I got the email below today. This is important. Sign up and if you cannot sign up or teach, just show up and show support. The Morons Advocating the Gutting of America (MAGA) need to see that we will not go quitely into their distopia!
PLEASE COME!
I wanted to let you know about an opportunity for activism to preserve the full truth of history in Independence National Historical Park(INHP). On Saturday, September 20, 2025, the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides (APT) will host a public event in response to the federal government’s recent decision to flag several historical displays within Independence Park. The administration’s actions have drawn sharp criticism from local historians, educators, and preservationists. Of particular concern is the President’s House Site, which commemorates the lives of enslaved individuals who lived and worked at the executive mansion in the 18th century. Other INHP sites reported to be under threat of removal or revision include: Benjamin Franklin Museum; the Second Bank of the United States; Independence Hall; and the Edgar Allan Poe house.
APT is organizing a powerful, public historical tour and teach-in on Saturday, September 20 from 1-4 pm. We would like to invite you to join us by volunteering at the President’s House or one of 5 other sites in INHP. We are doing shifts from 1-2:30 and 2:30-4. At each station, a guide will start with a short message expressing that APT wants to make sure that all American history is presented and not a sanitized version of it. The guide would then give a presentation about key aspects of American history specific to the site that highlight the role of Black people in that history.
We will have maps with the 6 locations (Visitors Center, President’s House, Liberty Bell, Congress Hall, Independence Hall, and Old City Hall), and guides will have signs alerting visitors to the “Truth in History Teach-In.”
Some of you are members of APT and may have already received the email from our president, Marianne Ruane, with details and links to sign up. I have copied it below and I hope that you will consider signing up for a shift so that we can demonstrate to the current administration the importance of telling the full history of America, especially during its founding period, which is such an integral part of Independence National Historical Park. Thank you, and I hope we see you there!
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Bill Rooney
We need volunteers for our Teach-In on September 20!! We’ll have 5 sites around INHP with guides stationed at each to talk 5-10 minutes on Black history and other under-represented stories. There will be a 6th site – the President’s House – where we hope to have guides from The Black Journey and ATAC sharing stories.
We have 2 shifts – 1-230 pm and 230-4 pm. Deadline to sign up is next Friday, Sept. 12. We’ll have a Zoom meeting on Monday Sept. 15 at 7 pm to assign topics and we can do a practice session on Thursday Sept. 18 if there is interest. This is a great opportunity especially for new guides as it’s a limited amount of research and low stress chance to practice.
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 