New Ways to Dive Into History in Philadelphia

Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly (and, now, Sisterly) Love, has been climbing the charts as a city to see for years — this year in particular. A few reasons? Constant innovation, world-class dining, personality to spare and a slew of fun events and locales.

Everyone knows the city’s long, rebellious and important history, but Philly will soon get a new feather in its highly decorated cap.

Designed by Local Projects, the organization behind the 9/11 Museum, the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center is expected to open in 2021, and is a great reason to have Philadelphia on your radar next year — among the many, many others.

The Faith and Liberty Discovery Center will offer a unique look into American history, utilizing Philadelphia’s diverse blend of cultures and beliefs combined with state-of-the-art technology to make the entire experience immersive and interactive. All guests will be welcomed upon entry with a lamp, programmed to interact with each exhibit. Guests can lift the lamp to different exhibits to reveal stories, images, quotes and more along the way. If guests see something by way of their lamp light that particularly interests them, they can collect it in their lamp for later. After viewing the exhibit, guests can revisit everything they saved in the lamp to reflect back on later, from anywhere.

Guests will walk through different aspects of American history, including how the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and several other moments and documents in American history were influenced by the Bible (hence the faith aspect).

Each exhibit focuses on a different value represented in The American Experience, past and present. Those universal values, also referred to as pillars, include faith, love, hope, justice, unity and liberty. The museum, despite the name, welcomes all faiths, or lack thereof, to the exhibit to uncover the core focus of the American dream through symbols and drive.