It’s a big birthday year for America, but so far there’s no real catchy name for it.
Fifty years ago, there was the “Spirit of ’76.” It was easy to say bicentennial.
This year? Semiquincentennial. Cue the crickets. It’s easier just to say “America 250.”
Oneonta celebrated in a big way 50 years ago. A monstrous parade was followed by a celebration at what was then a minimally-restored Swart-Wilcox House. Look at it today!
In case you’ve missed it, Oneonta will celebrate “America 250,” at least in July, not just one day — but three. A long weekend over the Fourth. Check out Oneonta 250 and Hill City Celebrations Facebook pages for updates.
Back to 1976, Oneonta was preparing, and had events around the community before the Fourth of July. As readers of The Daily Star on April 10 learned, “The freedom embodied in the opening words of the Declaration of Independence should have read ‘all men with the means of production are created equal,’ said Dr. Michael Wallace, professor of history at John Jay College in Manhattan.
“Wallace was the kickoff speaker Wednesday evening for a series of lectures at Hartwick College on the American Bicentennial.
“‘The spirit of ’76. It sounds like a media hype,’ the 33-year-old Wallace said. He told the group of more than 100 people that he was finding it very difficult to take the bicentennial seriously.
“‘The commercialism surrounding the 200th anniversary of the declaration of independence is clouding the real happenings of that era,’ Wallace said.
“‘Yes, there was a real spirit of 1776,’ he asserted.
“Wallace attempted to explain on what terms those freedoms were available to the colonists and why there was no paradox in the minds of the colonists who passed a document claiming ‘all men are created equal,’ when that document left out a substantial portion of the people living in the colonies.
“The spirit of those years was a spirit of independency, strongly ingrained in early colonial life, he explained. Wallace said colonial life in America had an independency no other European nation could claim, because, he said, there was an opportunity for owning one’s own land and property and getting it for free.
“‘Private ownership was the key to liberty and independence,’ Wallace said.”
A group of several had been hard at work over the winter months preparing a special publication for the area’s bicentennial celebration. As The Star of April 7, 1976 reported, “Oneonta’s American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration brochure, now on sale, is much more than a schedule of events in the tri-county area and an acknowledgement of the work of the Bicentennial Commission.” The brochure contained about 50 pages.
“It’s both a statement of the history of Oneonta and the interpretation of the past, present and future prospects of the city and the country.
“The brochure is being sold at the Alpine Ski Hut, Bresee’s Department Store, the city clerk’s office, the Oneonta Chamber of Commerce, and Banta’s Office Supplies and Equipment.
“A Bicentennial essay by Dr. Wayne Warncke, chairman of the English department of Hartwick College, introduced the brochure.
“The Swart-Wilcox House, Oneonta’s ‘living memorial’ of the Bicentennial and of the history of the city, is featured in an article by Walter Ashley and Diantha D. Schull.
“‘Oneonta Celebrations Past & Present’ is by Dr. Eugene Milener, chairman of the Bicentennial Commission and city historian.
“Posing the question: ‘The Next 100 Years — Where Should We Be?’ is Dr. John G. New of the Oneonta State biology department.
“Also included are ‘Oneonta Diary 1748 to 1975’ with a list of Oneonta officials past and present and lists of historical societies and museums in Otsego County and in Delaware County.”
On the back was a design for an Oneonta Bicentennial medallion, as a contest was held that year. It depicted Oneonta’s first settler, John Martin Vanderwerker, designed by Tina Morris, then an art teacher at Greater Plains School.
This weekend, prosperous times in Chenango County in April 1931.