Get ready to ring the bells! We’re pleased to announce that a new subject page on the American Bicentennial Celebration has been added to our Digital Library.
The United States Bicentennial was a series of events in celebration of the nation’s 200th birthday. Official events began on April 1, 1975, with the launch of the American Freedom Train’s 21-month tour of the 48 contiguous states. Later that month, President Gerald Ford visited the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts, where he lit a third lantern in recognition of the country’s third century.
The American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA), established in 1973, focused on supporting and coordinating state, local, and private celebrations, with around 66,000 recognized events in total. There were picnics, ceremonies, presentations, and numerous other festivities across the country. One of the most significant events was the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage, in which volunteers from every state traveled Eastward over historic trails in covered wagons.
Official Bicentennial events culminated on July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On that day, President Ford and members of his family made stops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and at the Operation Sail festivities in New York Harbor.
This subject page brings together digitized materials from across our collections including background documents, Presidential speeches, event outlines, photographs, and more. Browse or take a deeper dive into the Bicentennial celebration here.
Image: President Gerald R. Ford Initiating the Ringing of Bicentennial Bells across the Nation on the Flight Deck of the USS Forrestal with American Revolution Bicentennial Administration Administrator John Warner, 7/4/1976 (National Archives Identifier 7142138)
