On what date did the United States Semiquincentennial Commission hold its first organizing meeting?

The United States Semiquincentennial Commission held its first organizing meeting on November 16, 2018.

The meeting took place at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, linking the commission’s modern planning work with the site where the Second Continental Congress debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

The commission’s members had been appointed under federal legislation creating the national anniversary body. The initial group included private citizens, members of Congress, and federal officials. At the first meeting, commissioners began organizing the long-term effort leading to the 2026 observance.

This date is different from the date the commission was legally established and from the date its nonprofit administrative partner was selected. Congress created the commission in 2016, while the Department of the Interior selected the American Battlefield Trust as nonprofit partner in May 2018.