Philadelphia stories in the Quest for Freedom for African Americans is the focus of a 30-minute program every Friday at 2:00 p.m. Visitors see important objects from the Philadelphia City History Collection including a silver bowl that accompanied an enslaved child to Philadelphia in 1692, wrist shackles from the 1700s, an 1833 anti-slavery declaration, and an article of clothing made of free (non-slave grown or manufactured) cotton. The program is held in the building where, in August 1830 Lucretia Mott introduced William Lloyd Garrison, a young activist from Boston, who advocated the immediate emancipation of all slaves. The Museum Building, then the Franklin Institute, was one of the few places in the city where an interracial audience could meet.

The Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia is one of several Philadelphia institutions participating in the Quest for Freedom statewide tourism initiative. The Pennsylvania Department of Tourism coordinates the statewide initiative and works closely with its regional partners. The Philadelphia initiative is coordinated by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB).

In addition to the Quest for Freedom adult program above, a new, expanded, 75-minute version of Quest for Freedom is offered for students grades 5-12.

Learn Philadelphia's role in the national story of the Underground Railroad and the anti-slavery movement in the 18th and 19th centuries. Drawn from the incomparable Philadelphia City History Collection, students examine and discuss the contemporary relevance of 15 empowering objects, beginning with a silver bowl that accompanied an enslaved child from Jamaica to Philadelphia in 1692 and concluding with the c. 1910 Elk's lodge banner honoring slain Philadelphia voting rights activist, Octavius B. Catto. The program is held in the historic Museum Building where abolitionists met in the 1830's.

Maximum: 66 students

For further information, see Group Tours, and School Tours.

For a complete listing of participants and programs in the Pennsylvania Quest for Freedom, visit www.QuestForFreedom.org.

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