Matthew Skic
About
As Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, I am part of a team that is seeking to transform the ways people engage with America's revolutionary history and our nation's ongoing experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government. I joined the staff in June 2016 and have helped to raise the profile of this young institution located in the heart of historic Philadelphia.
Growing up in central New Jersey, I developed a lasting passion for the history of Colonial America and the early United States. In high school, I began working as an historical interpreter at Washington Crossing State Park in New Jersey.
My undergraduate studies led me to American University in Washington, DC, where I earned my B.A. in History. As an undergraduate, I completed two internships at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. In 2014, I was awarded a fellowship to attend the distinguished Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. I graduated with my M.A. in American Material Culture in 2016 after completing my thesis about Philadelphia's gunsmiths during the Revolutionary War.
I joined the Board of Directors of the Swan Historical Foundation in 2021. As a trustee, I help to steward a collection of artifacts from the American Revolutionary era on display at Washington Crossing State Park.
During the summer of 2022, I was awarded a scholarship to attend the Attingham Trust's Summer School, which gave me the opportunity to study British country estates and their collections.
In 2024, I launched the project "Written with Bricks: A Guide to New Jersey's Pattern Brick Architecture." As Project Director, I am working to raise awareness of and build appreciation for New Jersey’s distinctive historic pattern brick architecture, highlighting buildings with the initials of their original owners and/or their dates of construction spelled out with bricks.
Apart from my professional and educational experiences, I am passionate about living history and baseball.