The July 4 naturalization ceremony at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (Photo courtesy Virginia Museum of History & Culture)
As America plans to celebrate its semiquincentennial in 2026, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture is making moves to reflect on the last 250 years.
On July 4, as the VMHC held its annual naturalization ceremony for 75 new citizens from 36 countries, the museum also absorbed another nonprofit, the John Marshall Center for Constitutional History & Civics.
While the two have worked together for years, museum President and CEO Jamie Bosket says the merger allows VMHC to improve its educational offerings, which include research assets, lesson plans, virtual classroom sessions and field trips.
“You have this great content that dovetails so beautifully with the Virginia history story we work to share,” Bosket says. “And what if our scope and scale, which is very much statewide and beyond, was added to [their] focus on civics? And so that’s what led us down this path.”
At the heart of the decision are some sobering statistics. Bosket cites a 2018 study from the Institute for Citizens & Scholars that found that just one in three Americans could achieve a passing score of 60% on the U.S. citizenship test, as well as a 2022 survey by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania that found that fewer than half of American adults could name the three branches of government.
“This is the opportunity and the responsibility of organizations that are able, like ours, to do as much as we can, and what better time to do it as we’re thinking about this American milestone,” Bosket says. “It’s been said many times about America being this great democratic experiment [that] you have to maintain actively. It doesn’t exist and live on if we don’t support it and engage with it.”
