Pilgrim Hall Museum Celebrates 199th Birthday With Free Public Admission, Friday, September 1st, 2023

Press Releases

August 25, 2023

August 23, 2023
For Immediate Release
Contact: Donna Curtin, Executive Director
donna.curtin@pilgrimhall.org
cell: 617-605-4885
PILGRIM HALL MUSEUM CELEBRATES 199TH BIRTHDAY WITH
FREE PUBLIC ADMISSION, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 2023
Sponsored by Newfield House
Pilgrim Hall Museum, America’s oldest continuously operating public museum and the
pre-eminent museum of Pilgrim possessions, celebrates its 199th birthday on Friday,
September 1, 2023 with free admission for visitors throughout the day from 9:30 am to
last admission at 4:30 pm, courtesy of sponsor Newfield House. Early birds can enjoy coffee
and conversation with local legislators and cultural community members during a live radio
broadcast with WATD-95.5 FM host Rob Hakkala on the Museum’s front granite portico
from 6 am to 10 am. Free vanilla, chocolate, and carrot cake mini-cupcakes will be served on
the lawn of the historic Museum between 11:30 am and 1 pm. Re-enactors in 17th-century
costume from the New Plimmoth Gard militia group join the party from 10 am to noon,
demonstrating musketry and sharing insights about early Plymouth history.
Inside the museum, visitors can tour a new multi-media exhibition, Real-Mythic: People of
Plymouth, highlighting what we know and don’t know about the region’s colonial residents.
The exhibit includes a rare 17th-century manuscript, a page of Governor William Bradford’s
“First Dialogue” written in 1648, on loan from the collection of the Massachusetts Historical
Society through Sunday, September 24th only. Panels of the Plymouth Tapestry, an heirloom
embroidery being made exclusively for the museum, are also on display.
Built in 1824 by the Pilgrim Society, Pilgrim Hall is America’s oldest continuously operating
public museum. The Society was incorporated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in
1820, on the 200th anniversary of the founding of Plymouth Colony with the purpose of
erecting “a durable monument” to preserve the artifacts and documents of Pilgrim and
Plymouth history. Located in the town’s historic center, Pilgrim Hall Museum has advanced
its educational mission for 199 years.
Pilgrim Hall Museum is open five days weekly, Wednesdays through Sundays, from 9:30 am
to 5 pm (last admission at 4:30 pm). Visit www.pilgrimhall.org or contact
director@pilgrimhall.org for more information.