IU Libraries Lilly Library invites you to a special First Thursday talk in conjunction with our Declaration of Independence exhibitions.

As part of our yearlong America 250 programming, IU Associate Professor of History Konstantin Dierks will give a talk entitled “Resonances of the Declaration of Independence in American History.”

Is it worth commemorating the Declaration of Independence in 2026? Does the Declaration still have resonance in our time of terrible crisis? The Declaration expressed ideals with intensely contested and severely limited meanings in 1776. Yet those brittle ideals somehow carried forward through American history. Looking closely at the complexities of 1776 can help us ponder how the Declaration might speak to our crisis in 2026.

Before and after the talk, please feel free to peruse our Declaration of Independence exhibitions: The Motives, The Moment and The Signers.