tag | Museum

The oldest natural history museum in the Americas is set to close, but not without a fight.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania is giving visitors one last chance to see some of its most treasured Revolutionary War artifacts before the building closes for a three-year renovation. Running through Aug. 2, the “Revolutionary Things” exhibit features more than 140 artifacts divided into three sections — relics and witness objects, commemorative art, and centennial and bicentennial anniversaries. The museum is promoting the exhibit as the United States marks its 250th anniversary.

A new Lancaster museum dedicated to statesman Thaddeus Stevens and his housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, focuses on their roles in 19th-century abolitionist movements and the fight for freedom. The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy opened in May on the site where Stevens lived and practiced law. Sixteen exhibition galleries cover a range of topics, from what Lancaster was like in the 1840s to the Civil War and Reconstruction era, focusing on Stevens’ role.

The facility will tell the history of Bucks County, from the Lenni Lenape people, through Black slavery and emancipation, into the Great Migration of the 20th century.