Join us at Eastern State Penitentiary (ESPHS) from Friday, May 23 – Monday, May 26, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
as we commemorate Memorial Day and the ways we remember the history of Eastern State.

As part of National Historic Preservation Month, this Memorial Day Weekend, we invite you to explore Eastern State as a place of remembrance, bearing witness to the complex and deeply human stories that shaped its history and continue to shape its present as a museum. What do we choose to highlight? Whose stories are remembered, and how do physical traces—reshape our understanding of the past?  
Join us in honoring the legacy of this building, preserving stories, and reflecting on the power of memory in our shared future.  

Weekend Highlights: Honoring Memory at Eastern State

Special Themed Talks and Reflections  
Saturday, May 24 at 12:00 PM
A Memorial to Preserve
Join this annual conversation with early site advocates Sally Elk and Ken Finkle, moderated by President and CEO Dr. Kerry Sautner. Discover the compelling story of how Eastern State was rescued from decay and transformed into a powerful place of reflection and public memory.

Saturday, May 24 at 1:00 PM and 2:00 PM

Collections Conversation and “What is it?” Game
Join Erica Harman, curator of this month's mini-exhibit for a 15-minute talk on the importance of conserving Eastern State’s artifacts and the stories embedded in them as part of memorial work. Stay to take your best guess at what some of the artifacts are and win a prize! 

Sunday, May 25 at 12:00 PM
Preserving the Past: The Archaeology of Capone
An intimate conversation between Liz Trumbull, Senior Director of Preservation and Operations and Samantha Hone, Visitor Services Lead will uncover layers of the past focused on one of the most talked-about spaces at Eastern State – the recreation of Al Capone’s cell.  Learn how a routine project revealed hidden layers of painted decoration, and how new archival discoveries shifted long-held assumptions about Capone’s time at Eastern State.

Monday, May 26 at 12:00 PM
Still Saving Eastern State
Explore the future of preservation and how Eastern State’s Preservation Trades Center will ensure its stories of hardship, service, and survival are never forgotten. Moderated by Brandon Flood, Associate Director of Workforce Development featuring graduates from the 2025 class of the Preservation Trades Center in masonry, carpentry and plaster work.

Daily Memorial Programming

WWI Memorial Talks
Pause at Eastern State’s World War I plaque for short talks about the men commemorated there—incarcerated individuals and staff who served and sacrificed. Additional reflections throughout the site highlight wartime efforts within the prison.
Daily, select times 

Mini-Tours of Cellblock 14  
Participate in exclusive mini-tours through Cellblock 14 led by Educators —spaces that echo the lives of incarcerated people and staff. This space, closed to the public until now, is now preserved as a site of memory.
Daily, select times
Capone Pop Up Talks
Al Capone’s 1929 stay at Eastern State Penitentiary has become the stuff of legend—but how much of it is true? This talk separates fact from fiction, exploring Capone’s actual arrest, the debate over his supposedly luxurious cell, and how media and myth have shaped his legacy. Learn what recent discoveries—like a possible 19th-century mural—reveal about the real history behind one of Eastern State’s most famous spaces.
 
Recreating History: Guided by Memory
Walk the original tour paths of Eastern State with a self-guided experience connecting the past with the present—honoring how remembrance shapes our understanding of justice and humanity.
Self-guided, Daily

Talk Back Walls: Share a Memory, Leave a Tribute
Add your voice to the ongoing memory of Eastern State. Share reflections or tributes to those who lived and served here.
Daily