South Central PA Scholastic Arts Exhibition

1st Floor

Open Friday, February 27, 2015 through Sunday, April 26

Winners of the 2015 South Central Pennsylvania Scholastic Art Awards, sponsored by Commonwealth Connections Academy , will have their works displayed. These awards recognize students for their creative excellence. Students from schools in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lebanon, Perry and York counties were eligible to showcase their talents.

National History Day in Pennsylvania 2014 Winners

1st Floor

Open through April 26, The State Museum is displaying winning student entries from the 2014 statewide competition of National History Day in Pennsylvania. This national educational program engages students in grades 6–12 in the process of discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Presented in cooperation with the U.S. Army Heritage Center Foundation, the state coordinator for National History Day in Pennsylvania.

UnCommon Modern: A Pennsylvania Glossary of Midcentury Architecture

1st Floor

UnCommon Modern, Nov 2 – Apr 26, 2015, features a series of 40 color documentary photographs taken by Betsy Manning, a Philadelphia-area photojournalist. Each photograph depicts select Pennsylvania buildings and designs that reflect Midcentury Modern influences. The exhibit was organized by The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania with funding from the Bureau of Historic Preservation, PHMC.

Stories from the Home Front: Pennsylvania in the Civil War

1st Floor

This interactive exhibit explores major themes about Pennsylvania’s roll in the Civil War. Through stereoscopic photographs, original compositions of Civil War-era music and sound effects, interactive maps, hands-on objects and animated storytelling, the exhibit conveys accounts of the many ways Pennsylvania’s men, women, children and communities experienced the Civil War – both on the battlefield and the home front.

A Fondness for Birds: Pennsylvania's Alexander Wilson

3rd Floor

Open through January 3, 2016, this exhibit features bird prints and first edition volumes of the 200-year-old “American Ornithology” series by Alexander Wilson. The State Library of Pennsylvania has loaned the Commonwealth’s original and recently conserved set of “American Ornithology” volumes for the exhibit. Also featured are bird specimens from the museum’s Botany and Zoology collections.