In Pursuit of History Film Festival at PAFA
About this Event
Philadelphia didn't just witness American history — it made it. On October 24th, the In Pursuit History Festival invites you to spend a day exploring the stories, people, and ideas that shaped this nation, right in the heart of the city where it all began.
This free, full-day festival at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is designed for anyone who wants to engage with history on their own terms. Choose your own journey across five dynamic tracks running throughout the day.
Film Track — Rhoden Art Center
Catch one episode or stay all day. The In Pursuit documentary series screens continuously from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with six episodes tracing Philadelphia's role in the making of America.
A Nation of Artists
The exhibition is open all day, with 30min guided tours departing every hour from 10:30 AM through 4:00 PM. Explore the intersection of art, history, and identity through the lens of Philadelphia's story.
History & Ideas Stage
Enjoy panels featuring historians, educators, and thought leaders — including our very own History Making Productions team. Topics include: Philadelphia's Untold Stories; Art as Historical Evidence; and The Future of American Storytelling.
PAFA Studio — Sketching America in the Gallery
A drop-in artmaking studio open all day. Create original work inspired by themes of revolution, freedom, civil rights, democracy, immigration, and innovation.
This festival is free and open to the public. Whether you're a student, educator, history enthusiast, or lifelong Philadelphian, there's something here for you. Come for an hour or stay all day — the city's story is waiting.
Film Track
🕑: 10:00 AM - 11:05 AM
Screening - Episode 1: Freedom
Info: The Lenape people have called this land home for 18,000 years. When Quaker visionary William Penn arrives with promises of tolerance and coexistence, a bold experiment begins — but so does the contradiction at America's core, as slavery takes root even as freedom is proclaimed.
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:20 PM
Screening - Episode 2: Land
Info: As Philadelphia grows into North America's fastest city, pressure mounts on the Penn family to expand — at any cost. A fraudulent land deal known as the Walking Purchase strips the Lenape of their territory, setting off a rebellion that erupts into the violence of the French and Indian War.
🕑: 12:30 PM - 01:35 PM
Screening - Episode 3: Independence
Info: Philadelphia becomes the birthplace of a nation. From the Paxton Boys to the Continental Congress, competing visions of freedom collide as revolutionaries, laborers, women, and free Black Philadelphians all ask the same question: who does liberty belong to?
🕑: 01:45 PM - 02:50 PM
Screening - Episode 4: Common Ground
Info: As Philadelphia serves as the young nation's capital, a devastating Yellow Fever epidemic lays bare the fragility of the new republic. From the AME Church to the Female Anti-Slavery Society, Philadelphians build the institutions of civil society — and fight over who gets to belong.
🕑: 03:00 PM - 04:05 PM
Screening - Episode 5: America
Info: Bible Riots, civil war, and Reconstruction — Philadelphia is at the center of it all. A rising generation of Black leaders demands full citizenship, while the city itself struggles to hold together a fractured, expanding democracy.
🕑: 04:15 PM - 05:20 PM
Screening - Episode 6: Wealth
Info: Philadelphia throws a world's fair to celebrate 100 years of American progress. But suffragists, child laborers, Black migrants, and immigrant "huddled masses" remind the nation that prosperity and freedom are not yet one and the same.
History&Ideas Stage Track
🕑: 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Philadelphia's Untold Stories Panel
🕑: 02:00 PM - 02:45 PM
Art as Historical Evidence Panel
🕑: 04:15 PM - 05:00 PM
The Future of American Storytelling Panel
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
