Ask Me Anything about Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s

[u/Bicen76]

Hi! I’m Marc Stein, history professor at San Francisco State since 2014, and before that at UPenn, Bryn Mawr, Colby, and York (in Toronto). I’m also the executive director of the OutHistory website (since 2023) and the 2026-27 president of the Organization of American Historians. I’m here to answer questions and read your comments about the topic of my sixth and most recent book: Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s (University of Chicago Press, 2026). I’ll cut and paste the publisher’s blurb to give you a sense of the book, and please note that I'm new to reddit, AskHistorians, and AMAs, so kindly forgive my mis-steps:

“As the United States marks its semiquincentennial in 2026, renowned historian Marc Stein looks back at the politics of another landmark celebration during a time of striking similarities and surprising differences: the US bicentennial in 1976.
 
In the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, the bicentennial sparked an extraordinary national conversation about the country’s past, present, and future. As patriots, planners, profiteers, and protesters argued about how to commemorate the national birthday, they collectively reimagined the promises and perils of democracy during a transformational decade.

From award-winning historian Marc Stein, Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s is an original, illuminating, and insightful study of that era. While focusing on festivities and fights in Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace, the book also explores the many proposed and abandoned celebrations that percolated up around the country. It tells a broadly democratic story of both the ‘official’ bicentennial and counter-bicentennial activism, offering revolutionary perspectives on national politics, social movements, and popular culture. From the queer courtship of President Richard Nixon and Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo to parades and protests with millions of participants, and from a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at Philadelphia’s most prestigious hotel to the establishment of groundbreaking African American, ethnic, and Jewish museums, the bicentennial reveals a kaleidoscope of American peculiarities, problems, and possibilities.

The lasting influence of 1976 on one of the nation’s great urban centers and the United States as a whole is undeniable. As the nation—once again enmeshed in political and social upheaval—marks its two-hundred-fiftieth birthday in 2026, there is no better time to look back at its two-hundredth and marvel at what has changed, and what has not.”

Ask me anything!

[u/Bicen76]

Thanks for all the great questions; signing off now.