Six Historical Exhibits to See This Week
Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science at The Franklin Institute
Alexander Hamilton and the Foundation of America’s Financial System @ The Constitution Center | Through July 10th, 2016
It’s basically the Broadway hit without the singing, dancing, and excessive media coverage. In case the mammoth musical mania of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton wasn’t enough to satisfy your Founding Father fancy, this exhibition commemorates our nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury, whose approach to banking, finance, taxation, coinage, and currency utterly revolutionized the monetary methods of the United States.
Magic in the Ancient World @ Penn Museum | Through April 2017
Long before Harry Houdini and the Long Island Medium, ancient civilizations attempted to harness the supernatural. From curse tablets to protective amulets, the display showcases 81 occult artifacts, telling the tales of ancient societies from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. The exhibit includes interactive stations that match ancient magical solutions (via objects found in the gallery) to modern-day concerns.
Arresting Patterns: Perspectives on Race, Criminal Justice, Artistic Expression, and Community @ The African American Museum | Through September 11th, 2016
Through different media, this exhibit conveys the disenfranchisement visited on African-Americans by the United States criminal justice system. Comprising works from contemporary artists Dread Scott, Titus Kaphur, Andy Warhol, and Adrian Piper, among others, the display provides a visual map to policies that converted the nation’s prison system into a “modern equivalent of Jim Crow” over the last 40 years.>.
Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science @ The Franklin Institute | Through August 28, 2016
From deciphering hieroglyphics to digging up artifacts, the elements of this interactive exhibit are oriented toward “amateur archaeologists.” Youngsters get the chance to channel their artistic and architectural skills through pyramid building and pottery puzzles. Before returning to this century, don’t forget to swing by Annie’s spot — the tomb of a 2,000-year-old mummy!
Patriots & Pirates @ The Seaport Museum | On permanent display
Ahoy, mateys and maritime buffs! This brand-new exhibition, which premiered in April, dives deep into a sea of history surrounding America’s conflict with pirates from Algiers toward the end of the American Revolution. Inspect some rarely seen and never-seen artifacts, such as a letter written to the American Congress by American citizens held hostage in Algiers requesting their return home in December 1793 and tools from the excavation of I-95 in Old City in 1974.
