This exhibit features objects made in Pennsylvania that are from the collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania. They include a small sample of the many products for which the Commonwealth has been distinguished.

Made in PA
Our brand new, on-line exhibit of artifacts from the collections of The State Museum that were made in Pennsylvania.

Photographer Don Giles visited abandoned and active Pennsylvania steel mills in Bethlehem, Steelton, and Ambridge in 2005 and 2006, and his extraordinary photos document a moment in the history of one of Pennsylvania’s most important historic and contemporary industries.

Steel: Made in Pennsylvania
Our online exhibit featuring photographs of the steel industry throughout the Commonwealth.

Quilts from the collection of The State Museum featuring historic quilts and objects as well as some modern adaptations.

State Museum Quilts: Historic Becomes New
Our online exhibit featuring quilts from our collection.

Levittown: Building the Suburban Dream. Produced in cooperation with Franklin and Marshall College.

Levittown: Building the Suburban Dream The brainchild of developer William J. Levitt, Levittown, Pennsylvania was the largest planned community constructed by a single builder in the United States. By the time it was completed in 1958, the development occupied over 5500 acres in lower Bucks County and included churches, schools, swimming pools, shopping centers and 17,311 single-family homes.

To its 70,000-plus residents, Levittown represented the American Dream of homeownership. To many others, Levittown epitomized postwar suburbia—a place often criticized but widely copied.

In honor of its 50th anniversary, this exhibit explores the early history of Levittown from the perspective of those who built and lived the suburban dream.

The William Penn Treaty, showcasing the many pieces of art found in the Potamkin Collection.

Penn's Treaty explores one collection from The State Museum’s Fine Arts collections. This private collection, “The William Penn Treaty,” was a gift given by Mr. and Mrs. Meyer P. Potamkin. This exhibit features the text, art, artifacts, and documents from this prominent collection, including the Edward Hicks’ oil painting, “Penn's Treaty,” from c.1830

Administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. ®2005 SMPA Terms of Use/Copyright