International Day of Monuments and Sites 2023

In partnership with The Reading Terminal Market, the Global Philadelphia Association is organizing a tour for this year's International Day of Monuments and Sites. The free tour will include The Reading Terminal Market, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and The Hill-Physick House.

The tour is limited to 12 tickets.

Register

Visit the Wagner to explore our historic site and museum collections, including minerals, fossils, shells, insects, taxidermy birds and mammals. You can explore on your own or use one of our themed scavenger hunts, drawing or coloring activities to guide you. You can also learn about the construction of our National Landmark Building, through an exhibit illustrated by photographs and materials from the archives, and through our architecture scavenger hunt designed for history buffs. Afterwards, stop by our gift shop and pick up a geode to crack open, polished crystals for your collection, a vintage tea towel or your own copy of Historic Landmarks of Philadelphia!

At 4PM join us for a presentation in the Lecture Hall followed by a guided walk through the museum, highlighting the architecture and a few of the most intriguing specimens—including dinosaur bones and the cabinet of human evolution. The tour is designed in collaboration with Girard College, our neighboring National Historic Landmark, whose founder Stephen Girard inspired William Wagner to build his own educational institution.

Tickets are not required to visit the museum but if you'd like to speed up your entry, sign up HERE. To register for the guided tour, sign up below. The tour is open to all ages! Admission is free to the museum and tour, donations are greatly appreciated!

Prior to the Wagner tour, we encourage visitors to experience the architecture of Girard College with a guided walking tour of its 43-acre campus led by Director of Historical Resources Kathy Haas. This tour begins at 2:30pm, leaving time for participants to walk to the Wagner and learn more about the connections between the institutions. The two sites are located less than a mile away.

Sign up HERE separately for the Girard College tour at 2:30pm.

Wagner Tour

Girard College Tour

Visit the Wagner 

Philadelphia’s Masonic Temple is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with a series of special events and free tours. The Masonic Temple opened in 1873 and contains artwork, frescos, stained glass, murals and sculptures which connect Freemasons and non-Freemasons to an inspirational world of art, architecture and history. In addition, the exhibit hall at the Masonic Temple features a wide assortment of artifacts related to the 150th anniversary and the history of the Masonic fraternity in Philadelphia and beyond.

No reservations are needed.

Visit Masonic's Website

Celebrate International Day of Monuments and Sites at Stenton, a National Historic Landmark, with a special tour. Featuring collections objects, made, used, and owned, inherited, and stewarded by women from the 18th to the 20th centuries, this Curator’s tour builds on the longstanding theme of “Deborah, Dinah, and the Dames” to focus on women’s lives at Stenton.

Register

The sandstone sculptural group Old Mortality and his Pony greet visitors daily to Laurel Hill East, establishing the cemetery’s place as a unique outdoor sculpture garden. Look beyond this impressive work and you’ll find many other breathtaking monuments, some of which were exhibited as artworks before their placement in the cemetery. Who were the sculptors and how did they shape our final view of those now resting peacefully beneath richly carved or poured materials? Funerary art can reflect the departed and the times they lived in. This tour will showcase Laurel Hill East as both a sculpture garden and a place of remembrance.

Visit the Lauren Hill website.

Spread throughout the 288.5 linear feet of the Chew Family papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is the evidence of the lives of early American families of African descent, both free and enslaved. Don't miss out on Reconstructing Black Families: Stories from the Chew Papers. 

Recent digitization work and research by the African American Genealogy Group (AAGG) has started to re-create family groups from the Mid-Atlantic region. Hear from members of AAGG on their findings and learn from Cliveden staff about the impact this work has on the interpretation at a local historic site.

The first hour will be a presentation, available both in person at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and on Zoom. A hands-on workshop to view recently digitized materials after the presentation will be available from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Program Speakers:

Adrienne G. Whaley, African American Genealogy Group

Carolyn Wallace, Cliveden of the National Trust

Reserve Your Ticket

Celebrate International Day of Monuments & Sites at Historic RittenHouseTown located in German Town. At the heart of the thriving early industrial community known as Rittenhouse Town, the first paper mill in America was built. Explore this historic area with free walking tours around the property from 10am to 2pm. Please visit the website for contact information.

No reservation is needed.

Visit the RittenhouseTown website

LUNCH and LEARN at The TANNER House

Meet up in front of 2908 W Diamond Street, TANNER FAMILY HOME...

Learn about the Exceptional Family:

The Father Bishop Benjamin Tucker Tanner, the famous Artist, Henry O. Tanner, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander and the latest developments to stabilize the property.

International Day of Monuments and Sites will be celebrated all over the world on April 18th as a way to honor heritage, diversity, community, and the environment.