Museum Mondays

Black History Month at the Museums

African American Museum in Philadelphia:
https://www.aampmuseum.org/calendar.html

Highlights: 

  • Black History Month Virtual Workshop (series)
  • In Conversation: John E. Dowell, Jr. and Ruth Naomi Floyd
  • ArtBreak at AAMP: Movers and Makers with WHYY
  • Through His Eyes: Youth Activism in The Civil Rights Era in Philadelphia (online exhibit)

Programs that are paid but free to museum members can be accessed with a Library pass. Please call us for membership information on paid virtual programs.

Penn Museum:
https://www.penn.museum/calendar

Highlights:

  • World Wonders: A Day in the Life of a Nairobi Schoolgirl
  • Honoring Black Stories in White Institutions
  • At Home Anthro Live: Kanga–Message Carriers of East Africa
  • Jazz Combos: Multigenerational Music

Museum of the American Revolution:
https://www.amrevmuseum.org/black-history-month

Highlights:

  • Discovering Black Voters in Early New Jersey: A Virtual Visit with Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills
  • History Explorers Club: Who Was Ona Judge? ($7 for public, $4 for members)
  • Meet Elizabeth Freeman (recorded performance)
  • Finding Freedom (interactive feature)

Programs that are paid but free to museum members can be accessed with a Library pass. Please call us for membership information on paid virtual programs.

Week Eight: Eastern State Penitentiary

Week Eight: Eastern State Penitentiary

The madness extends until Wednesday this week. We have a LIVE TOUR scheduled for us at the Eastern State Penitentiary this week!

SIGN UP ASAP: https://forms.gle/W1Zfqtp2j1PuXEj76

Eastern State Penitentiary and Prisons Today Eastern State’s history matters today more than ever. This in-depth virtual group tour explores the history of Eastern State and the experiences of men, women and children who lived and worked behind its walls. This program sets the stage for conversations about criminal justice reform today. One hour.

Date: Wednesday January 27, 2021
Time: 2:30 pm

The tour is 1 hour long, live with museum staff, and is suitable for children, too, but the museum suggests it would be more interesting for kids around 10 and up.
The museum expects to reopen March 12, 2021.Visit them virtually at easternstate.org

Week Seven: African American Museum in Philadelphia

Week Seven: African American Museum in Philadelphia

The African American Museum in Philadelphia has a variety of events scheduled this weekend in celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

All programming for the special event, live and self-guided, is located here: https://www.aampmuseum.org/mlk.html
Sampling of Live events:
MLK Mornings: Saturday, Sunday and Monday beginning at 10:00
☛ Dreamline Workshops
☛ Live transcription of written records by The Freedmen’s Bureau from the 19th century
☛ Documentary screenings of Walkies, Through our Lens, and John Lewis: Good Trouble
☛ MLK Day Keynote with Nicole Fleetwood: Black Art and Visions of Freedom

The entire virtual campus for the AAMP is located here: https://aamp365.sharepoint.com/sites/AAMPVirtualCampus
*a Microsoft login is required for the AAMP virtual campus, but creating an account is free

Week Six: Museums Update and Program Announcement!

Week Six: Museums Update

We have great news to share! We have some re-openings to announce for January:

  • Academy of Natural Sciences (reopen date: 01/08/2021)
  • Museum of the American Revolution (reopen date: 01/08/21)
  • National Library Museum (reopen date: 01/08/2021)
  • Penn Museum (reopen date: 01/08/2021)
  • Mütter Museum (reopen date: 01/15/2021)
  • PAFA- Pennsylvania Academy for Fine Arts (reopen date 01/21/2021)

Each Museum requires tickets and/or reservations, so please contact the library directly (856-858-0649) for help with reserving your passes.

Finally, we are planning to host a private, live, virtual tour of Eastern State Penitentiary. The tour will take place on Wednesday, 01/27/2021 at 2:30 pm. Save the date and keep an eye out for reservation information! The program runs one hour, is appropriate for kids and adults alike and sets the stage for conversations about criminal justice reform today.

Week Five: Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens

When it’s grey and cold outside, you can’t get enough color. That’s why we chose to highlight The Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens this week. Daydream of a springtime walk around Philadelphia, exploring public art and visiting the Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens.

he Visit from Home page features a virtual tour, activity sheets, a mural map, and a gift shop. There is even a link to photos optimized for your own Magic Gardens virtual Zoom backdrop!
They also have a YouTube channel, so keep an eye out for videos there, too!

Interested in learning more about public art in Philadelphia? Check out this book from the library today:
Public Art in Philadelphia. by Penny Balkin Bach

Week Four: The Mütter Museum

The Mütter Museum has gone virtual, and it’s actually a great supplement to past/future visits–here’s why: many of their pieces are photographed up close and not all of them are on display in the museum at all times.

Memento Mütter  gets you “uncomfortably close” to over 60 museum artifacts, with the ability to magnify and rotate the specimens.

View all of the Online Exhibitions here: http://muttermuseum.org/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/

Once you’ve become familiar with the collections, try to ESCAPE THE MUTTER MUSEUM. Library staff reports that it’s very challenging!

Dr. Mütter’s Marvels by by Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is available today in the library! Check it out!
Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

Week Three: Penn Museum

The Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania has great on demand virtual programs, but also a lot of live presentations.

View Programs that are being held live by museum staff here:
https://www.penn.museum/calendar

Take a trip to ancient worlds on your own time here:
https://www.penn.museum/on-view/galleries-exhibitions

Search their online collections to find specific items that interest you:
https://www.penn.museum/collections/index.php

Week Two: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Stop by the Academy of Natural Sciences website when you’re craving some natural history content! The Academy of Natural Sciences is located on the Ben Franklin Parkway in center city Philadelphia. It is well known for its amazing collections including full dinosaur skeleton models, breathtaking dioramas, and live butterflies.

Week One: Museum of the American Revolution

This week we invite you to join us as we pay a virtual visit to the Museum of the American Revolution, located in nearby Old City, Philadelphia, PA.

☛ Tour the Museum with Michael Douglas: https://museumvirtualtour.org/
☛ Take a Virtual Field Trip with host Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived series of children’s historical fiction novels: http://www.scholastic.com/beyondthebattlefield/index.html
☛ Explore two interactive features: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/learn-and-explore/interactives
☛ Browse upcoming live events: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/at-the-museum/events

If you need a member ID to register for an event, please contact the library for our pass number!

The full site is located here: https://www.amrevmuseum.org/ The museum expects to reopen in January 2021. Stop by the library for a pass to follow up on your online journey once they reopen!

Need more from the Library? We made some book lists!

American Revolution books:
Kids books
Young Adult books
Adult Nonfiction
Adult Fiction