American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas
American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas
In 1966, the United States Congress established the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission (ARBC) at the federal level through Public Law 89-491 (American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Joint Resolution, S.J. 162, 89th Cong. (1966)). This agency was created to plan and coordinate nationwide observances of the 200th anniversary of American independence. The commission was composed of four members of the US Senate, appointed by the president of the senate; four members of the US House of Representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house; several ex officio members from key executive departments and cultural institutions; and seventeen members from private life, appointed by the US president, one of whom was chosen as chairman. The ARBC and US President Lyndon B. Johnson called for broad national participation in the bicentennial observance.
In response to the federal ARBC and the president’s call for state-level participation, in 1969 the Texas government enacted Senate Bill 701 (61st Texas Legislature, Regular Session), which created the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas (ARBCT). This agency was created to coordinate bicentennial activities across Texas in partnership with the federal ARBC. However, during the early 1970s, the federal commission faced increading criticism from Congress, the White House, and public interest groups, most notably the People’s Bicentennial Commission, regarding its effectiveness, administraive practices, and perceived commercialization of the bicentennial celebration. As a result, Congress abolished the ARBC in 1973 and created the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) to assume responsibility for coordinating the nation’s bicentennial observence. The Texas commission continued its work in cooperating with ARBA, by promoting statewide commemorations, educational programs, hertiage projects, and community recognition events to mark the bicentennial.
American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas Records, 1959, 1966-1978
Title: American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas records
Dates: 1959, 1966-1978, bulk 1972-1977
Abstract: The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Texas (ARBCT) planned, coordinated, and promoted statewide observances of the 200th anniversary of American independence, ensuring broad participation by Texas communities, educational institutions, cultural organizations, and state agencies in alignment with national bicentennial initiatives. These ARBCT records document community, educational, interstate, and international bicentennial activities and consist of official and interagency correspondence, communications with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, memoranda, committee minutes and agendas, reports, press releases, newsletters, newspapers, newspaper clippings, publications, brochures, pamphlets, speeches, applications and resolutions, program proposals, grant files, financial records, planning documents, background materials, photographs and slides, audiovisual recordings, maps, architectural drawings, original artwork, artifacts, flags, poems, posters, commemorative products, advertising and media files, microfilm, and ephemera, dating 1959, 1966-1978, bulk 1972-1977. The records show the establishment of the ARBCT by the Texas Legislature and its coordination of statewide, national, and international efforts leading to the 1976 bicentennial celebration as well as the submission of reports to the governor detailing Texas’s commemorative activities. Digitized audio and video recordings and microfilm described in this finding aid are available through the Texas Digital Archive.
