Massachusetts proudly calls itself the birthplace of the American Revolution, but critics say the state’s plans for its 250th anniversary might be too little, too late for a celebration that begins in only two months at the Lexington and Concord battlefields.
Less than $2 million in local grants for the 250th has been awarded so far in Massachusetts for this once-in-a-generation commemoration, and a mix of historians, lawmakers, and nonprofit officials are concerned that Massachusetts has fallen behind other key Revolutionary states in its grass-roots programming.
Time is running short, the critics say. Nearly all of the remaining major 250th anniversaries in Massachusetts will occur over the next 13 months, coinciding with the evacuation of British troops from Boston in March 1776. Afterward, the fighting moved elsewhere.
“We’ve prepared poorly. It’s never really been seen as a Massachusetts priority,” said state Senator Michael Barrett, a Democrat whose district includes Concord and parts of Lexington. “Random grants are being handed out now, but there doesn’t seem to be a plan other than making people happy with small amounts of money.”
By contrast, legislators in Virginia have appropriated $27 million to date, primarily for hundreds of local grants. New Jersey has allocated nearly $30 million for the 250th, including $25 million for improvements at battlefield sites. And South Carolina lawmakers have set aside about $12 million, mostly for site preservation.
Pennsylvania has raised $9.4 million, a sum that officials there expect to double, including funding for a major celebration of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed an additional $10 million to market the state and attract tourists next year.
Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, a leader of the Massachusetts commemoration effort, defended the state’s preparations for the 250th, also known as the semiquincentennial, and rejected criticism that Massachusetts is lagging. Instead, she said, the state is sending money to community and historical groups, educational links are being explored, and an aggressive marketing campaign will promote Massachusetts as a 250th destination.
“I feel we’re right in line with the other states,” Driscoll said. “The reality is we have the history. It happened here.”
So far, Massachusetts 250, a state initiative under the Office of Travel and Tourism, has awarded $1.5 million in grants to 37 communities and organizations across the state, including a total of $128,000 for programming and events in Lexington and Concord, where hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected April 19 to mark the “shot heard ‘round the world.”
Massachusetts 250 is scheduled to distribute an additional $2 million in grants this year, Driscoll said. Overall, $10 million has been allocated to Massachusetts 250 for the celebration, transferred from the state Convention Center Authority, and nearly half of that total is scheduled to be used for marketing and advertising partnerships, state officials said.
Massachusetts 250 hopes to double its funding by accruing another $10 million through state funds, event tickets, sponsorships, and private philanthropic sources, according to state officials. Plans also are being made for a $2 million “signature event,” whose specifics have yet to be announced.
The allure of Revolutionary history here, Driscoll said, also can be leveraged to attract visitors to other big events next year, such as the Boston Marathon, Head of the Charles Regatta, Fourth of July Pops concert, and World Cup soccer matches.
But where state officials see a marketing bonanza, others see a missed, rare opportunity.
“Massachusetts is behind Philadelphia, South Carolina, New Jersey in telling the story,” said Suffolk University history professor Robert Allison, who is chair of Revolution 250, a nonprofit group working with dozens of communities across the state to tell their tale of independence. “This is a story that we should be sharing not only with tourists who will be coming from all over the world to see this, but with the people who are already here. This is our moment.”
Jonathan Lane, executive director of Revolution 250, said the state has misplaced its priorities. “This has less to do with the support of the 250th,” he said of the spending plan, “and more to do with the redevelopment and resurgence of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism as a governmental office.”
For Driscoll, marketing is and should be a key component of the state’s 250th spending. “We think it’s an incredible opportunity to showcase our rich history, promote tourism, and promote Massachusetts as a destination,” the lieutenant governor said. “We have a rich story to tell, and marketing is the way to do that.”
When Governor Maura Healey announced the first grants in September, she spoke outside the State House at a media event steeped in patriotic pomp, including an arrival by a Paul Revere stand-in on a horse.
“Massachusetts is where the Revolution began, and where the Revolution continues,” Healey said. “We are first in freedom, first in education, first in health care, and first in innovation. And with Massachusetts 250, we’re leading commemorations of the Revolutionary War for the next two years.”
On April 19, the opening battles of the Revolution will be commemorated in Lexington and Concord with a brimming mix of parades, reenactments, and other tributes. Local officials had been clamoring for more help from the state to transport spectators to the events, and the MBTA has responded by planning increases in train and bus service.
For Barrett, the state senator, the 250 effort has lacked focus since former governor Charlie Baker’s administration. “When Virginia and Pennsylvania were gearing up, where were our people?” Barrett asked.
In Virginia, which launched its 250th commission in 2020, hundreds of events already have occurred, and many hundreds more are planned, said Cheryl Wilson, executive director of Virginia 250. Each of its 134 counties and county-equivalents has formed its own 250th commission or works with the state commission. A “world-class” mobile museum about the Revolution has been built to visit every middle school in the state, she said.
“Virginia deliberately stepped out in a leadership role,” Wilson said. “Virginia led in the forming of our nation, and Virginia leads in the 250th.”
In Pennsylvania, a yearlong run-up will precede the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, including a celebratory concert in each region of the state before the annual July Fourth festivities in Philadelphia. In addition, a mobile unit dedicated to the Revolution will travel to all 67 counties, and a classroom initiative will reach 50,000 students across the state from pre-kindergarten to fourth grade, said Cassandra Coleman, executive director of America250PA.
“Ultimately, this is an opportunity to reimagine the future. This is an opportunity to engage with our youth and talk to them about being invested in their communities,” Coleman said.
And in New Jersey, a traveling exhibition is being planned for schools, community centers, libraries, senior centers, and other public venues, said Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission. For its battlefield restoration project, the state is using $25 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan, the economic stimulus program approved during the COVID pandemic.
“We’re really passionate about sharing our state’s history, especially about the Revolutionary War,” Cureton said. “New Jersey was central to the Revolution, and sometimes New Jerseyans don’t realize that.”
In Massachusetts, the nonprofit Revolution 250 has not received any state funding, according to Lane, its executive director. “And that’s a shame,” he added, “because I’ve traveled for more than three years and 100,000 miles in my car around the state, bringing people together, building connections, and building communities to help people tell their story.”
Revolution 250, for example, has been helping organize local 250 committees across the state, notably in history-rich Essex County. The group also is working with communities from Western Massachusetts to Boston, planning for next year’s anniversary of Colonel Henry Knox’s improbable feat of transporting 62 tons of artillery 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., to Dorchester Heights, where they forced the British to evacuate.
“The vision of Revolution 250 has always been very much boots-on-the-ground, and what can we do to help organizations tell their Revolutionary story,” Lane said. “For Massachusetts 250, their focus is tourism to this day. There is some hope that this will change, but I’m not counting my chickens.”
For Allison and others, the anniversary is about more than tourists.
“For me, the 250th goes beyond Lexington and Concord, and even beyond the Declaration of Independence, which is not the end of the story,” said Allison, the Suffolk University professor. “It took an eight-year war in which Massachusetts had more men in the field than any other colony except for one year.”
“I have the privilege to do this all the time,” he said. “But this should be for people who don’t. Time is short.”
Brian MacQuarrie can be reached at brian.macquarrie@globe.com.