Arch Street Meeting House will be hosting an indoor private screening of a holiday favorite following the Old City Holiday Stroll on Wednesday, December 14th, 2022 from 7 pm to 9:30 pm.

Registration is an optional donation and includes admission to the museum. Feel free to bring snacks, BYOB, and have fun!

Doors will be opening at 7:00 pm, and we will begin the movie at 7:30 pm to give attendees the opportunity to get settled and explore our exhibits. Chairs will be provided, but picnic blankets are welcome.

Arch Street Meeting House's third annual winter program, Meetinghouse by Candlelight, returns this holiday season on Friday, December 2nd. Kick off the holiday season at Arch Street Meeting House with live music from local Quaker schools, refreshments, a live historical impersonator, raffles, and more!
 

The historic West Room of Arch Street Meeting House will be illuminated by candlelight, and visitors will be able to Meet Quaker History in a whole new light. In the East Room, visitors will have the opportunity to explore our exhibits, enjoy beverages courtesy of Yards Brewing Company, and have a fantastic holiday evening.

Katharine Gerbner will examine the historical links between churches in Philadelphia and the Caribbean during the early colonial period.

In this talk, historian Katharine Gerbner will examine the historical links between Quakers and Anglicans in Philadelphia and the Caribbean during the early colonial period. While Pennsylvania was founded as a Quaker colony, slavery was foundational to its early success, and there were many links between Philadelphia and Barbados. Gerbner will look at the tensions around slavery in early America, when many Quakers and Anglicans were trying to reconcile their Christian beliefs with slavery, rather than trying to end human bondage. Gerbner will also show how the history of Christian Slavery helps us understand the emergence of race and White Supremacy. She will show why it's essential to remember this uncomfortable history, and ask what we can learn from it today.

Program presented in partnership with Christ Church Preservation Trust.

A brand new outdoor mural entitled In the Palm of Your Hand, by local artist Nila Devaney, has been installed on the historic grounds of Arch Street Meeting House! Illustrated by Devaney with management from Amber Art & Design and Quaker artist Keir Johnston of Newtown Monthly Meeting, the mural features depictions of lush greenery and interpretive figures of notable Quakers from Philadelphia history.

The mural is currently on view and visitors are welcome, and a dedication ceremony will occur during Continuing Sessions on Saturday, November 5th at 1:00 pm outdoors on the grounds of the meetinghouse.

Support for the mural was provided in part by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and friends dedicated to the preservation of Quaker history at Arch Street Meeting House

Community members and Quakers from around Philadelphia are welcome to attend a mural painting day after meeting for worship on Sunday, October 23rd from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.

Registration is not required.

Arch Street Meeting House is preparing the parking lot for the installation of a brand-new mural by Nila Devaney and Quaker muralist Keir Johnston. You can find Keir’s work throughout Philadelphia and around the country, and we are so excited that his next project will be at Arch Street Meeting House.

Designs for the upcoming mural were made in conjunction with Frankford Friends School’s 8th Grade class in Spring of 2022. The current 8th grade class will continue the previous classes work by coming to ASMH in mid-October to help the final painting of the mural.

Keir Johnston, former artist-in-residence for The Philadelphia Museum of Art and co-founder of Amber Art and Design based in Philadelphia, has been involved for nearly 20 years in creative social practice and collaboration in the arts in Philadelphia. Keir is a member of Newtown Monthly Meeting.

Old City District is bringing back Old City Fest this Fall, and Arch Street Meeting House is joining in on the fun! Arch Street Meeting House will be open and welcoming visitors from 10 am until 6 pm for the Fest on Sunday, October 9th.

Old City District presents the seventh annual Old City Fest on Sunday, October 9, 2022, from 11:00am to 6:00pm, along N. 3rd Street (from Market to Race) and Arch Street (from 2nd to 4th).

Old City Fest is a celebration of art and design, fashion and food, creativity and culture on the streets of America’s most historic square mile— Old City, Philadelphia. This event highlights the region’s premier art and design district, showcasing local designers, creative firms, restaurants, retailers, galleries, theater, culture, history and architecture.

Join Arch Street Meeting House and local cemeteries across the city on Saturday, September 24th for the first Cemetery Crawl! Participating members of the Living Cemetery Alliance will offer tours, open houses, educational programming, and more!

The museum at Arch Street Meeting House will be open from 10 am - 4 pm, and admission is an optional suggested donation of $5. Participation in the tour includes admission to ASMH.

ASMH will be hosting a special burial ground tour from 1 pm - 2 pm, where visitors will learn about Quaker burials, the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1792, and more.

