👋🏼 Hello, USA 250 readers! Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when we recall the work, the words and the legacy of the late Civil Rights icon − and reflect on how Americans are living up to his calls to activism, social justice and service.
I’m Phaedra Trethan, here to highlight some of our shared history, experiences and more during America’s 250th year.
🎂 🎉 A yearlong birthday party!
Americans know how to throw a party. Or several of them.
To celebrate 250 years since we declared our independence and embarked on this grand experiment, We The People will gather in town squares and city centers, at campsites and libraries, historic sites and parks all over the country for a dizzying array of parties, commemorations, ceremonies and other celebrations.
- My colleague Karissa Waddick talked to the chair of America250, a nonpartisan group established by Congress in 2016, about what it’s like trying to bring a divided nation together to celebrate our semiquincentennial, some of the biggest events in store and why it was important to keep local communities at the center of the planning.
🏘️ Living on America’s oldest residential street
Liz Welsh and her partner, Stephan Matanovic, knew what they were getting into when they moved to Elfreth’s Alley: The oldest continuously occupied residential street in America, the block draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. Some of those visitors have to be reminded that, well, people really do live in this cobblestoned street’s tiny, Colonial-era homes, but most, said Welsh, are respectful, curious and courteous.
- I visited Elfreth’s Alley and talked to Welsh, president of the Elfreth’s Alley Association, about what it’s like to live there and how residents and Philadelphia’s Old City District are honoring a resident and small business owner who in the 1930s helped bring attention to the alley and its working-class roots.
🧈 Ben Franklin − in butter?
The Pennsylvania Farm Show wrapped up Saturday, a weeklong celebration of the Keystone State’s agricultural community that includes workshops, livestock competitions, culinary presentations and even a mullet contest…