Donald Trump may have taken over events in Washington around the nation’s 250th birthday, but the president is far removed from most activities in the states that have been part of America from the beginning — the 13 original colonies stretching from New Hampshire to Georgia.

Among the thousands of events planned in those states to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, most avoid partisan politics and many celebrate diversity and acknowledge past struggles for equal rights, in contrast to the more sanitized vision of America promoted by the White House, a CQ Roll Call survey of the 13 states found.

“We are very apolitical. It’s just the facts, just the facts,” said Molly Fortune, CEO of South Carolina’s planning organization, SC250. “Some facts are ugly, some facts are awful, and some facts are just what they are. So we in South Carolina recognize that it’s complicated and complex, and we want to have those conversations.”

“I hear it over and over again. People say, ‘I can’t get into this. I can’t get excited about this. I’m turned off,’” said Michele W. Johnson, director of the Maryland 250 Commission. “You know what I say to them, whether they’re in Maryland or they’re in another state? I say to all of them, look at what your state 250 commission is doing. The states are doing this semiquincentennial commemoration as it was intended to be.”

All U.S. states and territories have groups that began with the congressionally chartered America250 commission, officially the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, and have met regularly with leaders of the bipartisan organization and its staff since Congress established it in 2016. 

Most of the planning groups in the original 13 colonies, in interviews and emails and on their websites, credit America250 for getting things started in their states. That’s separate from the White House partnership, Freedom 250, funded by donations from Trump supporters and some of the $150 million included in the Republicans’ “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation law enacted a year ago.

Freedom 250’s signature event around the Fourth of July, The Great American State Fair on the National Mall, was snubbed by a number of states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Rhode Island. The organizers persuaded private donors and businesses from those states to step in, but controversy erupted last week when it was reported that an image of a Confederate flag was displayed at the North Carolina exhibit, leading to some departures.

Most states and local groups planning 250th anniversary events have tried to avoid the partisan politics that have infused events in Washington and have emphasized inclusion and diversity — two words being eliminated from the government lexicon by the Trump administration.

The central theme of 250 events in Massachusetts is participation, said Abigail Phillips, director of communications at the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

“Massachusetts believes it is possible to celebrate the ideals of the American Revolution while telling a fuller and more inclusive history,” Phillips said via email. “Ultimately, MA250 is about bringing people together around a shared history, shared values, and a shared future.”

The No. 1 goal of New Jersey’s 250 organization, RevolutionNJ, is: “Tell a diverse and inclusive story about America’s past that invites participation from all New Jerseyans,” according to its website.

“New Jersey has been for hundreds of years a very diverse place with people here from various parts of the world and also indigenous tribes,” said Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission. 

“That was one of the most warmly embraced ideas that we talked about with community members,” Cureton said. “People from all parts of the state really wanted to hear stories about everyone.” 

‘Opportunity for unity’

Similarly, the top theme of 250 planning in Connecticut is “Tell Inclusive Stories,” according to its website.

“We have stories that appeal to all sides of the political spectrum, from people whose families date back to the 1600s here in Connecticut and people who might have arrived in Connecticut in the 1980s or 1990s,” said Cyndi Tolosa, project manager for America 250 Connecticut.

“We have the founding fathers — that’s an important part of the story — but immigrants to the United States are also an important part,” Tolosa said. 

In Pennsylvania, “Our focus has been on educating, preserving, innovating, and celebrating while helping communities tell their own stories,” said Kasey Elliott, digital and communications manager for America250PA, in an email. “The response has been tremendous. We’ve worked alongside partners in all 67 counties.”

“Our department has worked in coordination with local, state, and federal partners to develop a commemoration that celebrates North Carolina’s First in Freedom legacy and empowers all North Carolinians to engage with 250 years of our rich, diverse history,” said Michele Walker, assistant communications director for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, also via email. “Every corner of our state has been involved.”

Georgia’s 250 commission is also working with local and county groups in both the public and private sectors to plan events, wrote Cayla Cardwell, communications manager for the state Department of Economic Development. “This way, each participating community/organization is able to choose how they observe this occasion.”

“This is an opportunity for unity,” said Johnson, the Maryland 250 organizer. “So many people have said to me, ‘I just can’t get into this,’ but again, my message to everybody who says that is, we’ve got some great things going on in the state of Maryland and in other states. Look to the states, look to the local communities.”

A ‘weaker’ Park Service?

Alan Spears, senior director of cultural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association — the biggest advocacy group for the national parks — said he attended an event last month at southern Maryland’s Thomas Stone National Historic Site, which honors one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was joined by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Piscataway Conoy Tribal Chairman Francis Gray and representatives of the National Park Service to plant a tree grown with DNA from the original Liberty Tree.

“That made me very hopeful,” Spears said. “It is at the hands of national heritage areas, local preservation groups, local activists, I think, to really bring about history that is accurate, just, inclusive, fun and aimed at bringing people together. We don’t seem to have that at the federal level, right? We’re missing an opportunity, I think, because of that.”

Executive and secretarial orders from the Trump administration titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” have dampened the Park Service’s involvement in 250th celebrations, after decades of working closely with historic preservation groups “to kind of root out these elements of our shared national narrative,” Spears said.

“Nobody wants to get transferred to the Seychelles for anything that gets regarded by the administration as being too leaning in the direction of diversity, equity and inclusion,” he said.

So with the Park Service “a little bit weaker and unsteady,” Spears said, state, tribal and local groups are “gaining some strength and moving into that void, which is unfortunate, but it’s great that these people can be there and take over preservation of our shared history.”

The 250th celebrations will continue in most states well beyond the Fourth of July.

One of New Jersey’s main events will be an annual reenactment of George Washington leading his troops across the Delaware River at Christmas in 1776, said Cureton. “It changed the course of the war,” she noted.

And South Carolina’s commemorations will continue until 2033, the 250th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, said Fortune.