As the United States turns 250 years old, Americans across the country are spending the holiday thinking about what the big birthday means to them, with reflections and celebrations as diverse as the nation itself.

NPR's member station reporters fanned out to collect snapshots of the occasion from sea to shining sea.

In one 'City of Presidents,' Main Street is decorated for a party

At least two cities in the U.S.call themselves the "City of Presidents" and Cuba City, in Wisconsin, is one of them, largely due to its patriotic Main Street decorations. Every year from Memorial Day through Veteran's Day, red, white, and blue shields, one for each U.S. president, are prominently displayed high up on the light poles lining Main Street.

It's a tradition that began in 1976 to commemorate the country's bicentennial, says Donna Rogers, who is president of the ongoing project but admitted that when it first started, she wasn't particularly tuned-in to the display.

"I was raising three little boys and working at John Deere, so I didn't really pay too much attention to community service at that time," she said.

Susan Bence / WUWM
Donna Rogers shows off one of Cuba City's presidential lampposts.

A few years later, she was tapped to help keep the initiative alive.

When she thinks of the country's history, she says the signing of the Declaration of Independence and abolition of slavery top her list, plus a current event–

"Of course, now, our nation's 250th birthday. I think those three would be the three most important things in history to me," she said, quickly adding "[the] right for women to vote, don't forget that, right?"

Rogers and Cuba City are pulling out all the stops for the 250th, with a parade and a mac-and-cheese festival, because "that was some of our founding fathers favorite foods, along with turkey and cranberries and other items."

She laughed and admitted she googled that. True or not, Rogers says they'll go all-out to celebrate the 250th in her "City of Presidents".

WUWM's Susan Bence reported from Cuba City, Wisconsin.

In Georgia, a civics competition inspires hope for future generations

At the Georgia state finals of the National Civics Bee, middle school students were peppered with questions about the U.S. government.

Like this one: why is a single energetic executive desirable?

The answer: it promotes accountability and decisive leadership.

9th grader Ella Hummel got it right.

"I've always kind of had the idea of serving in politics," she said after the competition. "And I really think that civics has opened my mind."

Ella will advance to the civics bee finals later this fall, with her grandmother, Peggy Farmer, cheering her on. Farmer remembers the excitement around the bicentennial in 1976, but said she feels a different energy around this year's anniversary.

"It's a togetherness type of thing that's really not around all the time now," she mused. "I think it's just the world's changed a lot."

But there is something Farmer will celebrate about America on this Independence Day: her grandkid, the Georgia Civics Bee Champion.

"Maybe she and the kids that was sitting up there, they can change [the country] a little bit. I mean, they seem to be having a ball with each other up there today, so that's a good thing."

GPB's Sofi Gratas reported from Atlanta.

In Texas, appreciating the process of patriotism

John Burnett
Rodney Ellis, who has served 43 years in public office, is guardedly optimistic that America will stay on a path towards progress.

Rodney Ellis will celebrate at picnics around his precinct in Houston with barbecue pork ribs and ice tea, and a heaping helping of worry about the nation's future. The tall, garrulous 72-year-old county commissioner is guardedly patriotic.

"We should be celebrating that America is a process," he said. "Patriotism is telling the truth, and doin' the work to repair the harms that have come about over these 250 years."

The son of a maid and a landscaper, Ellis has served 43 years in public office, first as a Houston city councilman, then state senator, and now as a Harris County commissioner.

Fifty years ago, during the bicentennial, Ellis was a public affairs graduate student at the University of Texas in Austin. In 1976, there were 18 Black representatives in Congress; today there are 67.

"We've made tremendous progress since then, tremendous gains," he said. "And so when I compare what was happening then to what's happening now, I look at how quickly a lot of those fundamental rights, those gains that we've taken for granted have rolled back so quickly."

He ticked off areas where he believes America has lost ground: clean air and clean water, people of color in key positions in government, owning up to uncomfortable U.S. history, and selfless public service.

But, said the commissioner with a broad grin, that's how it's always been in America.

"Progress is made but along the way sometimes you take two steps forward and 10 steps back, but you don't give up."

John Burnett reported from Houston, TX.

In Milwaukee, Fourth of July tacos with a big helping of pride

Maayan Silver / WUWM
Gissell Vera is proud to be both American and Mexican. She plans to celebrate both of her cultures with a Fourth of July carne asada cookout.

Gissell Vera ordered carne asada tacos on her favorite patio in Milwaukee, a vibrant spot punctuated with strings of international flags and a steady cumbia drumbeat.

"The music, the colors, the language, all of it is part of me and I am a proud American," she said.

Vera is a U.S. citizen from a mixed status family; her parents emigrated from Veracruz, Mexico.

