Celebrate National Historic Marker Day with Arch Street Meeting House on a walking tour of Old City, Philadelphia!

Created by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, National Historic Marker Day is a service-oriented event that brings people and communities together to maintain their markers by cleaning them and providing an opportunity to celebrate and preserve history.

ASMH staff and volunteers will begin the day with a quick clean of the meetinghouse's two markers, and then visitors are welcome to join us for a private walking tour that will lead you through the blue historic markers of some of Philadelphia's favorite Friends (also known as Quakers!). Tour stops include the markers for Betsy Ross, Anthony Benezet, Hannah Callowhill Penn, and more.

Walking tours will occur every hour, rain or shine:

• 10:30 - 11:30 PM

• 11:30 - 12:30 PM

• 12:30 - 1:30 PM

• 1:30 - 2:30 PM

• 2:30 - 3:30 PM
  
  
  

National Historic Marker Day was created by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.

Join ASMH and 35+ Old City businesses on Wednesday, April 24 from 5-8 PM. We can’t wait to see you! 

Registration is required, but the event is free to attend! Guests who register and attend the event will also be entered to win an Old City Wedding Gift Basket, filled with more than 20 prizes like gift cards, complimentary services, and more. 

Visit OldCityDistrict.org/wedding for more information. Registration required.

Old City is Philadelphia’s ultimate one-stop wedding shop! Home to more than 300 independently-owned small businesses, find wedding attire, florists, jewelers, restaurants, venues, wedding services, and so much more - all within a few blocks. Rely on Old City wedding experts to make your big day everything you imagine – and more!

After a two-month hiatus for the winter season, Arch Street Meeting House will reopen to the general public for museum visitation on Thursday, February 29th!

Museum hours are Thursday – Sunday, 10 am to 4 pm.

Arch Street Meeting House will be participating in Welcome America’s first Free Museum Day for the Philly Holiday Experience. ASMH will be open for FREE from 10 am to 7:00 pm with special extended hours. Please stay tuned for more information.

Registration is not required.

Arch Street Meeting House’s annual winter program, Meetinghouse by Candlelight, returns this holiday season on Friday, December 1st, 2023!

Step back into the 19th Century this winter at Arch Street Meeting House! On the First Friday of December, get into the holiday spirit with crafts, raffles, and light fare. Keep an eye for William Penn himself wandering about and listen to enchanting performances from the talented students from local Quaker schools. Complimentary light fare and wine will be provided, and drinks courtesy of Yards Brewing Co.

Musical performances include students from the George School, Frankford Friends School, Media-Providence Friends School, and Germantown Friends School.

Support provided by Yards Brewing Co, Conshocken Brewing, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

Join us for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Friend's Pantry Community Fridge!

Arch Street Meeting House Preservation Trust (ASMHPT) is thrilled to announce the installation of a new Community Fridge on the historic grounds of Arch Street Meeting House! Led by the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia (MMFP), the Friend’s Pantry at ASMH is one of a growing number of pantries and community fridges across the City that address food insecurity for local Philadelphians.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will occur on Saturday, November 11th at 1:30 pm outdoors on the grounds of ASMH during Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Fall Continuing Sessions. The ceremony will include remarks by ASMHPT Executive Director Sean Connolly, State Senator Nikil Saval, and MMFP Clerk Hazele Goodridge.

The Friend’s Pantry is located at 320 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19106 in Arch Street Meeting House. The Community Fridge will be free and accessible to the public during ASMH’s museum operating hours. For the most up-to-date operating schedule or more information about supporting the pantry, please visit historicasmh.org/friendspantry.

Support for this project was provided in part by Keep Pennsylvania Beautifull’s Healing the Planet Grant Program with support from the Giant Company, and the Monthly Meeting of Friends of Philadelphia. 

Arch Street Meeting House will be hosting an outdoor screening of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) on Thursday, October 12th, 2023 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. Tickets are a suggested donation of $10 per attendee and include admission to the museum. Feel free to bring snacks, BYOB, and have fun!

In the event of rain, the screening will be moved indoors to the East Room. Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

Old City Fest will this return for its eighth year this fall! Old City Fest is a celebration of art and design, fashion and food, creativity and culture on the streets of America’s most historic square mile — Old City, Philadelphia. This event highlights the region’s premier art and design district, showcasing local designers, creative firms, restaurants, retailers, galleries, theater, culture, history and architecture.

Arch Street Meeting House will be open and welcoming visitors from 11 am until 6 pm for the Fest on Sunday, October 8th.

Stay tuned for more information.

Join ACM and Nickelodeon for Our World: Worldwide Day of Play!

The Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) and their member museums are excited to partner with Nickelodeon on the 2023 Our World: Worldwide Day of Play. As a day dedicated to experiencing joyful learning through play, this global event focuses on getting children and their families active!

Visit Arch Street Meeting House for FREE on Saturday, September 30th, and join in on the fun! We’ll have family-friendly activities and exciting ways to Meet Quaker History.

Registration is not required.

Presented by Campus Philly, Arch Street Meeting House is joining museums across Philadelphia for CollegeFest! ASMH will be open for FREE to registered students from 10 am to 4 pm.

