(upbeat music) Here's what's next on You Oughta Know.

It's a very special street because we are a national treasure.

This historic working class neighborhood remains a tourist attraction in Philadelphia.

Our history makers and storytellers are the people that connect the dots for people.

It takes more than a costume to step into the role of an historical figure.

A trip to the Rosenbach is a trip across time and space.

We delve into one of the world's greatest collections of the written word located in Philadelphia.

It's a great way to show off what's often just put in drawers.

Plus, a look at what it took to finalize the Declaration of Independence.

Hi everyone, I'm Shirley Min.

You Oughta Know is coming to you from the National Constitution Center.

It's here where our nation's history comes alive, from its humble beginnings with the founding of our country to the republic we are today.

The unanimous declaration of the 13 United States of America.

Hundreds of copies of the declaration are here.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.

I'd say we have one of the best collections of the Declaration in the country.

That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The American Philosophical Society is a very important institution in the history of the Declaration of Independence.

It's a great way to show off what's often just put in drawers and used for researchers occasionally for the whole public to come out at this really important anniversary.

The exhibition has 49 objects, five items that are directly connected to July 1776.

We have the map that was hanging in Independence Hall while the delegates debated.

We have Thomas Jefferson's chair that he used when he was drafting it at Market and 7th Street.

We have two copies of the John Dunlap printing, one's on paper that was printed the night of July 4th, morning July 5th, another one that was printed on parchment, which is the only known copy to exist, that was printed sometime before July 19th, 1776.

What I think will get people most excited when they come through here is one of Thomas Jefferson's drafts of the Declaration.

On June 28th, Thomas Jefferson and his committee submitted a draft of the Declaration for Congress to consider.

They then debated it and edited it pretty heavily.

After that Jefferson was a little upset with those changes so after July 4th he actually wrote five different copies of the Declaration.

He wanted to make sure that his political allies in Virginia would understand what was fully in the Declaration when it was first submitted.

It was about 25% longer than what was published in 1776.

The Jefferson draft is very unique.

It shows the thinking of Jefferson and the committee so it's a very important document.

This is pulled out very infrequently for exhibitions so you should come down and see it now when you get a chance.

In the first 50 years the Declaration starts off as of course it's a state document, it's a document of international law and after that the Declaration isn't so much celebrated it's more about independence at that point but then what really transforms things is a little bit later we had overcome the War of 1812, basically the second British invasion of America.

Many of the veterans from the Revolutionary War were starting to pass away.

There were only five signers the Declaration left in 1815 and this led to a reconsideration of the Revolutionary War in American culture and a big part of that was a reconsideration of the Declaration as a very important document.

There are these very large commemorative beautiful copies of the Declaration that are printed.

They're the items that actually created the Declaration as we know it today.

It set up this notion that the Declaration was central to American identity.

It turns it into almost like a religious document.

And for the support of this Declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

One of the key themes of the exhibition is the Declaration not being a single event on July 4th, 1776, but a process.

It's a document that has been interpreted and used in many different ways from its first writing to present day.

So people have used it for various political reasons to fight against inequality.

We also use the word declaration so that's plural in the title.

The many different copies also have a very important role in changing its meaning over time.

So the truths are for everyone to use and interpret.

So if you get to come here, it's a chance for you to think about issues in our country today.

And then what can we do about them.

So we hope it's inspirational for all of our visitors to come through and see this exhibition.

For 75 years, the Daughters of the American Revolution have worked to preserve our nation's history and ensure its stories are passed on to future generations.

Contributing producer Karen Smyles has their story.

Historic preservation, education, and patriotism.

Those are the three pillars to make sure that everyone's story is told and shining a light on what's happened in our past to maybe help guide us through our future.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11th 1890 by four women who had attempted to join organizations that men had started and they were denied access.

It is a lineal descendant society.

You have to be able to prove lineal descent from a patriot.

Now a patriot doesn't have to be who actively fought in the militia.

It could be someone who provided money, food, horses, any type of service.

