The American Independence Center was founded in 1991 as a place where the community could gather to learn about our shared democratic heritage. A museum was created as the primary method to deliver on that mission, and so the American Independence Museum was born. Now, as our country looks back at its founding, we’re returning to our roots too.
When our doors open for the season in May, it will be as the American Independence Center.
There will still be a museum here at the Ladd-Gilman House in Exeter. There will still be guided tours for visitors through the vital narrative of how our Declaration and Constitution were born, with tangible artifacts from our colonial and revolutionary history. The beginning of the story is important.
But it’s only the beginning.
And so, we’ll tell the rest of the story, too. New exhibits will take visitors through the entirety of American history, of how our republic has evolved during our 250 years as a nation. How we’ve grappled with abolition and suffrage, Indian removal and international fascism, Civil War and civil rights. How every American generation has spilled ink and breath and blood to secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty.
Every generation, including ours. Because the story isn’t over.
Because independence isn’t something we did. It’s something we do.
In addition to the reinvented Museum, the American Independence Center will engage the public in exciting programs that challenge us to celebrate and confront our imperfect continuing experiment in democracy. Speakers, debates, book reads, and document viewings that encourage dialogue between and among differing voices. The Independence Festival in July, Beer for History in the fall, and more. Our school programs, field trips, and summer camps are back as well, giving children the opportunity to learn about American history in a place that was there at the beginning.
Come join us at the American Independence Center. And be a part of the story that never ends.
To learn more, visit us at aicnh.org.
Thank you,
Joe Pace
Executive Director
Mark Howard
President, Board of Governors
American Independence Center
One Governors Lane, Exeter, NH 03833
(603) 772-2622
[email protected]