July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary, or semiquincentennial, of our nation. This milestone gives us an opportunity to make great strides toward repairing longstanding divides in our nation, but it also opens us up to deepening them. Together we can rediscover our common humanity and the multitude of human experiences bound up in this democratic experiment.
At President Lincoln’s Cottage, we believe in an America that reflects our common humanity, cultivates belonging, and honors the complexity in our nation’s history. We are committed to telling more complete stories that capture the full breadth of the American experience and leading our peers and community in doing the same. Through our human-centered programming, thoughtful resources, and convocations for our fellow history practitioners, we’re building a 250th commemoration that meets audiences where they are and makes room for both grief and joy at once.
Join us to cultivate and lift up the brave ideas of all who are taking on Lincoln’s “unfinished work” in pursuit of a more perfect union.
A Vision for America at 250 started with an idea, grew to a small cohort of museum professionals, historians, social scientists, and other practitioners whose work includes topics like polarization, psychology, and empathetic leadership, and is expanding each day as we prepare for this important milestone.
Learn how it all got started in this video.
We envision an America at 250 where everyone feels they belong – in schools, in civic spaces, and in museums. Accordingly, President Lincoln’s Cottage has proudly joined the Museums for All initiative to offer free admission to visitors receiving food assistance (SNAP benefits). Museums for All tickets are available online in advance (recommended) or at our Museum Shop in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center.
Museums for All is an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency based in Washington, DC. The initiative is administered by the Association of Children’s Museums.
We believe in creating a nation where every citizen feels listened to, respected, and invested in the future of the country. You can advance democracy by voting in local and national elections and encouraging others to do the same.
Creating a connected, humane society requires all of us. How will you get involved?
“Museums are really prime locations for people to have these experiential kind of engagements where they’re learning, where there learning things that are diffiult and they’re encountering some truths that are welcomed and unwelcomed, but in that process you can have a healing kind of experience if you’re good stewards of the emotions [come up].”
“It can’t just be all celebration. There has to be time for serious reflection. There have to be pauses for mourning. And if you do that, then the celebration actually takes on more meaning.”
“There is also a part that many of those conversations haven’t addressed, which is how does this impact the way we think about ourselves as Americans? Americans, what America is to us, and how we see the United Sttates as a place of belonging or not?”
“One of the ways that we wanted to approach America’s 250th is to really ask the questions, what might happen if other museums and historic sites really centered humanity and these universal human emotions in their programming and in how they showed up to commemorate America at 250?”
“I think it’s an opportunity to just put our hearts in the right place and do this work for perpetuity.”
“The 250th will be a success if we are really thinking about people and what people need, what they want, but also how they are in community or connected with each other. ”
“Even in museum and historic site spaces where there is ultimately a delivery of something, a product, an exhibit, something to interact with, that really connecting with people on a human level elevating their humanity and being in a process of whether that’s healing trauma, going through collective grief, that really is the process that is more important to work that we do.”
Our nation is at a crossroads. Even prior to the recent increase in polarization and disconnection, studies showed the United States had experienced a decline in empathy of more than 40%. America’s 250th offers an opportunity for our nation to make great strides toward repairing these divides.With the country facing many of the same questions that Abraham Lincoln himself faced over 150 years ago—questions of justice and humanity and questions about who belongs and how their perspectives are honored – are as important now as they were then.
President Lincoln’s Cottage is breaking free of the traditional role of museums and bringing transformative programming to more than 35,000 visitors annually. Here, visitors find resonance in stories where Lincoln’s curiosity and humanity are on full display, and in a dialogic approach that invites them to build empathy and act on their own brave ideas for social impact. President Lincoln’s Cottage is a 501(c)(3) historic site and museum located in Northwest Washington, D.C.
Members of Team Lincoln value the Cottage as a catalyst to continue Lincoln’s “unfinished work” in advancing democracy and share his values of humility, justice, and freedom. Team Lincoln members support our educational outreach, public programming, scholarship, and advance critical projects such as our Students Opposing Slavery program, and preserve this place as a beacon of hope for future generations.
Your donation support will provide transformative experiences and promote empathy and connection as we approach America’s 250th.
Each day more people from around the world discover the importance and modern relevance of President Lincoln’s Cottage. Read the latest news about President Lincoln’s Cottage to learn more about announcements, interviews, press appearances, awards and more.
We seek to move people by inspiring connection- to the past, to the place, to the work, to one another.
