Ladies and gentlemen, please recognize the color guards from each of the original 13 states as they are introduced in the order in which each state ratified the u. S. Constitution and entered the union. Delaware, first delaware regiment. [ applause ] pennsylvania, first troop Philadelphia City cal valerie. New jersey, old barracks museum. Georgia, sons of the revolution in the state of georgia. Connecticut, the governors foot and horse guard. Massachusetts, 54th massachusetts volunteer regiment. Maryland, maryland society, sons of the American Revolution. South carolina, South Carolina national guard. New hampshire, first New Hampshire regiment. Virginia, the Virginia Military institute regimentel color guard. New york, ninth new york field artillery, veteran corps of artillery of the state of new york. North carolina, the over mountain men. Rhode island, united train of artillery. And presenting the flag of the United States, the color guard of the third u. S. Infantry regiment known as the old guard. [ applause ] members of our audience, will you please rise for the National Anthem, performed by Curtis Institute of knew i can student, jamez mccorkle. O say, can you see by the dawns early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave o er the land of the free and the home of the brave [ applause ] please be seated as the colors are retired. Please welcome, the president and ceo of the museum of the American Revolution, Michael Quinn. [ applause ] thank you so much. Our deepest thanks to the color guards of the original 13 states and to the color guard of the third u. S. Infantry regiment, the old guard, as well as to the Curtis Institute of music. What a wonderful start to a very momentous opening. [ applause ] this is the third part of our opening celebration. Our Program Began this morning at the tomb of the unknown soldier of the American Revolution in Washington Square where we honored those who sacrificed their lives to create our nation. Our program continued in front of Independence Hall where we celebrated the future of that nation and the youth who are the legacy of the great ideals founded at that time. And now we are at the museum of the American Revolutions. We are celebrating not just the opening of the museum, but the people and the ideas of the revolution and the great landmarks and the history of philadelphia. And we are grateful to the many faith leaders, the students and others who made this day possible. The museum we open today tells the story of the creation of the american nation, how people from all walks of life found a bond in the soaring ideals of equality, freedom, and selfgovernance had the who consecrated that bond by their courage and sacrifice through eight years of warfare. That bond is what turned them into the unified people of one nation and has done so for every generation since. This Museum Celebrates and belongs to the american people. There are many distinguished speakers with us on this joyful day and we will introduce them as they speak. We are grateful for their enthusiasm and their support and we are pleased to welcome many Additional Special guests. The governor of the Common Wealth of virginia, the Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina, dan forest, the lieutenantgovernor the rhode island, dan mckee, the former governor the of delaware, michael castle, the former governor of new jersey, james florio, maryland, martin omalley, and the former governor of the pennsylvania and our great city of philadelphia, edwin rendell. Thank you for speaking as Independence Hall. [ applause ] im also pleased to recognize congressman kyle waritty for joining us and members of the city council of philadelphia, mark squilla, less ree russell. Thank you. [ applause ] we are joined by our great partner, the superintendent National Historical park, cynthia mcleod. It is such a privilege which the architect of this great landmark new building robert a. Stern and his Associates Join us. Were delighted you came. [ applause ] and we are also joined by the founder of intech construction who built this museum on time and on budget, Will Schwartz a new member of the board of the museum of the American Revolution. We have guests from many places and we are we are so honored that leaders of museums and cultural institutions from across philadelphia are with us today. You are too numerous to support so raise your hands so that everyone knows you are here. Thank you for turning out and joining us and welcoming us as we proudly join your ranks as one of the great cultural institutions of this city. Were also joined by people from many other institutions, but probably no one is has come further or is more special to us than ellen chictans and her family from china and japan, the donors who have donated the two wonderful bronze sculptural panels on the Chestnut Street side of the museum depicting Washington Crossing the delaware and the declaration of independence. Thank you so much. [ applause ] there are leaders from many distinguished institutions from across the nation today, and im delighted to recognize some of them. Steve rockwood, ceo of Family Search International from salt lake city, utah. Louise mere from the president of new york