Museum of the American Revolution opens in Philadelphia
People walk through the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. In addition to the familiar narrative of the founding fathers, the museum seeks to tell the stories of women, enslaved people and Native Americans who helped make up the country’s ‘founding generation.’ The museum opens on Wednesday, April 19. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
(Philadelphia)– The new Museum of the American Revolution opens today in Philadelphia. It holds hundreds of artifacts as well as interactive exhibits and films to explain this turbulent time period in the nation’s early history.
Museum president Michael Quinn hopes visitors will leave with the message that every generation should understand and uphold the revolutionary ideals that carried the United States forward.
“We are using technology and storytelling to plunge people into middle of the story and make them understand that the revolution was really brought about by people just like us,” he says.
George Washington’s war tent is one of the highlights.
“It is, as far as we can determine, the only tent from the revolution to survive,” says Quinn. “It was his command headquarters–where he slept, where he worked, whenever the army was in the field, and often even when in encampment. He used it as a private office.”
Quinn says the tent came to the organization directly from Washington’s descendants.
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