The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent

Philadelphia’s history museum, and Norman Rockwell, too

Exterior of the Atwater Kent Museum. Credit: Courtesy of the Atwater Kent

Description

**The Atwater Kent Museum is currently closed for renovations. The Museum will reopen in Winter 2011.**

The Experience

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, located just around the corner from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, has been an exciting gateway into Philadelphia History for nearly 70 years. See hundreds of priceless objects on display, include the wampum belt that the Lenni Lenape Indians gave to William Penn in 1682.

The museums is also home to the world’s largest map of Philadelphia, stretching over an entire gallery floor in a permanent exhibition, Experience Philadelphia. In just a few steps, travel from South Philadelphia to Montgomery County and see the ordinary and extraordinary objects and images of city history.

History

A. Atwater Kent, a wealthy inventor who manufactured early radios in Philadelphia, bought the building, the original home of the Franklin Institute, in 1938. He then gave it to the city to establish a museum dedicated to Philadelphia’s cultural and industrial history.

Kent aimed to celebrate the city’s past and inspire the future. John Haviland, who was also the architect of Eastern State Penitentiary, designed the 1826 Greek Revival building.

Insider Tip

The collection of 321 reproductions of Norman Rockwell’s homespun covers for the Saturday Evening Post is a visitor favorite and must-see when visiting the museum.

Good Kids’ Stuff

Kids love traversing the Delaware Valley in seconds on the world’s largest map of Philadelphia and the region. “Walkabout” worksheets take children to different sites on the map and teach them about the history of the area, as well as basic map reading skills.