Meet the Revolution

Living historian Daniel Sieh will join us at the Museum to explore the lives of Asians in the United States during the 18th century. Through historical documents, interactive activities, and objects, Daniel will unpack how global trade connected the lives of Asian sailors, soldiers, traders, and enslaved people, and how they navigated American society as strangers from a distant land.

At a time when women were not allowed to participate in government, Mary Katherine Goddard left her literal mark on history by placing her name on the Declaration of Independence. Join us as award-winning educator and historical interpreter Michele Gabrielson brings to life Mary Katherine Goddard, printer and postmaster of Baltimore during the American Revolution. Through the use of primary sources and storytelling, this informal drop-in program, complete with material culture items related to printing, explores Goddard’s multifaceted role as a printer who used the press to influence the revolutionary cause.

Conservator and interpreter Ben Bartgis will help visitors explore the physical nature of early American documents. From ink making and quill cutting demonstrations to exploring historic paper and parchment, visitors will learn how historic documents were created and how to see them as more than objects in exhibit cases.

Joel Anderson is a public historian focusing on the Southern experience during the American Revolution. Joel’s interests include military-industrial history, historical trade work, logistics, military horsemanship, and Revolutionary War material culture. Joel works as part of the Museum’s First Oval Office Project and has previously worked for institutions including Colonial Williamsburg, Fort Ticonderoga, Middleton Place Plantation, and Walnut Grove Plantation. Joel’s residency highlighted the experiences of Revolutionary and Loyalist soldiers during the pivotal years of the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign.

Kirsten Hammerstrom is a public historian specializing in women entrepreneurs and the textile trades in early America. She has interpreted a variety of businesswomen at the Museum from an apothecary to a tavern keeper. Kirsten stitched the British Ensign for the Museum’s True Colours Flag Project in April 2021. During the summer of 2025, she helped visitors learn about flag making and women flag makers in Revolutionary-era Philadelphia.

Naomi Glaser is a historical interpreter specializing in the lives of people of African descent in the 18th and 19th centuries. Through fashion, material culture, and diasporic traditions, Glaser highlighted the everyday experiences of free and enslaved people of African ancestry in the Mid-Atlantic region. Glaser uses adornment, craft, and cultural research to connect past lives to the present, showing how resilience, creativity, and identity were woven into daily routines.

Skyy Simeron is a two-time participant of the Museum of the American Revolution's Living History Youth Summer Institute, which focuses on costumed interpretation from the perspective of people of African descent during the Revolutionary War. Simeron has also interpreted the work of the women of African descent in Philadelphia during the British occupation of the city from the Fall of 1777 to the Spring of 1778. Her work focuses on the work of washerwomen of African ancestry, whose essential service provided a path to entrepreneurship. Simeron is currently studying history and archival work at Howard University in Washington, D.C. 

Nearly a dozen members of the Ladies Association of Revolutionary America were at the Museum to interpret the lives and work of various women who lived in the city of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. Visitors learned more about how the war affected women in the city at home, at work, and in the political sphere.

Emma Cross is a public historian and Journeyman Leather Breeches Maker whose research and interpretation focuses on the lives and work of Revolutionary-era women, including military camp followers, tradeswomen, and the remarkable stories of German diarist and camp follower Frederika von Riedesel and printer Clementina Rind. With twenty-nine years of museum interpretation experience, most recently at Colonial Williamsburg, she focuses on sharing history in engaging and informative ways.  An early contributor to the Museum's First Oval Office Project, Emma joined the Museum in Summer 2025 to interpret the stories of Revolutionary women.

Sydney Marenburg is an economic historian with an interest in the intersections of class, gender, and race in the United States. Sydney has conducted original research into industrial soap production in the 18th century, as well as the position of servants and immigrants to the American colonies. Sydney has worked with institutions such as Colonial Williamsburg, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and the United States National Archive, and joined the Museum recently to discuss 18th-century soapmaking as well as gender roles in the Revolutionary era.

Clare McCabe is a PhD candidate in Temple University's history department. Her research interests include Early American health and healing, gender and women's history, and Philadelphia history. She also previously worked as a museum educator at the Museum of the American Revolution, where she loved connecting with guests over history. Clare discussed the role of women and camp followers during the Revolution.

Historian Leslie Bramlett interpreted the remarkable life of Hannah Archer Till — an enslaved woman of African descent who was leased by her slaveholder to cook for General George Washington from 1777-1778 during his time at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and who then continued to work as a free servant in his headquarters throughout the war. Bramlett vividly illustrated Till’s story by highlighting the stark differences between cooking for Washington and his staff versus the meals prepared for common soldiers. Bramlett also delved into the work, responsibilities, and tools used by other camp followers during the period.

Interpreter Hannah Wallace has explored the various roles and responsibilities that women of African descent had to face during the Revolutionary era and has unpacked the lives of three generations of women from the Forten family, including Charlotte Vandine Forten. Through documents, handling objects, and graphics, Wallace shared stories that connect Charlotte, her daughters Margaretta, Sarah, Louisa, and Harriet, and her granddaughter Charlotte L. Forten, who travelled to South Carolina during the Civil War to teach recently freed people.

Costumed living history interpreter Hayden Conley joined the Museum throughout Summer 2023 to talk about everyday life of common soldiers in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Daryian Kelton presented the story of Polydore Redman, a man of African descent who went on to become a drummer in the 5th Pennsylvania (Continental) Battalion. Redman's story begins at the dawn of the American Revolution in 1775 when the war was still new and many Americans were advocating for a broad definition of liberty. Kelton shared Redman's pursuit of liberty and how it differed from those he served alongside as the war proceeded.

Ever wonder what life was like in an 18th-century schoolroom? Kalela Williams joined us to discuss the work of Elenore “Helena” Harris, an African American schoolteacher in Revolutionary Philadelphia. Harris had the unique perspective of having taught white children in both England and Philadelphia. With a focus on the children of the Revolution, Williams gave insight into how young people worked and played during times of war and peace. Williams also discussed the work of writer and poet Phillis Wheatley and her lasting impact.  

In Summer 2021, Noah Lewis portrayed a Revolutionary soldier of African descent, Edward “Ned” Hector. Museum guests met Hector in the 1820s as a respected resident of Plymouth Township, Pennsylvania, as he fought to gain a pension for service in the war. Lewis also discussed the skills and innovations of African American teamsters as well as everyday life in the 18th and early 19th centuries. 

In Summer 2021, historical interpreter Brenda Parker explored the skills and innovations of both free and enslaved women of African descent. Through the exploration of various textiles, Parker discussed block printing, hand-dyeing, mudcloth, and other traditions brought to America from Africa. She also discussed various waxes and soaps as well as soap-making techniques used in the Revolutionary era. 

In Summer 2021 and July 2019 at the Museum, Cheyney McKnight, founder of Not Your Momma's History, told stories about Quansheba, a woman of African descent who lived as an enslaved and then free woman on the site of the Museum during the Revolutionary War. She has also discussed African American women’s headwraps and spiritual practices, and she held workshops on African adornments, storytelling, foodways, and medicine. 

In May and August 2019 at the Museum, historical interpreter Joel Cook discussed the opportunities that people of African descent had at sea as privateers and in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War.

In June 2019 at the Museum, Nastassia Parker portrayed Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who ran away from George and Martha Washington’s household in Philadelphia. The 20-minute performance is available to watch online.