To commemorate the 250TH anniversary of american independence, colonial williamsburg will partner with 49 museums and the organization of american historians to develop history.ORG, a free digital…

The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Colonial Williamsburg Foundation $1,574,536 on September 1, 2026, under the National Leadership Grants program (CFDA 45.312) to develop History.org, a free digital learning platform for K–12 U.S. history and civics education commemorating the 250th anniversary of American Independence.

Colonial Williamsburg will partner with 49 museums and the Organization of American Historians to create online curated collections and object-based lessons that center respectful dialogue around vetted primary source material. The platform will host over 1,500 animated videos, 4,500 primary sources, and a customizer tool enabling teachers to adapt content to student learning needs. The project shifts classroom pedagogy toward object-based inquiry to reduce teacher stress, improve student engagement, and drive classrooms through primary source analysis.

Performance occurs in Williamsburg, Virginia, with a period of performance from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028. This is a Project Grant, classified as assistance funding. The National Leadership Grants program supports projects addressing critical needs in the museum and library fields with potential to advance practice and strengthen services for the American public, generating results such as models, tools, research findings, services, practices, and alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated.

To commemorate the 250TH anniversary of american independence, colonial williamsburg will partner with 49 museums and the organization of american historians to develop history.ORG, a free digital learning platform for k-12 U.S. History and civics education. The project partners will create online curated collections of objects and write object-based lessons that share uplifting narratives of american history. By shifting classroom pedagogy towards object-based inquiry, the project will enable teachers to engage students in respectful dialogue centered around vetted and contextualized digital primary source material. Deliverables feature a scalable website hosting over 1,500 animated videos, 4,500 primary sources, and a customizer tool to adapt content to meet student learning needs. Project outcomes include reduced teacher stress, improved student engagement, and classrooms driven by object-based inquiry.