Just under 250 years ago, a group of men gathered on a hot day in Philadelphia to declare the separation of thirteen colonies from Britain and its King in order to create what would become, as the United States Constitution would say in 1789, "a more perfect Union."

Today, we recognize that the story of that Union is not made up of a single narrative arc. Rather it is a collection of histories not limited to a grand National narrative, but one that is filled with individuals and communities who fought for the United States to live up its ideals. That history is complicated, it is intersectional and at times painful, celebratory, and hopeful all at once. Telling those stories, the full American story, is an essential part of our civic culture.

This fourth of July, explore stories from every single state, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and Guam, unfurling the rich and complicated tapestry of the American past while also sharing how people are working to preserve the places that make us who we are.