Where were America250 commissioners sworn in for their first organizing meeting in 2018?

America250 commissioners were sworn in at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 2018.

The ceremony took place on November 16, 2018, when the commission’s then-33 members convened their first organizing meeting. Independence Hall was chosen because of its direct connection to the nation’s founding history.

The building was the site of the Second Continental Congress’s deliberations and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. It was also where the Constitutional Convention met and where the United States Constitution was drafted and signed. Those overlapping associations made it a symbolic location for launching the 250th-anniversary planning process.

Independence Hall is sometimes confused with Congress Hall, which stands nearby in Philadelphia and served as the meeting place of the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800. The commission’s swearing-in ceremony specifically took place at Independence Hall.