"My family has particularly always been grateful for this country and the opportunities that it's provided us," said the 25 year-old. "Although there is always the fear and uncertainty of what immigration reform could, how it could impact us, we choose to live every day without fear."

Vera said there's a phrase she's heard many immigrants use to describe their relationship to the United States, "ni de aquí ni de allá,", meaning 'neither from here or there.'

"It's almost like a limbo in which we existed," she explained. "And I think that now I'm very proud to say that I am 'de aquí' and 'de allá'. So I am proud to be from here and from there."

She said she'll join her family for a cookout to celebrate America's 250th birthday, but instead of hot dogs, they'll be grilling carne asada.

WUWM's Maayan Silver reported from Milwaukee.

In the Mountain West, a closer look at a national myth

As America turned 250 this year, historian Megan Kate Nelson used the occasion to take a closer look at a foundational myth of the country's history and ask, "what stories do we carry forward?"

Her new book 'The Westerners' profiled pioneers who, according to Nelson, don't fit "the narrative of white Easterners moving westward in covered wagons with a nuclear family in tow, engaging with a series of challenges."

That includes historical figures like Polly Bemis, who was trafficked from China to the Idaho frontier, and María Gertrudis Barceló, a Santa Fe saloon owner and professional gambler.

Even the well-known figure, Sacagawea, gets another look.

"I read through the Lewis and Clark journals. They mention her more than 150 times, and she is always doing something or saying something," said Nelson. "My favorite part: when they arrive on the western coast, they set up camp a couple miles away from the ocean, and she yells at William Clark. 'You are going to take me to go see the ocean! I did not travel all this way not to see the ocean!'"

Nelson said it's more important than ever to elevate a fuller picture of westward expansion, and to challenge the frontier myth that "there's only one white pioneer; there's only one kind of story of American greatness."

Ryan Warner reported from Crested Butte, Colorado.

In Rhode Island, the parade is nearly as old as the nation itself

David Wright / Ocean State Media
Every Independence Day, the yellow stripes dividing Hope Street get a patriotic makeover.

The town of Bristol, Rhode Island, lays claim to the nation's oldest Independence Day celebration. This year, they will celebrate America's 250th with their 241st birthday bash for the country, an effort that brought together over 100 volunteers as part of the Fourth of July committee.

Plans include a parade with at least 34 floats, a golf tournament, a "Miss Fourth of July" beauty pageant, and a gala ball.

Even the double yellow line down Hope Street got its annual red, white and blue makeover for the parade.

For the past decade, Heidi Vermilyea has been in charge of the parade souvenirs, selling hats, t-shirts, and Christmas tree ornaments out of a blue trailer.

"I think I've missed the parade once when I was in Europe for the Fourth of July," Vermilyea admits. "But otherwise, I have been either watching the parade or working the parade my whole life."

Even when she's not working the events, she's decked out in stars-and-stripes, all the way down to her patriotic pedicure.

David Wright / Ocean State Media
Heidi Vermilyea runs the souvenir truck for Bristol's parade every July 4th. But her American flag outfits are year-round display of her patriotism.

"Politics you can be left, right, moderate, whatever," Vermilyea explains. "Patriotism is just loving your community. Helping out to make your community, your country a better place."

The way she sees it, she's flying the flag for Bristol, her family and friends.

This story was reported by Ocean State Media's David Wright.

In Oregon, grappling with a complicated history

Some of Mitchell S. Jackson's fondest childhood memories are of the Fourth of July.

"My mother would always buy me an outfit that had a red, white, and blue color scheme," Jackson, who is now 50 years old, remembered. "And it was joyous, you know, to don those colors."

But as the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer grew up, he learned more about America's history of slavery and racism. Jackson said that made his relationship to his country more complicated, especially after he was convicted on drug charges as a 21-year-old and imprisoned for over a year.

"I lost my right to vote before I ever voted, before it ever dawned on me that my suffrage was important," remembers Jackson. "And I would say that that is an American project, that a young Black boy loses his right to vote."

Jackson said these inequalities, both historical and modern, call into question the very anniversary we're celebrating.

"When I hear 250, I know that that's a false number, right?"

Erwin JT Trollinger
Mitchell S. Jackson at the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. For Jackson, the 250th is not a true celebration of American freedom, since so many people were enslaved at the time.

Jackson said that to him, true freedom in America only goes back 160 years, to when the 14th amendment granted everyone equal protection under the law. Or even just 62 years to the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation.

"If you love something, you're also critical of it," he pointed out. "You don't just love it blindly, or I hope you don't just love it blindly. So if you truly love America, then you gotta tell the truth about America."

Jackson says there are ways for Black Americans to make the Fourth of July, and America itself, their own. But it's a group project to understand who we are, and who we've been, and who we can become.

Deena Prichep reported from Portland, Oregon.

Susan Bence

Reflections on America's 250th birthday