The American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibition, an innovative pop-up exhibition featuring display panels and interactive kiosks that tell the story of the birth of the nation, opens Jan. 27 at St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.
Created through a collaboration between the American Battlefield Trust and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the exhibition is sponsored by the Olean Chapter of the DAR and will be on display at the Quick Center through Feb. 10.
The exhibition will be introduced in an opening event at 2 p.m. on Feb. 1 with Emily Woodhead, regent of the Olean DAR, and Chris Mackowski, professor of writing in St. Bonaventure’s Jandoli School of Communication and a Copie Hill Civil War Fellow with the American Battlefield Trust. The opening event is free and open to the public.
The traveling exhibition includes 12 panels highlighting thematic connections between profiled individuals and three interactive kiosks that connect to the full digital biographies, provide documentary context on the Revolutionary War, and offer information on how to visit the places tied to these individuals today. It features custom illustrations by South Carolina-based artist Dale Watson, and draws from documents and objects in DAR’s collection, as well as the Trust’s industry-leading digital interpretation resources.
The American Revolution Experience invites visitors to consider the choice faced by members of the revolutionary generation as tensions mounted in the 1770s: Would these ordinary citizens risk their lives and livelihoods in pursuit of liberty? Or would they remain loyal subjects of the British crown, coming into conflict with neighbors and family? Rather than focusing only on generals and famous statesmen, the exhibition introduces audiences to drummer boys, military mapmakers, and other ordinary people who were impacted by global events.
“The American Revolution would not have happened without the decisions, sacrifices, and valor of ordinary people,” said National Society DAR President General Pamela Rouse Wright. “DAR is honored to have collaborated with the American Battlefield Trust on this initiative to highlight some of our patriots and their roles in the founding of this great country.”
Added David Duncan, president of the American Battlefield Trust: “Independence may have been declared in Philadelphia by the Declaration’s 56 signers, but it was hard-won on the battlefields we protect by the thousands of patriot soldiers from whom today’s Daughters trace descent. Together, our organizations bear witness to the fact that we are not so far removed from those impactful events, that there are meaningful ways to bridge those 250 years.”
The American Battlefield Trust, one of the most successful land preservation and education organizations in the nation, has protected almost 60,000 acres associated with the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.
The National Society DAR, whose members are descended from patriots who won American independence, promotes historic preservation, education, and patriotism, and is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations.
Scores of libraries, historical societies, and museums will host the American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibition through the spring of 2025, introducing visitors to a cast of historical characters with diverse experiences throughout the conflict and the places they visited on their journey. A longer-term mounting of the exhibition will remain at DAR’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C.