About the Museum

In 1907, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, an Episcopal priest, Reverend W. Herbert Burk, launched a two-year fundraising effort to acquire the tent that General George Washington used as his mobile headquarters throughout much of the Revolutionary War. Even then he dreamed of the tent becoming the centerpiece of a future national museum devoted to America’s founding. Burk, the rector of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Norristown, Pa., had first conceptualized a memorial for Washington during a sermon commemorating Washington's birthday in 1903. He then created a small museum within his church, Washington Memorial Chapel, and in 1918, established the Valley Forge Historical Society.

In 2000, the Society took steps to realize Burk’s dream by establishing the Museum of the American Revolution. Through a historic land exchange with the National Park Service in 2010, the Museum acquired the site of the former Independence National Historical Park Visitors Center — just steps away from Independence Hall — in exchange for land held in Valley Forge. With the ideal location secured, the Museum began a $150 million capital campaign to build, open, and endow the Museum. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of Founding Chairman H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest and his wife Marguerite Lenfest, as well as donations from 19,000 individual from all fifty states, the Museum exceeded its campaign goal by nearly $25 million.

Prior to construction of the building, archaeologists conducted fieldwork, uncovering evidence of occupation from the earliest European settlement of Philadelphia through the mid-20th century. A total of 82,000 artifact pieces were found, most of them coming from brick-lined privy pits and well shafts that were sealed beneath a later generation of buildings removed from this site.

On April 19, 2017, the 242nd anniversary of the “shot heard ‘round the world” that ignited the Revolutionary War, the Museum of the American Revolution officially opened to the public in the heart of historic Philadelphia. The new landmark, which has already welcomed more than a million visitors, provides a permanent home for the Museum’s rich collection of Revolutionary-era weapons, personal items, letters, diaries, and works of art. Immersive galleries, theater experiences, life-sized tableau scenes, and recreated historical environments bring to life the events, people, and ideals of our nation’s founding and engage people in the history and continuing relevance of the American Revolution.

Dr. R. Scott Stephenson

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native Scott Stephenson holds a B.A. from Juniata College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the University of Virginia. His broad public history experience spans nearly three decades and has been marked by public and professional acclaim for his creative and innovative approaches to engaging audiences. He has developed and collaborated on exhibits, films, and interpretive programs for numerous historical sites and organizations including Colonial Williamsburg, the Smithsonian, the Canadian War Museum, the National Park Service, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Heinz History Center, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. 

From 2007-2018, Stephenson led the development of the Museum of the American Revolution’s award-winning exhibitions, multimedia experiences and educational programming, as well as overseeing the care and expansion of its rich collection of art and artifacts, first as Director of Collections and Interpretation and then as Vice President of Collections, Exhibitions, and Programming. He served as a key member of the senior leadership team that raised $173 million to build and open the Museum, surpassing the original capital campaign goal of $150 million. The Museum opened in April 2017 to national and international acclaim, including rave reviews in the New York Times, Washington Post, and New York Review of Books. The core exhibition received many prestigious awards including the AAM 2018 Excellence in Exhibition Award for Special Achievement, AASLH Award of Merit, and the PA Museums Institutional Award.

In November 2018, Stephenson was named President and CEO of the Museum.