UK Department of History launches ‘Celebrating 1776’ series ahead of America’s 250th anniversary

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 16, 2026) — As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, the University of Kentucky Department of History is launching a public event series designed to deepen understanding of the American Revolution and its enduring legacy.

The “Celebrating 1776” series will feature lectures, conversations, film screenings and new courses for students through 2026, drawing on the department’s nationally recognized scholars in American history and serving as a resource for the UK campus and the broader Kentucky community.

The series kicks off 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, with a public conversation featuring Joseph Ellis, one of the nation’s preeminent historians of the Revolutionary War era. The event will take place in the Worsham Cinema in the Gatton Student Center and is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.

Ellis is the author of 12 books and a Pulitzer Prize winner for “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.” He also received the National Book Award for “American Sphinx,” his biography of Thomas Jefferson. His most recent book, “The Great Contradiction,” examines how the principles of freedom and liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence coexisted with slavery and the nation’s westward expansion.

The Jan. 28 event will be moderated by Amy Murrell Taylor, Ph.D., the T. Marshall Hahn Jr. Professor of History at UK, whose scholarship focuses on the Civil War era and the lived experiences of ordinary Americans.

“Our hope is that this series will provide the UK community with a better understanding of this critical period in American history,” Taylor said. “It remains so alive and so much a part of our national conversation today.”

The “Celebrating 1776” series will continue with additional public events, to be announced as details become available. Through the series, the department aims to foster informed dialogue and historical context as the nation reflects on its founding.

“In this current moment of deep political divisiveness, the 250th gives us an opportunity to return to our shared American past,” Taylor said. “It invites conversations about the meaning of the principles bequeathed to us in 1776 — liberty, equality and governance by the people.”

More information about the “Celebrating 1776” series and upcoming events is available at https://history.as.uky.edu/event-type/celebrating-1776-series.