50 for 250
The Vermont Historical Society is pleased to announce 50 for 250. As part of national commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the United States, VHS has selected 50 items from its collections that symbolize themes, trends, and moments from the state’s long and proud history.
These items are the focus of intensive research and scholarship by VHS staff and invited scholars. Each writer has studied the material culture of each object – how it was used, its condition, its historical significance, and its role in explaining broader interlocking themes – for a written essay. VHS collections staff have produced high-quality photographs and performed additional conservation work for the selected items.
This research will inform a major exhibit for the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier, featuring all fifty objects and inviting visitors to explore the role they played in our history. The exhibit will include three educational interactives for visitors, examining connections between material culture, problem solving, and museum curation. Younger visitors can also get a passport and visit stations throughout the exhibit to receive a stamp, all tied to the three interactive themes.
Additionally, VHS will launch an audio tour in partnership with Bloomberg Connects, a free mobile arts and culture app that provides audio guides and multi-lingual translations of the exhibit.
This exhibit opens to the public on Friday, July 3rd and will run through June 2027.
Accompanying the exhibit will be a commemorative book, 50 for 250, bringing together the written essays and new photographs, available for sale in July.
VHS will host additional programming based on the objects and exhibit, including a series of hands-on programs at libraries throughout the state, weekly collections highlights on social media, member-only events, and other programming.
At the same time, VHS’s Education staff will incorporate this new research and understanding into outreach for teachers and students, as well as programming for Vermont’s local historical societies in the form of workshops and presentations.
VHS Director of Collections and Access Amanda Kay Gustin says that “the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American experiment is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on where we've been and where we're going as a country and as a state. VHS holds thousands upon thousands of treasures, objects that help us connect Vermonters to their state's story, building a bridge between the past and the present. When we learn about and better understand the past, we build empathy, deepen understanding, and chart a better course for the future."
“I'm excited for people to see just how many stories there are to tell in Vermont history,” Gustin says. “Our little state has had so much happen in 250 years, and so much of it still directly impacts our lives today.”
VHS Executive Director Stephen Perkins says that his “earliest memories of museums involve a sense of wonder at the artifacts and artwork on display. Questions of how and why a craftsman made an item. Who used that tool? What choices did an artist make while creating a work of art? Someone made a choice to save, preserve, and cherish these items on display.”
“When studying history, we so often focus on the written word, losing the voices of those who did not leave a written record,” Perkins says. “Exploring Vermont history through objects opens new avenues of research and understanding – a way of experiencing the past through materials, both extraordinary and ordinary. I'm so very excited to read the fifty essays produced by writers from all over the state with many different viewpoints as they experience fifty special objects.”
The Vermont Historical Society thanks the sponsors of this project:
The National Endowment for the Humanities
James and Judith Pizzagalli
The Alcyon Foundation
Lyman Orton and Janice Izzi
Joanna and Stephen Caswell
Donald and Patricia Whelpley
Vermont Humanities
Funded in part by a bequest from the estate of Gary Adamski and our many donors and members.
