AMERICA250.ORG INC received this grant which was transferred to the national park foundation in december 2025

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded the National Park Foundation $10.142 million on December 30, 2025, under the National Leadership Grants program (CFDA 45.312) to create and deploy six mobile exhibits celebrating America's 250th anniversary.

Freedom250, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the National Park Foundation, will develop and operate the mobile exhibits throughout 2026, traveling to local libraries, school libraries, and community events across the country. The exhibits will educate Americans about the key people, places, and events of the nation's founding, using digital and interactive content modeled on the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience and conceptually inspired by the Freedom Train. The project responds directly to the Presidential Executive Order issued January 29, 2025, on celebrating America's 250th birthday and addresses documented gaps in civic knowledge—64 percent of Americans cannot pass the citizenship test—by making American history more accessible to students and adults nationwide.

The period of performance runs through December 31, 2026, with place of performance in Washington, DC. The National Park Foundation originally received this grant through America250.org Inc, which transferred it to the Foundation in December 2025. National Leadership Grants support projects addressing critical needs in the museum and library fields with potential to advance practice through models, tools, research findings, services, practices, and alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated.

FREEDOM250, a wholly owned subsidiary of the national park foundation, will create six mobile exhibits that tell the story of america's founding, sending them across the country throughout 2026. The project represents a key contribution to the 250TH anniversary celebrations of our nation and responds to the january 29, 2025 presidential executive order - celebrating america's 250TH birthday. The mobile exhibits will educate americans about the key people, places, and events that gave birth to american independence, stopping at local libraries, school libraries, and community events. Recognizing that 64 percent of americans cannot pass the citizenship test, the mobile exhibits will make american history more accessible to students and adults. Adopted from the VA250 mobile museum experience, these 'freedom trucks' will bring history to life with inspiring, factual, and engaging content, including digital and interactive material. Based in concept on the freedom train, one of the most memorable and educational aspects of the bicentennial, they are poised to become the largest traveling exhibit on america's founding.