News

The National Parks of Philadelphia will host a job fair at the Independence Visitor Center (6th and Market Streets) on September 18, 2024, from 9:30 am – 4:00 pm.

Independence National Historical Park (INHP) has been awarded reaccreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, the government, funders, outside agencies, and the museum-going public. It also means the park continues to meet National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums and remains a member of a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence. Through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by peers, the park has shown itself to be a good steward of its resources held in the public trust and committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth.

This week the National Park Service announced that 400 national parks reported a total of 325.5 million visits in 2023, an increase of 13 million or 4% over 2022.

Steven Sims has been named the new superintendent of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, which includes Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site, Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site and Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial. He is expected to begin his new position in mid-November.

Lauren Gurniewicz has been selected as chief of interpretation and education for Philadelphia’s National Park Service (NPS) sites. These include: Independence National Historical Park, Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site and Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial. She will begin her new appointment August 13.

The National Park Service continues to closely monitor and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the city of Philadelphia’s guidelines on reopening museums, the National Park Service is reopening the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site and the Thaddaeus Kosciuszko National Memorial this weekend. When Independence National Historical Park reopened most buildings in 2020 and 2021, these two sites remained closed due to their limited space and exhibit layouts which prevented CDC Covid-19 recommendations from being followed. Park Superintendent Cynthia MacLeod shared, “We have been able to respond to changing conditions and with Philadelphia in 'low community level' risk for Covid-19, I am particularly thrilled that the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site and the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial will reopen on their regular schedule April 15 and April 16.”