The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is circulating an urgent request from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) asking for help asking members of the House of Representatives to prioritize America’s 250th Anniversary in Congress’s appropriations process.
For the last several months, AASLH has met with Congressional offices to advocate for federal investments in the nation’s history community to support the commemoration of America’s 250th Anniversary. At the local, state, and national levels, the Semiquincentennial presents an opportunity to engage people in a whole and complete American history, one that tells everyone’s story and emphasizes our historical and ongoing efforts to become a more perfect union.
As part of these efforts, AASLH is working with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in both chambers to circulate “Dear Colleague” letters in support of Semiquincentennial activities across different federal agencies. These letters are general in nature and nonpartisan, designed to garner the support of the largest possible coalition of Congressional members.
They are asking those interested to contact their Representative to ask them to sign on in support of the letter.
“With the anniversary now just two years away, this will be one of our last opportunities to secure meaningful new support in the lead-up to 2026 and beyond,” according to a MANY press release. Signatures must be added by early next week.
Here’s what we they are asking:
1. Use this spreadsheet to find the email addresses of the Legislative Directors for your Representative’s office. (You can check house.gov and search by your zip code to confirm who your Representative is.)
2. Use the draft message below to craft an email to your House member’s Legislative Director. Use the subject line: “FY25 America 250 House Sign-on Letter.” Note that the draft message includes a “Quill Link” for the convenience of the House offices. These links only function for people with a House.gov email address. Although the link won’t work for you, it will work for the House staff that you are contacting.
3. Download this “Dear Colleague” letter and include it as an attachment in your email.
Sample Email
Dear [INSERT NAME],
On behalf of [INSERT ORGANIZATION] based in [INSERT CITY AND STATE], I’m contacting you to urge Representative [INSERT NAME] to sign onto a Dear Colleague letter led by Representatives Larson, Lawler, and Kiggans in support of America 250 activities. The fast-approaching U.S. Semiquincentennial (America 250) is just over two years away and is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to remind Americans of the ideals of our nation’s founding, including freedom, liberty, and justice. The FY25 appropriations process is the last real opportunity before July 4, 2026, for Congress to provide funding to support America 250 activities across agencies which invest in local organizations like mine and are charged with carrying out programming for this purpose.
Please use the following Quill link to sign on to the letter. Additionally, please do not hesitate to contact Conor Quinn (conor.quinn@mail.house.gov) and Maddie Mitchell (maddie.mitchell@mail.house.gov) with questions.
Thank you for your consideration of signing onto this letter.
Best regards,
[INSERT NAME]
