSU bring the public and the academic community together for civic dialogue and thoughtful engagement with the foundational ideas that continue to define the American experiment: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Learn more about the “Celebrate America!” grant at neh.gov/program/celebrate-america. For more information about MTSU’s 250 Celebration initiatives, visit amerdem.mtsu.edu/mtsu-250/. 

Those wishing to honor the spirit of the Semiquincentennial by supporting the programs that celebrate Americans’ shared history can make a gift at tbg.mtsu.edu/pages/matching-gifts. 

— Robin E. Lee (Robin.E.Lee@mtsu.edu)