Americans have long shouted from the fringes, but we’ve governed from the center. The Louisiana Purchase, the Thirteenth Amendment, Social Security, civil rights, environmental reforms: all eventually won bipartisan endorsement.
The center still exists. We simply have to find it again.
Book signing to follow the event.
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, join Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Beverly Gage for a thought-provoking exploration of the people, places, and stories that have shaped the nation.
Drawing from her new book, This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip through U.S. History, Gage retraces the American story through 13 unforgettable journeys to historic sites across the country—from Independence Hall and the Alamo to lesser-known landmarks like the Eugene Debs House in Indiana and the historic Black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
Part history, part travelogue, and part personal memoir, Gage’s travels took her to nearly 300 museums, battlefields, monuments, parks, and roadside attractions. Along the way, she spent the night in a decommissioned nuclear missile silo, visited a 19th-century utopian commune, attended Confederate Memorial Day observances, and even found history in Disneyland.
Through these experiences, Gage offers a fresh perspective on the American story—one that embraces the nation’s triumphs and contradictions while arguing that Americans can confront their past honestly and still love their country.
Join us for an engaging conversation about history, memory, and the places that continue to shape our understanding of the United States.
Book signing to follow the event.
The 4th of July has passed, but we’re still celebrating America’s 250th birthday! From the Declaration of Independence to modern popular culture, how much do you really know about American history? Bring your team of up to four players (or join a team on the spot) and come test your knowledge at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. With multiple rounds of fun and quirky questions, Here’s Your Host’s Matt Eickhoff will challenge just how much you really know.
Impress your friends!
Win prizes!
Wonder where you learned that particular piece of trivia!
Registration is not required.
Professor Jonathan Turley will be discussing his book “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.” The New York Times bestseller has been described by former NPR editor Uri Berliner as “Jonathan Turley’s birthday gift to America to mark its 250 years of independence… A wise guide to avoid wrecking the American project.”
Turley explores the unique elements of the American Revolution in comparison to its counterpart in France. He discusses why one became the world’s oldest democracy and the other became the infamous “Terror.” That story is told with vivid stories of the personalities of the age, including Thomas Paine’s, who was one of two leading figures in both revolutions (the other being Lafayette).
Turley takes that rich history and asks whether the American Republic can survive the 21st Century. He addresses the massive economic changes unfolding globally due to the combination of robotics and artificial intelligence. These changes will require the nation to recommit to what Turley calls a “liberty-enhancing economy.” America’s foundations in both enlightenment and free market theories offers a roadmap for not just surviving but thriving in the 21st Century. It is the next chapter of what Turley calls the “unfinished story of the American Revolution.”
Book signing to follow the event.
Commemorate America’s 250 birthday with “The Fourth at the Ford,” a special Independence Day event offering free admission and family-friendly activities on Saturday, July 4, 2026. Everyone is invited to celebrate the nation’s founding with a day of history, education, and patriotic fun.
Admission to the entire Museum, including the new “Waltzing with the Queen” exhibit, will be free for all visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m..
Event Highlights:
Living History Reenactors: Visitors can engage with three pivotal figures in American history. John Adams will deliver a special presentation at 11 a.m., Benjamin Franklin will offer a reading of the Declaration of Independence at 1 p.m. and Frederick Douglass will present excerpts from his historic “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” speech at 2:30 p.m.
Patriotic Art in the Lobby: The Museum lobby will feature artwork by Michigan artists, including a stunning painting of an American bald eagle, E Pluribus Unum, by ArtPrize winner Anni Crouter. Alongside this piece, visitors can view the prize winning quilt, Our Family Honor, by quilter R. Roos-Sullivan, celebrating her family’s history of service in the U.S. military.
Family Craft Activities: From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., children can participate in making patriotic bead bracelets and keychains.
Flag Giveaways: Attendees can receive a complimentary flag, while supplies last.
Food Truck Rally: A variety of local food trucks, including Patty Matters, Furniture City Creamery, Two Bones BBQ, Crepes by the Lakes and Pilar’s Empanadas will be on-site starting at 11 a.m. Outdoor seating and tents will be available for visitors to enjoy their meals on the Museum grounds.
Best-selling biographer, Max Boot, talks about his latest book, a revelatory portrait of the telegenic leader who ushered in a transformative conservative era in American politics. Despite his fame as a Hollywood star and television host, Ronald Reagan remained a man of profound contradictions. Never resorting to either hagiography or hit job, REAGAN charts his epic journey from Depression-era America to “Morning in America.” Boot will provide fresh insight into “trickle-down economics,” the Cold War’s end, the Iran-Contra affair, and so much more.
Book sales, signing and reception to follow.
Two former staffers to President George H. W. Bush bring together the most harrowing and hilarious stories behind presidential events over the past sixty years—from the Rose Garden to Air Force One, foreign trips to the campaign trail—detailing the art of preparation that goes into these delicate, high-stress operations and revealing how they have often been one step away from disaster.
Book sales, signing and coffee reception to follow.
Best-selling author, Eric Jay Dolin, reclaims the daring sailors who proved essential to winning the Revolutionary War. The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told before, yet missing from most maritime histories is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation’s character–above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. Dolin corrects that omission, contending privateers (often seen as profiteers at best and pirates at worst) were in fact critical to the Revolution’s outcome.
Book sales, signing and reception to follow.
Join the education team at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum this summer for a free three-hour program of discussion and activities, including a guided tour of the museum!
Students (grades 6-8), plus their accompanying adults, will learn about becoming engaged leaders in their community by studying the Declaration of Independence, and by seeing the examples of President Gerald and First Lady Betty Ford.
Space is limited, registration is required.
Join the education team at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum this summer for a free three-hour program of discussion and activities, including a guided tour of the museum! Students (grades 6-8), plus their accompanying adults, will learn about becoming engaged leaders in their community by studying the Declaration of Independence, and by seeing the examples of President Gerald and First Lady Betty Ford.
Space is limited, registration is required.
