Presentation by Jim Fussell, Scholar in Residence at Pendle Hill Quaker Center, Wallingford, PA

In a time when Philadelphia’s historical exhibits are being dismantled, this talk highlights how enslaved Black people in Pennsylvania challenged colonial-era Quaker enslavers through escape, arson, confrontation, and self-advocacy. Their actions, spanning 1725 to 1781, reshaped Quaker and Pennsylvania history from the ground up.

Centering Stenton as a site of lived struggle, the presentation invites participants to reconsider familiar narratives about Quakers. Close readings of runaway notices, court records, and other documents reveal the persistent acts of Black agency and resistance.

Click the "More Information and Registration" link below to sign up on TicketLeap to receive a Zoom link. This program is part of Stenton's Wrestling With Justice: Quakers and Northern Slavery Project, supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

No school? No problem. On select school holidays this year, Awbury is turning the day off into a day outside—with a full schedule of hands-on, screen-free fun from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Campers will spend the day hiking, playing games, hunting for hidden treasures, crafting, and cooking lunch over a campfire (hot dog lunch provided, or bring your own). Of course, it wouldn’t be a day at Awbury without s’mores and some muddy adventures.

Presidents Day – Monday, Feb 16, 2026

Lunar New Year – Tuesday, Feb 17, 2026

Time: 8:30am-3:30pm

Location: AdventureWoods, 6060 Ardleigh St., Philadelphia 19138

Fee: $70 (Awbury members) / $80 (non-members) / $20 (scholarship)

No school? No problem. On select school holidays this year, Awbury is turning the day off into a day outside—with a full schedule of hands-on, screen-free fun from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Campers will spend the day hiking, playing games, hunting for hidden treasures, crafting, and cooking lunch over a campfire (hot dog lunch provided, or bring your own). Of course, it wouldn’t be a day at Awbury without s’mores and some muddy adventures.

Presidents Day – Monday, Feb 16, 2026

Lunar New Year – Tuesday, Feb 17, 2026

Time: 8:30am-3:30pm

Location: AdventureWoods, 6060 Ardleigh St., Philadelphia 19138

Fee: $70 (Awbury members) / $80 (non-members) / $20 (scholarship)

This lecture and short walking tour highlight the Black community in 1913 Germantown, as documented in Baugh’s ‘souvenir” booklet published on the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Learn about clergy, contractors, small business owners, medical professionals, and others who formed the core of the neighborhood’s civic leadership. See some of the churches, homes, and other physical evidence of the African American community on the eve of the Great Migration.

Duration: 90 minutes

Cost/Registration: FREE, Registration Required

Presented by: Tuomi Forrest, Executive Director of Historic Germantown, and Supreme Divine-Dow, Executive Director of the Black Writers Museum

Start Point: Meet at the entrance to the Black Writers Museum, Historic Vernon House inside of Vernon Park, along front steps

End Point: Tour concludes at the Black Writers Museum with light refreshments & tour of galleries

at the Museum of the American Revolution, cohosted by Stenton and the NSCDA/PA

AmRev Presents: Women’s History Night & Film Premiere
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m. Film Premiere and Discussion

$35 - Public Onsite (includes reception, TDJ, program)
$30 - Member Onsite (includes reception, TDJ, program)
$30 – Special Rate for NSCDA-PA Member Onsite (includes TDJ and reception)

Celebrate the revolutionary women – problem-solvers, networkers, and nation-makers – who shaped independence movements at home and abroad. Presented by the Museum of the American Revolution with The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (NSCDA-PA), enjoy the premiere of the NSCDA-PA’s national education project, “For the Common Good: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation,” along with a lively conversation hosted by Museum Director of Education and Community Engagement Adrienne G. Whaley and featuring historian Dr. Karin Wulf, author of Lineage: Genealogy and the Politics of Connection in Early America and project producer, writer, and documentarian Nathaniel Popkin.

This event starts at 5:30 p.m. to include a themed reception and after-hours access to The Declaration’s Journey, presented by Griffin Catalyst, and a celebratory toast at 6 p.m. Doors will open to Lenfest Myer Theater at 6:15 p.m. for the featured program, to be followed by a book signing with Karin Wulf.

Learn more about the inspiration for this nine-part docuseries, “For the Common Good: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation,” produced by NSCDA-PA for this 2026 premiere at https://www.nscdapa.org/common-good.

No school? No problem. On select school holidays this year, Awbury is turning the day off into a day outside—with a full schedule of hands-on, screen-free fun from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Campers will spend the day hiking, playing games, hunting for hidden treasures, crafting, and cooking lunch over a campfire (hot dog lunch provided, or bring your own). Of course, it wouldn’t be a day at Awbury without s’mores and some muddy adventures.

Eid al-Fitr – Friday, Mar 20, 2026

Primary Election Day – Tuesday, May 19 2026

Time: 8:30am-3:30pm

Location: AdventureWoods, 6060 Ardleigh St., Philadelphia 19138

Fee: $70 (Awbury members) / $80 (non-members) / $20 (scholarship)

Explore sites that inspired Marguerite de Angeli’s ground-breaking children’s book Bright April and trace progress from white authors portraying African American families to the day when Black writers won the opportunity.

Tour Presented by: Barbara McDowell Dowdall, Inspiring Bright April Curator & Susan Bockius, Germantown Crier contributor (Marguerite de Angeli)

Cost/Registration: FREE, Registration Required

Walking Conditions: Flat terrain along Germantown Avenue and Rittenhouse Street

Refreshments: Light refreshments provided

Restrooms: Restrooms available at the beginning and end of the tour

Tour Start: Meet at the entrance to Historic Germantown on Market Square

Tour End: Tour will end at the Black Writers Museum in Vernon Park approximately 3 blocks up Germantown Avenue from 5501

Following the story of the 1946 children’s book Bright April by Marguerite de Angeli, we can trace progress from white authors portraying African American families to the day when Black writers won the opportunity. De Angeli took care to blend library research with attention to the lives and stories of African American community members like educators Arthur Huff Fauset, Joseph E. Hill School Principal Nellie Rathbone Bright and Girl Scout Troop 338 Leader Jessica Cole. Title character April Bright, a nine-year-old Brownie Scout cannot escape racism, whether on the TROLLEY CAR as the story begins, nor from a scout troop peer, nor even on a special occasion she earned through study of birds and trees. With a supportive best friend Sophie, devoted scout leader and teacher, and a strong family, April prevails as both achiever and friend. As our nation’s 250th anniversary unrolls, Historic Germantown and the book that inspired a unique exhibit reveal the real sites where fictional characters help bring them to life.

As America celebrates the Semi quincentennial, Stenton is hosting its own 250th celebration that is even closer to home. Join Stenton and nearby neighbors for our third annual Dinah Day! Dinah Day marks the date in 1776 when Dinah was manumitted from slavery. During her lifetime Dinah won her freedom, reunited her family, and saved Stenton from being burned during the Revolution. This celebratory afternoon will include reflection time at the Dinah Memorial, tours, crafts, community healing, and the premiere of the short film “For the Common Good: Women Who Shaped our Nation - Dinah”.  

This spring festival honors our abolitionist roots and our commitment to literacy as liberation. Celebrating the power and joy of reading, we welcome local authors, host literacy activities, and have community literacy partners table throughout the day. We give away thousands of books and Read by 4th resources.