Its a pleasure to be with you and were honored to have o cspan in the museum. You with are welcome anytime as is anybody watching. We were there for Opening Night of the museum. W but my opening question is how this project came about and why. Well it came about out of a decision that we need to preserve and tell the story of americas founding. S tu and not just as a series of events, but as people who actually achieved it, who fought off these soaring ideals of equality and how that inspired a nation, people in our nation to achieve it. It is the most important event in our nations history. It not only gave birth to our nation but it really gave us the values that make us a people. Everything that we cherish and hold dear. So its more than just e artifacts . Its more more than artifacts. Our museum is founded on artifacts. In fact when you come to the en museum you will see one of the more comprehensive collection of artifacts of the revolution tha has probably ever been assembled. But we really do dwell on the story of the individual people. L how did these people who are de citizens of the British Empire decide to rebel against their at king. What prompted them. What were they trying to achieve. And then ultimately what did they achieve and what is it t today. I in many ways our message is that this period in history was accomplished by real people just like every period in history is. And we wanted to use these objects as witnesses to those ne people, witnesses of the events that brought about the birth ofr our nation. Hr as visitors walk through thee museum on the first and second level. Who are some of the unsung heros . Who are some of the individuals that theyll learn n about beyond George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin that are featured inside the museum . We bring a lot of people to life in this museum. You will meet joseph martin, a teenager who joined Washingtons Army and served throughout the revolution. Youll meet an africanamerican at 14 who volunteered on board a private ship. Youll stand under the liberty tree and imagine yourself with r the sons of liberty who were the first people to start forming ideas about american independence and american liberty. You will meet women, native he americans who bring to light the stories of many people. We use a lot of different store ryes in that process as well. What are folks telling you as they depart the museum after spending a couple of hours inside. Im happy to say were euge getting praise and acclaim for the story telling, the exhibits, the artifacts, the films. People are telling us that evene though theyve never been interested in history before, theyre finding the subject matter fascinating, that we found a way to tell it that connects with them. And were hearing this not just from adults from young children. Weve had 16,000 School Children visit as well. A positive response. They can see themselves, see the drama in the exhibits and the action and they want to know more. And ultimately that is our goaln we want people to learn more about the revolution. This may be obvious because youre just a few blocks from Independence Hall. Why is it located in philadelphia as opposed to a boston or new york or washington, d. C. . Well you kind of gave the e. Answer there, steve. Because it is so close to ph Independence Hall. Philadelphia really was the heae quarters of the revolution. This is where the delegates camd when they first decided to st gather in protest to what they viewed as british oppression. This became the de facto capital of the british nation. D the British Forces seized it at one point thinking it was a knockout blow. When they determined they couldnt hold it, they became a pivot point in the revolution. Philadelphia because a point of everything going on in the revolution. T when people think about the revolution, a destination to go to learn about it, one of the first places they think of is Independence Hall and all of thd great landmarks and attractions centered around philadelphia. Er its not just Independence Hall, of course. B there are battlefields and encampments nearby. Valley forge, the german town battle, the battle of brandywine. There is so much here to allow them to really explore the he excitement and the drama of this founding. Later in the program were learn how youre able to collecs many of the artifacts inside the museum. In just a moment, one of the Center Pieces of the museum. Where are you physically la located . In what part of the museum . Im in one of our galleries that explores the terrible winter when philadelphia is occupied by British Forces and washington and his army are suffering out at valley forge. It was one of the low points of the war. But as winter waned and spring arrived, it really became a y resurgence of the american cause. Y michael will be with us for the next halfhour. Well get to your calls and comments in just a moment. But last month we traveled to philadelphia and as we mentioned the internet piece includes an original tent used by general George Washington. Behind these doors, and it really is one of most remarkable objects to survive from the revolution. As far as we can determine, it is the only tent other than one other of washingtons tents to n survive. It survived because washington chose to take it home with him at the end of the revolution. To and his family took care of it and reserved it. Hi the full story of the tent is presented in this theater. But the tent itself is a wonderful emblem of the challenge of creating the he exhibits in our museum. If you were to see this tent spread out on a table, you n probably wouldnt give it a second glance. Its very old canvas, weather re stained. Its tattered in places. Its over 240 years old after all. But we had to make its story ase being the shelter in which w George Washington made