Schedule for display in Old City at the National Liberty Museum, “The Forgotten Freedom: American Assembly at 250” exhibition series takes one of the most essential rights in American life, the freedom of assembly, and puts it back at the center of the national conversation in a way that feels both timely and deeply rooted in our city’s civic DNA.
“The Forgotten Freedom” is so compelling in its focus on a liberty that is foundational, but too often overshadowed. The exhibition is designed to trace the power of collective gathering across U.S. history, showing how public assembly has helped shape the nation’s identity, progress, and democratic character. In a city where the idea of liberty is not abstract but architectural, this concept feels especially resonant. From the founding era to contemporary culture, “The Forgotten Freedom” promises a broad, immersive look at how Americans have come together to advocate, celebrate, protest, organize, and transform the world around them.
“The Forgotten Freedom” Explores Assembly Across American History
“The Forgotten Freedom” is about recognizing assembly as a driving force in the American story. The National Liberty Museum describes the exhibition as a bold new journey exploring “the power of assembly throughout U.S. history,” and the scope of that journey is one of its biggest strengths. This is not a narrow historical display. It is a layered exhibition that connects founding-era objects with sports history, popular culture, protest movements, and contemporary artworks, all under one unifying idea: people coming together matters.
The exhibit “highlights the fundamental yet often underrecognized freedom of assembly and its vital role in shaping the nation’s history, identity, and progress.” It also emphasizes that by tracing collective action from the founding era to the present, the exhibition shows how public gatherings have driven social change, strengthened civic participation, and defined the American democratic experience. That framing gives “The Forgotten Freedom” real weight. It is not only about objects on display. It is about understanding assembly as a living force in American life.
For Philadelphia audiences, that framing should land powerfully. The National Liberty Museum, based in what it calls “the cradle of American democracy,” has long positioned itself as a place for thoughtful, contemporary engagement with liberty. The museum’s mission of creating a safe space for nuanced conversations and exploration feels like the perfect foundation for a project like “The Forgotten Freedom”, which asks visitors to think about how civic participation is expressed in public spaces, movements, institutions, and culture.
“The Forgotten Freedom” Exhibit Brings Rare Objects and Icons Together
One of the most exciting aspects of “The Forgotten Freedom” is the range of artifacts and visual material that will be on view. The exhibition journey reportedly moves from founding-era artifacts, including a chair from the First Continental Congress, to sports memorabilia and iconic cultural objects, creating a cross-generational and cross-disciplinary narrative that should appeal to history lovers, sports fans, and culture-watchers alike.
The list of featured items is the kind of lineup that instantly sparks curiosity. Visitors can expect to see exhibition artifacts, including the chair from the First Continental Congress, protest signs and pins from groundbreaking movements, a Taylor Swift “The Eras Tour” fan jacket, a 1936 Olympic Torch, Jackie Robinson’s equipment bag, and Michael Jordan’s game-worn jerseys and shoes. The exhibit places civic history in conversation with sports, fandom, and public identity, suggesting that assembly is not only a political act but also a communal, emotional, and deeply woven into how Americans experience public life.
The VIP preview and reception ahead of the public opening also sounds like a standout event in its own right. Scheduled for Thursday, March 5, 2026, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., the evening includes a cocktail reception with bites, live music, and exhibition exploration, followed by remarks, then a dessert hour with continued access to the exhibition. Guests will be among the first to experience “The Forgotten Freedom” exhibit before its public opening on Friday, March 6.
The event also promises strong visuals for photography and video, along with Philadelphia VIP networking and notable sports figures in attendance, including Rob Jaworski, Dave Schultz, Joe DeCamara, and Valerie Still. For a city that values both cultural programming and hometown icons, that combination makes the preview feel especially well-tailored to the local audience.
“The Forgotten Freedom” at the National Liberty Museum is Timely
“The Forgotten Freedom” arrives with both historical depth and contemporary relevance. The National Liberty Museum has built a reputation over more than two decades for helping visitors explore liberty through meaningful conversations, permanent galleries, and rotating exhibitions developed in collaboration with scholars, artists, and community partners. In that context, “The Forgotten Freedom” feels like a natural extension of the museum’s mission, but also an ambitious one.
The timing matters too. Positioned within the broader reflection around America’s 250th anniversary, “The Forgotten Freedom” invites visitors to think beyond the most commonly discussed rights and revisit assembly as a defining democratic practice. That is a smart curatorial move, especially in Philadelphia, where so much of the nation’s early political life unfolded through meetings, debates, and public action. The exhibition’s focus on “collective action” and “civic participation” gives it a present-day pulse without sacrificing historical rigor.
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