We invite any woman who is 18 years of older, regardless of her race, religion.

We do know mistakes were made in our history with the Marian Anderson situation, not being allowed to perform at Constitution Hall.

[singing] We hope to get 250 new African American, Native American potential patriots in this 250th anniversary of our country.

The Delaware Public Archives, they have a registry of a lot of people from Delaware who were paid for services long after the war was over.

It is a good source for us to be able to identify a lot of the women who probably would not otherwise be known.

Colonel David Hall is the name of our chapter, named for a man who served under General George Washington.

He was a prominent Lewes citizen, had a law practice here, and ultimately was the governor of Delaware.

This particular chapter was begun in 1951.

In fact, we're going to be celebrating our 75th anniversary this year.

Our chapter is very deep into preserving the history of the Maull House here.

This house is located on Pilot Town Road in Lewes and Pilot Town Road was a community of river pilots who lived up and down the canal.

It was built in 1739 by Samuel Painter, prominent carpenter in the area at the time, and in 1741 it was purchased by Luke Shields, the river pilot, and he lived here with his wife and his two children.

His wife passed away and then he married the widow from next door, Mary Maull, the daughter of a river pilot.

She had four sons and a daughter.

Her four sons all worked in the maritime industry, three as river pilots and one as a shipbuilder.

So there's a great maritime history here in this house.

They wanted to tear this house down and put in a development.

And I think we paid a dollar a year for it for the first three years until this chapter was able to raise enough money, collecting S&H Green Stamps books and having dinners at the high school.

I don't think the mission of the organization has changed as much as the way we deliver the mission.

We do a lot of maintaining of graves, cleaning headstones.

We have a day of service every year.

We do give awards to students and scholarship money.

We're still very focused on our original mission, which is historic preservation, education, and patriotism.

We're inside one of two new permanent galleries here at the National Constitution Center.

So if you've been here before, you'll be pleasantly surprised when you come back.

I'm here with Vince Stango from the National Constitution Center.

And Vince, what was the thinking behind these two new additions?

We're really excited to create something new for America's 250th birthday.

So this year we opened two new permanent galleries.

The first, America's Founding, tells the story of declaring independence, of the Revolutionary War, and ultimately creating the U.S.

Constitution.

And then in Governing the Nation, where we are right now, we tell the story of how the Framers came together to create our first form of government.

Checks and balances, separation of power, federalism, states' rights.

Two great ways to tell the early founding and creation of our country.

And what's exciting about these new galleries is all of the immersive experiences that are part of it.

Like, we're standing in the Oval Office.

But was that intentional to make a lot of the experience immersive?

It is.

We want to create different pathways for people to engage with the content and to learn.

And so we've got these immersive sets, the way you described.

We have artifacts and primary source documents.

And then, of course, touchscreens and interactive exhibits where you can play around, touch, engage that way.

It makes learning sticky.

I think it definitely would have stuck a little better with me when I was growing up had I had this.

Now the opening of Governing the Nation, it brought about another project.

Tell me about that.

Yeah, so The Promise of America was our first volume in partnership with Simon & Schuster, where we've assembled just a wonderful collection of scholars and historians to talk about the American idea in bite-size, really accessible essays.

This year, you know, we've all been talking about the semi-quincentennial, but there was another constitution that was signed in 1776.

Pennsylvanians didn't take a day off.

They were hard at work.

So three months later, we created our first constitution, September 28, 1776.

And Pennsylvania really became a laboratory for self-government and a model for other states and state constitutions to follow.

And what's great about that is just in a few more months, September 30th, we will debut another exhibit all about Pennsylvania's founding in collaboration with Drexel University.

And the Pennsylvania Constitution is on display here.

It is on display now in America's founding and we'll have a second on display in our in our new gallery with Drexel.

Amazing.

Vince Stango, interim president and CEO here at the National Constitution Center, thanks so much for sharing all this info.

Thanks for having me.

Elfreth's Alley is our nation's oldest continuously inhabited residential street in British controlled North America.

