Elfreth's Alley Showcases 2017 Directory

The 2017 Directory of Traditional American Crafts visited Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia to photograph some of the best handwork in America. Rather than a museum, Elfreth's Alley is an entire neighborhood—the oldest surviving residential neighborhood in the United States. Handmade works made in historically accurate styles that our jurors judge as being museum quality was photographed among the historic exhibits, museums, and ordinary homes that make up Eldreth's Alley, and they appear in our August 2017 issue of Early American Life.  [MORE]

We Got Too Creative

In our August 2017 issue, our art department thought to liven our pages by putting the original draft of the Declaration of Independence in the background of our story “Independence Day.” Unfortunately, clever as it looked, page 35 of the magazine proved nearly unreadable. For those of you who had trouble deciphering the text, we’ve made available a version of pages 35 and 36 of our August 2017 issue without the background image. You can download a copy by clicking here.  [MORE]

Declaration of Independence

In our August 2017 issue, we told you about the beginnings of our Fouth of July holiday and how the role of the Declaration of Independence was not really valued (or celebrated as we do today) until the early 19th Century—Thomas Jefferson's Declaration was an unexpected masterpiece. We promised that you can download a copy for yourself, which you can do by clicking here.  [MORE]