Independence Hall Association

The Independence Hall Association (IHA) was founded in 1942 to spearhead the creation of Independence National Historical Park, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1994, it created the website that today is called ushistory.org, with over 3 million page views monthly. The IHA is a nonprofit, independent facilitating organization. Its mission today is to educate the public about the Revolutionary and Colonial eras of American history, as well as Philadelphia generally.

The association was organized by Edwin O. Lewis, formerly a judge in the Common pleas court and at the time president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, to advocate and coordinate preservation of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Carpenters' Hall, Christ Church and related colonial era buildings in downtown Philadelphia. Lewis was especially motivated by concerns (following the attack on Pearl Harbor) that the historic district was at risk in the event of an air raid or other such attack.

Famous quotes containing the words independence, hall and/or association:

    Hail, Columbia! happy land!
    Hail, ye heroes! heaven-born band!
    Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,
    Who fought and bled in Freedom’s cause,
    And when the storm of war was gone,
    Enjoyed the peace your valor won.
    Let independence be our boast,
    Ever mindful what it cost;
    Joseph Hopkinson (1770–1842)

    Generation on generation, your neck rubbed the windowsill
    of the stall, smoothing the wood as the sea smooths glass.
    —Donald Hall (b. 1928)

    ... a Christian has neither more nor less rights in our association than an atheist. When our platform becomes too narrow for people of all creeds and of no creeds, I myself cannot stand upon it.
    Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)