Lincoln’s hat and Franklin’s music stand on display in a new show highlighting Philadelphia history

For as much history as Philadelphia represents, the city no longer has a physical location for its history museum. After the Philadelphia History Museum shuttered in 2018, its collection was transferred to Drexel University. Renamed the Atwater Kent Collection, it contains more than 130,000 objects — and now part of that history will be showcased at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in “Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic,” running through Dec. 1.

The new exhibit will spotlight more than 650 artifacts and artworks that represent some 350 years of Philadelphia history, from the nation’s Centennial and Bicentennial souvenirs to sports memorabilia. There’s even an interactive opportunity for visitors to share their own stories about Philadelphia.

Cocurator Page Talbott, director of museum outreach for the Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships at Drexel, compares this grouping to the treasures found in an attic. “Oftentimes, things move to the attic when they’re no longer fitting for your day-to-day life, but they still hold value,” she said. “So many of these items were not recently displayed, if ever, but they are iconic in the sense that they hold wonderful stories that people can relate to.”

There are hundreds of fascinating objects that represent various stories about Philadelphians, from groundbreaking scientific achievements to rarely seen historical documents to delightfully revealing photographs. Here are five highlights.

Franklin’s love of music — he played guitar, harp, and other instruments — led the famous Philadelphia inventor to craft a four-sided wooden music stand that is now on view. Standing on three legs, it also has a spot for storing music sheets. “He’s known for coming up with functional items,” said Talbott.

Also on view is Franklin’s 1743 book The Charters of the Province of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, which Talbott admits isn’t in great condition. Its cover has fallen off and the pages are stained, but she hopes that one day Drexel can have it restored and conserved. The book of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia laws contains handwritten annotations naming previous owners Isaac Whitelock, David Stout, and Robert Tempest.

By chance, a woman named Valoree J. Nelson found and rescued a photo album showcasing Black Philadelphia history in a Norristown trash can. She gave it to the Atwater Kent Collection. Inside are some 200 images, including a photo of an African American regiment from World War II and of a Victory Day parade in France. Also pictured is a pharmacy in North Philadelphia owned by Margaret Logan, one of the first Black female pharmacists in Pennsylvania.

“We still don’t know whose album that was, so we’re really hopeful that during the course of the exhibition, and as people begin to search these images online, somebody will say, ‘I know who that is, that’s my great grandfather!’” said Talbott.

For more than a century, the Young family of Philadelphia crafted candies on Girard Avenue. Though Young’s Candies closed in 2006 after Harry Young died, some of the shop’s quirky and unique candy molds were bought by and adopted at the still-running Shane’s Confectionery in Old City to continue the clear toy candy tradition. Some pickle and corn cob shaped molds are also part of the Atwater Kent Collection that visitors can see at PAFA. Candy makers at Shane’s demonstrate using the historic candy molds in a video accessible via QR code.

No, not a top hat: Lincoln once wore a bowler hat made by Philadelphia’s Charles Oakford & Sons. In 1861, on his way from Harrisburg to Washington, the newly elected president wore this hat while traveling to his first inauguration.

“The story goes that he was always threatened with possible assassination, so he deliberately avoided the top hat, which is sort of the iconic picture that we see of him, for something that’s more of a bowler-type hat that he wore on the train,” said Talbott.

(Bonus item: There’s also a candy mold of Lincoln’s face on display.)

Renowned abolitionist John Brown led the legendary-but-unsuccessful Harpers Ferry Raid in an attempt to free enslaved Africans in 1859. It marked a turning point in the abolition movement as a major event leading to the Civil War. Brown was arrested and subsequently hanged. The Atwater Kent Collection holds handcuffs believed to be worn by the abolitionist before his execution. Also featured in the exhibit: A rifle and a pike used in the raid, and a portrait of Brown by Black Philadelphia artist David Bustill Bowser.

Curiously, the show also displays part of what Talbott calls Brown’s “dummy coffin.” Brown’s body had initially been sent to Philadelphia for burial preparation, but proslavery medical students refused to work on him. “There was a strong antiabolitionist feeling in Philadelphia,” said Talbott. To avoid anyone interfering with Brown’s body, his supporters sent an imitation coffin to Philadelphia while the real body traveled to New York. He was buried in Lake Placid. A piece of wood from Brown’s decoy coffin is on display.

“Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic” runs through Dec. 1 at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Fisher Brooks and Frances M. Maguire Gallery, Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building, 128 N. Broad St., Phila., (215) 972-7600 or pafa.org.