Philadelphia Treasures
The Philadelphia Treasures Exhibit Items include:- The first written protest against slavery from the Germantown Quakers Monthly Meeting in 1688.
- A bankruptcy filing of Edgar Allen Poe who resided in Philadelphia from 1838 to 1844. [li[A notebook of Dr. Benjamin Rush who was the attending doctor during the Yellow Fever outbreak on 1793 in Philadelphia.
- An actual iron lung from 1950 which was first used in Philadelphia to treat patients striken with polio.
- A broadcast of American Bandstand which aired from Philadelphia shown on an actual 1950's television set.
If You Go
Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives is free with regular museum admission of $12 for adults, $11 for seniors ages 65 and up, $8 for children ages 4-12. Active military personnel and children ages 3 and under are free. Group rates are also available.
The Acoustiguide audio tour is available for $3 per person and $2 for members.
For ticket information, call 215-409-6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org.
Augmenting the Exhibition
To further augment the exhibition, the Constitution Center’s education and public programming staff in the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach will develop a variety of resource materials, special programs, and family activities.
Also in keeping with the Center’s mission to foster discussion and citizen engagement, a variety of evening programs discussing current and historical topics that relate to the exhibition are planned for the summer.
The Bottom Line
Now with its fifth changing exhibit, the National Constitution Center continues to get better as it learns from each the most effective ways to display, light and manage each. This is the first changing exhibit to include an audio tour. The audio tour is essential in order to fully appreciate this exhibit.
When compared to the cost of admission to exhibitions at the Franklin Institute and Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Constitution Center continues to be one of the best bargains in the area, if not the nation.
Large factors contributing to no additional charge being levied for admission to the exhibit (with regular National Constitution Center admission) is the national sponsorship of the exhibit's tour by The Boeing Company and local sponsorship by Beneficial Savings Bank. In addition funding for the NCC's changing exhibits program is made possible through a $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
In what seems to be a match made in heaven, the official media partner for Constitution Center's showing of Eyewitness: American Originals from the National Archives is none other than CBS 3 Eyewitness News.