With less than one year until the 250th anniversary of Delaware’s independence, the Delaware Public Archives has launched an exhibit telling some lesser-known stories of the state’s Revolutionary history.
It started, appropriately, with the Pledge of Allegiance. There was also a vocabulary lesson, State Archivist Stephen Marz introducing a long word that he hopes will become part of every Delawarean’s vocabulary over the next 12 months or so.
"If you leave here today, you'll understand what that word is. Everybody say it with me, ‘semiquincentennial,’" Marz told attendees.
That’s “semiquincentennial” - a very prefix-packed way of saying the 250th anniversary of something - in this case, the establishment of America as a nation. The state itself declared independence from King George nearly a month earlier. For good measure, Delaware also broke away from Pennsylvania, although that divorce was substantially more amicable.
Delaware’s revolutionary history often focuses on the big names - Caesar Rodney’s 70-mile ride through a thunderstorm to cast a decisive vote for the Declaration of Independence, or the fighting the Delaware Line did in Washington’s Continental Army.
But in this semiquincentennial runup, Marz is making sure those contributions don’t overshadow the work of," behind the scenes Delawareans who also showed what it took to win a war of independence."
Nearly anonymous, but not completely lost to time. Hidden in the Archives’ 53 million documents, those stories exist. One example is the story of an enslaved Black man named Harmon, who fought on the American side during the war.
"Was there that glimmer in his mind saying, ‘OK, if I offer my services and possibly my life, can something change?’" Marz asked.
Those stories were also more diverse than we might think. Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda Sanchez highlighted that in remarks at the exhibition's opening.
“Delaware's history is rich and engaging and is shaped by the contributions of many diverse communities and each of them plays a role in telling the story of Delaware and the story of America," she said.
Mr. Harmon’s story - and the others featured in "Revolutionary Lives" - is part of an ongoing process - re-examining history and interpreting it through the lens of the times in which we live. Part of the exhibit is looking back at how previous generations of Delawareans marked the anniversary of independence, because while the revolution itself is part of the past, Marz would like to believe the ideals that drove that revolution are still very much in the here and now.
"People's lives were changed by what the revolutionary ideas brought in and how they remembered what had happened 100 years ago. 200 years ago," he said.
Those revolutionary ideas, and their place in 2025 America, were not far from the surface of the discussion.
Introducing a proclamation by Governor Matt Meyer, Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda Sanchez offered a moment of reflection while quoting the Declaration of Independence.
"That all people are endowed with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," she said. "If I am emotional, it's only because of the current state of affairs in our country, but I remain hopeful and committed to celebrating our country."
That feeling of optimism - at least when it comes to the First State - is shared by Marz.
"This is a diverse state and our laws and our rules and our policies from government show that. So would they be happy? Absolutely."
But, Marz notes, the final interpretation of where Delaware is as the semiquincentennial approaches is up to each of us, individually and collectively.
"Remember, as the state archivist, I only present history. You have to interpret the history," he said."
The exhibit also features contributions by two modern Delawareans - Grace Sweeten, a ninth-grade student from Georgetown and Vivian Wan, a tenth-grader from Wilmington. The pair were among 75 first place winners from across the country in the 2025 “America’s Field Trip” contest, sponsored by America250. Sweeten won for her artwork, Mother of Refuge, while Wan won for her original essay, “The American Mosaic.”
“Revolutionary Lives: 1776 to Tomorrow” also includes documents, replica Revolutionary War uniforms, and other artifacts.
It is on display at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover through next July as part of an unfolding package of events leading up to July 4, 2026.
