The Independence Hall Association (IHA) was founded in 1942 to spearhead the creation of Independence National Historical Park

Independence National Historical Park

Independence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...

, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. In 1994, it created the website that today is called ushistory.org, with over 3 million page views monthly. The IHA is a nonprofit

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, independent facilitating organization. Its mission today is to educate the public about the Revolutionary and Colonial eras of American history, as well as Philadelphia generally.

The association was organized by Edwin O. Lewis, formerly a judge in the Common pleas court and at the time president of the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution

Sons of the American Revolution

The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is a Louisville, Kentucky-based fraternal organization in the United States...

, to advocate and coordinate preservation of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American Independence, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House , the bell was commissioned from the London firm of Lester and Pack in 1752, and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY...

, Carpenters' Hall

Carpenters' Hall

Carpenters' Hall is a two-story brick building in the Old City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was a key meeting place in the early history of the United States. Completed in 1773 and set back from Chestnut Street, the meeting hall was built for and is still owned by the...

, Christ Church

Christ Church, Philadelphia

Christ Church is an Episcopal church located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1695 by members of the Church of England, who built a small wooden church on the site by the next year. When the congregation outgrew this structure some twenty years later, they decided to erect a new...

 and related colonial era buildings in downtown Philadelphia. Lewis was especially motivated by concerns (following the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

) that the historic district was at risk in the event of an air raid

Strategic bombing

Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...

or other such attack.