Celebrate Revolutionary Women During Women’s History Month

Musical Performances, Book Events, and Hands-On Workshops Highlight the Roles of Women During the American Revolution

Celebrate Revolutionary women at the Museum of the American Revolution during Women’s History Month this March. Special programs, workshops, and musical performances will highlight the essential roles that women played during the American Revolution. 

“Women don’t get enough credit for the Revolution,” said Marcela M. Micucci, the Museum’s Postdoctoral Fellow in Women’s History. “From supplying the Army with resources to leading boycotts against British goods, women were very much involved in America's battle for independence.”

Throughout the year, the Museum is committed to telling the stories of the diverse range of women who joined in the founding of our nation. In the Museum’s core galleries, visitors will learn about women like Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman, an enslaved woman who sued for her freedom and won; Deborah Sampson, who dressed as a man to fight in the Continental Army; Phillis Wheatley, America’s first published Black female poet; and Two Kettles Together, a Native American woman who fought in the Battle of Oriskany alongside her husband. Printed gallery guides highlighting the stories of women throughout the exhibits are available at the front desk.

In the Museum’s special hands-on exhibit Hamilton Was Here: Rising Up in Revolutionary Philadelphia, on display through March 17, visitors can learn about Martha Washington and the women in her social circle, including Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Visitors can try on reproduction 1790s clothing and sit in a replica chair from the President’s House to see if they can imitate the posture and deportment necessary for a levee, or social gathering.

Women’s History Month Highlights Include:

“Hamilton and Peggy!” Workshop and Talk/Book Signing with Author L.M. Elliott
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Workshop from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Talk and book signing from 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Workshop tickets are $15; workshop and book are $25
Talk and book signing are free with regular museum admission
You’ve heard of Alexander Hamilton, but have you heard of his Revolutionary friendship with Peggy Schuyler, who would later become his sister-in-law? New York Times best-selling author L.M. Elliott will discuss her young adult book Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship as part of the Museum’s new Write the Revolution series. From 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Elliott will lead a ticketed workshop geared towards young authors aged 11 – 15. In this hour-long workshop, Elliott will share how she used historical documents – letters, journals, and memoirs – to create a dramatic, fact-based story. At 2 p.m., Elliott will discuss the book and sign copies. More information here.

CANCELED: Historic Sewing 201: Making Baby Booties
Saturday, March 9, 2019, from 1 – 5 p.m.
$30 per person (does not include Museum admission)
During the Revolutionary War, women were often tasked with mending and sewing for their own families and for soldiers in the war effort. In this workshop, participants will hand-sew baby booties – like those in the Museum’s collection – to take home to their own young Revolutionaries. Learn the fundamentals of 18th-century dress and what it reveals about the Revolution in this hands-on workshop. Then, try your hand at creating your own to take home. More information here.

Fashioning Eliza: Hamilton and Philadelphia Style, 1777-1787
DATE CHANGE: Sunday, March 31 2019, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
Free with Museum admission
What was in Eliza Schuyler Hamilton’s closet? Join the Museum for a fashion presentation and panel conversation featuring the designer and seamstress Samantha McCarty; I, Eliza Hamilton author Susan Holloway Scott; and Museum Education staff. Compare a gown that Elizabeth Schuyler, a native New Yorker, might have worn to meet the young officer Alexander Hamilton during his military leave in winter 1777 with how she restyled herself as Mrs. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton in the new United States capital, Philadelphia, in 1787. Guests are invited to arrive early to explore the Hamilton Was Here exhibit. Following the presentation, pose for your own portrait with similar fashions and meet author Susan Holloway Scott for a book signing featuring I, Eliza Hamilton. Support for the Fashioning Eliza project is provided in part by David and Kim Adler. More information here.

Tempeste di Mare
Sunday, March 17, 2019, from 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are $39 for the concert plus Museum admission; $25 for the concert only and Museum members
Emlyn Ngai and Rebecca Harris of Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra Tempesta di Mare trace the violin duet and the nature of violins as sojourners through the lives of some of the instrument’s greatest composer-performers: Leclair, Viotti, Piazzolla and more. More information here.

History After Hours: Burn After Reading
Tuesday, March 19, 2019, from 5 – 8 p.m.
$10 admission (includes full exhibit access)
Feel like playing with fire? Learn why some legacy-making women, like Eliza Hamilton, burned their letters and which celebrity gossip still makes us wonder during a discussion with Curatorial Fellow Marcela Micucci. Put your own legacy into print with Amanda D’Amico of Tiny Revolutionary Press. Think like a historian and ask an archivist from the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries about the significance of saving stuff. In the galleries, snoop for secrets of women who charted their own course. More information here.

Read the Revolution Speaker Series with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Thursday, March 28, 2019, at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for members, and $10 for students
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University, used textiles and textile tools to trace the history of New England in her pioneering work The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth, first published in 2001. Ulrich will revisit the Revolutionary era with an emphasis on the power of ordinary objects to enlarge our understanding of the past. More information here.

About Museum of the American Revolution
The Museum of the American Revolution explores the dramatic, surprising story of the American Revolution through its unmatched collection of Revolutionary-era weapons, personal items, documents, and works of art. Immersive galleries, powerful theater experiences, and digital touchscreens bring to life the diverse array of people who created a new nation against incredible odds. Visitors gain a deeper appreciation for how this nation came to be and feel inspired to consider their role in the ongoing promise of the American Revolution. Located just steps away from Independence Hall, the Museum serves as a portal to the region’s many Revolutionary sites, sparking interest, providing context, and encouraging exploration. The Museum, which opened on April 19, 2017, is a private, non-profit, and non-partisan organization. For more information, visit www.AmRevMuseum.org or call 877.740.1776.