some of the most critical decisions of the revolution, where he was plunge into the depths of ai despair, exalted in victory andc success to make the tent tell that story. The first challenge we decided c is we had to show the tent fulll assembled as washington used ite in the field. It was truly his command headquarters. But we couldnt put it up the way he did because it was put up with tall poles and fabric and ropes pulled taut. That would tear the fabric a apart. We challenged the engineers to develop an umbrella structure so the tent appears to be open. It had to replicate the slight t sag in the top. Once we solved all of those problems, the next challenge is how do you tell the story. He we turned to fill makers, historians, our lead Vice President for collections, scott stephenson, and they huddled together and spent almost two t years pulling together the story life, the imagery, thinking ag about the music, the generation, the presentation, the light quality to really give this tent meaning. Our goal is to give meaning to George Washingtons leadership. He was commander in chief for eight years. Never left his troops. And he inspired a sense of loyalty, he installed a sense of responsibility in the army that has really become the bedrock of the traditions of the american n military efforts. Without him the army would likely have dissolved and the war would have been lost. Ha in many ways its an emblem for the entire museum. How do you take these objects, very simple to our eyes, they t dont have battleships in the revolution, they had guns and canteens and powder horns. How do you make these objects m come alive and tell the incredible life and death h decisions, the horrors, the courage, the excitement of the revolution . Its a turning point in history. And thats what we strive to dot throughout this museum. And its a very exciting place. These objects, they really do speak when you visit. Eu and this of course is the exterior of the museum of the American Revolution in downtownn philadelphia. Michael quinn, who is the president and the ceo. Our phone lines are open. 89 202 area code, 7488900 in the eastern or central time zone. 8901 in the mountain or pacific time zone. Whether its George Washingtons tent or other artifacts, when did the collection process begip on this week that we celebrate a our declaration of independence 240 years ago. Where was it stored up until the museum and how did you go about finding some of the unique artifacts . The tent is a good place to start. It is not only the most t treasured object in our collection. Its also our origin object. Because descendants of the washington family put it up for sale. It took him two years to raise the 5,000 to purchase it. T but once he did, that launched the idea of building a collection, preserving a memory and ultimately creating a museum to tell the story of the vo revolution. We trace or history back to that moment. V he ultimately founded the Valley Forge Historical society and they spent the 20th century collecting. These objects were during much of that time exhibited out at valley forge. But then we were formed to actually realize that larger vision of a museum to tell the l story of the revolution. We did ultimately conclude that the right place for that was ini the heart of historic lo philadelphia. As you pointed out, were just two blocks from independence pl hall and that enables us to serve the millions of people who come to philadelphia to see theo place where the declaration of independence was written, independence all and the other r great landmarks here. We directly serve those people and our goal is to give them a e broader understanding of the significance of that document and how it came about and its meaning at the time and its in meaning today. The price tag of the museum,d how much did it cost, how much did you have to raise . E . Well, there are a lot of numbers in here. The construction of this building was 60 million. Our full budget to open the museum was 120. But that covered not just the building, it covered all of the design work to create it, demolition of another building on site, creating the exhibits and all of our staff to get thet museum to opening day. Lets go to the phone calls. Linda from dover, delaware. Good evening. Caller i have a question. I watched the Ribbon Cutting ceremonies the other night and they introduced a japanese family as great contributor to r the museum. And i wondered why we went to japan to get these people to donate to the museum . Well, youre referring to alan and her heritage is nd japanese and chinese. Shes a naturalized american citizen. Sh she is so grateful for the freedoms that shes realized as a citizen for america that she wanted to make a donation. And the donation took the form d of these beautiful bronze skull sculptural on the front of the museum. One is Washington Crossing the delaware and the other is titled the declaration of independence. And it shows the drafting committee of the declaration presenting it to the continentan congress in june 28, 1776. These were such magnificent gifts inspired by such a gratitude that america represents that we felt it was only fitting to accept them and display them on the outside of t the museum so they could excite and inform every person that n passes by this building. Linda, were going to showcase exactly what they look like in a few minutes as michaef quinn takes us outside. We were up at the museum in june to present some of this, but first daniel is joining us on rs the phone. Good evening. Odal caller good evening sir. I have a fast question real e quick in three parts and ill be quick. My first part of it, at valley forge, the play cato, i knew washington was a fan of that play and that his officers presented that to the troops. Was that much of a thing about that . I mean did that