Celebrating America(s): Independence Remembered in Troubled Times, 1976 and 2026

Join us for a history lecture entitled Celebrating America(s): Independence Remembered in Troubled Times, 1976 and 2026

About the lecture:  USA250 carries a heavy load in these troubled times. We commemorate the imperial rebellion that forged the United States of America, but our “semi-quincentennial” also reminds us 1776 felt much different in Nuevo México, the complex multi-ethnic communities inhabiting Spain’s northernmost colonial frontier.

And as Faulkner reminds us, “The past isn’t dead; it isn’t even past.” Like the 1976 Bicentennial, USA250 harnesses different versions of the past to everyday political controversies. 

Unelected President Gerald Ford used the Bicentennial to lift Americans’ eyes from the “long national nightmares” of Vietnam and Watergate while Ronald Reagan, Ford’s bitter rival for the Republican presidential nomination, fueled partisanship with patriotism. Like today, the rivals debated immigration. But unlike USA250, Ford and Reagan’s Bicentennial campaign celebrated Americans’ diverse immigrant heritage.

About the speaker: Historian Karl Brooks is the author of numerous books and articles about American environmental and legal history. Karl practiced law in his hometown of Boise while serving three terms in the Idaho Senate. 

He left the University of Kansas faculty to serve as President Obama’s EPA regional director in Kansas City and then as EPA’s national operations manager in Washington, DC.

Karl managed court operations in northern New Mexico after serving as deputy director of our state’s Administrative Office of the Courts. He and his wife Mary live in Santa Fe.

For accommodations such as translations, ASL interpreters, or disability needs, please email library@santafenm.gov or call 505-955-6786.