Medal Produced by the Civil War Centennial Commission, 1961 Readers of this blog over the age of forty most likely remember the celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States in 1976. A huge public (and private) undertaking, the Bicentennial has at various times been criticized for a variety of failings (most recently, perhaps, by Jill Lepore).  But the federal government made celebrating the Bicentennial a priority and it’s fair to say that it had a profound impact on the historical consciousness of those of us for whom this was an introduction to much of our nation’s early history. Readers Read more