Martha Washington – familiar to many, but few people have come to know the person behind the name. Fraunces Tavern Museum is delighted to announce our new special exhibition Martha, The First Founding Mother Revealed in the Adeline Moses Loeb Gallery. As part of the Museum's broader Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation Semiquincentennial exhibition, it will bring Martha to life. The preview reception will be held on November 16, 2026, in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Educational Center for American History adjacent to the Loeb Gallery, with an optional dinner to follow in Fraunces Tavern. The exhibition will be open to the public beginning November 17, 2026. 

Through a focused selection of objects, correspondence, and artwork, visitors to this exhibition will explore Martha Washington's contributions to the Revolutionary War effort, her partnership with George Washington, and her emergence as a national figure whose influence helped shape early American ideas about leadership, patriotism, and public service. 

Specifically, the exhibition will cover Martha Washington's pre-war years, her life during the American Revolution, and post-war. It will bring into focus Lady Washington’s practicality, dedication to family, ability to embrace change, diplomatic demeanor, and perseverance.

Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation is a chronological, multi-year, multi-installment, multi-gallery special exhibition featuring communications documents, artifacts, and works of art from the Museum’s permanent collection telling the history of the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783, with a distinctive focus on what occurred in New York and the surrounding areas. The exhibition is part of the Museum’s broader Liberty 250® program that commemorates the 250th anniversaries of our Nation’s founding through exhibitions, lectures, programs, and commemorative events. Liberty 250® launched in April 2025 with the commemoration of the 250th anniversaries of the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the opening of our Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation.

We thank our sponsors for supporting the research, production, and educational efforts associated with this exhibition:

Lead Sponsors
Peter C. Hein and Anne Farley

Mrs. Stanley DeForest Scott

Sponsors
Greater New York City Chapters, Daughters of the American Revolution
Brooklyn, Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, Fort Greene, Increase Carpenter,
Knickerbocker, Manhattan, Mary Washington Colonial, New York City, Peter Minuit
and Richmond County Chapters

Peter J.W. Sherwin

Kristofer and Myrna Rosete Swanson

Revolutionary Ancestor Honor Roll

Alan W. Borst, Jr., Esq. honors Jonas Vrooman, 8th Albany Regiment

Peter C. Hein honors PVT Samuel Child in CPT Samuel Lamson’s company from Weston, MA, Battles of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill

Peter J.W. Sherwin honors CPT John Gray of Dorset, VT, Invasion of Quebec

ATTEND THE PREVIEW RECEPTION: Tickets available now!

SEE THE EXHIBITION: Included in regular admission price. Become a Museum Member and visit this exhibition for free!

PRESS: Download the exhibition press release here. Download the Liberty 250® press release here.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

The Museum is offering recognition opportunities for those who financially underwrite the infrastructure, production, and maintenance costs of this exhibition, at the following sponsorship tiers (payable in two installments, if desired):

$10,000 for Lead Sponsors

$5,000 for Sustaining Sponsors

$2,500 for Sponsors

$1,000 for Contributors

Become a Sponsor by using this form, or through our dedicated donation page. The deadline to be listed on the exhibition signage is October 22. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please contact us at development@frauncestavernmuseum.org or 212.425.1776.