Museum winning battle for tourists
PHILADELPHIA >> The Museum of the American Revolution is a year old this month, and officials say it has landed a decisive victory in capturing tourists’ attention in a city with lots of revolutionary competition.
In honor of its first birthday Thursday, also the anniversary of the shots fired at the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 that ignited the war, the museum is making some additions while holding the line on the its most popular exhibits.
“The American Revolution has always been on the razor’s edge of the culture wars. We had no idea how people were going to receive this story of the Revolution as we have written it,” said Scott Stephenson, the museum’s vice president of collections, exhibitions and programming. “But the public response has been tremendous, across the political spectrum.”
The campaign to build and open the museum closed at $173 million, when the goal was $150 million. It opened with no construction debt and has a hearty endowment in place, he said.
It has been an extraordinary year to open a museum about the American Revolution, Stephenson said, with everything from the uproar over the removal of Confederate statues to the Second Amendment debates in the wake of school shootings.
The museum’s exhibit starts with the moment in New York City where people pulled down the statue of King George III after hearing the Declaration of Independence read aloud. Stephenson said he has overheard a number of debates from visitors about the toppling of statues around the country.
“Most people would agree, regardless of their political affiliation, that this is one of those moments of deep reflection of who we are as a people,” he said. “The American Revolution has incredible relevance.”
Upcoming new additions include a trip through Alexander Hamilton’s Philadelphia and the opening of the “Revolution Place Discovery Center” featuring recreated historical environments to immerse families.