✨Stay late. Explore more. Spark your curiosity!✨

We’re keeping the lights on for a special museum experience! Join us after hours and explore our museum galleries until 7pm. Wander at your own pace, dive into hands-on activities, and discover something unexpected around every corner.

🎆 On View: Flash! Bang! Boom! A History of Fireworks

Get ready for a dazzling journey through the explosive history of fireworks—from the origins of these pyrotechnic spectacles to the chemistry behind them.

🫆Cultural Access for All

From 5 to 7pm, we will be joined by local accessibility consulting organization Philly Touch Tours, whose mission is to ensure that individuals with vision loss have equitable access to arts and cultural institutions. Stop by to speak with team members about the valuable work they do to increase disability awareness. We will also have collections objects from our new Touch Tour experience From Nature to Nylons: A Touch-Based History of Textiles on display for you to interact with.

📚Othmer Library Tour at 12pm

Go behind the scenes and uncover fascinating treasures with a guided tour of our Othmer Library. Register early, as space is limited!

🎁 AAM Conference Perk!

Attending the American Alliance of Museums Conference? Enjoy 5% off in our gift shop.

Make it a day, or make it an evening. We can’t wait to see you!


Featured image: The Power Plant by Night, illustration of the Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Company power plant in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Part of The Story of Rubber, What It Is and What It Does, ca. 1916.

More events

black and white photo of world's fair display of virus structure model
October 19, 2026
Conferences & Symposia

Artefacts XXXI: Trust and Objects

The 31st annual Artefacts Conference will explore how museums and academic institutions use material culture to build “trust in the history of science.”

Science History Institute Othmer Library
October 21, 2026
Free

Othmer Library Tour

Curious about the other half of the Science History Institute? Step into the Othmer Library of Chemical History!

oil painting showing an alchemist/scholar at a desk
October 24, 2026
Free

Art of Alchemy Self-Guided Visit

Step into the age of alchemy and explore works in our new permanent exhibition, Fire and Gold: The Art of Alchemy (1450–1850).

    Republish

    Copy the above HTML to republish this content. We have formatted the material to follow our guidelines, which include our credit requirements. Please review our full list of guidelines for more information. By republishing this content, you agree to our republication requirements.