This is the story of Americans’ hardest won right: the right to vote. It’s a right that was never a given, whose path was never straight. Voting rights expanded and contracted over time, driven by shifting issues of power, politics, class, and race. It’s a story that’s still unfolding in 2020. Who can vote? Who will vote? And why does it matter?

One of the most significant aspects of the American Civil War was how the newly developed ironclad ships radically transformed naval warfare. This exhibition focused on the major naval battles and some of the officers who waged them. Learn about the ships and the men that fought these battles.

Monuments honor heroes and beautify public spaces. They occupy prominent places, proclaim power, preserve memories, and provide lessons for future generations. What happens if they misrepresent historical truths? What happens when they no longer reflect a communities’ values?

Celebrating entrepreneurship through a focus on nine Philadelphia entrepreneurs. From William Penn to Atwater Kent, these individuals’ vision, hard work, and willingness to take risks helped build the City of Philadelphia. Displayed in the exhibition were the inventions, artifacts, and important documents from business and industry that brought to life the birth and rise of Philadelphia.

As a celebration of Philadelphia’s artistic identity, this exhibition traced the influence of artists, patrons, and collectors on the public’s taste for more than two centuries. In 1794, Charles Wilson Peale opened the country’s first museum in Philadelphia.

Sweep the Country: Political Conventions in Philadelphia, was presented in partnership with the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent. This exhibition covered the 11 political conventions held in Philadelphia between 1848 and 2000.

This exhibit highlighted the dramatic events of the first half of 1865. Two days in April 1865 remain among the most triumphant and tragic in American history. The war ended on April 9, and Abraham Lincoln died on April 15. The Union League, Philadelphia, and the nation mourned. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers returned home.

Philadelphia 1864: The Year of Decision focused on the continued importance of Philadelphia and included rarely seen artifacts from the Great Central Fair, held in Logan Square in June of 1864. Other themes included the election of 1864, the important role that the Union League played in the re-election of Lincoln, and Sherman’s famous March to the Sea, which concluded with the capture of Savannah.

The year 1863 was the mid-point of the Civil War and its most important year. On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, changing the future focus of the war and that of American history as well. In Philadelphia, the newly organized Union League was establishing itself as a powerful and potent force for the Union.

By 1862, the Civil War had touched the lives of every Philadelphian. Many soldiers wrote home scared, bored, and homesick – but also determined to serve their country well. Thousands of men streamed through the city on their way to fight. And waves of them returned, wounded and sick, from the battlefields and camps.

A storm was coming. No one knew for sure if it would strike, where it would hit first, or how devastating it would be. But by the end of the 1850s, Americans – North and South – could feel the pressure building. Issues of slavery and race had come to dominate the national debate. Resentment, anxiety, distrust, and anger raged on all sides.