Winter Festival of Independence and Natural Rights
Sunday, November 01 - Thursday, December 31, 2026
All Day
Our nation’s founders, and the founders of Eastern State Penitentiary, asserted through documents like the Declaration of Independence that every person had natural-born rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But what does that look like—and are those rights truly protected—within America’s criminal justice system. Reflect on this pressing question by taking part in special, all-ages programming included with historic site admission.
November Programs:
What are the foundational requirements for human dignity, and how are they protected or challenged within prisons? The following programs will be offered daily. Ask any staff member or download the Bloomberg Connects: Arts & Culture app for the schedule.
- Mini Tour: Soup Alley — Visit the penitentiary’s historic kitchen and dining areas, known to prisoners as Soup Alley. Learn about food in Pennsylvania prisons past and present, health outcomes related to food service, and more.
- Mini Tour: Making Headlines — Through discussion, storytelling, and archival materials, examine the intersection of journalism, incarceration, and censorship. Who gets to speak? What stories are told? How does resistance take shape through words?
- Mini Tour: Operating Room — Explore the penitentiary’s historic operating room and learn more about Eastern State’s unusually well-equipped prison hospital.
- Mini Tour: Sacred Spaces in Unlikely Places — Tour the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue, restored to its 1960s appearance. Examine its architectural features, consider its spiritual significance, and reflect on the important role of religion inside prisons.
- Pop-Up Talk: Al Capone & Policing in Prohibition-Era America — Learn about Al Capone’s 1929 arrest and incarceration at Eastern State Penitentiary, the broader rise of Prohibition-era policing practices including early forms of stop-and-frisk, and how those systems shaped policing in Philadlephia and across the county.
Plus, join the evening of Wednesday, November 18 to celebrate the opening of Land of the Free, a new exhibit by ReVision: Art Justice artist-in-residence Cody Stuhltrager. In person or online. Advance registration required. Learn more.
December Programs:
How do people living under the restrictions imposed by prisons and jails still contribute to culture and express their full potential? The following programs will be offered daily. Ask any staff member or download the Bloomberg Connects: Arts & Culture app for the schedule.
- Mini Tour: Music — Examine the role of music as a tool for survival, act of resistance, and expression of humanity in prisons past and present.
- Mini Tour: Chaplain’s Office Murals — Explore the Chaplain’s Office—home to 23 restored religious murals painted by Lester Smith while incarcerated at Eastern State—and unpack the intersection of faith, resilience, and community at Eastern State and in prisons today.
- Mini Tour: Sacred Spaces in Unlikely Places — Tour the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue, restored to its 1960s appearance. Examine its architectural features, consider its spiritual significance, and reflect on the important role of religion inside prisons.
- Letter Writing — Write letters to people who are currently in prison. Share a message of hope and warmth during a season that can feel especially isolating for people who are incarcerated.
- Freedom Poetry: Inspired by Langston Hughes and other Civil Rights poets as well as poetry written by people incarcerated at Eastern State, create poems envisioning justice in your own life.
Plus, join us Wednesday, December 9 for Justice 101: Faith, Sanctuary, and Community—a evening of conversation and music exploring the important role religion plays in sustaining people during their incarceration. Presented as part of The Aaron Reichlin Restorative Justice and Faith Conversations. In person or online. Advance registration required. Learn more.
About the Panelists:
We strive to make the penitentiary and our site, programs, and exhibits accessible to all visitors. Click here to learn more about accessibility and accommodations at ESPHS.
This program is part of A Time for Liberty: Our Shared History, Our Shared Future, a yearlong slate of free, inclusive programs exploring the evolving meanings of liberty and justice in America. A Time for Liberty is made possible with support from civic and cultural partners including the City of Philadelphia, America250PA, Campus250, the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, the Philadelphia City Fund’s 2026 Milestone Grant Fund, supported by PECO, the National Trust Preservation Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program series, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