Participating cemeteries:

• Arch Street Meeting House | www.historicasmh.org

• Christ Church Burial Ground | www.christchurchphila.org

• Eden Cemetery | www.edencemetery.org

• Fair Hill Cemetery | www.historicfairhill.com

• Laurel Hill | www.laurelhillphl.com

• Mount Moriah | www.friendsofmountmoriahcemetery.org

• The Woodlands | www.woodlandsphila.org

The Living Cemetery Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s mission is to showcase the widespread social, economic, environmental, and cultural benefits cemeteries contribute to our local community.

In the event of inclement weather, the crawl will move to September 25.

Arch Street Meeting House will be hosting a private screening outdoors on our historic grounds on Friday, September 23rd, from 7:30 pm - 10:00 pm. For an optional donation of $5, grab a picnic blanket, snacks, and BYOB for a special movie night in Old City.

Registration is required and includes admission to the meetinghouse prior to the screening. In the event of rain, the screening will be moved indoors to the East Room.

All attendees are required to practice social distancing and wear a mask when in close proximity to others or entering the building at Arch Street Meeting House.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Join Wess Daniels on Wednesday, September 3rd from 7 pm to 8:30 pm for a virtual Zoom presentation.

Resisting Empire is a series Wess Daniels has been developing since long before the release of his first book, "Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance" (2019 - Barclay Press). Since that publication, Wess has been working applying lessons from that previous project to Quaker movement and what Quaker practice looks like today. In this presentation, Wess will unpack the importance of seeing how various liturgies shape us and lay groundwork for Quakers to consider ways of resisting empire today.

About the Presenter

Wess Daniels is the William R. Rogers Director of Friends Center & Quaker Studies at Guilford College. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his wife, Emily and their three children. He has a Master's of Theology and P.hD. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary. Wess teaches Quaker studies at Guilford College and has taught at Earlham School of Religion, George Fox Seminary, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, and Pendle Hill.

He is widely published in Quaker publications including Quaker Studies, Quaker Religious Thought, Friends Journal, and more. He is the author of, “Resisting Empire: The Book of Revelation as Resistance” (2019) and “A Convergent Model of Renewal: Remixing The Quaker Tradition in Participatory Culture” (2015). He is an associate editor on the Brill Research Perspectives in Quaker Studies, and the co-editor on the forthcoming book, The Quaker World (Routledge, 2022).

Wess is active in the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and is a founding member of the weekly Freedom Church of the Poor, an online worship service that lifts up the stories of the poor and dispossessed and has met every week since Covid19 began. He recently contributed to the book, “We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign” edited by Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis (2021). His teaching and writing focus on liberating spirituality, revitalizing faith traditions, and renewing community for the work of liberation and justice in the world.

Quakers have a history of utilizing silhouettes to connect with both extended family and prominent Friends. Throughout the afternoon join ASMH staff and volunteers in the East Room to try your hand at making some yourself!
 

Stay tuned for more information.

Participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

This tour is FREE and registration is not required. To join the tour, meet in the lobby of ASMH.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Join Daniel Crofts at Arch Street Meeting House for “Sidney George Fisher: Philly’s Premier Diarist during the Era of Civil War”, on Wednesday, August 10th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

Registration is required.

Daniel W. Crofts earned his doctorate in History at Yale University in 1968 and taught at The College of New Jersey from 1975 to 2014. His most recent book, Lincoln and the Politics of Slavery: The Other Thirteenth Amendment and the Struggle to Save the Union, was awarded the University of Virginia's Bobbie and John Nau Book Prize in American Civil War Era History. Dan has recently published essays about Sidney George Fisher in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography and The Journal of the Civil War Era. Dan's wife Betsy Crofts is a member of Newtown Friends Meeting. They live in Southampton, Pennsylvania.

Old City is Philadelphia’s ultimate one-stop wedding shop! Home to more than 300 independently-owned small businesses, find wedding attire, florists, jewelers, restaurants, venues, wedding services, and so much more - all within a few walking blocks. Rely on Old City wedding experts to make your big day everything you imagine – and more!

Old City District showcases its burgeoning wedding industry with the debut of the Old City Wedding Stroll on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022 from 5:00-8:00pm.

Visit Old City District for more information about the event.

You’re invited to Arch Street Meeting House where Philadelphia Yearly Meeting will be hosting a carnival, Quaker style! This event is for Friends of ALL ages, and you are welcome to come for part of the afternoon or stay as long as you like.

All afternoon, from 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm, we’ll have:

• Carnival games (think: big Jenga!)

• Bounce house

• Concessions (popcorn, sno cones, soft pretzels)

• Make-and-take crafts

• Music

• Tours of the meeting house, including the new outdoor exhibits

At 3:00 pm Arch Street Historic Meetinghouse staff will lead an amazing guided walking tour of Old City with stops at Quaker-specific sites.

