Other home-grown highlights will include two shows at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies: "Who Am I? America, Youth and Identity" and a 25th anniversary retrospective tentatively titled "Hidden Treasures: A Community Gathering." Both open April 12.
In addition to hosting two traveling shows, on Hasidim and the comic-book artistry of Art Spiegelman, the National Museum of American Jewish History will draw on its own collections in March to look at "Making a Living: American Jews at Work."
Among the entries on the University of Pennsylvania Museum's crowded calendar is the traveling exhibition "Birds and Beasts of Ancient Latin America," which premieres here on Oct. 7. It will show how animal imagery in pre-Columbian art sheds light on both Latin American culture and natural history.
Major imports from other museums include "Africa" from Chicago's Field Museum, opening at the Franklin Institute Feb. 16, and "Spiders!" - which combines hands-on exhibitry with real spiders - at the Academy of Natural Sciences beginning Feb. 10.
In keeping with its recently narrowed mission, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania will open no new exhibitions this year. But other history museums and rare-books repositories will take up the slack with exhibitions on subjects such as love letters, rail transportation in Philadelphia and the Vikings.
According to the American Swedish Historical Museum, these early Scandinavians have been "mistakenly stereotyped as atrocious warriors and raiders." An exhibition that opened yesterday - "The Vikings: Master Mariners, Traders, Colonists and Artisans" - aims to correct that view.
ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES "Spiders!," Feb. 10-May 10; "Rediscovering Dinosaurs: An Exhibit in the Making," July-October 1996.
AMERICAN SWEDISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM "The Vikings: Master Mariners, Traders, Colonists and Artisans," Now through Jan. 2; "The Saami: People of the Sun and Wind," Jan. 18-April 28; "Stockholm: Midsummer Light," June 9-Aug. 31; ''Memories and Mementos: Voices from our Immigrant Past," Sept. 21-Dec. 1, 1996.
ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA "Victorian Chestnut Street: Commercial Philadelphia as Illustrated by Baxter's Panoramic Business Directory," Nov. 6-March 1.
ATWATER KENT MUSEUM "The Enchanted Colonial Village," Nov. 24-Dec. 31; ''Philadelphia on Track: Rail Transportation and the History of Philadelphia," March 15-Oct. 12, 1996.
BALCH INSTITUTE FOR ETHNIC STUDIES "Pinocchio and Friends," ongoing through Dec. 31; "Who Am I?: America, Youth and Identity," April 12-July 31; ''Hidden Treasures: A Community Gathering," Balch Institute 25th Anniversary Retrospective, April 12-Dec. 31, 1996.
CHESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY " 'Do Everything': Women and Reform in Chester County," Oct. 1-May 31; "The History Lab: A Hands-On History Gallery," permanent exhibition opening Nov. 11; "Holiday Treasures," Nov. 24-Jan. 2.
CIVIL WAR LIBRARY AND MUSEUM " 'If There Was a Hell on Earth': Prisons and Prisoners in the Civil War," Oct. 2-April 15; "The Army of the Potomac," April 20-April 1997.
FRANKLIN INSTITUTE "The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park," Oct. 27-Jan.15; ''Africa," Feb. 16-May 27; "Inside Information," opens June 28.
FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA "Political Cartoons," Oct. 2-Jan. 21; ''Children's Book Illustrations," Nov. 6-March 3; "Block Party: The Art of Quilting," Jan. 29-May 19; "Philadelphia's Everyday All-Stars," May 27- Sept. 15; "The Bear Essentials," Sept. 23-Jan. 12, 1997.
INDEPENDENCE SEAPORT MUSEUM "Painted Ships on Painted Oceans," Nov. 8- March 3.
LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA "Afro-American Acquisitions, 1970-1995," February through September 1996.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES - MID-ATLANTIC REGION "Through Their Personal Lens: Combat Photographers of the Vietnam War, 1963-1975," mid-August 1996 - September 1997.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY "The Challenge of Piety: Satmar Hasidim in America," March 17-July 21; "Making a Living: American Jews at Work," March 24-July 21; "Art Spiegelman: The Road to Maus," Aug. 1-Dec. 31.
PLEASE TOUCH MUSEUM "The Eye of Childhood: Children's Drawings Collected by Robert Coles," Sept. 6, 1996-Jan. 19, 1997.
ROSENBACH MUSEUM AND LIBRARY "Robert Burns: The Poet's Progress," Nov. 21-April 14; "How Do I Love Thee?: Letters of Love and Admiration from the Rosenbach Collection," May 12-July 31; "Drifting to the Southeast: Manjiro in America, 1840-1852," Sept. 10-Jan. 12, 1997.
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM "Moving the Fire: The Removal of Indian Nations to Oklahoma," Oct. 3-Jan. 14; "Birds and Beasts of Ancient Latin America," Oct. 7-Dec. 31; "Images of Victory: Woodblock Prints from the Sino-Japanese War," Nov. 4-Aug. 31; "Somewhere East of Suez: Peoples and Places," Jan. 20-April 7; "Distant Relations: The Evolving Relationship Between Arabs and Jews," April 13-June 29; "One House, One Voice, One Heart: Native American Education at the Santa Fe Indian School," Sept. 7-Jan. 5, 1997.
