New exhibit brings America’s most transformative moments to life
As the nation prepares to commemorate America’s 250th birthday, the Nixon Library invites visitors to be inspired by the innovation, perseverance, and sacrifice of those who forged and continue to build our nation while renewing the Spirit of ’76 for the next 250 years.
Opening November 22, 2025 at the Nixon Library, America 250: A More Perfect Union is an immersive special exhibit that takes visitors on a journey through the most transformative events in American history. The exhibit brings history to life through vivid displays, rare historic artifacts, and engaging interactive experiences.
In this interactive exhibit, visitors will:
- Join the Boston Tea Party and toss tea into the harbor
- Strike gold at Sutter’s Mill during the California Gold Rush
- Step into Thomas Edison’s laboratory and test his groundbreaking inventions
- Discover how the World Wars reshaped daily life and redefined America’s role in the world
- Be immersed in the Cold War to witness Vice President Richard Nixon’s famed “Kitchen Debate” with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
- Relive the excitement of the 1976 Bicentennial celebration with a stroll down Main Street America
The exhibit features a once-in-a-lifetime collection of artifacts assembled from across the country, displayed together for the first time.
Highlights include:
- An original portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart—the iconic likeness most often associated with the first president.
- Declaration of Independence, commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1820 to safeguard the nation’s founding document, engraver William J. Stone created precise facsimiles for surviving signers, government officials, and each state. Only 32 of these rare engravings are known to remain. This copy was generously donated to the Nixon Foundation by Wilbur Wright.
- President Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten instructions to General Ulysses S. Grant, penned on the verge of Union victory in the Civil War.
- A piece of wing cloth from the Wright Flyer, the aircraft that made history on December 17, 1903, with the first powered flight.
- The Duke of Wellington sword, carried during the Napoleonic Wars and later gifted to General Dwight D. Eisenhower by Queen Elizabeth II in gratitude for his leadership in World War II.
- Thomas Edison’s groundbreaking inventions, including his first patented lightbulb.
- Pop culture treasures, from Marilyn Monroe’s white gloves to Bob Dylan’s harmonica and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet.
Artifacts are on loan from prestigious institutions from across America, including Mount Vernon, the Henry Ford Museum, the Gettysburg Memorial, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, California State Parks, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Ross Perot Collection, the Chickasaw Nation, the National Park Service, and the National Archives.
The exhibit also features an original painting commissioned for the exhibit by Comanche artist Dr. Eric Tippecconic, professor of American Indian Studies at California State University San Marcos. The painting titled The Sun Rises depicts a San Carlos Apache female transitioning into womanhood during a Sun Rise Ceremony. Rituals such as this, for all 574 federally recognized Native Nations, were not protected by law until the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. The ritual’s survival demonstrates the resilient spirit of Native peoples and is a microcosm for similar responses that this land’s first peoples carried out by preserving their culture.
Presented by the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, America 250: A More Perfect Union, reflects on the miracle of America’s founding and endurance—from a radical experiment in 1776 to a global force today. The exhibit highlights how the American spirit has endured through triumphs and trials, forging a national character that continues to evolve, inspire, and lead.
America 250: A More Perfect Union opens November 22, 2025, for a limited time. Admission to the special exhibit is included with admission to the Nixon Library. The Nixon Library is open seven days a week from 10 AM to 5 PM.