September 9 & 10 is THE weekend you fall in love with Philly.

Sign up for your official ticket to 30+ free experiences all across the city, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Illusions, National Constitution Center and more museums + cultural institutions, as well as FREE transportation on SEPTA all weekend long (including regional rail, subway, trolley, bus, and the Philly PHLASH loop!), FREE coffee and gift cards from Dunkin, and the Campus Philly Block Party with pop-up activations, swag, giveaways and more!

Signing up gets you on the list for ALL of the above + enters you into giveaways for gift cards, prizes, Campus Philly swag, and $$$ to Philly's best lunch spots. We'll email you your OFFICIAL pass for free admission + free SEPTA rides when you register - your confirmation email is your official pass to CollegeFest!

Join us for a memorable evening with the American Historical Theatre on Friday, September 1st, at Arch Street Meeting House.

Indulge in complimentary light fare and immerse yourself in history with first-person presentations from some of Philadelphia's most notable Quakers and figures. Don't miss out on this opportunity to visit ASMH and Meet Quaker history with Friends of the past.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

Join ASMH staff and volunteers for a hands-on, family-friendly activity and Meet Quaker History.

Quakers & quilts have a deep-rooted history that we will explore through different mediums: paper designs, coloring pages, hand-sewing, and machine-sewing.

Participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

William Penn's acquisition of Pennsylvania made him the largest private landholder in the history of the world.  He could have governed his colony as he saw fit, and yet he chose to give the power of government to the people.

Learn how Penn envisioned his "Holy Experiment" as a place where people of different faiths could live together not in unity, but in harmony, each free to worship as their conscience dictated.  Many of the rights that we take for granted such as free speech, trial by jury, and free elections come from Penn's Charter of Privileges.  In Pennsylvania, Penn planted the "Seeds of a Nation" which, in time, would grow into some of our most fundamental freedoms.

The National Constitution Center is partnering with neighboring sites throughout Historic Philadelphia for our Finding the Founders scholarly series. These programs explore the ideas of equality and freedom through the lens of the American Revolution, and provide an expanded understanding of Independence Day—one that sees the holiday as both a celebration and an acknowledgment of America’s ongoing struggle to achieve the ideals expressed in the nation’s founding documents. 

Arch Street Meeting House will be open for Free Museum Day on Saturday, July 1st, 2023 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Philadelphia’s most notable museums, cultural institutions, and attractions will open their doors free of charge, or, for an optional pay-what-you-wish donation, throughout the entire festival.

Arch Street Meeting House will be hosting an outdoor screening of Back to the Future (1985) on Thursday, June 29th, 2023 from 8 pm to 10 pm. Tickets are a suggested donation of $10 per attendee and include admission to the museum. Feel free to bring snacks, BYOB, and have fun!

Doors will be opening at 8:00 pm, and we will begin the movie at 8:30 pm to give attendees the opportunity to get settled and explore our exhibits. Chairs will be provided, but picnic blankets are welcome.

Join ASMH staff and volunteers for a hands-on, family-friendly activity! The Soapbox, a printmaking shop, will be doing hands-on small demos and discussing the history of Quakers and printmaking. Registration not required.

Stay tuned for more information.

Participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Norman E. Donoghue, II will discuss his new book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia's Quakers in Exile, 1777-1778, on June 14th at Arch Street Meeting House.

About the Book

In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as “the most Dangerous Enemies America knows” and ordered Pennsylvania and Delaware to apprehend them. In response, Keystone State officials sent twenty men—seventeen of whom were Quakers—into exile, banishing them to Virginia, where they were held for a year.

Prisoners of Congress reconstructs this moment in American history through the experiences of four families: the Drinkers, the Fishers, the Pembertons, and the Gilpins. Identifying them as the new nation’s first political prisoners, Norman E. Donoghue II relates how the Quakers, once the preeminent power in Pennsylvania and an integral constituency of the colonies and early republic, came to be reviled by patriots who saw refusal to fight the English as borderline sedition.

Surprising, vital, and vividly told, this narrative of political and literal warfare waged by the United States against a pacifist religious group during the Revolutionary War era sheds new light on an essential aspect of American history. It will appeal to anyone interested in learning more about the nation’s founding.

Norman E. Donoghue, II

Norman Donoghue is an independent scholar of the Quaker experience in the American Revolution. He was raised amidst Quakers in Chester County and enjoyed a career practicing law among them (and others), in Philadelphia.

Join ASMH staff and volunteers for a hands-on, family friendly activity and Meet Quaker History.

Stay tuned for more information.

Participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia!

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Join us at Arch Street Meeting House on Friday, May 12th, from 5:30 to 7 pm for The Vegetarian Legacy of Benjamin Lay, presented by Vance Lehmkuhl of the American Vegan Center.

Benjamin Lay was scorned and laughed at during his life for his stubborn, relentless advocacy for the abolition of slavery from as early as 1732, and he spent nearly two centuries as a nearly-forgotten footnote to history. Thanks to Marcus Rediker's 2017 biography The Fearless Benjamin Lay (now optioned for a major motion picture!), more Americans are starting to learn and appreciate how his anti-slavery activism reverberated through U.S. history, up to and beyond the US civil war. But his vegetarianism, which for Lay was cut from the same cloth as his abolitionism, also impacted American history.