really go all right or fall apart or whatever . And also, the sons of liberty, did they have an identification badge in im saying that from my childhood, you know, the tremaine movie, they always had a badge around their neck to show they were numbered. If that was true or just e hollywood. And the last part of my question, was there any i know the Continental Army was de made up of various people, blacks, indians. Were there any jews on record that were in the Continental Army as enlisted men . I know there were some that were finance years. S thats all i wanted to ask. Thank you for your call. First, if cato play was performed at valley forge. The significance of that is that it really harkened to the i ancient rome era when rome was a republic. That was the model of the inspiration for leadership at the time, that Public Servant who gives of himself without demanding anything in return to try and better their country. Of course thats what washington symbolized and the army did as well. Because although they were being paid, at least they had been f promised to be paid, for many of them that wasnt what was telling them to serve. It was the higher calls of the nation. As to your other two questions, im afraid i cant give you an e answer with 100 certainty. Ill ask you to defer them to our next guest, our Vice President , dr. Scott stephensons hell be joining us hell be joining us shortly and hes a great historian of the revolution. Let me ask you how did you get involved in this project and when. S i became involved in this project five years ago and whent i learned about it i thought instant think this is the most exciting project in the entire f field of public history. To be able to create a nationaln museum on the american d revolution. And yes, the revolution is preserved in many places in ourp country. But its little pieces of it, au battlefield here, an encampmentl a tavern, a home. This would be a place that would really pull all of that together. And present to the American People the most exciting dramatic chapter in our nationd history. After all, if you regard our nation, our form of government,m our values of equality and freedom as important, we should certainly preserve the memory oe its founding. They also informed how we think about our nation going forward. One of the messages in our ut museum is that the legacy of the American Revolution means that all of us, in a true fashion, are revolutionaries. Av because we have to uphold those values and carry them forward an our nation continues. And we must do that for the na nation to thrive. Well go to ron joining us sa from somerville, massachusetts with mike. Quinn, the president and ceo of the museum of the American Revolution. Good evening, ron. Caller hello. I was wondering, did you have any exhibits on france contribution to the American Revolution . We do absolutely. Frances contributions are enormous. You know that. Buan but even so in many ways, theyre underappreciated. You learn about their role. Frankly brought them into alliance with us. Ce you learn about their role in particular yorktown. But it was without question the Financial Support and the e military support from the frencs that helped sustain the american nation and led ultimately to success. S. One of the things were very ti proud of is that we have a portrait of a British Marine officer who had themselves portrayed after the revolution wearing his north american uniform. You see this officer looking ld just as he would have appeared in the battlefields around yorktown. Ic Michael Quinn our first calling asking about the bronze sculptures that are outside the. Museum. Lets take a look at that. Well be back in three minutes. We have wonderful features of the museum that help extend our story and use the outside of tht building to inform people about the revolution. These are things youll recognize. The first one is a giant sculptural relief, that replicates the painting of the declaration of independence. Youre looking at the drafting committee that wrote the declaration led by benjamin ad franklin, john adams and of course Thomas Jefferson presenting their draft to the entire assembled congress in early july 1776. That launched three or four days of debate before the language e was finalized and voted on on the 4th of july. O but this sculptural panel really shows you the people who helped create the defining document of the American People. Its the power of the pen because it really is the ideals and the concepts of the revolution that have made it the most important event in our nations history and one of thet most important events in world history, at least in modern world history. The second panel we have, same scale, also cast in bronze, tells the other story of the American Revolution and that is the power of the sword. This is a replica of a painting, Washington Crossing the delaware. We we all recognize it. And what this represents is the improbable fete of overcoming he impossible odds against the o British Military in the tt battlefield. Really due to george gt washingtons leadership that we were able to accomplish that. P so this pointing really dramatizes washingtons leadership. Historians will tell you there are a number of details about this depiction that are inaccurate but it absolutely is truthful in capturing ng washingtons leadership in the sense of purpose and mission of the revolution itself. Both of these sculptural pieces are donation to the museum and they were donated to us by a d naturalized american, a woman born and raised in china but now an american citizen. N. And she wanted to give these to the museum, to philadelphia, tom the American Public in gratitude of the freedom and life shes s been able to live as an american citizen. Ti thats really the legacy of oura revolution, is that we encompass everyone who comes to t