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Despite the weather shutting down the city’s 250th parade and the Welcome America concert and delaying fireworks, America’s 250th celebrations kept Philadelphians and visitors busy over the weekend.
Historic Philadelphia’s President and CEO Amy Needle said there were many milestones despite the weather.
“The Historic District and its partners had been working for four years on creating this drone show, and so many people were able to come out and enjoy that,” she said. “It’s the first time we’ve ever had a drone show on Independence Mall, and we were thrilled that we were able to do that for the city.”
Philly had a lot planned to drum up excitement for the weekend, including a virtual visit by the Pope, a Philly World Cup game, and a Ben Franklin lookalike contest. The city was the perfect spot for these events, said Emma Hart, the Richard S. Dunn Director of The McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
“I’ve spoken to other journalists who have come to Philly from other cities and other countries in the last few weeks, and their impression, or their reaction, to what’s going on in Philadelphia for the 250 years is that this is really special,” she said. “This is Philadelphia, and it really is the beating heart of remembering the Revolution, and people in Philadelphia are doing it in their own particular way.”
Erin Schricker and Davis Simmons were in town from Northern Virginia.
“The biggest thing we wanted to see was Independence Hall on the Fourth, so we got in line for that yesterday at 9:18 am, and we got in for the 1:45 tour,” Erin said.
The couple said they had a great mix of historical sightseeing and 250th celebrations – but, they ran into some trouble navigating it all.
“The organization was questionable, but we still got to do some fun things,” Erin said. “But it wasn’t easy to figure out where exactly things were, whereas with a central source of reliable information, it would have been.”
Davis agreed. As a historian for a park in Virginia, he said he values the history he got to see – but he wished it had been a bit more accessible.
“Signage, I think, is something that would have been nice, especially if somebody that’s out-of-state wants to know where everything is and wants to be able to tell what kind of events are going on with some brochures and things like that,” Davis said.
As the city nurses a hangover and prepares for a major cleanup, what’s next?
First, there are several other important anniversaries coming up, Hart said.
“We’ll have the anniversary of 1783, and that’s going to be in 2033, and that is the 250th of the signing of the treaty between Britain, France, and Spain in America, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war and finally granted America its independence,” she said. “And of course you’ve got the anniversary, which will be in 2037, of the writing of the Constitution, and then you’ve got the ratification of the Constitution, so we have still got many more anniversaries when it comes to remembering or commemorating the building of the nation.”
Looking back to look forward
Philly was the centerpiece for many of America’s core values, Hart said. This year, the city will continue to reflect and spotlight key historic events.
“The United States is built on, in part, a document that was read out loud in Philadelphia on July the Fourth, 1776 and which has come to embody many of the chief values that Americans shape their national identity and their patriotism around and also their governing values as well, like the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she said.
She said 1776 made Philly the centerpiece of most things – before the District of Columbia was even created.
Philadelphia’s location on the Delaware River made it a key point for business and trade and creative merchants, artists and intellectuals like Ben Franklin made the city a place for discovery and activity.
Hart said the city has grown tremendously over the years. But, she said, history shows us that sometimes change takes time.
“The revolution as a whole was a very long and varied event,” she said. “You could say it started with the Stamp Act Protest in 1765, and it didn’t end until the ratification of the Constitution. That is almost 25 years of activity to finally get to even the beginning of the United States, let alone actually making and enacting the government and developing the government and governing. I think that timescale is instructive for us.”
She said the city and country could see a big difference the next time Philly celebrates an anniversary.
“What we should take away from this is that creating a nation and upholding its values, the values that were in the founding documents, is a very slow and winding path, and that we should take heart from that, and keep on keeping on to try and meet the goals of the Declaration, or the statements and the aspirations of the Declaration,” she said.
Between the city’s 200th anniversary and this 250th celebration, Hart said, there have been major changes in how history is chronicled.
“We hardly had, at that moment, any idea of how women or enslaved and free Africans or indigenous Americans experienced the revolution and participated in it,” she said. “We did have some idea, it’s not like we didn’t have any, because research had begun, but now we have an extremely full picture.”
She said there will likely be even more perspectives and differences as the nation heads into its 300th anniversary in 50 years.
Simmons agreed. He said the 250th gives others a unique opportunity to hone in on the country’s history – something he hopes will encourage people to continue being curious.
“It’s important, for the 250th, that people really study and learn, so they can help educate themselves, and especially be ready in the classroom setting,” he said. “They should be going on field trips, and exploring places like these, as they are really helpful for understanding where you come from and what the future holds for you.”
He says technology is also making information easier to find – which will be good moving forward.
“It’s making it far more accessible for people to actually be able to know where they came from, and what’s in store for the future,” he said. “And so I think that is actually a very good thing that it’s making it more accessible to everyone, so that you have no excuse. It’s not locked behind a pay wall. All you gotta do is sit down and read it, and you’ll be just as educated as the other person around the corner.”
What next?
There are still plenty of city events to enjoy after the Fourth of July weekend. For starters, the FIFA Fan Fest is open through July 19. You can catch a handful of free concerts, other soccer matches and themed events at the large venue in Lemon Hill.
MLB All-Star Week also begins this Friday and ends on Tuesday, July 14, with the All-Star Game.
To keep in the 250th spirit, Historic Philadelphia will continue to host its weekly “Firstivals,” Saturday celebrations that chronicle a Philly “first” in a historically significant location. There is a Philly “first” that will be highlighted every week through Saturday, December 26.
Historic Philadelphia also has a number of programs throughout the rest of the summer and fall, Needle said.
“Now, through Labor Day, we have a lot of our free programming out and about in the Historic District,” she said. “We have 12 storytelling benches, where you can go and hear a story that happened right there in the place, for free. There are also history makers, which are the people that are dressed up in colonial garb, who are actually real people from history, and there are many interactive activities that you can do with them.”
A weekly Colonial Kid Quest Puppet Show – a historical puppet show for kids – will continue on Fridays and Saturdays. There is also the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival through August 16.
“It’s a year-long celebration, and you know the historic district is such a wonderful place to celebrate all year long,” she said. “There are so many different attractions and special places for people to come out and visit.”
There are a number of new museums, exhibits and venues for the 250th as well. You can learn more about the nation’s founding document at The National Constitution Center, you can go inside the First Bank of America in Philly or explore America’s first hospital at the Pennsylvania Hospital Museum.
The Philadelphia Visitor Center will also host several “activations” throughout the rest of the year – festivals and events in different parts of the city, such as art festivals, tree lightings, and more.
“Philadelphians should be proud of the way that the city has commemorated and celebrated and contemplated this anniversary,” Hart said.
