Week 4

For the general public guided tour of the main rooms downstairs, I wish that there had been more of an introduction about the physical space itself, rather than the tour entirely focusing on a basic overview of the Revolution. It’s really one of the only historic location tours that barely focuses on the space itself. The private tour of the upstairs rooms, with the Long Gallery and peace medals, was a cool look behind-the-scenes. I enjoyed getting to see and feel the vibe of the Long Gallery, especially since my group project focuses on Indigenous people in Philadelphia. This tucked-away part of the tour made me question what the landscape looked like, as well as what kinds of activities were happening in the building. Where did the Indigenous people eat and sleep? Did they have privacy from colonists to discuss between themselves? How many people were generally in the building at a given time? Were women present at all? Who was in charge of organizing the “administrative” side of things back then? I would love to know more about the comings and goings of people and objects through that space.

I also think the Second Bank should be open to the public, especially the exhibit space, although I understand that they don’t have the staffing power. In addition, the labels on the exhibits could have been more detailed and almost more “controversial”, like including details of historical figures being enslavers. Across the locations, the challenges that INDE is facing due to the federal government were very clear, from the signs to report problems based on the Executive Order to vague repairs happening to Independence Hall.