Museum of the American Revolution

On this day in 1799, George Washington died of a throat infection at the age of 67 at his home at Mount Vernon. French artisan Jacques Nicolas Pierre Francois Dubuc produced a small number of elegant mantel clocks for export to the American market following Washington’s death. Featuring a nobly posed Washington derived from John Trumbull’s 1792 painting George Washington Before the Battle of Trenton, this piece includes a tableau representing Washington resigning his commission to return to civilian life. Words from Major General Richard Henry Lee’s famous eulogy of Washington "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen" appear below the dial. Take a closer look at one of these mantel clocks in our collection: bit.ly/2W3jzLu

In December of 1775, Henry Knox traveled to Fort Ticonderoga in New York to bring cannons back to Boston, using only a limited amount of tools, oxen, and men. They would have to travel over mountains, across frozen lakes, and through blizzards of snow and ice. How would you transport 59 cannons over snow-covered mountains? Young detectives (best for ages 7-11) are invited to put their skills to the test with History Explorers Club: Mountains of Ice and Snow (Virtual) this Wednesday, Dec. 16! Recount the story of Knox’s journey, explore a miniature diorama, and look at replica objects to solve how exactly he managed to move all 59 cannons in the middle of winter to help free the city of Boston. Register: bit.ly/2JI1cZZ

Are you partaking in Gingerbread House Day? (Or maybe even a gingerbread version of Gen. George Washington's war-time tent?) Test out your 18th-century baking skills and make your own gingerbread with our Living History at Home cooking demo! Watch as Tyler Putman, the Museum's Gallery Interpretation Manager, demonstrates how to make an 18th-century gingerbread recipe, adapted from Hannah Glasse’s 1774 The Art of Cookery. Watch: bit.ly/3qFrJaV

Have you picked out some pumpkins to carve for Halloween (or for National Pumpkin Day today)? How about turnips? Today’s Halloween traditions reached the United States more than a century after the Revolutionary War. Now, we most commonly carve jack-o'-lanterns out of pumpkins. But in Ireland in the 1700s, kids like William Burke, who later joined the British Army, carved turnips with scary faces to ward off evil spirits like the one pictured here from National Museum of Ireland. Learn more about 18th-century Halloween traditions during A Revolutionary Halloweekend at the Museum: bit.ly/2HtmXef

Our friends Discover Philadelphia have made it easy to explore the city from home, including taking a virtual trip to the Museum! Explore our galleries from the comfort of your couch with our Virtual Museum Tour or Field Trip, plus check out their guide for more virtual experiences that bring Philadelphia to you. Explore: bit.ly/3nbl1ay

Halloween is almost here! Join us next weekend to hear spooky stories from the Revolutionary War, take home pumpkin-carving templates inspired by our collection, learn how early Americans carved turnips to ward away evil spirits, and more during A Revolutionary Halloweekend at the Museum. Costumes encouraged! All the fun and frightful details: bit.ly/2HtmXef

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate! These beautiful silver Torah finials, on loan from Congregation Mikveh Israel - Synagogue of the American Revolution the oldest continuous synagogue in the United States, are one of several pairs made by renowned Jewish silversmith Myer Myers. Dating back to the early 1770s, they have long decorated the rollers of the Torah scrolls of Mikveh Israel in Philadelphia. The shapes at the top of the finials are believed to be pomegranates, a common decoration on Rimonim. Myers typically used crowns to top his finials, but perhaps had joined other Americans in replacing royal symbols with more republican ones.

While we stay warm and safe at home this year, we might choose to reach out to friends and family with a handwritten card, letter, or virtual Zoom invitation to gather around and share stories just like Henry Knox when he wrote letters to his wife, Lucy Flucker Knox, during his travels. Readers young and old can learn more about Knox, a Massachusetts bookseller who joined the New England troops encircling British-held Boston shortly after the shots heard in Lexington and C...oncord, with a Read the Revolution double feature! Read excerpts from Henry and the Cannons: An Extraordinary True Story of the American Revolution by author and illustrator Don Brown and The Revolutionary War Lives and Letters of Lucy and Henry Knox, an edited volume by historian Phillip Hamilton. Plus, join us Dec. 16 for History Explorers Club: Mountains of Ice and Snow (Virtual) to explore Knox's winter journey from Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y., to Boston, Mass. Read excerpts: bit.ly/2JPQFvw

What's the most surprising thing you've learned on a visit to the Museum? Frommer's Travel Guides picked up 12 discoveries, from new revelations about the Boston Massacre to the role Native Americans played in the Revolutionary War. Visit this weekend "to walk away from the museum knowing some stuff they weren’t taught in fourth grade." Read more: bit.ly/2Hklvvn

