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American Independence Day Tours

Join us for a special reopening celebration of Independence Day at Benjamin Franklin House and enjoy a tour of the world’s only remaining Franklin home!

As a founder of the United States, Franklin was the only statesman to have signed all four documents that created a new nation, including The Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Alliance with France, the Treaty of Paris, and The Constitution. The first of these was signed on 4 July 1776.

Buy your tickets here.

Tours times are:

Saturday July 4th: 2pm and 3pm

Sunday July 5th: 2pm and 3pm

To ensure we keep everyone safe:

  • We are limiting group sizes to 4 people from separate households. If your group has more than 4 people from your household, please contact us at info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org or +44 207 839 2006 to arrange your booking
  • All staff and visitors (excluding those exempt under current UK government guidance) will be required to wear a mask inside the House – on entry, visitors will find a station with hand sanitiser, masks, and gloves
  • Our staff will be regularly cleaning the public areas throughout the days we are open to the public to ensure a safe environment

We look forward to welcoming you again to Benjamin Franklin’s only surviving home in fulfilment of our mission to bring history and innovation to life!

Benjamin Franklin House Team

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We’ve Reopened!

We are excited to announce that following new UK government guidelines on museums and galleries, Benjamin Franklin House will be reopening to the public with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

In celebration of American Independence Day, we will offer Architectural Tours from 2-4pm on 4 and 5 July.  Please make a booking for this special celebration here.

Following, we will be open Friday-Sunday, 12-5 for Architectural Tours from Friday, 10 July.  We hope to begin running our primary offering, the Historical Experience, before the close of summer.

Please make a booking for Architectural Tours here.

Changes to ensure the safety of visitors and staff

To ensure we keep everyone safe:

  • We are limiting group sizes to 4 people from separate households. If your group has more than 4 people from your household, please contact us at info@benjaminfranklinhouse.org or +44 207 839 2006 to arrange your booking
  • All staff and visitors (excluding those exempt under current UK government guidance) will be required to wear a mask inside the House – on entry, visitors will find a station with hand sanitiser, masks, and gloves
  • Our staff will be regularly cleaning the public areas throughout the days we are open to the public to ensure a safe environment

We look forward to welcoming you again to Benjamin Franklin’s only surviving home in fulfilment of our mission to bring history and innovation to life!

Benjamin Franklin House Team

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Live Science Class for Kids: Ben Franklin and the Solar System

Join our series of weekly virtual classes to learn how Ben Franklin’s inventions and scientific discoveries illuminate the national curriculum! You can recreate all the featured science demonstrations at home using household materials.

 In 1769, Venus could be seen passing across the Sun from Earth. Scientists in Philadelphia carefully tracked its journey and used this to measure the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Ben Franklin wrote about their findings and this helped American to enter the global scientific community. Learn more about the transit of Venus as well as the other planets before creating your own model solar system!

Materials: black paper, tin foil, acrylic/ poster paints, paintbrush, PVA glue

Links to the Science Curriculum:

KS2: Earth and Space (Y5)

KS3: Space Physics

Most Suitable for KS2 and KS3 (US Grades 2-8) but all ages welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Our Solar System:

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Live Science Class for Kids: Ben Franklin and Volcanoes

Join our series of weekly virtual classes to learn how Ben Franklin’s inventions and scientific discoveries illuminate the national curriculum! You can recreate all the featured science demonstrations at home using household materials.

In 1783, a dramatic volcanic eruption took place in Iceland which lasted for several months. Ben Franklin wrote about how the eruption might have impacted the climate across Europe. Find out more about the eruption of Laki and how volcanoes work. You’ll also create your own model of an erupting volcano!

Materials: small plastic bottle, paper, scissors, tape small bowl, cup, 1tbsp bicarbonate of soda, 1 tbsp washing up liquid, 2 tbsp water, ½ cup vinegar, 1 tbsp red food colouring, 

Links to the Science Curriculum:

KS2: Rocks (Y3)

KS3: Earth and Atmosphere

Most Suitable for KS2 and KS3 but all ages welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact education@bejaminfranklinhouse.org

How to make a model volcano:

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Virtual Talk – True Grid: François-Marc-Louis Naville and his moral tables

“The days flow by. I feel myself dragged about by time as if by a torrent. A decrease in energy and health, though possibly only temporary, makes me nevertheless fear for an early death. I feel deeply that there is nothing more to be desired than what pertains to eternity, that I should not waste a moment of time, that I should hurry to fulfill at least part of my task.”

Harro Maas, professor in history and methodology of economics at the Centre Walras-Pareto for the history of economic and political thought at the University of Lausanne,  will use these words from the diary of François-Marc-Louis Naville, a turn-of-the nineteenth-century Genevese pastor and pedagogical innovator, as a cue to examine his use of Benjamin Franklin’s tools of moral calculation and a lesser known tool, Marc-Antoine Jullien’s moral thermometer, to improve his moral character. He will situate Naville’s use of these tools within the Swiss pedagogical reform movement of Pestalozzi and others in the early nineteenth century and will examine in detail how Naville used and adapted Franklin and Jullien’s tools of moral accounting for his own moral and religious purposes. We will see that God’s most precious gift to man, Time, provided Naville the ultimate measure of his moral worth.

