The Year of the Spy 2025

Carpenters' Hall declares 2025 the “YEAR OF THE SPY” in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin’s secret meetings with a French spy, Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir, in Carpenters' Hall These meetings laid the foundation for French support of the American Revolution. These critical meetings were held between December 18 and 27, 1775, in the second-floor library of Carpenters’ Hall – where the First Continental Congress sparked America’s fight for freedom in 1774 and the location of Franklin’s Library Company of Philadelphia (1773-1790).

“As we kick off America 250, YEAR OF THE SPY tells a fact-is-better-than-fiction story of Philly’s favorite Founding Father sneaking around with a French spy to build a crucial allegiance for the coming Revolution,” said Michael Norris, Executive Director of Carpenters’ Hall. “Carpenters’ Hall is the ‘Room Where It Happened’ and we’re commemorating the 250th anniversary of these secret meetings with partners throughout the city.”

As part of our YEAR OF THE SPY programming, we are planning several public events, including:

• Book Club: The Republic of Letters: Spies & Spycraft in American History in partnership with the Rosenbach Museum & Library
• Book club features works of history and fiction that illuminate unforgettable characters in the world of spycraft, from the days of the American Revolution through the Cold War. 
• Dates: November 18 (sold out), December 16 (sold out), January 27, February 17, and March 24
• Sessions meet at Carpenters’ Hall and the Rosenbach
  
• Through November: After-hours whisky tours of the Hall’s rarely-seen second floor, where the meetings took place.
  
• November 1: “Revolutionary Spy Hunt” with teams racing each other to identify spy-related sites throughout the Historic District, co-presented with the Museum of the American Revolution as part of Revolutionary Philadelphia: 1775
  
• December 4: Bonvouloir Commemoration Event, featuring a calvados tasting in honor of Bonvouloir’s Norman heritage, French-themed nibbles, a dramatic telling of the secret meetings and remarks from France’s Honorary Consul to Philadelphia
• Movie screening Dec. 11: Tete a Tete, a film by Carpenters’ Company member Charles Cook which was partially filmed in the Hall and depicts the spy meetings
• Charles and Nancy Cook’s book “The Spies at Carpenters' Hall: A Blueprint for a Revolution” is available for purchase in the Hall and online

The Tale of the Spy at Carpenters’ Hall

Julien-Alexandre Achard de Bonvouloir, a French spy from the Normandy region, met with Ben Franklin, John Jay (who later became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), and translator Francis Daymon, between December 18 and 27, 1775 in the second floor library of Carpenters’ Hall to discuss French support for the coming war. In his report to the King of France, Bonvouloir wrote that “Each one of [the spies] took a different route through the darkness to the indicated rendezvous,” according to Bonvouloir’s report. His report, which noted comments and observations about British troops, contributed to France’s agreement to support the Americans in the Revolutionary War. France provided much of the gunpowder fired by American troops during the war and the French Navy’s blockade of the Chesapeake allowed our victory at Yorktown.

For the full story, click here.