06/16/2026
Thus Thursday is our last USA at 250 lecture, and it promises to be a good one with our own Dr Powers. Come check it out.
Angelo State University and Historic Fort Concho will present the sixth and final installment of the public speaker series, U.S.A. 250th & Texas: The Concho Valley Commemorates U.S. Independence, on Thursday, June 18, at 6 p.m. in the Fort Concho Commissary, 704 Burgess St.
Dr. Michael Shane Powers, an ASU assistant professor of history, will deliver a special presentation titled “Patriotism in the Past: How Americans Celebrated U.S. Independence from Fort Concho to Philadelphia.”
The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.
Powers’ presentation will explore the ways Americans have celebrated the nation’s independence, particularly during the centennial of 1876 and bicentennial of 1976, as a way to more fully understand how Americans applied Revolutionary War-era ideals to their own time.
Specifically, Powers will examine how the country’s centennial in 1876 overlapped with Fort Concho’s role as a prominent Western fort during the so-called Indian Wars – as well as the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, where Americans celebrated U.S. independence while being introduced to the latest modern technologies and goods. Finally, he will highlight West Texas commemorations in 1976 in the midst of developments that have shaped Texas to the present day.
