From the editor: We're planning on celebrating America's 250th with you

The country was ready to celebrate, having the twin traumas of Vietnam and Watergate in the rear-view mirror. I wouldn't say it was a more innocent time (see the previous sentence), but certainly it was less complex. I was out of the Navy and enjoying being a community newspaper editor.

This year's celebration has a much clunkier name (semiquincentennial) but presents every bit as much of an opportunity to celebrate America's history, and Tucson's role in it.

We have some big plans at the Star. We'll write about how previous national anniversaries have been celebrated here. About what it means to be an American today. And about Arizonans who have played outsized roles in American history.

Oh, and we'll also tell readers what life was like in Tucson two-and-a-half centuries ago.

I'm not quite old enough to remember that personally.

The Star has been publishing for 149 of those years, enough time to contribute much of the first rough draft of history around here.

That phrase, “rough draft of history,” has been used by journalism greats over the decades, and it’s a commitment newsrooms take seriously.

Like all industries, the newspaper and journalism itself has changed over the decades. Editors in the early 1900s could never have imagined that one day, many people would get their news from a phone small enough to fit in your pocket. Or that social media would connect — and sometimes divide — us in new ways.

What hasn’t changed is the commitment to quality journalism, to uncovering the truth and providing information that people need to navigate their daily lives. We remain a newsroom of local journalists focused on news that matters to Tucson.

The Star's history is intertwined with the community it covers. As we reflect on the 250 years of American Independence, we want to highlight the role Arizona and its people have had in shaping the nation.

Each month from April to June, we’ll highlight these people and events. We’ll tell you about upcoming celebrations. And we’ll dig into moments that shaped the state and the nation, along with issues facing our state today.

Then in July, a special section will include local and national stories reflecting on the nation’s history and looking ahead at what might happen next.

Let's celebrate together.