Declaring America: 1776 and Beyond

 

June 15, 2026–January 10, 2027

Stephen A. Schwarzman Building(42nd St@5the Ave.)

 

This year, our nation honors the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States. As one of the world’s foremost institutions committed to democratic access to knowledge—and as the repository of some of the country’s most important founding documents—The New York Public Library is marking the occasion with a sweeping exhibition occupying multiple galleries in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and spanning 250 years of history. 

 

 

 

Declaring America: 1776 and Beyond unpacks the complex, diverse, and powerful stories of the American Revolution—from 1776 to today. This exhibition focuses on New York City’s unique role as a literal and intellectual battleground in the riveting first months of the American Revolution, traces the central role of protest throughout American history, and showcases contemporary artworks that grapple with enduring questions tied to the nation’s democratic ideals. 

 

Featuring broadsides and posters, iconic founding documents, protest ephemera, powerful art works, and artifacts from the Library’s collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Library for the Performing Arts, the exhibition invites visitors of all ages to explore America’s remarkable beginnings, complex legacies, and promises fulfilled and unfulfilled.

 

 

 

Preview: Revolutionary City

Discover how New Yorkers experienced the uncertain and tumultuous years of the Revolutionary War as their home became an intellectual and literal battleground, told through historic manuscripts, maps, printed broadsides, and more.

 

Preview: The Pursuit of Liberty

Explore how America's varied protest movements have engaged with the ideas of the Declaration of Independence, as well as how those excluded from the rights established by the Declaration have fought for change. 

 

Preview: Art As Declaration

See contemporary art that reflects how artists have reframed and reimagined the promises of the country’s founding documents, 250 years later.

https://www.nypl.org