The Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture (OI) recently announced that Framingham State University Professor Joseph M. Adelman will be assisting the OI with planning and programming related to the 2026 semiquincentennial (250^th anniversary) of American independence. 

Founded in 1943, the Omohundro Institute is sponsored by William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg. It is the leading hub for research in early American history, broadly understood as all points in the Atlantic World between roughly 1450 and 1820, and supports and publishes the leading research into this Vast Early America.

In his capacity as Project Coordinator for the OI's Across America, 1776 program, Adelman will serve as the OI's representative on the 250^th project committee of the American Association of State and Local Historians, write posts on the theme of the American Revolution and current commemorations of it for the OI's blog Uncommon Sense, chair a regular online meeting of journalists and academics looking to write public-facing pieces on the history of the American Revolution, develop programming for a podcast series on the topic, and liaise with regional historical associations.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when the entire country is thinking about one moment in its past and how we remember it," Adelman said of the appointment. "I'm excited and honored to be part of the planning process to help shape that conversation."

Adelman is the author of Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News, 1763-1789, which was awarded an Honorable Mention for the 2019 St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize from the Bibliographical Society of America. Since 2014, he has served the OI as Assistant Editor for Digital Initiatives, including the creation of the Octo and Uncommon Sense and production work for Ben Franklin's World. An elected member of the American Antiquarian Society, he speaks and publishes widely about the American Revolution and the history of media, communications, and politics in early America.

Follow Adelman and the OI on Twitter (@jmadelman and @OIEAHC) and check AcrossAmerica1776.org for updates.