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Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia  

Museum of the American Revolution

Special Exhibit, February 11, 2023-November 26, 2023

  • Lead Curator

  • 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit

  • The first museum exhibit dedicated to telling the story of free Black Revolutionary War veteran James Forten and his family. Artifacts on loan from Forten descendants 40 other lenders help to share the Forten family's efforts in support of equal rights and the abolition of slavery. 

  • Principal author of accompanying exhibit catalog. 

  • Virtual tour of the exhibit launched in 2023. 

  • Co-author of accompanying audio tour script. 

  • Designer: Rebecca B. Phipps

  • More information

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Liberty: Don Troiani's Paintings of the Revolutionary War 

Museum of the American Revolution

Special Exhibit, October 16, 2021-September 5, 2022

  • Lead Curator

  • 5,000 sq. ft. exhibit

  • 46 original paintings by Don Troiani, America's foremost historical military artist, on display. Artifacts from Troiani's collection, the Museum of the American Revolution, and private collections illuminate the stories of each painting. 

  • Principal author of accompanying exhibit catalog. 

  • Virtual tour of the exhibit launched in 2022. 

  • Co-author of accompanying audio tour script. 

  • Designer: Rebecca B. Phipps

  • More information

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Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier

Museum of the American Revolution

Special Exhibit, September 28, 2019-March 17, 2020

  • Lead Curator

  • 5,000 sq. ft. international loan exhibit

  • 2021 Award of Excellence- AASLH Leadership in History Awards

  • 2021 Institutional Achievement Award- PA Museums

  • 100 works of art and artifacts from the Museum's collection and 40 lenders from Australia, the UK, Ireland, and the USA, including the National Gallery of Ireland, the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Museum of Ireland, the National Army Museum (UK), Colonial Williamsburg, and the Yale Center for British Art.

  • "American Revolution museum’s new 'Irish Soldier’ exhibit has it all: Love. Death. Psychodrama." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

  • “This was without question one of the most beautiful exhibits I have seen anywhere and the ‘detective work’ was clear and compelling.” -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

  • What can a life tell us about an era? Cost of Revolution followed the story of Irish soldier and artist Richard Mansergh St. George, whose personal trauma and untimely death provide a window into the entangled histories of the American Revolution of 1776 and the Irish Revolution of 1798. The art he created and commissioned provides a unique perspective of the physical and emotional costs of these revolutionary moments.

  • Traveled to Ireland and Northern Ireland for exhibit research.

  • Author of accompanying exhibit catalog.

  • Adapted into an online exhibit in 2022.

  • Co-author of accompanying audio tour script. 

  • Historical advisor on first-person theatrical performance "Cost of Revolution: Meet Richard St. George." 

  • Designer: Steve Feldman Design, LLC

  • More information

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Hamilton Was Here: Rising Up in Revolutionary Philadelphia

Museum of the American Revolution

Special Exhibit, October 27, 2018-March 17, 2019

  • Co-curator​

  • 5,000 sq. ft. interactive exhibit

  • 2020 Award of Excellence- AASLH Leadership in History Awards

  • 2021 S.K. Stevens Award- PA Museums

  • 2020 Institutional Achievement Award- PA Museums

  • ". . . the exhibit doesn't shy away from tough questions and controversial subjects." -The Philadelphia Inquirer

  • Hamilton Was Here revealed surprising connections between Philadelphia and Alexander Hamilton’s extraordinary contributions to the nation’s founding. The exhibit centered around the question, how did Philadelphia change Hamilton? Through playful interactives, six scenic environments, and facilitated games, visitors actively engaged in the challenges of founding and maintaining a country and the challenges of citizenship today. The experience served school groups with a facilitated program.

  • Designer: HealyKohler Design

  • More information

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Among His Troops: Washington's War Tent in a Newly Discovered Watercolor

Museum of the American Revolution

Special Exhibit, January 13-February 19, 2018

  • Co-curator​

  • 2,500 sq. ft. exhibit

  • 30 works of art and artifacts from the Museum's collection and 8 lenders, including the Library of Congress, Winterthur Museum, and the Biggs Museum of American Art. 