Bring your lawn chairs or picnic blankets and a packed lunch, or come later in the afternoon for picnic dinner on the lawn before the evening performance (5-7pm). We’ll also provide a guide to local restaurants walking distance around Arch Street, from pizza takeout (right across the street!) to dinner fare.

The 5:00 pm performance by Eppchez Yes is for ALL ages — young, old, and older!

Eppchez will engage an intergenerational audience with an interactive theater workshop using games and improvisation to explore power dynamics, issues of consent, and reparations. Our PYM Sessions theme, “Across the Generations as We Repair Broken Foundations, We Become Unified in Beloved Quaker Community,” will be addressed through a release of energetic stuckness around repair. Eppchez Yes is a queer, trans Friend, a member of Green Street Meeting and the Reparations Committee of the meeting. Their keynote address to the Yearly Meeting will be on Wednesday evening, July 27 at 7:00 PM.

Registration

While an RSVP is not required, and folks are welcome to stop by anytime that afternoon, we would love to know that you’re coming!

Mark your calendars! Celebrate the 4th of July weekend with Arch Street Meeting House! On Saturday, July 2nd, visitors can participate in our brand new walking tour of Quaker sites in Old City, Philadelphia.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout the neighborhood. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history.

About the tour: Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

For First Friday, Arch Street Meeting House will be doing a private outdoor screening of the 1996 classic film Independence Day (Rated PG-13) from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm! For an optional donation, grab a picnic blanket, snacks, and BYOB for a special 4th of July weekend movie night in Old City.

Registration is required and includes admission to the museum prior to the screening. Lawn seating is first-come, first-serve.

The movie has a 2-hr and 24-in run time, and the screening will begin at 8:30.

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Philadelphia’s most notable museums, cultural institutions, and attractions will open their doors free of charge, or, for an optional pay-what-you-wish donation, throughout the entire festival. Arch Street Meeting House will be open to the public on Saturday, June 25th from 10 am to 4 pm.

Arch Street Meeting House is one of three Quaker sites participating in Free Museum Day on June 25th! Below you can find more information about the other participating sites, as well as their visitation hours for the day.

12:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Johnson House Historic Site
1:00 PM – 5:00 PM | Paul Robeson House & Museum

Support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

On Saturday, May 28th, Philly Typewriter will be filling the East Room with typewriters as we explore the Quaker habit of taking minutes. Come learn about typewriters and how their technology was such an improvement over handwritten notes!

Begin Memorial Day Weekend with our brand new walking tour of Old City Philadelphia, facilitated by an ASMH staff member, from 11am to 12pm.

The tour begins with a brief exploration of the historic burial grounds at ASMH before continuing on a walking tour of important Quaker sites throughout Old City Philadelphia. This is not just your run-of-the-mill famous Founding Fathers' tour! It is perfect for visitors who are seeking a different side of Philadelphia history. These aren't the stories that most other sites tell!

ABOUT THE TOUR:

Visitors will start their walking tour at Arch Street Meeting House, then continue to the Betsy Ross House and on to Welcome Park, the site of William Penn's first residence in Philadelphia. After snaking their way through Independence National Historical Park, the group will stop at various other sites with a Quaker twist such as:

• Carpenters Hall, where Arch Street's Master Builder, Owen Biddle, Jr., was a member

• Anthony Benezet's school, the first school for People of Color in Philadelphia

• Independence Hall, where Quaker activist Susan B. Anthony protested

• Pennsylvania Hall, where Quaker and Black activists met to discuss equality

• The Free Quaker Meeting House

We are thrilled to announce that new outdoor exhibits have been installed on the grounds of Arch Street Meeting House! To celebrate the installation, we are inviting all of our friends and supporters to explore the new exhibits on Friday, May 27th, and meet Quaker history.

A night for the whole family, attendees can engage with new stories in the exhibits, enjoy complimentary refreshments, win a raffle prize, and meet historical interpreters Lucretia Mott, Francis Watkins Harper, Elizabeth Drinker, and Samuel Nicholas.

Registration not required.

Philadelphia celebrates International Day of Monuments and Sites on Monday, April 18th, but Arch Street Meeting House will be observing the celebration on April 16th & 17th. ASMH is closed to the public on Mondays.

The International Day of Monuments and Sites is celebrated internationally on April 18th to recognize the cultural significance of important landmarks and sites of observance. Philadelphia is home to 67 national historic landmarks.

Check out the Philadelphia National Historic Landmarks Facebook page to see what is happening around Philly!