Keep the museum open.
The Family Rally is on, rain or shine! Saturday, 2 to 6 p.m., in front of the Academy. RSVP to get the latest updates from the team: Family Rally | Sunday March
The message
Don’t mourn. Organize.
If Philadelphia can move the Barnes, we can save the Academy.
The Academy of Natural Sciences has been a fixture of Philadelphia civic and scientific life for over 200 years, and holds a priceless and irreplaceable collection of 19 million specimens that continue to teach us today about our natural world. To lose the collection, and the ongoing science related to the collection, would be a tragedy.
To lose the public-facing museum, however, would also be a tragedy. How many Philadelphians remember being awed by first seeing the dinosaur skeletons, either on a school trip or on a visit with family? How many young people grew up to be scientists because they regularly spent time at the Academy?
Moreover, although the building needs to be renovated, the Academy belongs with the other museums on the Parkway. Do you want to see another high-end hotel, luxury apartments, or worse, an empty building next to the Franklin Institute? We already have the Family Court building across Logan Circle sitting empty for years.
Most importantly, we need to make our political leaders aware of what we want to see happen, and dial up the pressure for them to play a leadership, coordinating, and possibly a financial role in crafting the solution we want to see.
Share what the Academy means to you Act now
Support the Save the Academy movement
The actions below take a few minutes each. Volunteering is the next step. We can indeed save the Academy, but it will take resources, organization, people power, and pressure to make this happen. Whether it is with time, money, skills, connections, or something else, please step up and let us know.
Volunteer at the Family Rally Saturday, Sept. 26: set up, run a station, welcome families I want to do more! Volunteer your time, skills, and connections Give Today Donations run through our fiscal sponsor, the Center for Philadelphia’s Urban Future
Speak out!
Pick at least five
You don’t have to do all of these, but please aim to commit to at least five. When you contact people, be sure to include your own connection to the Academy and why it is important to you. Check them off as you go; this page remembers on your device only.
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1. ### Sign the petition We are calling on Drexel University and the Academy’s Board to keep the Academy’s public-facing museum open and to work with the Philadelphia community to find a sustainable path forward. Sign the petition on Action Network 2. ### Contact Mayor Parker’s office Ask the Mayor to take a stronger role in finding a solution that keeps the Academy fiscally sound, on the Parkway, and open to city schoolchildren. Call (215) 686-2181 · Submit a written comment · @phillymayor on social media 3. ### Contact your City Council member You can also call the at-large Council members, who represent all Philadelphia residents. Ask them to press the Mayor for a solution. Find your Council member 4. ### Contact your State Representative and State Senator They can bring pressure on the Governor to intervene, and could introduce legislation to help fund our underfunded arts and culture institutions, including the Academy. Find your state legislators 5. ### Contact Governor Shapiro’s office Ask the Governor to play a stronger and more public leadership role in finding a sustainable funding solution. Other states, including North Carolina, fund their natural history museums. Why don’t we? Call 717-787-2500 · Text 717-788-8990 · Mail: Governor Josh Shapiro, 501 North 3rd Street, 508 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120 6. ### Contact the office of Drexel’s President Merlo Express your deep disappointment with Drexel’s decision, and ask Drexel to reconsider. Be polite. If you are a Drexel grad, say so. Call 215-895-2100 · president@drexel.edu 7. ### Give kids a voice Suggest they write a short letter or draw a picture of what the Academy means to them, and send it to the Mayor or the Governor, or both. A teacher can have the whole class do it. Mayor Parker was a teacher, and the Governor is an Academy member who brought his own kids. 8. ### Talk to your friends and neighbors The September 1 announcement came during a late-summer week when many Philadelphians weren’t paying attention. Make sure people know, tell them what you have done, and pass along this page and the @savetheacademy Instagram page. save-the-academy.org 9. ### Post flyers in your community New Print the flyers below and put them up where your neighbors will see them: a coffee shop board, a library, a school pickup line, your building’s lobby, a lamppost on your block. Ask before you tape one to a shop window; most owners say yes. Print the flyers 10. ### Ask your organizations to speak up New Professional associations, teacher and school groups, unions, alumni clubs, congregations, neighborhood associations: if you belong to one, ask it to issue a short statement of support for keeping the Academy’s museum open, and for the institution as a whole. Institutions listen to institutions. When it is done, let us know through the contact page, and send the statement to the leaders named in the actions above as well. 11. ### Visit, and say thank you to the staff Many staff are losing their jobs. Meanwhile they are doing what they have always done: caring for the museum and its collection, welcoming and inspiring the public. They deserve all respect and thanks. Plan a visit · Last public day: Sunday, September 27 12. ### Share your story Tell people what the Academy means to you and why this matters, in your own words. Post it on social media with #SaveTheAcademy and tag @savetheacademy, and add it to the stories wall, where reporters, officials and neighbors can read it. Personal stories are what move the people still on the fence. Not sure where to start? Read our two-page story guide (PDF).
Want this as a printable sheet? Download “Academy of Natural Sciences Closing – What Can I Do?” (Word document).
Print and share
Three flyers you can print at home and hand out, pin up, or leave at a coffee shop. All point people to this site and the campaign’s Instagram. For a clean print with no browser header or footer, use the PDFs: full-page flyer (PDF) · half-page flyers (PDF) · quarter-page flyers (PDF).
Full-page flyer letter size, one per sheet
Half Page STA Flyers two per sheet, cut in half
Quarter Page STA Flyers four per sheet, cut along the lines
Upcoming events
Where to be, and when
1. Thu, Sept 24
Nature at Noon, 12 to 1 p.m.
An Academy event, not ours. A free, accessible lunchtime nature walk from the Academy into Center City, for everyone, no experience needed. Registration required. Reserve a spot 2. Fri, Sept 25Museum open, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Our door-volunteer shifts are full. Thank you! Come visit, say hello to the volunteers outside, and bring a friend who has never been. Hours and tickets 3. Sat, Sept 26
Family Rally: Roar for the Academy, 2 to 6 p.m.
An afternoon of arts and crafts, bubbles, face painting, music, dancing and more, right in front of the museum we love, to show how much this community wants the Academy to stay open. Come dressed as your favorite dinosaur, insect, organism, or just as yourself. Everyone is welcome, ages 0 to 68 million. Drop in anytime. 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in front of the museum. RSVP Now Volunteer with Us 4. Sat, Sept 26Museum open, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Our door-volunteer shifts are full. Thank you! Come visit, say hello to the volunteers outside, and bring a friend who has never been. Hours and tickets 5. Sun, Sept 27Last public day. Museum open, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Our door-volunteer shifts are full. Thank you! Come visit, say hello to the volunteers outside, and bring a friend who has never been. Hours and tickets 6. Sun, Sept 27