With Separation Day coming up later this month and widespread celebrations for America’s semiquincentennial, Delawareans can participate in a wide array of entertaining and educational events marking the state and the nation’s history.
Separation Day celebrates the day in June 1776 when Delaware stopped being a part of Pennsylvania and instead became a political entity in its own right. Just weeks later, the colony became a state, when the United States declared independence from Britain.
Separation Day is historically marked with celebrations in Historic New Castle. One traditional component of that celebration, the parade, is going to be an even bigger affair to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Separation Day.
“People should really be on the lookout for lots of folks in colonial gear, clothing,” said Erik Raser-Schramm, director of Delaware 250. “Caesar Rodney, the reenactor, will be at the end of the parade, which is amazing.”
Separation Day in Historic New Castle also features fireworks, vendors, and food trucks.
While planning for the state’s semiquincentennial celebrations has been going on for quite some time, and public interest is surging, Raser-Schramm said that the Separation Day event is a good leadup to the events leading up to - and beyond - Independence Day.
“The push for Delaware 250 has been going on for the last two years, but as I keep saying to people, this is like the official kickoff to the final hurrah,” Raser-Schramm says.
To mark the nation’s - and the state’s 250th birthday, officials with the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs have put together a slate of events across the state and throughout the year. That includes the traditional celebrations, like readings of the Declaration of Independence. This year, there will be two readings of the Declaration in Dover on July 4, as well as a reading in New Castle on July 24, where re-enactors will recreate an historic event, when residents burned tipstaves - symbols of British judicial authority in the Colonies.
HCA will also be hosting a showing of outdoor films at the New Castle Court House Museum, showing “Hamilton,” “1776,” and “National Treasure.” The division also has programs designed to educate people about the lesser-known facets of Delaware’s experience in the American Revolution.
“Everybody's heard the big stories,” says Daniel Citron, Historic Sites Team Manager for the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. “While we don't want to ignore those, we also want to lift up the smaller stories that maybe people aren't aware of or bring to light some more of those details that are often overlooked in the history books.”
One of those sometimes-overlooked stories is the experience of Delawareans
who remained loyal to Britain during the Revolution. To help tell their stories, HCA presents “Loyalist on the Lawn,” with one of their interpreters dressed in the uniform of a British-aligned Colonial regiment sharing the findings from his research into loyalists in Delaware.
“Fighting for independence was not a foregone conclusion in 1776. There were a lot of people who were really torn about it,” Citron explains. “So we wanted to show what it was like for the loyalists in Delaware. Usually they're demonized, they're called traitors because they were remaining loyal to the British crown, but for them, that's what they knew.”
Citron says the “Loyalist on the Lawn” program will be making an appearance at many of the state’s museums this summer and fall.
