On Exhibit at Robeson Library: America's Birthdays: Selling & Redefining the American Dream

For 250 years, Americans have looked back to the founding. We have endlessly cheered, debated, and tried to understand the Declaration of Independence. America's "birthdays" -- like annual July 4 fireworks, as well as landmark anniversaries in 1876, 1926, and 1976 -- have been occasions for celebration and reflection alike.

Professor Carly Goodman's History 304 class has explored these events to better understand the nation's history and how we remember it. Members of the class each selected an item to showcase the variety of ways Americans marked these birthdays. Together, they reveal two dimensions of our shared identity: on the one hand, spectacle and consumerism, and on the other, the unfinished work of Revolution.