The Minnesota Historical Society is marking the 250th anniversary of the United States with a slate of events across its statewide network of sites, the organization announced in a July 1 press release.
“This kind of anniversary only comes around every quarter-millennium,” MNHS said in the announcement.
The commemoration kicks off Wednesday, July 8 with Sharing the Spirit of America, a nationwide reading of the Declaration of Independence held in the Rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. The event marks 250 years since the document’s first public reading on July 8, 1776, and is being held in partnership with the Governor’s Committee for Minnesota America 250. Live patriotic music from the Minnesota State Band accompanies the free event, which runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Through July 12, the Minnesota History Center’s Spotlight Gallery features Spotlight on Minnesota’s Constitutions, an exhibit displaying two nearly identical original copies of the state constitution. One was signed by Republican delegates and the other by Democrats, since the two parties refused to sign a single document during Minnesota’s 1857 constitutional convention. Voters approved both versions prior to statehood on May 11, 1858.
At Historic Fort Snelling in St. Paul, the ongoing exhibit Many Voices, Many Stories, One Place is expanding its coverage of the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the first body of troops raised by the state for Civil War service. Related artifacts from the MNHS collections are now on display alongside the exhibit’s broader look at more than 10,000 years of history at the site, known to the Dakota as Bdote.
Fort Snelling will also host Independence Day at Historic Fort Snelling on Saturday, July 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The family-friendly day includes a flag raising with the Fife & Drum Corps, a patriotic speech and cannon firing, a weapons demonstration and a historic baseball game, with regular site admission covering entry.
North of the Twin Cities, the Oliver H. Kelley Farm in Elk River hosts its own Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration on July 4 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring 19th-century games, picnicking and a performance by Minnesota musicians Century Brass. Visitors are encouraged to dress in period costume for the nation’s 250th and can pick up ice cream from the farm’s Learning Kitchen.
The Minnesota Historical Society, a nonprofit educational institution established in 1849, operates 26 historic sites and museums across the state.
