Spring break is waiting on the waterfront! Spend it with your friends and family at Independence Seaport Museum. From April 11 – 15, and then again from April 18 – 22, we will be hosting the Seaport Spring Break Series, where we spend each day focusing on a different area in the Museum. Stop by to learn, craft, and explore!
Dates, Themes, and Times:
*Program Times Daily: 11 AM - 12:30 PM and 2 PM - 3:30 PM
**Included with general admission, free for members
-Patriots and Pirates (April 11 & 18): After the Revolutionary War, the newly formed United States disbanded its army and navy, thinking the threat had passed. That was until the Algiers’ pirates, who prowled the Mediterranean Sea, started kidnapping sailors and threatening merchant ships. The pirates would extort payment (which was called “tribute”) from countries that sent ships through their waters. Should a country refuse to pay, its ships are attacked, its crews seized and imprisoned. Do you think you have what it takes to be a pirate on the sea? Join us to learn what life was like; PLUS, shiver ye timbers and discover your sea-worthy pirate name!
-Cruiser Olympia (April 12 & 19): We are knot kidding you; learning to tie proper knots was crucial to life aboard Cruiser Olympia! Climb aboard and, with the help of ISM staff, learn all different types of nautical knots and try your hand at making your own, all while on the oldest floating steel warship in the world.
-Selections from the Collections (April 13 & 20): Our “Selections from the Collection” gallery highlights the unique and often rarely seen pieces from the Museum’s Collection, which is one of the largest maritime art and artifact collections in North America! Join an ISM educator in the gallery to explore the pieces on display and then be led in a "sketch the exhibit" activity. Bob Ross, eat your heart out!
-Tides of Freedom: African Presence on the Delaware River (April 14 & 21): In our Tides of Freedom exhibit, learn about James Forten, who fought for freedom in the Revolutionary War and operated a sail-making business, and what his hopes for this new country would be. Visitors then will be able to sew their own sail and make a small boat of their very own.
-Citizen Science Lab Demonstrations (April 15 & 22): Saddle on up to our Citizen Science Lab, where staff will conduct hands-on experiments that connect to the river right outside our doors, the Delaware River! Once you are done, make sure to stop in our award-winning exhibit River Alive!, where you can learn about the importance of the River and how we are all connected (did you know that 5% of the U.S. population gets their drinking water from the Delaware River Watershed?), and then pop over to our new exhibit, The 2022 Ecotopian Toolkit Project, presented in partnership with The Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH). This exhibit shares the importance of our waterways empowers communities to work for water justice, and helps them take steps toward a more sustainable future.
