The Marco Island Historical Society will hold an Independence Day celebration commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. It’s called “Red, White and You” and it takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1.
It kicks off with a performance of “The Ghost of Julia: A Revolution Tale,” a one-woman show that brings the American Revolution to life through the eyes of Julia Stockton Rush. Blending humor, history, and heartfelt storytelling, the play highlights the voices of women, the spirit of patriotism, and Rush’s connections to America’s founding generation.
It's a festive July Fourth celebration and closing reception for Clyde Butcher’s “America the Beautiful” photo exhibition. Butcher will be on hand for a meet-and-greet and book signing. The free event will also include refreshments, a photo station, raffle opportunities, and more.
Rose History Auditorium doors open at 1:30 pm for the 2 p.m. performance of “The Ghost of Julia: A Revolution Tale.” The closing reception for “America the Beautiful: The Monumental Landscapes of Clyde Butcher” will begin at 2:30 p.m. inside the Marco Island Historical Museum.
About Julia Stockton Rush
The letters exchanged by Abigail and John Adams lie at the heart of “1776 The Musical.” The musical’s creation was influenced by the letters of Abigail Adams, which “1776” creator Sherman Edwards discovered in the Morristown Joint Free Public Library’s 1830-era collection. Written to her husband John Adams during the 1776 crisis, Abigail Adams’ letters provided intimate, personal insights into the political and personal tensions of the time. Edwards’ research into these writings helped shape the show’s tone—affectionate, human, and grounded in the real struggles of the founding generation.
Benjamin Rush also signed the Declaration of Independence. In fact, he was one of the Declaration’s youngest signers. And like John Adams, the correspondence he received from his young wife back at home helped guide him through difficult times, conflicts that emanated from his huge ego and the criticism he voiced over George Washington’s military leadership and a yellow fever epidemic that rocked Philadelphia in 1793 (which was the U.S. capital at that time) to which many of the couple’s friends and neighbors succumbed.
These exchanges were discovered in 2018 when author Stephen Fried tracked down correspondence between Julia and Benjamin Rush while researching his book “Rush: Revolution, Madness & the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father.” Fried also discovered letters from Julia Rush to her mother, daughters and Abigail Adams.
That any of Julia’s letters survived is remarkable. She burned many of the letters she wrote to and received from her husband because they were “fit for scarcely any eyes.” Julia’s descendants hid much of the couple’s correspondence partly to protect Benjamin Rush's legacy as they contained his unvarnished opinions of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
“[T]he new correspondence reveals [Julia] as a vastly underappreciated Revolutionary woman who had influence and opinions of her own and was very much at the center of events during and after the struggle for independence,” wrote Fried in the September 2018 edition of Smithsonian Magazine.
She played a role both independently and through her influence on her husband in the evolution of the new country through the War of 1812. But she was devoted first and foremost to Benjamin and their children and grandchildren.
“Julia lived another 35 years [after Benjamin’s death in 1813] and was often lonely,” Fried noted in the Smithsonian piece. “On the fifth anniversary of Benjamin’s death, she pulled out some of his love letters to her from 1775 and sewed them into a book—which she then hid away. Her descendants kept it hidden until the late 1970s, when it was quietly donated to a library in Philadelphia. On one page, she wrote that she had burned all the letters she had sent to him, and even some he had sent to her, because they were too personal. But she kept these because ‘I have daughters,’ and it might be important to them, ‘when both their parents are no more, to know the principles upon which their attachment and friendship was founded.’”
About ‘America the Beautiful: The Monumental Landscapes of Clyde Butcher’
For more on the “America the Beautiful” photo exhibition, refer to:
- “Marco Island Historical Museum observes America250 with Clyde Butcher 'America the Beautiful' photo exhibition” (6/5/26); and
- “Marco Island Historical Society commemorating America250 with Clyde Butcher photography exhibition” (3/26/26).
America250
America250 is a nonpartisan initiative to engage every American in commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the 250th anniversary of our country. This multi-year effort continues through July 4, 2026.
About the Marco Island Historical Museum
The Marco Island Historical Museum is located at 180 S. Heathwood Drive. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and the site is fully ADA compliant and accessible to all visitors. For information call (239) 389-6447 or visit www.themihs.org.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
Sponsored in part by the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture.
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