From the Executive Director

Pennsylvania history truly is the nation’s history, but there is also no single Pennsylvania. At The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, we aim to tell a broad history of the commonwealth. We also house ever-growing collections that preserve the continuing story of Pennsylvania’s past. The number of objects and specimens (including many small archaeological artifacts) currently stands at approximately 12.5 million.

Perhaps you have visited The State Museum. If so, you will have had the opportunity to appreciate our Midcentury Modern–style building, centered around Janet de Coux’s William Penn statue in Memorial Hall. You will have viewed iconic exhibits like Mammal Hall and new exhibits such as The Pennsylvania Turnpike: America’s First Superhighway and A Place for All: Three Stories of Integration in Pennsylvania. Or maybe you caught a show at the Planetarium.

You may also have noticed that some of our exhibits have not been changed significantly since they were initially installed. Or maybe you have ridden on our single elevator and wondered what’s on those upper floors. You also may have noticed the tall tower adjacent to the museum, where we store 250 million documents, soon to be vacated when the Pennsylvania State Archives relocates to its new building at 1681 North Sixth Street in Harrisburg later this year.

Some experiences are wonderful as they are, but we also recognize that like any 59-year-old building, some spaces could really benefit from an update. That’s especially true of galleries that were installed back in the 1960s and 1970s. We would like to deliver an experience that is worthy of our Pennsylvania history and one that meets modern visitor expectations.

To that end, we have been studying how we can better serve visitors, how we can better share the commonwealth’s history in dynamic and engaging ways, and how we can ensure we are best stewarding collections we hold in trust for all Pennsylvanians. We have also been studying how best to make use of the vacated archives.

We are thrilled to announce that we will be renovating both the museum and tower, with the initial phase of work planned for 2025–27. With the initial project, we will be improving the visitor experience with new passenger elevators, a new museum store, and a fifth-floor events facility, along with new and updated restrooms. We will also welcome visitors with a new dynamic ground floor exhibit about Pennsylvania that will be free to the public. The old archives tower will be renovated to house museum collections that require temperature and humidity control.

This $44 million project will set the framework for the renovation of approximately half the museum galleries over the following five years. We hope you will join us as we hold listening sessions about what Pennsylvania means to you and what you hope to see in your museum, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you as we undertake these exciting projects.

Andrea Lowery
Executive Director, PHMC