To celebrate the bicentennial, the PMA opened the stunning exhibition, "Three Centuries of American Art," on April 11, 1976. On display were 550 objects from the Philadelphia area including paintings, prints, sculptures, photographs, costumes, decorative arts, and architecture. Arranged chronologically in 50-year periods, the installation was designed by Venturi and Rauch, a Philadelphia architectural firm. The exhibition was organized by the Curator of American Art, Darrel Sewell, and was funded largely by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Atlantic Richfield Foundation, and the Provident National Bank. The majority of the records are comprised of object files. Other records include those related to administration and exhibition planning. The bulk of the files are from 1975, however much of the material is undated.

1. American Art Department Records / II. Exhibitions and installations / C. "Three Centuries of American Art." April 11, 1976-October 10, 1976

"The Pennsylvania Germans: A Celebration of Their Arts, 1683-1850," was a magnificent exhibition curated by Beatrice B. Garvan, Associate Curator of American Art at the PMA, and Charles F. Hummel, Deputy Director for Collections at Winterthur Museum and Gardens, Delaware. Held from October 17, 1982 to January 9, 1983, the exhibition featured 333 objects that included furniture, paintings, ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, glass, metalwork, and imprints. The objects reflected the diverse and creative backgrounds of the Pennsylvania Germans, perhaps more well known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Organized around the exhibition's themes, a stunning catalogue, containing photographs and colorplates, was published. After closing in Philadelphia, the exhibition then traveled to the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, followed by the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco, and the completed its tour at the Art Institute of Chicago. The majority of the records are related to the objects in the exhibition, and other records include those pertaining to the exhibition planning and administrative materials.

As part of the national celebration of the bicentennial of the Constitution, the PMA opened the exhibition "Federal Philadelphia, 1785-1825: The Athens of the Western World" on July 5, 1987. The exhibition featured furniture, costumes, paintings, silver, and architectural elements, and was curated by Beatrice B. Garvan and Darrel Sewell. The records are largely comprised of photographs of the exhibition objects. The records also include a checklist of the exhibition and a scrapbook containing photographs, clippings, correspondence, and notes. The records range in date from 1985-1988, however, the object photographs are undated.

"As Pieces Here to Pieces Join: American Appliqué Quilts, 1800-1900" was an exhibition of nineteenth-century applique quilts, many of them were from the Philadelphia area. A number of the quilts were important works, and a quite a few had never been exhibited before. The exhibition was curated by Dilys E. Blum and Jack L. Lindsey. The records consist of lender information and drafts for the PMA bulletin regarding the exhibition.

"Community Fabric: African American Quilts and Folk Art" was an exhibition of quilts, drawings, carvings, and other decorative arts created from 1900 to 1980. The exhibition was held from February 13, 1994 - April 10, 1994. It was curated by Jack Lindsey and Dilys E. Blum, and was organized in collaboration with Dr. Maude Southwell Wahlman, professor of art and art history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The records are largely administrative in nature and include material such as correspondence, research notes, loans, press, and planning documentation. The bulk of the files are from 1993-1994.

"The Cadwalader Family: Art and Style in Early Philadelphia" was an exhibition of paintings, drawings, and objects from the John and Elizabeth Cadwalader collection. The exhibition was held from November 3, 1996 to February 2, 1997. In 1697, John Cadwalader, the family's founder, immigrated to Philadelphia from Wales and the family went on to become influential and philanthropic members of the Philadelphia community. Beginning in 1980, the PMA began acquiring pieces from the family's collection, and later added the Cadwalader Collection to its permanent collections. Included in the collection are portaits of the Cadwalader family by Charles Willson Peale. The records, ranging in date from 1995-1996, contain photographs of objects, loan information, and planning material.

"Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology" was a traveling exhibition that premiered at the PMA on March 10, 1998. Organized by the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, the exhibition featured paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations created by 31 American self-taught artists, including Grandma Moses, Thornton Dial, and Horace Pippin. The exhibition was curated by Ann Temkin, the Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Twentieth-Century Art, Jack Lindsey, Curator of American Decorative Arts, Elsa Longhauser, Director of the Paley/Levy Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design, and Harald Szeemann Independent Curator at the Kunsthaus Zurich. The records consist of the Bonovitz lender file and correspondence related to the catalogue.

1. American Art Department Records / II. Exhibitions and installations / V. "Self-Taught Artists of the 20th Century: An American Anthology." March 10, 1998-May 17, 1998

"Worldly Goods: The Arts of Pennsylvania, 1680-1758," was a magnificent exhibition that was held from October 10, 1999 to January 2, 2000. Within the exhibition were more than 350 pieces that included furniture, ceramics, silver, textiles, metalwork, prints, books, maps, and paintings that were either imported to or made in the colony. Curated by Jack Lindsey, curator of American Decorative Arts, the objects were arranged in room settings that displayed how the pieces would have been used at the time. Many of the objects featured were from private collections and had never been exhibited before. Other pieces were on loan from museums, galleries, libraries, and historical societies such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania Historical Society, and The Royal Library of Sweden. Created by skilled craftsmen, the objects reflected a time of prosperity and growth, as well as the settlers desire to possess both stylish imports and locally crafted goods. The records are divided into seven sub-subseries: Administrative and Planning files; Catalogue; Grants; Lenders; Object files; Research; and Multimedia and Oversized Material. Users will find that the exhibition was extensively documented, both before and during. The records for the exhibit are comprised of various types of materials, and while the majority of the files are printed and written documents, the records also include photographs, sketches, and audio and visual cassette tapes. The bulk of the files date from 1998 to 1999.