Watch the full talk and Q&A here:

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Live History Class for Kids: Collaboration with the New York Historical Society

To join this 1 hour online class on Thursday 25 June at 4pm BST/11am EDT, please register here.

We are delighted to be collaborating with the New-York Historical Society on a special installment of their History @ Home series to uncover the many different faces of Benjamin Franklin.

By examining the New York Historical Society’s collection of artefacts portraying this Founding Father of the United States, students will learn to interpret symbols in works of art before creating symbolic portraits of their own.

Activity Materials: Bring your favourite drawing materials to complete an art activity at the end of the session!

Most Suitable for Years 4-7 (Grades 3-6) but all ages welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

 

 

New-York Historical Society Education Division

The New-York Historical Society Education Division provides dynamic programming and curriculum resources for students and teachers in New York and beyond. Historical study sparks curiosity and creativity, promotes cultural understanding, and fosters an empowered citizenry to strengthen our democracy. Our staff of passionate professionals draws on our world-renowned collections to engage learners of all ages in the study of our collective past.

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Live Science Class for Kids: Guest Presenter from John Wesley’s House

We are very excited to welcome a guest presenter from The Museum of Methodism & John Wesley’s House for this week’s instalment of our weekly virtual science classes. You can recreate the featured demonstration at home using household materials.

John Wesley and Benjamin Franklin lived in London at the same time and they were both interested in electricity, John even visited America! It’s John’s journey to America that’s inspired this session led by Gemma Smith, Learning & Community Engagement Officer at John Wesley’s House. John encountered a scary storm on his way there so we’ll be thinking about what materials float and why. You’ll be able to join in with the experiments as we go along, testing materials from around your house. We’ll also explore how the density of materials affects whether they float or not.

Activity Materials:

Experiment 1: a large bowl/container of water, different materials from around the home e.g. wood (pencil), plastic (old bottle), metal (coin), cork, fruit

Experiment 2: ice cube, water, oil, a glass

Experiment 3: syrup (the syrup should be pre-poured into an old jam jar or other see-through container), water, oil

Links to the Science Curriculum:

KS2 – Materials and their properties

KS3 – Density

Most Suitable for KS2 and KS3 (Grades 2-8) but all ages welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Watch the full class and demonstration:

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Live Science Class for Kids: Guest Presenter from Newington Green Meeting House

Please register here, to receive the joining link and password.

This 30 minute class will begin at 3pm BST/10am EDT on Tuesday 23 June.

We are very exciting to welcome a guest presenter from Newington Green Meeting House for this week’s instalment of our weekly virtual science classes. You can recreate the featured demonstration at home using household materials.

Newington Green Meeting House is a place where for over 300 years people have been thinking differently. In this session Amy Todd, Community and Learning Manager, will be showing us how to perform one of Joseph Priestley’s experiments. Joseph Priestley used to come to the Meeting House and was friends with one of our famous ministers, he was the person who discovered Oxygen, and he did lots of experiments with gases. He even invented the world’s first carbonated drink, so without Priestley there would be no Fanta today! In this experiment you will learn how to instantly freeze your favourite fizzy drink and amaze your friends!

Activity Materials: fizzy drink of your choice, space in a freezer, a bowl, some ice (1-2 cubes will be fine)

You will need to put your soft drink in the freezer for 3.5 hours before we start so you can join in!

Links to the Science Curriculum:

KS2: States of Matter (Y4, Y5)

KS3: Matter – Physical Changes

Most Suitable for KS2 and KS3 (Grades 2-8) but all ages welcome!

If you have any questions, please contact education@benjaminfranklinhouse.org

Watch the full class and demonstration:

Watch the demonstration:

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Virtual Talk: Fuelling Democracy – Ben Franklin and Coffee Houses

Join us for a talk on how Benjamin Franklin used the stimulating environment of coffee houses to help shape his early political ideals by our Operations Manager, Caitlin Hoffman. These public and social establishments were centres of the 18th century Enlightenment and provided a foundation of early American politics.

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Virtual Talk: The Rise of the Private Banker in Franklin’s London

Dr Perry Gauci, Tutor in Modern History at Lincoln College, Oxford University, will speak on the development of the banking profession in mid-Georgian London. In common with many of his fellow London residents, Franklin benefited from the increasing availability of specialist banking services, and this talk will examine the social and cultural impact of the private bankers, several of whom were located close to Craven Street. Both in their business and their sociability, the bankers were a dynamic force, and acted as key intermediaries within metropolitan society.

Image: Ben Franklin’s Wallet on display at Benjamin Franklin House

Full talk and Q&A below: