Revolution 250 Podcast

The Constitution House in Philadelphia

Adam Levinson, Tim Schantz Season 6 Episode 19

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0:00 | 45:00

Mary Dalley's boarding house in Philadelphia is where history happened! In the early days of the Revoluiton it was called "Liberty Hall,"  and after 1787 it was "Constitution House." Gouverneur Morris lived here, had his law office here, and probably wrote the Constitution at Miss Dalley's Boarding House.  Gathered around Miss Dalley's table at different times were fifteen signers of the Declaration of Independence, 12 signers of the Constitution, future governors, legislators, the Baron von Steuben, the Marquis de Lafayette, and George Washington, John Adams, and James Madison.

Adam Levinson, creator of the  legal history blog Statutes and Stories, and public historian Tim Schantz have led a campaign to mark the site of Miss Dalley's boarding house, once known as Constitution House.  Telling its history “from the boarding house out,” they show how the house reveals the relationships, and political culture that helped sustain the cause of independence in the streets of Philadelphia.


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