  • Among His Troops presented a newly discovered 235-year-old, seven-foot long panoramic painting of the Continental Army's encampment at Verplanck's Point, New York, in 1782. The exhibit brought together works of art, weapons, and other artifacts from the Revolutionary War to explore the history surrounding this rare eyewitness painting of the Continental Army. Among His Troops also explored the detective work conducted by the Museum’s curatorial team to identify the watercolor and its artist, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, who is best-known as master planner of Washington, D.C. The newly discovered watercolor was displayed next to L’Enfant’s only other known panoramic painting of the Continental Army, which depicts West Point in 1782, on loan from the Library of Congress. Together, these paintings provided visitors with a glimpse into the relatively unknown period following the 1781 victory at Yorktown, Virginia.

  • Co-author of accompanying exhibit catalog. 

  • Read about the discovery in The New York Times.

  • Reviewed and edited script for traveling version of the exhibit at the New-York Historical Society, summer 2019.

  • Designer: HealyKohler Design

  • More information

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Finding Freedom: African Americans in Wartime Virginia

Museum of the American Revolution

Digital Interactive, 2017-present

  • Assistant Script Writer, Art Director, and Researcher

  • Visitors can discover the stories and decision making of five real people of African descent, enslaved or free, as the Revolutionary War tore through Virginia in 1781. Based on original research and recent scholarship, this digital story book includes custom illustrations, interactive decision points, and access to primary sources.

    • Eve​- Seeks out her freedom with the British Army by running with her son George from the Randolph family in Williamsburg. 

    • London- Runs away from slavery and serves in a Loyalist regiment formed by Benedict Arnold.

    • Jack- Fights his own battles against slavery in western Virginia.

    • Deborah- Escapes from slavery at Mount Vernon to have a chance at freedom offered by the British Army.

    • Andrew- Joins the Continental Army as a free man and earns a pension for his service.

  • Adapted into an expanded online interactive feature in 2020

    • 2021 Bronze MUSE Award- AAM​

    • 2022 silver-level Anthem Award in the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Category”- The WebbyAwards

  • Designer: Bluecadet.

  • Illustrator: Wood Ronsaville Harlan, Inc.

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Posters of Protest: 1765-1774

Museum of the American Revolution

Digital Interactive, 2017-present

  • Curator

  • Presented as a large touchscreen wall, visitors can read and interact with primary sources related to the major events that led to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Pinch-and-zoom and hotspot functions allow for deeper dives into the details of each historical document. Supplementary images and contextual timeline allow for self-directed discoveries. 

    • Stamp Act​

    • Townshend Acts

    • Boston Massacre

    • Destruction of the Tea

    • Coercive Acts

  • Designer: Bluecadet

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Arms of Independence

Museum of the American Revolution

Digital Interactive, 2017-present

  • Curator

  • Three touchscreens presenting high-resolution, 360 degree photography allow visitors to explore the details of 40 muskets, rifles, swords, bayonets, and accouterments used by American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. The experience mimics personally handling the objects on display in a case directly in front of the visitor. The interactive also interprets each artifact with brief labels and technical specifications.  

  • Designer: Bluecadet

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Season of Independence: The People Speak

Museum of the American Revolution

Digital Interactive, 2017-present

  • Assistant Script Writer, Art Director, and Researcher

  • Three touchscreens present an interactive map that reveals the rising, grass-roots movement for American independence in the first six months of 1776. Local declarations of support for independence, 88 in total, are plotted on the map and toggle on and off as a timeline is manipulated. Individual perspectives on independence (for, against, and neutral) expressed in 1776 are presented through specially commissioned portraits of diverse historical figures

  • Adapted into an online interactive feature in 2020.

  • Designer: Bluecadet

  • Illustrator: Wood Ronsaville Harlan, Inc.

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Exhibits

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