Monday, October 26, at 2 p.m., Philadelphia City Council's Committee on Legislative Oversight holds its hearing on the closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences museum. The resolution that called it, introduced by Councilmembers Nina Ahmad and Jeffery Young Jr. on September 17, gives the committee the power to subpoena testimony and documents. It is the first time Drexel and the Academy's leadership are asked to answer for the closure on the public record.
Be in the room. City Hall, 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Everyone goes through security, so come by 1:30 p.m. Small handheld signs are fine; nothing on a stick, no large banners. Public comment comes at the end of the hearing. A full room tells Council that Philadelphia is watching.
If you cannot be there, the hearing page has everything we know, including how to add it to your calendar: save-the-academy.org/council-hearing. We will post what happened here afterward.
Then Tuesday at 6 p.m.: one month without our museum. The candlelight vigil is at the museum, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Bring a candle or a phone light. We are keeping the light of the Academy alive, and we are not done.