Pleasant Valley High School was one of only six locations in Pennsylvania to host the Freedom 250 Mobile Museum, also coined “Freedom Trucks.” The museum pulled into town this week and will be open to the public for free again today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the parking lot beside the stadium.

This 1,000-square-foot interactive exhibit gives the community an opportunity to experience 250 years of American history through high-tech AI-generated historical figures to a Wall of Heroes with panels that can be opened to reveal information about notable people from the 20th century.

Monroe County Commissioner David Parker was touring the exhibit.

“I enjoyed it. They have some great interactive displays. You can touch a portrait that becomes lifelike and tells you about the history,” Parker said.

One of the exhibits he enjoyed learning more was the story of Phillis Wheatley, an African-American woman sold into slavery. She was a poet and eventually became the first African-American author to publish a book of poetry.

Across from the entrance into the exhibit, an almost life-size AI-generated image of President George Washington is animated and speaking, which literally brings history to life — at least virtually. The room is full of information about Washington, Paul Revere, King George III and the period of the Revolutionary War.

Through a doorway into the next room, the exhibits talk about other important people in history from those who were slaves to people notable in more recent history. The room also includes maps, a replica of the Declaration of Independence with digital signatures and even a 10-question quiz about our nation.

Several people commented that they were surprised at how much they didn’t know or had forgotten since their school days.

John Piekarski of Effort said he enjoys learning about history. His favorite part of the exhibit was the information about George Washington.

“He was a very strong person and he could have been a king but he didn’t want to.”

Coleen Murphy of Palmerton was exploring the many lives of the notable people pictured on the panels. She was drawn to the one about Christa McAuliffe, a teacher on board the Challenger space shuttle that exploded in the sky shortly after launch. All seven crew members were killed.

“I can remember being in school when that exploded,” Murphy said.

She said she came out to the exhibit to see what it is all about.

“It’s nice when they open things up like this for the public,” Murphy said.

The program was created through an executive order by President Donald Trump called the Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Science.

A representative from the exhibit, but not the spokesperson, said there are six trucks in the fleet, two are assigned to the East Coast of the country, two to the Midwest, and two to the Pacific Coast.

The project is funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Science. The trucks were built by SPEVCO (Special Event Vehicles Co.) in North Carolina, the staffing is through Event Specialties Inc. based in Alexandria, Virginia. And the interior design and all of the educational materials were done by Hillsdale College in Michigan and the Prager University Foundation in California, a nonprofit organization.

Prager’s website states that it is “not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We don’t offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age.”

If you miss the exhibit, it will be in Nazareth from April 27 to May 3 at the Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company Carnival at 155 Firehouse Drive. Open times are 6 to 10 p.m. on April 29, 6 to 11 p.m. on April 30 and May 1, 1 to 11 p.m. on May 2, and 1 to 6 p.m. on May 3.

Pennsylvania also has a mobile museum of its own, which will be in Nazareth for the carnival as well. It will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. on April 29. The America250PA Mobile Experiential Unit is powered by Penske.

More information on it can be found at https://america250pa.org/Mobile_Unit.