Jump to content

Liberty Bell Museum: Difference between revisions

Add links
Coordinates: 40°36′08″N 75°28′13″W / 40.6023°N 75.4704°W / 40.6023; -75.4704
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Citation bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
5,180,062 edits
Alter: title. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | #UCB_webform 2303/3850
mNo edit summary
Line 70: Line 70:
{{Bells}}
{{Bells}}
{{Lehigh Valley}}
{{Lehigh Valley}}
{{Authority control}}
{{authority control}}


{{Coord|40.6023|-75.4704|region:US-PA_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Coord|40.6023|-75.4704|region:US-PA_type:landmark|display=title}}

Revision as of 05:19, 30 November 2022

Liberty Bell Museum
Liberty Bell Museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Map
Established1962
Location622 West Hamilton Street
Allentown, Pennsylvania 18102, U.S.
TypeHistory museum
Public transit accessBus transport LANTA bus: 102, 107, 210, 220, 324
Websitehttp://www.libertybellmuseum.org

The Liberty Bell Museum (also the Liberty Bell Shrine Museum) is a non-profit organization and museum located in Zion's United Church of Christ (formerly Zion's Reformed Church) in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The museum is based in the church in which the Liberty Bell, an iconic and globally-recognized symbol of America's independence, was hidden from the British Army by Allentown-area American patriots during the American Revolutionary War from September 1777 to June 1778.

The museum was constructed and opened in 1962 and contains exhibits relating to the Liberty Bell and subjects including liberty, freedom, patriotism and local history. It also contains a full-size replica of the Liberty Bell, one of 55 replicas cast in France in 1950 for a U.S. Treasury savings bond promotion,[1] which visitors are permitted to ring. Also on display is Allentown's Liberty Bell, which was cast in 1769 for Zion's Reformed Church and is believed to have been rung on July 8, 1776 to announce the public reading in Allentown of the Declaration of Independence.[2][3]

Zion's Church, built in 1886 to replace the former church on the site, is one of 14 structures in Allentown listed on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places;[4][5] however, the federal law that created the registry provides no protection against actions taken by property owners.[6] The shrine was founded in 1962 by Ralph H. Griesemer and Morgan D. Person.[7]

History

See also: Liberty Bell
Liberty Bell Museum is housed inside Zion United Church of Christ in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where the Liberty Bell was successfully hidden from the British Army under the church's floor boards from September 1777 until June 1778 during the American Revolution

After General George Washington's and the Continental Army's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless, and the city prepared for what was seen as an inevitable British attack on the city. Pennsylvania's Supreme Executive Council ordered that eleven bells, including the State House bell and the bells from Christ Church and St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia, be taken down and removed from the city to prevent the British Army from taking possession of them and melting them down to cast into munitions for use in the war.[3] A train of over 700 wagons, guarded by 200 cavalry from North Carolina and Virginia under command of Colonel Thomas Polk of the 4th Regiment North Carolina Continental Line, left Philadelphia for Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley with the bells hidden in the manure and hay. The State House Bell was hidden in the wagon of Northampton County militia private John Jacob Mickley. On September 18, the entourage and its armed escort arrived in Richland Township (present-day Quakertown).[2]

On September 23, 1777, the bishop of the Moravian Church in Bethlehem reported that the wagons had arrived, and all bells except the State House bell had been moved to Northampton Towne in present-day Allentown. The following day, the State House bell was transferred to the wagon of Frederick Leaser and taken to the historic Zion Reformed Church in center city Allentown, where it was stored (along with the other bells), under the church's floorboards.[8] Three days after the Liberty Bell's arrival in Bethlehem, on September 26, 1777, British forces marched into Philadelphia unopposed and occupied the city. The bell was later returned to Philadelphia in June 1778 following the end of the British occupation of Philadelphia.[2]

On November 19, 1908, the Liberty Bell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution unveiled the Saving of the Liberty Bell Plaque, describing the efforts of Mickley and Leaser, at Zion Reformed Church in Allentown.[9]

On January 11, 2022, Zion's Consistory, the church's governing body, announced plans to put the church up for sale in late 2022 because of "declining membership and financial problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic." While the announcement did not indicate how the potential sale might impact the future of the Liberty Bell Museum, a consistory spokesperson indicated that preserving the museum was the church's "highest priority."[10]

Allentown Flag Day Association

The museum serves as the headquarters of the Allentown Flag Day Association, which was established on July 3, 1907 by local residents Joe Hart and General Harry Clay Trexler.[11] It is the oldest incorporated Flag Day Association in the United States.[11] The Association's most notable event occurred in 1922, when 50,000 people attended an event honoring General John J. Pershing with an award.[12]

Pip the Mouse

In 2003, the Liberty Bell Museum became the permanent home of Pip the Mouse, a puppet that was part of the show, "The Mouse Before Christmas." The holiday show originally was performed at Hess's, a now-defunct local department store, from 1962 to 1995. The character of Pip became regionally famous among children and was a staple of the store's holiday advertising and marketing campaigns.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Replicas of the Liberty Bell owned by U.S. state governments". Liberty BellMuseum. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Stoudt, John Baer (1927). The Liberty Bell in Allentown and Allentown's Liberty Bell. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Berkemeyer, Keck & Co.
  3. ^ a b Whelan, Frank (March 28, 2020). "History's Headlines: The Liberty Bell Stopped Here". wfmz.com. WFMZ-TV. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
  4. ^ "Historic Preservation: National Register of Historic Places". allentownPA.gov. City of Allentown. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "Zion's Reformed UCC Church in Allentown to be 250 in 2012". wfmz.com. WFMZ-TV. June 13, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "Code of Federal Regulations: 60.2 Effects of listing under Federal law". ecfr.gov. National Archives. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  7. ^ Bieber, Scott (May 28, 1987), "Liberty Bell Shrine Group Notes 25th Anniversary.", The Morning Call, pp. B.03
  8. ^ Whelan, Frank (June 20, 2003), "New Liberty Bell map traces trip to Allentown", The Morning Call, retrieved March 6, 2022{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^ "Memorial to the Patriots Who Safeguarded the Liberty Bell". The Morning Call. November 20, 1908. pp. 5, 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Weber, Lindsay (January 13, 2022), "Historic Allentown church that housed Liberty Bell during Revolutionary War to be sold. Museum's future is unknown.", The Morning Call, retrieved January 16, 2022
  11. ^ a b "Historical roots of region and nation are intertwined.", The Morning Call, pp. A.8, July 6, 2007
  12. ^ Devlin, Ron (June 9, 2005), "Flag Day Group's Leader Eyes 2007 Centennial.", The Morning Call, pp. B.06
  13. ^ Lauer-Wiliams, Kathy (December 18, 2007), "Who keeps Pip alive? ** Aging mouse owes his life to curator and loving volunteers.", The Morning Call, pp. E.1

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberty Bell Shrine, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

40°36′08″N 75°28′13″W / 40.6023°N 75.4704°W / 40.6023; -75.4704

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liberty_Bell_Museum&oldid=1124726331"