Conference – America 250

Opening Keynote

The Many Lives of the Declaration of Independence
Michael D. Hattem
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Michael D. Hattem draws on his new book, The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History, to explore both the history and memory of the nation’s first founding document. He will discuss how independence and the Declaration came about and the Declaration’s important role in American politics and culture. How Americans have understood the meaning and legacy of the Declaration has changed over time in ways shaped by the events and context of the present. Throughout the nation’s history, political and social movements have repeatedly used the Declaration to justify their causes to the American public. In this talk, Hattem will show how the Declaration of Independence not only helped create a new nation but has also helped define and redefine what it means to be a citizen of that nation for nearly two hundred and fifty years.

Michael D. Hattem is a historian of the American Revolution and historical memory. He received his PhD in History from Yale University and is the author of The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History (2024) and Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution (2020). He has taught history at Knox College and The New School, and his work has been covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, TIME magazine, and the Washington Post. He has also served as a historical consultant, curated historical exhibitions, appeared in television documentaries, and written catalogue essays for some of the most important revolutionary era documents to come to auction in the last decade. He currently serves as Associate Director of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.

Closing Keynote

The 250 Paradox: Celebrating Freedom, Healing Oppressions, and Embracing Contradictions
Akeia de Barros Gomes
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Freedom is an absolute term, something envisioned as a static state. Freedom-making is active work. A focus on freedom-making acknowledges that freedom is not an endpoint, but an ongoing set of processes and practices that move us toward liberation. However, there is no liberation when some are left behind. Within the legacies of settler colonialism, racialized slavery, and dispossession, freedom is also a paradox—a contradiction. How do we embrace this contradiction and simultaneously acknowledge the oppressions, trauma, and violence that built the foundation of our freedoms and that continue to be visited upon the marginalized and the Global South? And, how do we acknowledge these oppressions, traumas, and violences while simultaneously celebrating our freedom? The semiquincentennial is a time to pause, reflect, and acknowledge this paradox and decide as a nation—where do we go from here? What do we want to be 10 generations from now…after another 250 years?

Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes is the Director of the Center for Black History at the Newport Historical Society and is a Visiting Scholar and Adjunct Lecturer at Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. She was lead curator for the 2024 Mystic Seaport Museum exhibition, Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty and the Sea, a project that recovers Dawnland Indigenous, African, and African-descended maritime narratives. She works on curatorial projects of race, Indigenous histories, ethnicity, and diversity in New England’s Maritime activities. She received her BA in anthropology/archaeology at Salve Regina University and her MA and PhD in anthropology/archaeology at the University of Connecticut. She has done anthropological and archaeological fieldwork on the Mashantucket Pequot reservation, in Newport, RI, in the US Virgin Islands, in Ghana, in Benin, in New Orleans, in Belize, and in Cabo Verde.

Panel Conversation

Where We Live: Commemorating America 250 with Inclusive Stories
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Moderated by Catherine Shen
Panelists
Tom Schuch: Archival Historian at the New London County Historical Society
Norman Berman: President of the Temple Beth Israel Preservation Society
Sylvester Salcedo: Connecticut Veteran and Content Developer
Anne Dropick: Executive Director, Eidetic Productions, Inc.

This session will bring America 250 from 1776 to the present day with panelists that bring their projects working with a variety of Connecticut communities into the broader narrative about the 250th. How does this commemoration intersect with topics like the Underground Railroad, veterans, imperialism, the Holocaust, and refugees?

This episode of Where We Live was recorded at Shaping a Commemoration Rooted in Belonging and aired with additional comments from Jason Mancini, Executive Director of CT Humanities and Vice Chair of the America 250 | CT Commission on April 1, 2025.

Full Program

Conference Theme

This year’s conference theme was inspired by the Commission’s desire to foster inclusivity and a sense of belonging, as noted in its Vision Statement. The Commission aspires for all Connecticut residents to participate in this commemoration, both to reflect on the country’s history and to contribute to the work of building a more perfect union. Today, as in 1776, Connecticut’s residents are diverse in every way. We speak many languages, practice many religions, hold distinct political ideas, and look back on distinct family histories. A central question is how to commemorate the 250th in ways that respect our differences, while also forging connections across communities and helping us face the future as one Connecticut.

Conference Tracks

Power of Place: Connecticut is comprised of 169 towns and cities, five tribes, and countless communities with unique identities and contributions. This conference track seeks to bring together the many people that weave the fabric of our communities and find ways to engage all of Connecticut’s residents in this commemoration.

Tell Inclusive Stories: This commemoration is an opportunity to continue the nation’s reckoning with the totality of its past. By encouraging the amplification of previously untold, marginalized, and devalued stories, we aim to expand the nation’s narrative. This conference track seeks to help identify such stories, locate sources to tell them, and share them with the public.

For the Common Good: As we reckon with what the nation’s 250th means in Connecticut, we will encourage civic engagement in an effort to continue building our communities, state, and nation in alignment with the democratic ideals of the founding documents. This conference track seeks to promote engagement with the democratic process, public service, and community building tied with the 250th.

Doing History: In part, the commission’s work will focus on Connecticut’s role in the Revolutionary period — its people, sites, and historic context. This conference track will help tie together the ideals of the American Revolution, with an emphasis on Connecticut stories.