Ready to carve your Jack-O-Lantern but just can't choose a pattern? We have five pumpkin carving stencils ready for you to download to make your Halloween truly Revolutionary! : bit.ly/3kmLEb4

Poll lists from early New Jersey show that many women voted in groups. In at least one case, a group of friends from a neighboring church voted together: Grace Little, Hetty Gaw, and Mary Norris appear listed alongside one another on the Montgomery poll list from 1801, pictured here. Does this suggest that voting was a happy and social activity, or does it indicate that women sought strength in numbers to guard against increasing hostility toward them? Learn more on your next visit to explore our new exhibit When Women Lost the Vote: bit.ly/3fuxVLT Who do you plan to go to the polls (or the mailbox!) with this year? Tag them in the comments below!

"The world turned upside down..." On this day in 1781, the British officially surrendered to the Continental Army led by General George Washington and the French Army led by Comte de Rochambeau following the Siege of Yorktown. German-born Continental Artillery officer Sebastian Bauman served at the Siege of Yorktown and created this map from his measurements of the battlefield taken three days after the British Army’s surrender. Bauman distributed copies of the map engr...aved and published in Philadelphia in 1782 to his fellow officers encamped in the Hudson Highlands to show off his skills and celebrate the victory. In October 1782, while he was encamped at West Point, Bauman sent a copy to General William Heath at Verplanck’s Point. One of the copies of Bauman's map is in our collection thanks to a gift from the Landenberger Family Foundation and The Acorn Foundation Fund for History in Memory of Alexander Orr Vietor. Learn more on your next visit: bit.ly/3fuxVLT

It certainly makes the history feel not just living, but neighborly, Mellott noted. On your next visit to the Museum to explore our new exhibit When Women Lost the Vote, you'll find several recently discovered poll lists including the names of women who legally voted in New Jersey until 1807, tracked down by the Museum’s curatorial team. To date, nine poll lists have been located featuring the names of 163 women. Two of those women were Rebecca and Miriam Venable, a mother and daughter who voted in Moorestown in Chester Township in October of 1807, just one month before women were stripped of the right to vote. The The Moorestown Sun has more about the Venables and their local history: bit.ly/2T7sQAl

Visiting the Museum this weekend? As you learn more about the women who first pioneered the vote in Revolutionary-era New Jersey in our new exhibit When Women Lost the Vote, be sure to stop at our voting selfie station in the first-floor rotunda. Cast your ballot to answer the question of the week and pose for a photo to share don't forget to tag us! Then get an I Vote sticker to wear home. Plan your visit : bit.ly/3fuxVLT

In New Jersey in the early 1800s, local taverns often served as polling places. Women and people of color joined other legal voters to cast their ballots in taverns marked by signs like the one pictured here, featured in our new exhibit When Women Lost the Vote, on loan from Bergen County Historical Society. This sign, featuring a painted portrait of Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson, hung over John Hopper’s tavern in Bergen County. Despite efforts to prevent v...oters from facing partisan pressure, elections often took place where party loyalties were on full display. We want to know: Where was the first place you voted? Where is your polling place this year? It could even be at the Museum we're serving as an official polling location for the 5th Ward, 18th District and 5th Ward, 2nd District in Philadelphia this Election Day. Comment below! See the tavern sign on your next visit: bit.ly/3fuxVLT

In the Museum’s newest exhibition When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776-1807, we both discover the multitude of roles women played throughout the American Revolution and explore the little-known story of voting roles in New Jersey during the Revolutionary Era. While these stories can and should be explored in our galleries, and soon, in an online exhibit, you can also extend the learning at home with some of our favorite books for young readers! Read the Revolution: bit.ly/351Qhk9

We're excited to be joined by Dr. Juan Giarrizzo, a native of Venezuela who graduated from the Museum’s first citizenship class in 2019 and later became a naturalized American citizen, along with Dana Devon, a longtime educational producer of regional and national civic programming who manages the Museum’s Citizenship Initiative, for the latest episode of AmRev360 hosted by Museum President & CEO Dr. R. Scott Stephenson. Tune in as the trio explores a range of topics, includi...ng what it means to be an American citizen and how it applies to our lives today; the Museum’s Citizenship Initiative, a free course that uses the Museum’s artifacts, exhibits, and stories to prepare Philadelphia-area immigrants to take the naturalization test; and Giarrizzo's role as co-creator of Gente de Venezuela Philly, a new group that seeks to empower the immigrant community through professional development, advocacy, and culture. See more