Empathy & Connection:
A Vision for America at 250

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.

Welcome to the Human Side of History

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.

Empathy & Connection - A Vision for America at 250

The Beginning

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.

A Nation of Belonging

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.

A Nation of Action

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.

What We Can Do Together

Creating a connected, humane society requires all of us. How will you get involved? 

At the Cottage

Brave Ideas in Action

Insights from our Visions for 250th Convening

Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University

“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.”

Dr. Justin Hopkins, Hopkins Behavioral Health

“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].”

Michelle Moon, Saltworks Interpretive Consulting

“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?”

Callie Hawkins, CEO & Executive Director of President Lincoln’s Cottage

“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?”

Andrea Jones. Founder, Peak Experience Lab

“I  think  it’s   an  opportunity  to  just  put  our  hearts  in  the  right  place  and  do  this  work  for  perpetuity.”

Dina Bailey, CEO Mountain Top Vision

“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. ”

Kayleigh Bryant-Greenwell, Senior Program Manager of the Arts Program, Aspen Institute

“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.”

A Path Towards Solace

Tips for reducing anxiety created by Dr. Justin Hopkins.

About President Lincoln’s Cottage

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.  

Support the Work

Join Team Lincoln

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.

Give Today

Your donation support will provide transformative experiences and promote empathy and connection as we approach America’s 250th.

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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.

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We seek to move people by inspiring connection- to the past, to the place, to the work, to one another.