Coming up, this story and more.

The Rosenbach Museum and Library is one of Philadelphia's greatest hidden gems.

Inside, you'll find handwritten documents from the founding fathers sit alongside some of the world's greatest works of literature.

Here on Delancey Place, a beautiful residential neighborhood, most people might not know that behind the doors of 2008 and 2010 Delancey is a collection of art and books and manuscripts collected by ASW and Philip Rosenbach.

They were the premier book and manuscript dealers of the early to mid 20th century.

In this library, there's everything from 10th century books to these incredible manuscripts of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

On this shelf alone, we have a full first edition set of Jane Austen, presentation copies, manuscripts, and first editions of Charles Dickens, and the first two editions in triple-decker volume set of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

Now, Lewis Carroll is an important part of our collection, in part because of the exploits of Dr.

Rosenbach.

One of his most famous stories as a book dealer was the purchase of the manuscript of Alice's Adventures Underground, which would then become Alice in Wonderland.

He became famous for this both because of the exorbitant sum he paid for the manuscript and because the manuscript was going to an American book dealer as opposed to a British institution.

Dr.

Rosenbach and his brother Philip lived here together.

They entertained here in this parlor and next door in the dining room quite a lot.

And neither of them ever married.

So when it came time to decide what to do with their collection, Philip, the oldest of the two, said, "We really need to leave this collection to the people of Philadelphia.

That's where our legacy belongs."

He convinced Dr.

Rosenbach to do that, and that's why we have the Rosenbach here today.

In 2026, as Philadelphia and the United States celebrate the 250th birthday of our country, the Rosenbach is opening a brand new permanent exhibition gallery titled "Treasures from the Rosenbach's Collection, History and Literature of the Americas."

What we're seeking to do is help our visitors think not only about the past of the American experiment, but about our present and future, to build a community of civic dialogue through our historical collections.

So next to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, we have the narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass to acknowledge the role that activist voices played in expanding our understanding of American rights and liberties.

Next to Douglass, we have a manuscript in the hand of Abraham Lincoln documenting his thoughts on the rise of the Republican Party.

It's very powerful to hear Lincoln's own words on this new political force that was rising in American life, which of course would eventually carry him to the White House.

A trip to the Rosenbach is a trip across time and space.

Visitors have the opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the greatest works of literature and some of the epoch-defining moments in history through engagement with our rare books and manuscripts.

When you join us for a program or a tour on-site or online, you're going to have the opportunity to be in dialogue with people from all around the world, past and present.

Our hope is that people find inspiration that they can carry into their everyday lives connected to the community that we build here.

We began with the Declaration of Independence, then the Constitution, and now we turn to the Bill of Rights and one freedom many of us exercise, the right to petition our government for change.

This North Philadelphia community garden is the result of people power.

Right now we are standing in or located at Iglesias Gardens, a community space that was created out of necessity.

The space was a dumping site for many years.

That is until neighbors took action.

- You'll hear this term a lot, sweat equity.

That's where the community showed up.

A variety of skilled people put this place together to the point that you see it today.

(upbeat music) Through collaboration with other activists, we came to the conclusion that this space would be better better serving as a community space.

But to make the land their own the community had to go through the Philadelphia Land Bank a process they needed help with.

We had to use that collective power to engage whether it was a the local politician to creating or being part of demonstrations at their city hall or their administrative meeting places.

The ongoing effort led to the creation of an advocacy group to help communities with their petitions for land use.

The land stewards union started here at Iglesias Garden.

At Iglesias we were focused on protecting this bit of land that we have here or these parcels in the general vicinity but through that work we realized that this problem wasn't just in a sense censored here it was a citywide issue Moran says communities have power but they have to do the work the one-word answer is to organize right but education is important as well make the effort to get out there and make that change and mold this world that we live and right where these communities.

When you step onto Elfreth's alley, you're stepping into more than 300 years of history.

But for the people who live it's more than a historic landmark.

It's home.

