Fort Pitt Museum [PA]

Description

Situated in the recreated Monongahela Bastion at Point State Park, the Fort Pitt Museum commemorates the strategic importance of the Forks of the Ohio during the Great War for Empire in which British, French, Colonial, and Native American forces struggled for control of North America. Through exhibits and programs, the museum also addresses the important role of Fort Pitt during the American Revolution and the early development of the city of Pittsburgh. The site presents tours, exhibits, educational programs, and publications to broaden understanding of the significance of the area known as "the Point." In meeting this goal, Fort Pitt Museum closely examines the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the various military fortifications established on the site, the many cultures that influenced the development of the region, and the importance of the fur trade and other early commerce.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Diary, Correspondence, and Papers of Robert "King" Carter, 1701-1732

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Image, Robert Carter, Diary, Correspondence, and Papers of Robert..., 1701-1732
Annotation

A work-in-progress, this collection offers letters and diary entries by Robert "King" Carter (1663–1732), a wealthy landowner and leading public figure in Virginia. Educated in England, Carter inherited and acquired more than 300,000 acres in the Northern Neck Proprietary between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Carter, who owned nearly 1,000 slaves, served as a member of the Council of Virginia and as acting governor of the colony.

The site presently contains transcripts of all existing Robert Carter texts, including approximately 800 letters, written between 1701 and 1727, diary entries covering 1722–1726, and wills. Each document provides both modern and original spellings, and hyperlinked notes offering identifying information for more than 130 persons, places, and things. A 2,200-word biography of Carter, a 2,100-word essay on the Northern Neck Proprietary, and a bibliography of nearly 80 titles are also available.

Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site [PA]

Description

The Gloria Dei Church National Historic Site consists of Gloria Dei, also known as the Old Swedes' Church. The structure is the oldest church in Pennsylvania, having been completed in 1700. Nils Collins, pastor between 1784 and 1831, was a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. The cemetery includes the interment site of Alexander Wilson (1766-1813), known as the father of American ornithology.

The site offers exhibits and self-guided tours of the interior and cemetery. The website offers a cemetery guide. The church retains an active religious community. For this reason, the site may be closed to the public for religious services and ceremonies.

Goliad State Park and Mission Espíritu Santo State Historic Site [TX]

Description

The park contains a refurnished replica of Mission Nuestra Senora del Espíritu Santo de Zuniga, reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The mission was originally established in 1722 near Matagorda Bay and moved to its present site in 1749. This mission was the first large cattle ranch in Texas, supplying its own needs and those of Spanish colonial settlements as far away as Louisiana. The park also contains General Ignacio Zaragoza's Birthplace, Plaza, and Amphitheater, which are located near Presidio La Bahia. General Zaragoza assumed command of the rag-tag Mexican Army and welded it into a staunch fighting force, which met and defeated the French on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla, which led to Mexico's independence from France.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Rye Historical Society and Square House Museum [NY]

Description

The Rye Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Rye, New York. To this end, the society operates the Square House Museum, located within a circa 1730 tavern, and the Knapp House Archives, housed in a circa 1670 residence. Collections include 8,000 artifacts ranging from vernacular items and costume to the decorative and fine arts. The archives boast more than 15,000 items. The Square House contains six period rooms which include recreations of a 19th-century bedroom, the village's 1904 council room, and an 18th-century tavern room.

The museum offers period rooms, exhibits, self-guided tours, guided tours, historic crafts, traveling trunks, bus tours, walking tours, hands-on history workshops, slide shows, and summer camp. The archives offer public access, exhibits, and historical gardens.

Colonial National Historical Park [VA]

Description

The Colonial National Historical Park commemorates English Colonial and Revolutionary War–era America, beginning on the swampy marshes of Jamestown in 1607 and ended on the battle–scarred landscape of Yorktown in 1781. Although the primary draw is colonial history, the park spans the timelines from pre-colonization through Colonial Virginia, from the end of English Colonial America through the American Revolutionary War, and from America’s Independence to the Civil War.

The park offers introductory films; exhibits; guided tours; self-guided tours; tours by costumed interpreters; Junior Ranger activities; seasonal hands–on activities; seasonal costumed interpreters for specific educational programming; pot making in the "pinch pot" style of the local Native Americans; non–firing artillery and glass–blowing demonstrations; a Revolutionary War themed traveling trunk; and ranger-guided educational programming specifically for students, designed to meet state educational standards. The website provides lesson plans relevant to historic Jamestown and Yorktown.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site [PA]

Description

Friendship Hill is the country estate of Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), who is most notable for his thirteen year tenure as Secretary of the Treasury during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. In that time he reduced the national debt, purchased the Louisiana Territory and funded the Lewis & Clark exploration." Today, visitors to Friendship Hill can explore the restored Gallatin House as well as view several exhibits to learn more about the history of Albert Gallatin. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including picnics and hiking.

The site offers in depth historical and visitor information regarding the National Historic Site.

Bushy Run Battlefield [PA]

Description

Colonel Henry Bouquet and a force of approximately 400 British soldiers left Carlisle in July to relieve the besieged Fort Pitt and end a series of unchecked attacks against frontier outposts. The opening of western Pennsylvania to settlement was the result of a decisive victory over the Native Americans at the Battle of Bushy Run, August 5th and 6th, 1763.

The site offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Fort Frederick State Park [MD]

Description

The site of Maryland's frontier defense during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the Fort's stone wall and two barracks have been restored to their 1758 appearance. Historic displays are in the Fort, barracks, and Visitor Center. The park annually holds military reenactments and other special events.

The park offers a short film, exhibits, tours, and living history demonstrations and events.

Teaching Thanksgiving 2011

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Have you finished preparing for the holiday next week? If you haven't (or even if you have), take a look at our spotlight page on Thanksgiving. From teaching ideas to online quizzes to primary and secondary sources, we've gathered all of our Thanksgiving material in one place.

If you need more materials on the holiday, its history, and the myths and facts about contact between Native peoples and Pilgrim colonists, other history resource sites have pulled together useful ideas and materials, too.

  • Download primary sources and a teacher's guide from the Library of Congress's Thanksgiving primary source set, and read up on the holiday's past with the Library's November 25 "Today in History" entry.
  • Read Thanksgiving proclamations from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, admire photos of presidentially pardoned turkeys, and learn about the year of two Thanksgivings, courtesy of NARA's Thanksgiving post.
  • Browse a handful of Thanksgiving lesson plans from Verizon Thinkfinity, ReadWriteThink, and other sources at EDSITEment.
  • The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History relates the work of women in creating the modern Thanksgiving, and offers a lesson plan for learning more about the day.
  • For short videos on the first Thanksgiving, the history of the holiday, and other topics, try HISTORY.com's Thanksgiving page.
  • Elementary-level teachers, guide your students through the history behind the holiday with Plimoth Plantation's interactive "Investigating the First Thanksgiving: You are the Historian."