Johns Hopkins Kicks Off 150th Anniversary With Yearlong Baltimore Celebrations

Johns Hopkins University launched its sesquicentennial with Commemoration Day events in late February and a yearlong slate of programming that university pages say will run through 2026. The campus marked the kickoff with a Birthday Kickoff and Ice Rink Closing Day held Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.; Baltimore Fishbowl reporter Aliza Worthington noted the event was free though registration was required.

The institution tied the campus festivities to historical roots, promoting a Hopkins Birthday Bash held to coincide with the 150th anniversary of President Daniel Coit Gilman's inaugural address in 1876. The university event page invites attendees to “Celebrate Johns Hopkins University’s 150th birthday and kick off Sesquicentennial Commemoration Days… Enjoy music, birthday cake, free snacks, fun giveaways, and more!” The same page advises food logistics: “Individuals without a meal plan can pay for food on site.”

Johns Hopkins is positioning the year as more than celebration, rolling out thematic initiatives under the banner “150 Years One Hopkins.” The university’s anniversary site lists themed sections including “Stories of Impact,” “Thought Pioneers,” “Eliminating Preventable Harm,” and “Innovation in Education,” and describes the Hopkins Retrospective as “an initiative designed to expand our understanding of the diverse history of Hopkins and weave that history into the university experience.”

Alumni and signature programming begins in mid-April with a concentrated slate on April 17 and 18. Friday, April 17 opens at 10 a.m. with “Trailblazers of Tomorrow - A Sesquicentennial Innovation Showcase” in the Bloomberg Student Center, Second Decade Society Room 204A/B, organized by the Alumni Council and JHTV’s Pava Marie LaPere Center for Entrepreneurship. That evening hosts multiple gatherings: the JHU150 HERO Alumni Banquet, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Bloomberg Student Center Room 404; a SOM Award and Portrait Presentations Reception, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Anne and Mike Armstrong Medical Education Building lobby; and an All-Alumni Dinner, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Decker Quad Tent. The schedule includes a Signature Event on Saturday, April 18: the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra at Shriver Hall Auditorium, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The sesquicentennial program also signals institutional reckoning with Baltimore history. Baltimore Fishbowl reported that Hopkins and Johns Hopkins Hospital hosted descendants of Henrietta Lacks at the October 2024 groundbreaking for the Henrietta Lacks Building in East Baltimore; the building will house the Berman Institute of Bioethics and programs of both Johns Hopkins University and the School of Medicine. Fishbowl noted that “Over the last decade, many scientific and medical organizations have begun working with the Lacks family to attempt to remedy that harm, including Hopkins, which never sold or profited from the HeLa cells, but did offer them for research.” The Fishbowl piece also cited a historical research anecdote, noting that in 1925 Con Edison engaged the then-Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health to study ventricular fibrillation among linemen and that “Kouwenhoven was added to the team for Con Edison’s study.”

Johns Hopkins amplified the anniversary message on its official LinkedIn account, which displayed 418,320 followers in the captured post and published the line: “For 150 years, Johns Hopkins University has redefined what is possible through research, education, and discovery. As we enter our Sesquicentennial year, it's time to celebrate the relentless pursuit of knowledge and the people behind it.” The LinkedIn snapshot showed “276 10 Comments,” with alumni and supporters responding in threads including Abhinay Gottipati: “Nice! Johns Hopkins 150! Happy to be an Alumni! Let’s go Blue Jays!” and Olaf Seidel: “150 150 150 Happy New Year dear JHU.”

University materials emphasize an invitation to the broader community: “For 150 years, we’ve been breaking new ground—now, let’s celebrate it. Join us for gatherings, lectures, and special events that honor our legacy and look ahead. Details on future events are coming soon.” The sesquicentennial calendar already lists specific campus events through April and positions the year as both celebration and institutional reflection tied to Hopkins’ founding in 1876 as “America’s First Research University.”