Happy Civic Season! This is the third year that partners across the country are gathering to celebrate our powerful American ideals. Starting on Juneteenth on June 19 and running through Independence Day on July 4, the Civic Season also commemorates the anniversary of the ratification of the 26th Amendment that gave 18-year-olds the right to vote, as well as the anniversary of the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Started in 2021 by Made By Us, the Civic Season “mobilizes Americans to connect with the past, take action in the present, and shape the future, through activities and events in our neighborhoods, cities, towns, and social spaces. The future is up to us.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. In honor of the Civic Season, here are some great local and national events to check out that honor, reflect on, and celebrate our nation’s founding creed.
Gen Z and Civic Engagement
NATIONAL ARCHIVES › JUNE 22 › VIRTUAL
Join award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien in conversation with Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, the only Gen Z member of Congress. The program will focus on the roles young people can play in civic life, and how citizens can engage with the political system from advocating to get a pothole fixed to voting to running for Congress. Hosted by the National Archives and National Archives Foundation. DETAILS
Edit the Declaration of Independence
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY › ANYTIME
If you had to edit the Declaration of Independence, could you? Would you search for formatting and grammatical errors or would you focus on the content? Maybe you would do both. Of course, once you edit it, you have to give it back to the writer. Are you ready to deal with an angry author? Find details on how the known versions of the Declaration differ, the timelines that gave us those versions, and try an exercise in editing America’s founding document. DETAILS
Democracy Vibe Check: The Civic Season Podcast
WABE-FM Atlanta › ANYTIME
This Civic Season-affiliated podcast, from Made By Us and Atlanta’s WABE.org, explores ways Gen Z and Millennials across America are engaging in a new tradition, asking who we are as a nation, how we got here, and where we go next. Democracy Vibe Check: The Civic Season Podcast is available on all podcast platforms. DETAILS
Civic Saturday: PLAY DEEP
CIVIC NEBRASKA › 11 am JULY 1 › LINCOLN › IN PERSON
In a time of anxiety, disconnectedness, and political polarization, we all need a place to come together in civic community to reflect on and rededicate ourselves to the values and practices of being a member of civic life. Friends and strangers connect around the values and practices of being an active citizen, reckoning with our nation’s creed, building relationships, and creating new civic traditions that are joyful and communal. DETAILS
Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
TRAILS & RAILS MUSEUM › KEARNEY › ANYTIME
Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is a Smithsonian-affiliated traveling exhibition and a springboard for discussions on the history of voting rights in America. Our democracy demands action, reaction, vision, and revision; from revolution and suffrage, to civil rights and casting ballots, everyone in every community is part of this ever-evolving story – the story of democracy in America. DETAILS
Great Plains Black History Museum
 › OMAHA › ANYTIME
For 40 years, the Great Plains Black History Museum has been an important institution dedicated to publicizing and preserving the achievements of the region’s vibrant African American heritage. Learn about the contributions and achievements of African Americans in the nation’s Great Plains. The Museum provides a space to learn, explore, reflect, and remind us of our history. DETAILS
Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans & World War II
 › NEBRASKA HISTORY MUSEUM › LINCOLN › ANYTIME
This Smithsonian-affiliated exhibition examines the history and impact of Executive Order 9066 that led to the incarceration of 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, brave Japanese American men risked their lives fighting for the United States. Some 40 years later, members of the Japanese American community led the nation to confront the wrong it had done—and urged Congress to make it right. DETAILS
Courageous Conversations: Nebraska Legislature 2023
 › WEITZ COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CENTER › ANYTIME
The fourth in a series of unifying conversations hosted by a coalition of Nebraska- and Omaha-based organizations, including Civic Nebraska, the Omaha NAACP, Black Votes Matter, and the League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha. This town-hall-style event will feature speakers and time for audience Q&A. DETAILS
