Washington Memorial Heritage

Join our neighbors from Independence National Historical Park online or in person on Independence Square (5th and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia) TODAY at 1pm... for a special event, "Ringing in 100 Years of Votes for Women!" The event will include an opportunity to see the Women's Liberty Bell, also known as the Justice Bell, which is on loan from the Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge. Costumed actresses portraying Frances Harper, Alice Paul, and Dora Lewis will speak about their participation in the suffrage movement. At the conclusion of the event, the Justice Bell will "ring" symbolically and you'll be invited -- in the virtual world and on-site -- to participate in ringing out and lifting up the voices of all women today. Attention Girl Scouts! This event counts towards the NPS Girl Scout Ranger Program (patches available at Valley Forge), and your participation today can also earn you a special commemorative 19th Amendment patch. Join the event virtually here: https://www.facebook.com/IndependenceNHP Learn more about the event here: https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/event-details.htm Learn more about the Justice Bell here: http://wmchapel.org/2019/07/the-justice-bell/ Learn about the NPS Girl Scout Ranger Program here: https://www.nps.gov/subje/youthprograms/girlscoutranger.htm

Grab a noisemaker - a bell, pots and spoons, or your favorite audio app - and join us on Facebook Live for the special event, "Ringing In 100 Years of Votes for... Women." The event will include an opportunity to see the Women's Liberty Bell, also known as the Justice Bell. Park rangers will share stories of how the Justice Bell traveled with it's clapper chained silent until women got the vote, and its unchaining on Independence Square 100 year ago on this day. Costumed actresses portraying Frances Harper, Alice Paul, and Dora Lewis will speak about their participation in the suffrage movement. At the conclusion of the event, we'll symbolically "ring" the Justice Bell and invite you - in the virtual world and on-site - to join us in ringing out and lifting up the voices of all women today. Visitors may also participate in the ceremony in-person on Independence Square on Friday, September 25 at 1pm. Entrance is through security screening at 5th and Chestnut Streets. #findyourpark

The Justice Bell ceremony for the 19th amendment ceremony at Washington Memorial Chapel. The bell went to Philly the next day for a stay at Independence Hall.

Have you ever established a goal and things didn’t quite go the way you had hoped? Today, on June 18th, way back in 1778, the British Army began withdrawing fr...om Philadelphia, a city they had captured some 9 months earlier in the fall of 1777. Capturing Philadelphia had not achieved their goal. They had wanted to draw Washington’s Army into a fight where they could have a chance to perhaps defeat him once and for all. Washington’s surrender would have been quite a prize. Philadelphia was also where congress met, so they hoped to round those rebel leaders up once and for all too. Why, they could put the congress on a ship and send them back to England to undergo a trial for treason. They would all be found guilty and hung. Hadn’t Ben Franklin even said that would be the case? They also hoped that if they captured Philadelphia, all the loyalists/tories in the area would rise to support them. None of this would come to pass. They knew Washington would not give up Philadelphia without a fight and they were right about that. He fought them alright, but the problem was, even though the British won all the tactical battles (Brandywine, Paoli, Germantown, Whitemarsh, the river Delaware forts) they did not win the operational or strategic battle because Washington and his Army remained together, in the field, only 20 odd miles away from Philadelphia at the Valley Forge encampment. Washington was watching. He was watching their every move. He had a goal as well, and he was scrambling to get his army the supplies, troops, organization, discipline, and unified training they were going to need when he next faced the British. He would use the 6 months’ time at Valley Forge to do just that. Congress had fled Philadelphia. Those rebel leaders were now about 90 miles to the west of Philadelphia in York and in relative safety from any British capture. And the hoped-for loyalist/tory support the British thought was going to emerge? Not so much. And now France had entered the war on the American side. And a French naval fleet and army would mean the war had changed dramatically. Being stuck in Philadelphia when the French arrived did not bode well, especially in terms of supply lines. Besides, capturing Philadelphia had not achieved the desired effects. Change of plans, time to go. So, they left Philadelphia. Washington was watching. Washington ordered his army to march out of Valley Forge the next day. He would pursue the British as they retreated across New Jersey and headed for their stronghold in New York City. He would even force a fight, if he could. Washington wanted to see if his goal of getting his army the supplies, equipment, troops, organization, discipline, and unified training they needed to fight the British, had succeeded? Congress also had a goal of supporting Washington, so that America could win independence from England. Of course, we the people, all know what ultimately happened. Have you ever established a goal and things actually went the way you had hoped?

Hymn for Memorial Day from Washington Memorial National Carillon, Washington Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, played by Doug Gefvert, Chapel Carillonneur.