We will look at how his influence was borne out in the lives of US vegetarians such as Anthony Benezet, John Woolman, Joshua Evans, Stephen Grellet, Sarah & Angelina Grimke, Bronson Alcott, and Dr. William Alcott, the first president of the American Vegetarian Society.

Vance Lehmkuhl

Vance Lehmkuhl runs the veg history tour program at the American Vegan Center, offering pre-scheduled and custom walking tours around Old City. He is the author of Eating Vegan in Philly (2016) and V for Veg: The Best of Philly's Vegan Food Column (2016), both from Sullivan Street Press. He spent years as the vegan columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News and, prior to that, as the political cartoonist for Philadelphia City Paper, for which he was named Best of Philly by Philadelphia Magazine. He also founded the eco-pop band Green Beings, whose novelty patter song "Leftovers" has been heard many times on Dr. Demento's radio show. Vance is passionate about three things: Helping acquaint people with Philadelphia's amazing veg history; his wife, Cynthia Way; and the symphonies of Joseph Haydn.

Workshop 3:30 – 5:00 pm

Reaching Out to Each Other: Allah is Merciful: Perhaps Allah Needs Me is an interactive, intergenerational Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) mini-workshop. The story is by Patricia Cockrell set in Chechnya with facilitators from Ukraine, Britain, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Interpretation will be available in English, Ukrainian, and Indonesian. For other languages, please bring your own interpreter.

Reception 5:00 – 6:30 pm

Visit with peace and justice workers from around the world – Asia, Africa, Ukraine, and the Americas. An informal discussion with light refreshments will follow the workshop.

The Power of Goodness is a collection of true stories from around the world of how people have reacted peacefully and nonviolently in the face of prejudice and violence. They depict instructional moments in how to rely on the power of goodness in difficult situations and the amazing results of doing so.

Old City District showcases its fast-growing wedding industry with the 2nd annual Old City Wedding Stroll on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, from 5:00-8:00 pm. More than 40 locations will open their doors and offer consultations, demos, tastings, and tours. Get your first look at Old City bridal and suit shops, venues, restaurants, and wedding services. The event is free to attend, but registration is required.

Old City is Philadelphia’s ultimate one-stop wedding shop! Home to more than 300 independently-owned small businesses, find wedding attire, florists, jewelers, restaurants, venues, wedding services, and so much more - all within a few blocks. Rely on Old City wedding experts to make your big day everything you imagine – and more!

Join the "Penman of the Revolution" as he discusses his role in the journey that took us from colonies to country. John Dickinson used his wit, intellect, and faith to guide his actions as one of our lesser-known Founding Fathers. Although he refused to vote for the Declaration of Independence, he was instrumental in the creation of our national government and drafted many of our founding documents, including the First Amendment.

This public devotion caused Thomas Jefferson to eulogize him, saying: "A more estimable man, or truer patriot, could not have left us. Among the first of the advocates for the rights of his country when assailed by Great Britain, he continued to the last the orthodox advocate of the true principles of our new government and his name will be consecrated in history as one of the great worthies of the revolution."

Support for this program provided by Friends Fiduciary and the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

Presented by Campus Philly, Arch Street Meeting House is joining neighborhood businesses in Old City for Philly Night Out! ASMH will be open for special evening hours from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Old City is where you want to be on the First Friday of every month, as the neighborhood comes alive with new exhibitions at art galleries and showrooms, deals and discounts at restaurants and cafes, and local retailers selling their wares at their shops and studios. On March 3, college students and recent graduates who sign up for this Philly Night Out will get an exclusive pass to even more deals and discounts at art galleries, restaurants, and more participating businesses in Old City, exclusively for the Campus Philly community! 

Below is a list of participating “Philly Night Out” businesses who will offer free or discounted admission when you show your confirmation email on March 3. Keep checking back (and follow us on IG @CampusPhilly) as we’ll be adding to this list every day! 

Galleries & Showrooms 

• AXIOM Contemporary

• Millesime (Design tours available of the showroom) 

• Old City Jewish Arts Center

• Pentimenti Gallery

• Unique Photo

Participating Businesses: 

• American Vegan Center (5-8 p.m.)

  • 10% off all items in store for those who attend a free 5-minute “Why Veg History Is Essential” presentation (offered at 10-minute intervals throughout evening).

• Anima Natural Pet Products 

• Free admission + a free gift at Arch Street Meeting House (5-7 p.m.) 

• Discounted admission to Christ Church + gift shop purchases 

• Cuba Libre  

• 15% off at Elektra Vintage

• 20 % off online tickets at Museum of Illusions (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

• Free admission to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

• 10% off with student ID at Red Parasol Cafe 

• $4 signature blends at Scoop DeVille at The Bourse Food Hall  (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

• $1 off milkshakes from Vanderwende’s Philadelphia (12-10 p.m.) 

• Discount on facials from Victoria Roggio Beauty