Museum of the American Revolution

09/04/2026

A Semiquincentennial summer photo dump 📸

We’re looking back at a historic season! Spend the final days of the summer during Labor Day Weekend at the Museum, featuring living history, 10-minute talks, and activities and crafts in our family-friendly discovery center. Children ages 12 and under will receive free Museum admission throughout the holiday weekend (available for in-Museum purchase only).

Visit Sept. 5-7: https://bit.ly/4qVAdKj

09/03/2026

Gloria Steinem, the pioneering activist, journalist, and feminist and co-founder of Ms. Magazine, once wrote, “Voting isn't the most we can do, but it is the least.”

As Steinem has pointed out in her many speeches and writings like her essay “Voting as Rebellion,” the fight for women’s rights and suffrage began long before – and did not end after – the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920. In March 1776, Abigail Adams implored her husband, John Adams, to “Remember the Ladies” as he and the other men of the Continental Congress worked to enshrine the laws of a new government. From 1776 until 1807, women and free people of color held the right to vote in New Jersey thanks to the state’s own radical constitution – a right that was later revoked and then reserved for only white men. All the while, female activists in many cases were still constrained by the stereotypes, laws, and tropes of their society.

Pioneers in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have carried the torch for women’s rights and suffrage like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, and Ida B. Wells, some of whom are featured in the Museum’s current special exhibition “The Declaration’s Journey.”

From the Revolutionary era to today, as norms have changed, activists like Steinem have ensured the promise of the American Revolution endures by fighting for equal rights for all people.

09/02/2026

Born free in Philadelphia on this day in 1766, James Forten served as a sailor during the Revolutionary War and was captured by the British. He survived the war and became a sailmaker in his home city. In 1798, Forten took over the ownership of a sailmaking business and amassed great wealth.

In the early years of the United States, Black abolitionists like Lemuel Haynes, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, and James Forten called attention to a glaring hypocrisy within the Declaration of Independence. Forten’s “Letters from a Man of Colour," on loan from NYPL The New York Public Library, is on view in our special exhibition “The Declaration’s Journey.” He began this text by paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence and arguing for the inalienable rights of people of African descent. Forten wrote this series of letters in response to a Pennsylvania bill that sought to curb emigration of Black Americans into the state by forcing them to register with local officials. The bill failed to pass thanks to Forten and other abolitionists who spoke out against it.

See it on your next visit: https://bit.ly/3MYjbIm

09/01/2026

in 1773, Phillis Wheatley became the first African American woman published poet with the publishing of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

Her book of poetry was lauded in both Europe and the American colonies as an example of the artistic and intellectual equality of people of African descent. Phillis Wheatley was born in West Africa and was seized as a child and transported to North America on a slave ship known as The Phillis, for which she was later renamed. Enslaved and educated in the household of Boston merchant John Wheatley, she began writing beautiful and complex poetry about religion, nature, politics, race, slavery, art, and literature.

An original signed copy of her work is in our collection and on display at the Museum, generously donated by Dr. Marion T. Lane.

08/31/2026

Spend the final days of the Semiquincentennial summer at the Museum with events for all ages this September! ☀

📆 Sept. 5-7: Labor Day Weekend at the Museum
Join us for Labor Day Weekend featuring living history, 10-minute talks, and activities and crafts in our family-friendly discovery center. Children ages 12 and under will receive free Museum admission throughout the holiday weekend (available for in-Museum purchase only).

📆 Sept. 5: Meet the Revolution with Daniel Sieh
Living historian Daniel Sieh will join us at the Museum to explore the lives of Asians in the United States during the 18th century.

📆 Sept. 6: Member Morning: Making the Museum
Museum Members are invited to a 45-minute lecture on key artifacts from our collection and a behind-the-scenes look at their conservation and continuing care.

📆 Sept. 13: Relaxed Experience Morning
Experience the Museum galleries in a calm, crowd-free environment featuring sound and lighting adjustments, limited crowds, no films, and other accommodations geared toward audiences with sensory sensitivities.

📆 Sept. 24: 2026 Carl M. Buchholz Lecture with Retired US Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (Ret.) H. R. McMaster will join the Museum as the distinguished lecturer for the seventh Carl M. Buchholz Memorial Lecture. His lecture will focus on George Washington, his leadership and legacy, and the role of the military in our democracy today.

📆 Sept. 25-26: The Declaration's Journey: A Convening on the International Legacy
To further explore the international impact of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the Museum will host a two-day convening on Friday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Sept. 26. Free, registration required.

Plan your September visit: https://bit.ly/34CiSxy

08/29/2026

Scholars from Europe, South America, and across the United States are set to gather here at the Museum on Sept. 25-26 to explore the 250-year global impact of the United States Declaration of Independence. Since 1776, over 100 nations, from Haiti to Mexico to Korea to Ireland, have issued a declaration of independence. The Declaration’s Journey: A Convening on the International Legacy – inspired by our current special exhibition – will provide an opportunity to reflect upon international efforts for liberty, equality, and self-government.

Check out a list featuring 10 recent works by some of the distinguished historians who will be speaking at the conference, which is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and register for free at the link below.

Explore these books and more by the scholars featured at The Declaration's Journey: A Convening on the International Legacy on Bookshop.org. 

08/28/2026

On this day in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, one of the most influential speeches in American history. King’s speech inspired a nation to confront its long history of racial inequality and make good on the promises set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

King often quoted from the Declaration in his fight for civil rights. Following in a long tradition of Black American reformers like Absalom Jones and Frederick Douglass, King saw the Declaration of Independence as sacred, but he also held it up as evidence of how far the nation had fallen short of its fundamental values. Nevertheless, he had faith that the country could redeem itself, and his movement continues to inspire many Americans in the ongoing fight for freedom and equality for all.

Our special exhibition, "The Declaration's Journey," features an advanced distribution copy of his speech alongside a photographic mural of the crowd that assembled on the National Mall, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, as well as audio-visual elements that enliven the experience of learning about King’s speech and the momentous event in the history of American civil rights.

See it on your next visit: https://bit.ly/3MYjbIm

08/27/2026

in 1776, the Battle of Long Island — also known as the Battle of Brooklyn Heights — was fought in New York.
 
Join Associate Curator James Taub in our core galleries to mark the 250th anniversary of the New York campaign and explore its significance on the outcome of the Revolutionary War.

08/26/2026

🗳️ On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was formally adopted after Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify it a week earlier. The amendment granted millions of women in the United States the right to vote and was the result of efforts by leading suffragists, including Alice Paul.

Alice Paul was a New Jersey Quaker and suffragist. She formed the National Woman’s Party (NWP) in 1913, a more militant organization of the suffrage movement. In a famous photograph, Paul evoked the memory of Revolutionary flag makers, such as Betsy Ross, as she sewed a purple, white, and gold NWP suffrage flag. A star was added to the flag each time one of the 36 states needed to ratify the amendment voted to approve it.

Join the Museum’s Meg Bowersox as she set up in our special exhibition “The Declaration’s Journey” to sew a replica of the flag and explore the influence of the Declaration of Independence on the movement for women’s suffrage.

08/24/2026

Here’s to a new school year for Revolutionary learners of all ages! ✏️🎒

Happy first day of school to our friends The School District of Philadelphia and so many more! Go back to school with the Museum by exploring our expansive educational resources, including downloadable teacher resource guides, mini lesson plans, an educator newsletter, and more for students and educators alike.

Explore our educational resources: https://bit.ly/3KRxSeu