Exhibit Opening: Seeking Profit and Power

The Independence Seaport Museum is excited to celebrate the nation’s Semiquincentennial with our newest exhibition: 𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧: 𝙋𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙖, 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖.

Opening on 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, it examines the period immediately after the end of the American Revolution; specifically, the economic impact of severing ties from Great Britain and how this newly formed nation had to establish new trade protocols and foreign alliances to survive. Featuring approximately 150 rarely seen objects (including loans from George Washington’s Mount Vernon, The Dietrich American Foundation, The Society of Cincinnati, and Andalusia Historic House and Gardens, among others), this exhibition will tell the story of how the United States turned eastward toward China, and how early trade relationships with them helped shape America into the global economic power it is today.

The Independence Seaport Museum would like to thank the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial, the Richard C. von Hess Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania, and WSFS Cares Foundation for their generous support of 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳: 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘢, 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢.