This weekend marks the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. While many fire up their grills and set off fireworks this weekend to mark the occasion, many others have been hosting or attending events across the state throughout May and June.Delaware Public Media reporters attended several of these events to give you a flavor for these events - and find out what this anniversary means to different people and groups.

Ross Mansion in Seaford is home to Delaware’s lone remaining dwelling that was once inhabited by enslaved people.The number of these dwellings nationwide is dwindling in part because they were made with shoddy materials and in part because there has been little effort to preserve them until recent years.But historians say these spaces are incredibly valuable as they provide a window into enslaved people’s inner lives, which is often neglected or difficult to learn about.In this edition of History Matters, Delaware Public Media’s Abigail Lee traveled to Ross Mansion and the John Dickinson Plantation in Dover to see these spaces and speak with experts on the lasting significance of them.

This week's Arts Playlist is just that - a playlist. To mark America's 250th birthday, Delaware Public Media's Martin Matheny reached out to some of the musicians he talks to for Arts Playlist throughout the year and asked them to choose one piece of American classical music for this - our America 250 playlist.Here's what Martin and some of the First State's top musicians assembled.

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All the 2026 World Cup’s games are in North America, with the United States – including Philadelphia - getting their share of matches featuring teams from all over the world. On top of that, The US men’s national team is playing well in the event, adding even more excitement.This week, Delaware Public Media’s Isreal Hale sat down with John Allgood, a Sports Management instructor in the University of Delaware’s Lerner College of Business & Economics to discuss how the US hosting of the World Cup might affect youth interest in soccer here.

Fireworks... you either love them or hate them. And the approaching July 4th holiday is centered around them. Add to that 2026 being the nation’s 250th anniversary, and the upcoming Independence Day will likely see massive displays including some “unofficial” displays.But there are laws in Delaware to ensure safety and lessen fireworks’ health and environmental impact. As a matter of fact, just this week the General Assembly passed a bill that clarifies and bolsters existing fireworks regulations. It awaits Gov. Meyer’s signature.In preparation for the upcoming holiday weekend, Assistant State Fire Marshall and Chief of Investigations B. Scott Bullock joined Delaware Public Media’s Jay Shah to walk us through fireworks dos and don’ts.

The Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library opened an ambitious and wide-ranging exhibit telling the stories of its land and buildings, and the site's evolution from a private home to a center for scholarship and conservation.Called "At Home at Winterthur," the five-year exhibit brought together rarely seen objects from the site's centuries of history to mark Winterthur's 75th anniversary as a museum.And on this week's Arts Playlist, DPM's Martin Matheny spoke to Alexandra Deutsch, Winterthur's John L. and Marjorie P. McGraw Director of Collections.

In this week’s Enlighten Me, we headed back to the University of Delaware to highlight more work from student journalists. These pieces were produced by UD Communications students for a class taught by Nancy Karibjanian, a long-time First State journalist, Director of UD’s Journalism Program, and one of the founders of Delaware Public Media.

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Earlier this year, the state of Delaware offered an updated plan to address so-called ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water, soil and air.But mitigating the presence of PFAS chemicals is complicated and costly effort. And under the Trump Administration, the federal government’s support for that effort is something of a mixed bag. While the EPA recently announced it will spend $1 billion nationwide and $10 million in Delaware to help, the agency is at the same time its rolling back Biden-era regulations to manage PFAS.This week, contributor Jon Hurdle takes a closer look at how the EPA’s actions affect the First State.