The Rebecca Emery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution announced the opening of the American Revolution Experience at the Brick Store Museum on April 27.

The Rebecca Emery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution announced the opening of the American Revolution Experience at the Brick Store Museum on April 27. Dan King/Community Editor

According to a news release, the pop-up exhibition includes display panels and interactive digital kiosks that use storytelling, illustration, technology and artifacts and primary accounts to connect modern audiences with the people and places that shaped the birth of the nation.

Created through a collaboration between the American Battlefield Trust and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the exhibit is also made possible by matching funds from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program battlefield interpretation grants.

The exhibit will run through May 9 at the Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk.

“As we celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of our Nation’s founding, our Chapter is thrilled to share this award-winning exhibit with our local community here in southern Maine” said Elizabeth Harlow, Rebecca Emery Chapter Regent, in an email.

The exhibit will be available for viewing during the Brick Store Museum’s regular hours, as well as during Kennebunk’s May Day Festival on May 3. The public is invited to the Chapter Reception on April 30, 6 to 8 p.m. The reception will feature a talk from Paul McDonough, a member of the Biddeford Historical Society, and a presentation to honor Edith Cleaves Barry, the founder of the Brick Store Museum.

To RSVP for seating and refreshments, email [email protected].

“It’s an honor for the Brick Store Museum to host this exhibit in partnership with our local DAR Chapter.,” said Cynthia Walker, director of the Brick Store Museum. “The story of the American Revolution is just as vital today as it was 250 years ago and we all look forward to discovering more about the Revolution’s broad effects on how we live and understand today,”

The American Revolution Experience, according to the news release, launched online in its first digital-only iteration during the summer of 2022 to rapid acclaim and received a Bronze Award in the Education, Art, and Culture division of the second annual Anthem Awards, an initiative of the Webby Awards celebrating purpose and mission-driven work. It was also a finalist in the People’s Choice category of the Webbys themselves.

“The American Revolution would not have happened without the decisions, sacrifices, and valor of ordinary people,” wrote DAR President General Pamela Rouse Wright. “DAR is honored to have collaborated with the American Battlefield Trust on this initiative to highlight some of our Patriots and their roles in the founding of this great country. We are thrilled for people in communities across the country to learn more about these individuals.”

The traveling exhibit includes 12 panels highlighting thematic connections between profiled individuals and three interactive kiosks that connect to the full digital biographies, provide documentary context on the Revolutionary War and offer information on how to visit the places tied to these individuals today. Both online and on-site, the American Revolution Experience features custom illustrations by South Carolina-based artist Dale Watson. The exhibit also draws from documents and objects in DAR’s collection, as well as the trust’s digital interpretation resources.

“Independence may have been declared in Philadelphia by the Declaration’s 56 signers, but it was hard-won on the battlefields we protect by the thousands of Patriot soldiers from whom today’s Daughter’s trace descent,” wrote American Battlefield Trust President David Duncan. “Together, our organizations bear witness to the fact that we are not so far removed from those impactful events, that there are meaningful ways to bridge those 250 years.”

The Brick Store Museum is among the many libraries, historical societies and museums that will host the American Revolution Experience through 2025, introducing visitors to a cast of historical characters with diverse experiences throughout the conflict and the places they visited on their journey. A longer-term mounting of the exhibit will remain at DAR’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Individual DAR chapters across the nation, including the Rebecca Emery Chapter, have partnered with institutions in their communities to offer venues for the exhibit.

The American Revolution Experience invites visitors to consider the choice faced by members of the revolutionary generation as tensions mounted in the 1770s: Would these ordinary citizens risk their lives and livelihoods in pursuit of liberty? Or would they remain loyal subjects of the British crown, coming into conflict with neighbors and family? The exhibit surfaces diverse viewpoints and experiences, touching on the journeys — both literal and figurative — of Patriots and Loyalists, men and women, Black and Indigenous populations and even international allies. Rather than focusing only on generals and famous statesmen, it introduces audiences to drummer boys, military mapmakers and other ordinary people who were impacted by global events.

The Rebecca Emery Chapter came to be in the winter of 1896. Miss Cora Belle Bickford was appointed organizing regent and, on Jan. 25, 1897, a chapter was formed. March 20, 1897, is the day Charter 321 was issued to the Rebecca Emery Chapter of Biddeford.

The Brick Store Museum, founded in a brick general store at the center of Kennebunk in 1936, works to connect visitors with local history, art and cultures through exhibitions, learning and programs that inspire connection across time and space. The museum protects over 55,000 artifacts related to local history and is one of the only nationally-accredited museums by the American Alliance of Museums in the state of Maine. For more information, visit www.brickstoremuseum.org.