Carpenters’ Hall Reopening Ceremony and Exhibit Premiere Event

The historic Carpenters' Hall of Philadelphia will reopen for the first time since April 2022, with a ceremony and ribbon cutting held to commemorate the event. The ceremony is free and open to the public and features performances and guest speakers, Interim Superintendent of Independence National Historical Park, Amnesty Kochanowski, Councilmember Mark Squilla, President & CEO of Visit Philadelphia, Angela Val, and City Representative Sheila Hess. The ceremony includes an instillation of historic flags by The Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution along the front steps of the Hall, a performance by Philadelphia trumpeters Nozomi Imamura and William Gregory, and a reading of Francis Hopkinson’s 1788 poem “A New Roof: An Ode to Federal Mechanics,” curated by Philadelphia poet and storyteller Quentin Williams. Hopkinson’s poem was written in honor of the Grand Federal Edifice, a wooden pavilion designed and built by The Carpenters’ Company to symbolize and celebrate the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The new special exhibition, Artifacts & Architecture, will be unveiled, featuring antiquities uncovered during the recent excavation of the property, including clay smoking pipes, vintage stoneware and teacups, and glass vessels. The exhibit pairs artifacts unearthed on-site at Carpenters’ Hall by archeologists from infrastructure-consulting firm AECOM with photos of the Carpenters’ Hall preservation project by Philadelphia architectural photographer Kat Kendon.