On June 3, 2026, historian MJ Rymsza-Pawlowska was quoted in a Washington Post article analyzing the planning hurdles and national anxieties surrounding the upcoming U.S. semiquincentennial.
As organizers grapple with how to mark the nation's 250th anniversary, public radio and podcasts are looking back at previous milestones for clues. On the podcast Today, Explained, hosts highlighted her expertise, noting that MJ Rymsza-Pawlowska teaches history at American University, and wrote a book about the bicentennial. The show used her work to dip back into the mists of 1976 to understand the complicated cultural landscape of America's 200th birthday.
With the 2026 anniversary looming, the tension between commercial celebration and historical reflection is back on the table. Whether the United States can find a cohesive narrative for its semiquincentennial remains to be seen, but the historical parallels to the Bicentennial era suggest the path forward will be anything but smooth. As Rymsza-Pawlowska's work highlights, national birthdays often reveal more about a country's current anxieties than its past achievements.