The Peoria Riverfront Museum is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary with a year of exhibitions.
“America 250” is not just one display, but more than a dozen rotating exhibits throughout an entire calendar year.
“Some of these will revolve around some of Peoria in particular, some of their stories,” said Chief Curator Bill Conger. “We are telling an American story unlike anyone else in the country because we’re telling it through the lens of the Peoria region, of Illinois and of the Midwest.”
Conger said the region covers 10,000 years of indigenous culture, French Canadian settlement, the American Revolution, the Underground Railroad, all the way into modern times and local heroes like Dan Fogelberg and Richard Pryor.
The exhibits also will include broader national celebrations of the country’s 250 years. Conger said a notable piece of history coming to the museum is a 1776 Declaration of Independence, on display from a prominent New York document dealers’ private collection.
“The original document that we know actually was not printed until much later,” Conger said. “It was presented as the final proof of the declaration. But in reality, there were a number of declarations that were printed for the colonies and would go out to announce, like a newsprint of sorts.”
One of those first signed announcements of independence is coming to Peoria.
Joining the Riverfront Museum as a curator on the project is American historian Ken Burns. Conger said the exhibit is the documentarian and filmmaker’s curatorial debut. The exhibit Burns is working on directly will be the only one not to rotate throughout “America 250’s” entire 12-month run.
“This is encompassing every square inch of the museum, so it’s taking all of our curators’ time, but we also needed somebody to help spearhead this and to give us the direction and the credibility that will kind of propel this exhibition into national attention,” said Conger.
Some other artifacts Conger says are heading to the Peoria Riverfront Museum for America 250 include the original portrait of George Washington for the dollar bill, a 9/11 exhibit through the Midwest perspective, and the only portrait taken of Abraham Lincoln in Peoria.
“Here in Illinois, it is my pleasure to serve as guest curator for the Peoria Riverfront Museum, helping inspire the yearlong exhibition and series of programs that tell original American stories through the lens of Central Illinois. Much is planned,” said Burns in a statement from the Peoria Riverfront Museum.
“I don’t think there will be another celebration quite like it. You are cordially invited to join the Peoria Riverfront Museum as we work together to see the us in the U.S.”
America 250 opens to the public on Jan. 30, 2026 and continues for the entire year.