Elfreth's Alley was never really supposed to exist.

A street like this on William Penn's original grid plan.

But we're so close to the Delaware River which was the lifeblood of the city.

Elfreth's Alley is our nation's oldest continuously inhabited residential street in British controlled North America.

Originally the reason why this street came into existence wasn't at first to build houses on it.

It was to be a cart path for businesses to get to the Delaware River.

First houses were built around 1713, but by the 1750s or so it become known as Elfreth's Alley because of Jeremiah Elfreth, who is a blacksmith and a carpenter, came into some of the properties on this street and he built our two museum houses where we are now, 124 and 126 Elfreth's We get emails and mailings from all over the country of folks who had a family member who lived on the alley.

It's a very special street, not only for the historical aspect, but because we are a national treasure that is available 24/7.

So we've always got tourists coming down.

All of the residents here do have a fondness for history, one way or another, are dedicated to the preservation as well.

We always like to just think like, they were here standing right where we're standing now, like over a hundred years ago, and it's pretty wild.

And just being able to like imagine them living in this house, looking at the same fireplace, the same floorboards, is kind of magical.

For me, one of the things that I love about Elfreth's Alley is it really is a story of amazing survival and fierce determination and community spirit.

It wasn't the city of Philadelphia who decided that this street needed to be preserved because of its amazing history.

It was the people, who lived here and it's an honor to be part just of that story and that tradition and carry it on.

Take a seat on one of these story benches where history is never boring.

The Once Upon a Nation who bring it to life are trained right here in Philadelphia at the Benstitute.

Philadelphia's class of 2026 included some pretty impressive students.

Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Bishop Richard Allen.

Though we didn't go back in time, these are the folks who helped bring history to life.

But before they step into the shoes of Philly's most famous figures, they learn how to do it here at the Benstitute.

I was a park ranger for 25 years and I'm still learning stuff by coming to the Benstitute.

Not long ago class was in session here inside the Free Quaker Meeting House.

Part history lesson, part acting workshop, part crash course in all things Philly.

But the goal isn't to memorize facts.

It's to make history feel human.

The historic district has so many incredible museums and attractions and iconic locations and places.

But our history makers and storytellers are the people that connect the dots for people.

Our actors and storytellers do extensive research on their own, just making sure that they know everything about their character.

They learn everything there is to know about Philadelphia, from who's on top of City Hall to where to get the best cheese steak to where the closest restrooms are.

We want our actors and storytellers to know, to not only know the history, but to be tourism ambassadors for the city.

Whether they're portraying a founding father, a free black entrepreneur or a Philadelphia chocolate maker, every student has the same assignment, make the past feel present.

History should feel alive.

It should surprise people.

laugh, think, ask question and see themselves in the American story and after learning, researching and practicing their craft was finally time to graduate, if you can show the human-ness and the character, thats when i think you are really doing your job Yeah because we put these founding fathers on a pedestal and you know, we, I don't say we take them down a notch, but we definitely make them more human for the general public.

You can talk with us for 10 minutes, 15 minutes.

Sometimes I have an hour conversation in character with like someone who really just appreciates the energy I'm giving them.

By playing these characters, we help people understand they were three dimensional people.

Also, they were everyday people like you.

They have everyday problems like you, but they were coming at the birth of a nation I'm there to be educational.

I'm also there to make sure that families and people visiting from all over the world have fun.

Some of these grads share stories from benches in Old City and Valley Forge.

Others step into the shoes of Philadelphia's most famous historical figures.

But no matter who they portray, they're all working toward the same goal.

that the people who shaped history weren't so different from us after all.

And that's it from the National Constitution Center.

Thanks so much for watching.

We're going to leave you now with the Germantown Colonial Dancers.

Good night, everyone.

[MUSIC PLAYING] People from that period, everyone was dancing.

[music] The history of that dance and the history of Philadelphia, it's interesting to me to know where these, the things that we love to do come from.

(music) This group feels a lot like a family.

Many of our dancers have been with this group for many, many years.

[Music]