Fall 2026 Events
America 250 events are listed below by month. Expand each section to view event details, and check back as additional programming is confirmed.
August 9
Perspectives on South Carolina State Government
Vincent Sheheen presents “Perspectives on South Carolina State Government.”
Time: 1–3 p.m.
Location: Revolutionary War Visitor Center at Camden, 212 Broad St., Camden, SC 29020
Host: South Carolina Education Oversight Committee
August 23
Sounds of the Mardi Gras Belt
USC musicologist Emily Allen will explore Mardi Gras musical traditions across the Gulf Coast in a free 30-minute public lecture followed by a question-and-answer session. The event is part of the Society for American Music’s Sounding the Nation at 250 initiative.
Time: 3–4 p.m.
Location: School of Music, Recital Hall 206, 813 Assembly St., Columbia, SC 29208
Admission: Free
View event details
Watch the School of Music livestream
August 25
1776 South Carolina Constitution Panel Discussion
Join a discussion commemorating the 250th anniversary of the 1776 South Carolina Constitution featuring former Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court Jean Toal, Camden Mayor Vincent Sheheen, USC professor Woody Holton and William Watkins, Esq. The discussion will be moderated by the Hon. Julius N. Richardson.
Time: 6–7:30 p.m.
Location: Karen J. Williams Courtroom, Joseph F. Rice School of Law
September 8–11
Andrew M. Schocket Scholar-in-Residence Visit
The USC History Center welcomes Andrew M. Schocket, professor at Bowling Green State University and an editor of the new Cambridge History of the American Revolution, for a scholar-in-residence visit.
Published in 2026, the three-volume Cambridge History of the American Revolution features 90 articles that will help define the field of Revolutionary history for years to come. During his visit, Schocket will offer a public keynote address on the state of Revolutionary history in scholarly and popular conversations, including Ken Burns’ recent The American Revolution series for PBS. He will also facilitate a “Revolutionary History @ USC” discussion featuring new Department of History faculty members Jennifer Marler and Sean Gallagher and participate in a panel for graduate students and early-career humanities faculty about the challenges and rewards of creating edited volumes.
More details will be added as they become available.
September 10
Carl P. Borick in Conversation with Angela Elder
USC Press author Carl P. Borick will discuss Backcountry Resistance: South Carolina’s Militia and the Fight for American Independence with historian Angela Elder. The book examines the citizen militia that resisted British forces in South Carolina’s backcountry during the American Revolution.
This USC Press event is hosted by Hub City Bookshop.
Time: 6–7 p.m.
Location: Hub City Bookshop, 186 W. Main St., Spartanburg, SC 29306
September 15
2026 Constitution Day Event: “I, Too, Sing America: The Black Affirmation of the American Independence”
The Center will host a 2026 Constitution Day event featuring Professor Lucas Morel of Washington & Lee. This event will explore how the principles of the American founding have been understood, interpreted and affirmed within the African American intellectual and political tradition, with a focus on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the civil rights movement.
This event will deepen participants’ understanding of the enduring significance of America’s founding ideals and encourage them to engage thoughtfully with how core constitutional principles, such as equality, liberty and natural rights, have evolved over time.
Time: 6–7:30 p.m.
Location: Karen J. Williams Courtroom, Joseph F. Rice School of Law
September 24
In Conversation About South Carolina State Government
Vincent Sheheen presents “In Conversation About South Carolina State Government.”
Time: 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Location: Abney Cultural Center, Lander University, 320 Stanley Ave., Greenwood, SC 29649
October 2
First Friday Lunch and Civic Dialogue on Citizenship
Lauren Sklaroff, professor of history, will lead the October discussion. Lunch will be provided.
Time: Noon–1 p.m.
Location: To be determined
October 26
“Lincoln and the Meaning of Equality in the American Tradition”
Allen Guelzo, a leading scholar of American political thought and professor of humanities at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida, will give a lecture on how Abraham Lincoln understood the political, moral and constitutional meanings of equality, how they informed Lincoln’s response to the Civil War and how these ideas were shaped by the American founding.
October 27
“A Lincoln Portrait” Orchestra Performance
Join us for a University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestra performance of “A Lincoln Portrait” by Aaron Copland, with Professor Allen Guelzo serving as narrator. This interdisciplinary event will combine historical reflection with artistic expression, deepening participant engagement with the moral and political legacy of the founding.
Looking Back on Spring 2026
America 250 events across the University of South Carolina brought together students, faculty, staff and community members for conversations about Revolutionary-era history, civic education, public memory and the continuing influence of the nation’s founding ideals.
Dr. Mary Baskin Waters Lecture
More than 70 students, faculty, staff and community members attended the 9th Annual Dr. Mary Baskin Waters Lecture with Dr. Brooke Bauer on March 24, 2026. Bauer, a citizen of the Catawba Nation in South Carolina and an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, presented “Surrounded and Beset by Enemies: Eighteenth-Century Catawba Women’s Responses to War.” Connecting her expertise as an ethno-historian with oral accounts of the Catawba people, Bauer discussed Catawba women’s resilience during the 1700s and their central role in the Carolina Piedmont region during the Revolutionary era.
Echoes of Independence Exhibit
University Libraries continued to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with “Echoes of Independence: 250 Years of Revolution and Memorialization,” a yearlong exhibit on display in Hollings Library. This spring, exhibit curator Michael Weisenburg’s talk, “‘God Save the King’: Song and Loyalist Publicity in Revolutionary America,” drew an audience of about 25 people, and more than 50 people attended a Saturday open gallery. Community groups, including a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and residents of Still Hopes Senior Living Community, have also toured the exhibit.
Throughout 2026, faculty and staff from throughout the university will host events exploring the ideas that inspired the founders, the history of revolutionary-era America, and the way the nation has wrestled with the ideals of the founding principles in a pluralistic and sometimes divided republic.
The Center for American Civic Leadership and Public Discourse hosts this page to share events and insights from throughout the university.
