From the Boston Tea Party to ‘I Love Lucy,’ the Nixon Library reflects on America’s first 250 years

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, take a walk down memory lane at the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum.

Travel back to 1773 and dump a chest of tea off the stern of a boat into a makeshift Boston Harbor.

Take a close look at an 1820 engraving of the Declaration of Independence, commissioned by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams when the original document was becoming faded and difficult to read.

Read, in his own handwriting, a letter President Abraham Lincoln sent to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, detailing what needed to be done to end the Civil War.

Watch the pilot episode of “I Love Lucy” and discuss how television became an integral part of American lives.

These interactive and carefully curated activities are just a few parts of the Nixon Library’s “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit that highlights various points of American history: from colonial America and the Revolution to the Civil War and the country’s growing pains, to two world wars and innovation that still impacts daily lives today, to the Cold War, to finally a retrospective on the country’s bicentennial in 1976.

“You’ll learn a lot about some of the most important events in American history that have shaped our country and have helped advance our founders’ original vision for a more perfect union,” said the exhibit’s author and curator Bob Bobstock, who first worked for the presidential library in 1990.

Bobstock pointed to the country’s 200th celebration — commemorated in the new exhibit as the final of its six sections — and the collective mood in the mid-1970s in the U.S. Between the resignation of President Richard Nixon and the fall of Saigon, the country was not particularly optimistic, Bobstock noted.

But before his resignation, Nixon encouraged the whole country to participate in bicentennial celebrations, rather than just one city hosting a world fair-type celebration.

“We wanted to end on that note because as we are about to enter next year, 2026, the U.S. is also kind of, in terms of the mood of the country, in the same place,” said Bobstock.

“Let’s remind people that this can be an opportunity to reflect on our history, on all of the things that we’ve achieved and all of the progress we’ve made over the past 250 years to be a more perfect union,” he said.

Several parts of the exhibit are hands-on, Bobstock noted, including an activity at the beginning that allows visitors to participate in the Boston Tea Party political protest by pushing a lever and dropping a chest of tea off the stern of a boat. Visitors can also view one of Thomas Edison’s earliest motion pictures or strike gold at Sutter’s Mill during the Gold Rush.

And there are also artifacts borrowed from all over the country, from Louis Armstrong’s trumpet — this lets visitors explore one of America’s cultural exports, jazz, said Bobstock — to a welder’s mask that women who went to work at factories during World War II, credited with the beginning of modern feminism, would have worn.

Visitors might also enjoy seeing one of Mickey Mantle’s New York Yankees hats or viewing the sword presented to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower by the city of London for his role in World War II.

And that’s not to mention an original portrait of George Washington by American painter Gilbert Stuart, Bob Dylan’s harmonica and other artifacts Bobstock is keeping mum about, so visitors have a bit of a surprise.

To borrow a line from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus — another American product — the exhibit will be fun for “children of all ages,” said Bobstock.

“As we’re all thinking about the 250th anniversary of the country, it’s important to reflect on where we are, how we got our start and how we got to where we are today,” Bobstock said.

“By knowing more about parts of our history that really helped change the character and direction of the U.S., that will give people a greater understanding and appreciation for how this country was at its beginning: very unique in the world, and it continues to be very unique in human history.”

The Nixon Library is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission to the special exhibit is included with admission to the Nixon Library. The “America 250: A More Perfect Union” exhibit will be open through 2026.

Nixon holiday: The Nixon Presidential Library & Museum will host Stars, Stripes & Christmas Lights from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9. There will be patriotic-themed holiday decor, a 5 p.m. tree lighting, photos with Santa Claus and his reindeer, entertainment and more.

Visitors will be able to stroll the gardens, which will be lit with candles. There will be food trucks for getting something to eat. General admission is $45. Tickets and information: nixonfoundation.org.