Positively Philadelphia: Museum of the American Revolution
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Museum of the American Revolution is now open at 3rd and Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia. Historian and curator Philip Mead says an amazing discovery found here helped him with his research.
"In 1997, I came here and I found this smudged, dirty, diary. Still had dust from the battlefield on it. Sewed together with irregular pages by a sergeant in the Continental Army."
That sergeant major was John Hawkins.
"He says among other things that they fight for the liberty of liberties, the freedom of the press. This is 1779 he wrote that. And then another point he used the famous phrase that the army was a 'band of brothers' fighting. So his story was just remarkable. He fought from 1777 to 1783. I think that it's useful to know that this museum tells a lot of big picture messages through intimate stories."
The diary was found at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at 1300 Locust Street. It's just one of the many things that help tell the story of the Revolution at Philadelphia's newest museum.
For more information, visit the museum's website:
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And for this week, that's "Positively Philadelphia!"
