Exhibitions

Core exhibition

The museum’s core exhibit opened in 2024 and tells the stories of both Stephen Girard and Girard College and their connections to the broader world of Philadelphia history and beyond. 

• Discover how Stephen Girard’s unique parlor furniture reflected his role at the center of a maritime network that spanned the globe. 
• See the original 1832 architectural competition drawings for Girard College and find out why the winning design bears little resemblance to what was finally built.
• Learn about the 75-year struggle to integrate Girard College and see the jacket worn by one of the first four Black students who walked onto campus in 1968.  
• Explore the stories and voices of Girard students across the centuries and how the school fit into the changing landscape of education and social service in America.  
• Enjoy historic maps and photographs of the neighborhood and learn about the many surprising connections through the Girard gates.”

Temporary Exhibitions

Current Exhibition

Exploring Hidden Virtuosas

This exhibit highlights a fascinating collaboration between Girard College and music ensemble Tempesta di Mare to rediscover the female composers and musicians of the baroque Venice’s Ospedali, a network of institutions that housed and educated abandoned babies, the destitute, the homeless and the sick. See student artwork imagining these women and find out more about the College’s choir’s participation in Tempesta’s North American premiere of Ecce nunc, which recreates the experience of hearing the women perform in the churches and chapels attached to the Ospedali.

Past Exhibitions

Seeing Double (Summer-Fall 2025)

The stereoview was a 19th invention that offered a fascinating new way for people to see the world—literally in three dimensions. This exhibit brings together over 30 stereoviews of Girard College from the 1850s through the early 1900s.