Take a walk through colonial and revolutionary Philadelphia with the man who knows the city just as well as he knew it two hundred and fifty years ago. Visit the places where Ben Franklin made a name for himself as a printer, inventor, and statesman, and hear about it firsthand with all the wit Ben is famous for. Come along with Ben to see the sights of historic Philadelphia, including the Liberty Bell, colonial Christ Church, and Independence Hall, and walk in the footsteps of the convicts Ben Franklin once hired to carry him there for the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Behind no less than five sets of locks – both electronic and analog, including a 19th century bank vault door – rest some of the most treasured items in HSP’s collection of over 21 million manuscripts, graphics, and books. Until now. 

In celebration of the Democratic National Convention, join HSP for PoliticalFest, a one-of-a-kind festival celebrating political history, government and the road to the White House. On display will be HSP's most treasured items, never before displayed at the same time. 

Philadelphia boasts one of the oldest, largest and most diverse park systems in the United States. Yet our parks receive scant attention in histories of lanpdscape design and city planning.  In “Counting Trees: The Search for Fairmount Park,” Elizabeth Milroy, author of The Grid and the River: Philadelphia’s Green Places, 1682-1876, will describe the development of Philadelhia’s urban parks in the two centuries after William Penn and Thomas Holme drew public squares on the seminal city plan.