American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Workshop: Mission & Masonry: Behind the Scenes at Eastern State Penitentiary and Girard College

In the early 19th century, Philadelphia was at the forefront of creating innovative institutions to tackle societal challenges; guided by the belief that humans had the ability to change their circumstances, Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829 as an experiment in prison reform and in 1831 Stephen’s Girard’s will created Girard College to educate disadvantaged young people. Both institutions were endowed with monumental, National Historic Landmark architecture, which was deeply tied into their mission—the layout of Eastern State was designed to facilitate its revolutionary new penitentiary idea, and the Greek architecture of Girard College was explicitly intended as educational and morally uplifting.  

Today both Eastern State Penitentiary and the Founder’s Hall Museum at Girard College are using their masonry to continue to serve their mission, both locally and nationally. Eastern State has embarked on launching a new Center for Justice Education that includes a training program to provide preservation apprenticeship training while Founder's Hall recently completed a multi-million-dollar renovation so the building can reclaim its role as the heart of the campus, being more available for students and introducing more visitors to the school’s ongoing mission.  In this joint program, AAM participants will visit both sites for behind-the scenes peeks at these fabulous buildings and will hear from curators, architects and others about the opportunities and challenges of their recent and ongoing renovation and how this serves their mission today.

Click this link for more information or to register.