The enduring importance of the American Revolution is demonstrated by the rich array of materials from the Revolution on display in changing exhibitions at museums, libraries and other cultural institutions across the country. We encourage you to seek them out.
New-York Historical Society – New York, N.Y.
September 6, 2019 – January 12, 2020
The patriot, silversmith and entrepreneur Paul Revere was forever immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1861 poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” but his genuine accomplishments are often eclipsed by the legend of the midnight journey. This exhibition, organized by the American Antiquarian Society, features more than 150 objects and re-examines Revere’s life, transforming visitors’ understanding of the innovative businessman through an in-depth exploration of his accomplishments as a silversmith, printmaker and pioneering copper manufacturer.
Museum of the American Revolution – Philadelphia, Pa.
September 28, 2019 – March 17, 2020
Follow the untold story of Irish soldier and artist Richard St. George, whose personal trauma and untimely death provide a window into the entangled histories of the American Revolution of 1776 and the Irish Revolution of 1798. St. George joined the British army to fight against the American rebels in 1776, survived a severe head wound at the Battle of Germantown a year later and again opposed revolution in his native country in 1798, when he was killed by his tenants. This international loan exhibition brings together more than one hundred objects documenting St. George’s life and era, including sketches and cartoons he created and paintings he commissioned to record his experiences and emotions over two decades.
American Revolution Museum at Yorktown – Yorktown, Va.
June 29, 2019 – March 22, 2020
Discover personal stories of enslaved and free African Americans on both sides of the American Revolution and the difficult choices and risks they faced in Forgotten Soldier. Rare documents and artifacts, interactives and compelling art, including a new contemporary work by nationally acclaimed artist Titus Kaphar, trace the experiences of African American soldiers who took part in the American cause for a free and independent nation or took up arms for British forces in hopes of obtaining their own freedom.
Fort Pitt Museum – Pittsburgh, Pa.
Ongoing since July 1, 2017
Few objects from colonial America had such a personal connection to their owners as the powder horns used by soldiers, settlers and American Indians to store the gunpowder necessary for their survival. The smooth surface of the horn was also an ideal place for owners and artists to leave their mark, etching names, dates, maps and war records, as well as purely whimsical figures, into the objects. The carved powder horns in this exhibition illuminate the landscapes, wars and politics of early America and particularly its frontier residents.
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library – Winterthur, Del.
July 11, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Opening on the 215th anniversary of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, this exhibition examines how Hamilton’s and Burr’s legacies were shaped by other founding fathers, a wife, a daughter, historical documents and even an enormously successful, modern-day musical. The continuously interwoven fates and legacies of these two seemingly divisive figures provides an exciting opportunity to explore what stories get written, which get remembered and why, using original correspondence, printed material and imagery and an evocative eighteenth-century velvet coat.
American Philosophical Society – Philadelphia, Pa.
April 12 – December 29, 2019
Tracing the creation and use of maps from the mid-18th century through 1816, this exhibition investigates the way maps, as both artworks and practical tools, had political and social meaning. It features historical maps, surveying instruments, books, manuscripts and other objects to show how maps were used to create and extend the physical, political and ideological boundaries of the new nation and how different people used maps as political and ideological tools to express multiple, sometimes competing, visions of what the new United States would be. Highlights of the exhibition include a 1757 copy of the John Mitchell map of the British empire in North America, manuscript maps from the American Revolution and George Washington’s copy of the 1792 map of Washington, D.C.
DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Va.
April 20, 2019 – January 2, 2023
The arms used by the combatants on all sides of the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars were an international jumble of firearms and bladed weapons. These arms take center stage in this exhibition, which features approximately seventy muskets, carbines and rifles, bayonets, pistols and swords used by loyalists, American patriots, Hessians and British “red coats” in battles on land and at sea. “To Arm Against an Enemy” explores the wide variety of weapons used during the Revolution and the progression of military technology that was vital to securing American independence.