historic society. Jack Dwayne Warren executive director of cincinnati. John bray, director of the Smithsonian National museum of American History. Anne turner dylan president general of the National Society daughters of the American Revolution. James vaughan, executive director of the pennsylvania historical and museum commission. Stephanie stybic, director of the smith son known American History, american art museum, robb shink, Vice President of George Washingtons mount vernon. Susan stein, Vice President of Thomas Jeffersons monticello. Ruth taylor, executive director of the Newport Historical society, catherine robinson, president and ceo of historic charleston foundation. David row sell, the executive director of wintter Museum Garden and library. Beth hill of for tying of new york, and bonnie cho of the delaware tribe of indians. [ applause ] and now id like to introduce the members of the board of directors of the museum of the American Revolution. Will you raise your hands so everyone knows where you are and that you are here today. [ applause ] these are the volunteers who have guided and sustained the Multiyear Initiative to create the museum. And now it is a very great pleasure to welcome the mayor of the great city of philadelphia, mayor jim kenney. [ applause ] good morning, everyone. I cant tell you how proud i am as a native lifelong philadelphian to be standing here in front of this building and in front of all the great dig that dignitaries that have come here today. I just personally very much honored. Its fantastic to see so many of you out there helping us open this addition to our citys already thriving historic district. Those looking to find out more about the founding of their country have made philadelphia a priority. The museum will bring those people back while giving those who havent made yet the trip more incentive to did so. Philadelphia is named the Heritage City because it served as the backdrop for the formation of our country. This museum will provide greater insight into the sacrifices that were made in order to make the ideas that were first discussed in Independence Hall a reality. This museum will provide us with a much deeper appreciation of what it means to live free. And i think the most important part of this museum for me as ive gone through it is it acknowledges fully and totally the contributions of other folks who made this country great, africanamericans, native americans, women, and all others besides those who signed the declaration of independence. Without all of them, this would never have happened and they are finally and fully acknowledged in this space and i think thats wonderful. [ applause ] and gerry lenfest, youre a great philadelphian and a Great American and im honored to know you. Thank you very much and im glad to see you here today. Thank you very much, everyone. [ applause ] thank you. Please welcome the governor of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, tom wolfe. [ applause ] thank you very much. Mayor kenney, thank you for your comments. And its great to be here and i want to welcome all of you who are from out of town to pennsylvania. I just want to point out that the weather is always like this in pennsylvania. Again, i want to thank all of our distinguished guests for being here today but i especially want to welcome Vice President joe biden. Vice president. [ applause ] we are truly honored to have you here today since you began your career you have stood up for the middle class, for working people, for families and the interests of the less fortunate everywhere. Your time in the senate and in the white house have made this country better and i just want to welcome you back home to pennsylvania. [ applause ] im proud to be here to help commemorate the opening of the new museum, this museum of the American Revolution that will act as a monument to the lives of those who created this great nation. There is no better home for this museum than in philadelphia, than in pennsylvania, am i right . [ applause ] because this museum tells the story of the women and the men who created this nation right here in philadelphia where this nation began. Located with only within only a few blocks of the museum are a number of historic treasures that tell the story of how a loose band of colonials toppled a mighty empire that created for two centuries from independent hall to the site of the liberty bell to the president s house to congress hall, to the tomb of the unknown revolutionary war soldier, all around us are reminders of the struggle that our founders undertook to create a nation dedicated to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And now we have a museum solely dedicated for the first time to the lives and the sacrifice of those early americans who for far too long have gone nameless and uncommemorated. Those who fought and struggled ultimately won our independence and deserve our respect. Only a couple blocks away emblazoned on the tomb of the unknown soldier of the revolutionary war are the words freedom is a light for which many men and women have died in darkness. This museum will aim to turn the light on and tell the stories those women and men and for people all over the world who