By CATHLEEN MCCARTHY
If you’ve ever visited the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the sprawling white structure that opened in 2003 across from Independence Park and the Liberty Bell, you’ll recognize the vast lobby when you enter, with its glass walls and soaring ceilings, and galleries tucked in the back.
The museum’s upper level, however, has changed dramatically since renovations began in 2023. This summer you’ll find two new permanent galleries there and a third that opened last year. Originally one big exhibit designed as an open corridor, this level has been transformed into a series of galleries that take you on a journey through the birth of the nation.
“That space could be overwhelming,” Sarah Winski, senior director of exhibits, says of the original upper level. “People moved through it faster than we wanted.” To get them to linger and learn, Winski’s team created plenty of immersive “roadblocks”—interactive screens, levers to pull and buttons to push—inviting you to stop, play, dig a little deeper.
“It’s a more engaging experience now,” Winski says. The new galleries tell the story of the country’s early years, as Colonial leaders debated how to impose order on the chaos of a fledgling country in a way that would reflect—and protect—the ideals they’d fought for. Along the way, you’re invited to do the same.
Before you dive into the reconfigured galleries, however, arrange your visit to start with “Freedom Rising,” a multimedia production that takes place in an auditorium every hour, hosted live by a thespian who narrates an abridged version of the nation’s history from the center of a 360-degree light show. Giant projected faces—from the founding fathers to Martin Luther King—deliver famous lines. One moment you’re surrounded by battles, the next by people marching in the streets for rights we take for granted today.
You’ll exit outside the new galleries. America’s Founding Gallery opens with video animations that take you inside a tavern in Boston before the Tea Party as men argue politics over pints of beer, then along Colonial streets where locals gripe about taxes, to Valley Forge as the battle heats up, and finally, inside the Pennsylvania State House— now known as Independence Hall (which you can see from the museum windows) as the founders hammer out a Constitution. “You learn that people in the past were not so different from us,” Winski says.
Nowhere is that more obvious than a wall case full of household items that once belonged to Colonial-era families who lived right where you’re standing: crockery, carved toys, a bird whistle, chamber pot, tea party plates and cups. Archaeologists have had two decades to study these artifacts, which bring an intimacy to the time travel.
A highlight in this gallery is a rare, original copy of the first public printing of the Constitution, published in The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, on September 19, 1787.
The First Amendment Gallery, opened last year, is a deep dive into the constitutional passage covering freedom of religion, speech, and press, and the right to peaceably assemble—something thousands have done in the street outside this museum several times in the past year. Future galleries will explore all the amendments added over the centuries.
From there, you enter Governing the Nation, the gallery that opened in May. This one breaks down the mechanics of the United States government, how everything works together: the states and the Fed, the three branches of government—Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary. You will leave with a clear understanding of why we chose to separate power in this country and put checks and balances in place.
Here, Winski’s team expanded on popular experiences from the original display. You can still take the Presidential oath in a re-created Oval Office, sit on the Supreme Court bench and hear cases, try to get a bill passed through Congress—but in more realistic sets. Between galleries, new windows have been installed so you can take breaks to look out onto this historic city.
Upstairs, don’t miss Signers’ Hall, populated by forty-two life-size bronze statues of some of the men who took part in the 1787 Constitutional Convention across the street in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House. You’ll likely find teens posing for photos with a stern George Washington and children sitting on Ben Franklin’s lap, his bald head and fingers gleaming from the polish of many hands: They rub his fingers for good luck and good fortune and his head for knowledge.
Don’t look for Thomas Jefferson here—he was in Paris in 1787—or our own local founding father John Hart, who allowed 40,000 of Washington’s exhausted troop camp on his Hopewell farm in 1778. You will find Hart’s signature on a replica of the Declaration of Independence showcased in the new America’s Founding Gallery.
Nearby, the exhibition titled “The 19th Amendment: How Woman Won the Vote,” opened in 2020, has been extended indefinitely, giving you another chance to explore the fascinating stories behind the seventy-three-year campaign waged by the suffragettes, before women finally won the right to vote in 1920. This gallery tells the stories of a different kind of American warrior—one who wore a long skirt as she marched and got hauled off to jail.
With the 250-year anniversary, expect more families and tourists as well. The museum advises booking tickets online, well ahead of your visit. On July 4, admission is free.
This summer’s celebrations come at a time when the U.S. Constitution is being tested like never before. No matter where you stand on the issues being debated, a visit to the National Constitution Center is a great place to deepen your understanding of what’s at stake.
“Our constitutional government is really an incredible thing,” Winski says.
“It took a lot of hard work to pull it off. But it’s we the people, all of us together, who are creating and sustaining this government.”
Cathleen McCarthy has written about arts and travel for the Washington Post, Town & Country, and the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Planning Your Trip
The National Constitution Center is open seven days a week this summer and is located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, where many 250th celebrations will take place. One such event is Red, White, and Blue To-Do day on July 2, which recognizes that President John Adams predicted the nation would celebrate its independence on July 2. On this day, museums, historic sites, and local businesses will come together to honor our nation’s founding with a Red, White, and Blue To-Do Pomp and Parade, concerts, games, extended visitation hours at historic attractions, and restaurant specials. (VisitPhilly. com has a full lineup of events, hotel options, and more.)
There is plenty of dining nearby. Check out Talula’s Garden for a locally sourced seasonal menu served on a plant-filled patio on Washington Square. Zahav, a Michelin-rated restaurant a fifteen-minute walk from the historic district, serves a four-course tasting menu of upscale Israeli fare, family-style, in a casual atmosphere. (Reservations are released four weeks to the day in advance at 11 a.m., one day at a time through Resy.) Buddakan, Stephen Starr’s Old City eatery, perfect for a romantic dinner, is famous for pan Asian fare served in a dramatically lit interior designed around the biggest golden buddha you’ll find outside Bangkok. Fork, in Old City, opened in 1997 by James Beard Award–winning restaurateur Ellen Yin, is a landmark restaurant in Old City with farm-to-table food to remember.
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