A Time for Liberty: Our Shared History, Our Shared Future

In the early days of our nation, the idea for Eastern State Penitentiary—the nation's first penitentiary—emerged as a bold initiative to reform the criminal justice system. Framed in 1787, just 11 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Eastern State Penitentiary was built on a radical belief in human dignity and our capacity for change. Its founders sought to answer a question that still echoes through our country today: Have we established justice?

In 2026, as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, Eastern State hosts A Time for Liberty: Our Shared History, Our Shared Future, a yearlong slate of free, inclusive programs that invites visitors to wrestle with evolving meanings of liberty and justice.

A Time for Liberty features 5 family-friendly festivals, 9 panel discussions with scholars and systems-impacted leaders, 4 community workshops, 2 pop-up exhibitions drawn from the site's archival collections, and new online learning resources that extend the experience to classrooms nationwide. Visit EasternState.org to learn more.