have made this country what it is and who shocked the world 240 years ago by doing the impossible by defeating the mighty empire. I cant think of a more fitting tribute to their memories and im glad pennsylvania will play home to this new treasure. I want to thank everyone who made this project a success and i want to thank Michael Quinn whos been up here. Can we give a round of applause to Michael Quinn. [ applause ] michael will lead this museum to Great Success right here in philadelphia. Thank you all for being here, thank you for helping us celebrate this great moment in American History. Thank you. [ applause ] please welcome noted author and twotime recipient of the pulitzer prize, David Mccullough. [ applause ] what a morning. What a morning to be grateful we are americans. [ applause ] what a morning to celebrate our past and what that teaches us about how we should move forward into the days that come. The American Revolution still goes on. The American Revolution was one of the most important events of all time and very much of it happened right here in this great storied city. Its not easy to understand the past because for one thing no one ever lived in the past. They lived in the present. But it was their present, not ours. And we have to not only understand who they were, what they set out to achieve, how successful they may have been, but we have to understand the time in which they lived. We have to not only understand what they wrote, but what they read. Because if we dont understand what they read, we wont understand why they said or wrote what they did. They were real people. History is human. When in the course of human events, human is the operative word. We can learn more from history than any other subject because it is about the human experience. And we can learn more about our country, our people, our past, our heart and soul as a civilization by knowing more about the American Revolution. We can never ever know enough about the American Revolution. And the opening of this magnificent museum is not just a moment to celebrate here in philadelphia, but all over our country. This is a moment of National Importance and cause to celebrate. [ applause ] one of the easiest, most obvious lessons of history is almost nothing of consequence that has ever been accomplished alone. Its a joint effort. Our country is a joint effort. This city is a joint effort. And this Marvelous Museum is a joint effort. And i think we should pay tribute to all of those who worked for 16 years to make this happen and congratulations and god bless you. [ applause ] and no one deserves more credit than gerry lenfest. [ applause ] i think today we should all go away from this ceremony standing taller. Because of who we are and what weve believed in, what we stand for, the values we still hold dear to us and this museum will do more to teach the oncoming generations about the importance of the revolution, not just in the military sense, but in a sense of ideas and the human spirit that anything weve ever had. High time we had such a museum as this. [ applause ] history isnt just about politics and war. History is about art and music and architecture. Architecture. And historys about poetry and about memory through the arts. We have a broadway show right now hamilton. We have the work of john trumble. We have the architecture of that marvelous period and of now, bob sterns work right here. This is a major work of architecture. [ applause ] this is april 19th, 2017. Heres a poem from april 19th, 1837. 180 years ago written by ralph waldo emerson. By the road bridge that arched the flood, there flagged aprils breeze unfurled. Here once the embattled farmer stood and fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept, alike the conquerer silent sleeps. In time and ruin bridge has swept down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank by this soft stream we set today a votive stone that memory may there deed redeem, like our sires, sons are gone. Spirit that made those heroes dare to die to leave their children free, bid time and nature gently spare, the shaft we raise to thee. Spirit, spirit and perseverance. George washington once said to me its one of the most powerful messages ever to all of us. Perseverance and spirit. Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. [ applause ] please welcome Oneida Nation representative and ceo of Indian Nation enterprises, ray halbritter. Thank you for that kind introduction. Its truly an honor to follow one of americas greatest historians. I bring you greetings of peace from oneida Indian Nation and our people began gatherings and have since time memorial with a thanksgiving address with these thoughts that we all come together in peace as one and we give thanks to what we have and our minds become as one. Native members have traveled here to be part of this special day know that prayer well. We are so fortunate that together we could be here to celebrate the grand opening of such an important museum, one that recognizes the oneidas significant role in the establishment of the United States of america. Today is a day of gratitude. The Oneida Nation is proud that our ancestors will be memorialized in the museum of the America