Historic Trappe in partnership with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies will convene Experiencing Independence: Eyewitness Accounts of the American Revolution, a symposium to be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3, at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. Firsthand accounts of the American Revolution provide historians, museums, and historic sites with critical details for understanding what it was like to experience independence. To mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this symposium will explore the diaries, journals, letters, and material culture made or used by people in the mid-Atlantic region from 1760 to 1790. Panels featuring leading scholars will explore a variety of topics, including family dynamics in the midst of political upheaval, wartime experiences of soldiers and civilians, accounts from different religious perspectives, and new approaches to non-English sources on the American Revolution. Symposium attendees will also have the opportunity to explore the museums at Historic Trappe, including the special exhibition Window to Revolution: Pennsylvania Germans and the War for Independence at Dewees Tavern; the Speakers House, newly opened after 25 years of restoration work; and the Muhlenberg House, furnished to reflect the revolutions impact on the homefront. The symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is required through the Historic Trappe website by visiting www.historictrappe.org/experiencing-independence/. Attendees will have the option to purchase a boxed lunch for the Saturday panels. The symposium will begin on Friday afternoon at 3:15 p.m. with opening remarks, followed by a roundtable plenary. An opening reception will conclude the evening beginning at 5 pm. Saturdays all-day schedule includes panels and remarks from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., concluding with a cocktail reception hosted at Historic Trappe from 5 to 7 p.m. For more information, email info@historictrappe.org. Historic Trappe is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the historic places, landscapes, and heritage of southeastern Pennsylvania. The organization maintains five historic properties, four of which are open to the public. The Center for Pennsylvania German Studies, located in the Dewees Tavern, has five galleries featuring a wide variety of furniture, fraktur, textiles, and other objects, as well as a changing special exhibitions gallery and research library/archives. The Muhlenberg House is a fully furnished museum interpreting the families of Lutheran pastor Henry Muhlenberg and his son General Peter Muhlenberg during the Revolutionary War. The Speakers House is the home of Frederick Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. St. Lukes Cemetery was founded in 1742 and includes many prominent local figures and military veterans. Historic Trappe is also the owner of the Muhlenberg parsonage, built in 1745 and currently undergoing architectural study in preparation for restoration. To learn more, visit www.HistoricTrappe.org.