Timucuan Historical and Ecological Preserve and Fort Caroline National Memorial [FL]

Description

The Timucuan Historical and Ecological Preserve and Fort Caroline National Memorial is a 46,000-acre National Park Site consisting of several historical sites. The 1564 Fort Caroline Memorial recalls a brief period of French occupation during the 16th-century; and includes the Timucuan Preserve Visitor Center, which recounts area environmental history and human interaction with the environment. Visitors to the memorial can compare French fort and traditional Timucuan life. Other sites include the Theodore Roosevelt Area shell middens and nature trails; the 1814 through 1837 Kingsley Plantation; the 1935 American Beach, founded to provide African Americans access to the beach despite segregation; the Cedar Point nature area; and the 1928 Ribauldt Club, once a wintertime resort.

The memorial offers exhibits, activities to complete while viewing the exhibits, Junior Ranger activities, interpretive programs, and ranger-led student programs. Other sites offers opportunities for hiking, nature watching, water activities, and camping; other Junior Ranger activities; interpretive programs; exhibits; and ranger-led student programs at the Kingsley Plantations. The website offers site specific activity pages, mp3 tours, videos on kayaking and making tabby, slide shows, and curriculum materials for the Kingsley Plantation and Fort Caroline.

The Ceder Point boat ramp and Kingsley Plantation residence are currently closed for renovation. Other park and plantation structures remain accessible to the public.

Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site [KS]

Description

The Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site commemorates the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case, which ended legal segregation in the public school system. The site is located within one of four former African American elementary schools, the Monroe Elementary School. The school has been restored to a 1954 appearance. Permanent exhibits address relevant people, places, and events; the feelings of being subjected to discrimination; and the impact of the case. Computer consoles invite visitors to share their own experiences.

The site offers a ranger-led orientation, a 25-minute introductory film, interactive and traditional exhibits, 90-minute tours for students, outreach presentations for students, distance learning programs, Junior Ranger activities, and access to a non-circulating research library. Picnic tables are located in the nearby Cushinberry Park. Access to the library is by appointment only. The website offers historical photographs, an interactive activity, scavenger hunt worksheets for third grade through high school, an electronic field trip, a DVD and teacher's guide, Teaching with Historic Places lesson plans, a web quest, children's activities, and a curriculum kit.

Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site [NY]

Description

Vanderbilt Mansion, in terms of architecture, interiors, mechanical systems, road systems, and landscape, is a remarkably complete example of a gilded-age country place, illustrating the political, economic, social, cultural, and demographic changes that occurred as America industrialized in the years after the Civil War.

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

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site [AL]

Description

The Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site is located on Tuskegee University. Sights include the George W. Carver (circa 1864-1943) Museum and The Oaks, Booker T. Washington's (1856-1915) home. Other figures honored include Dr. Frederick W. Patterson (1901-1988), founder of the United Negro College Fund, and Dr. Robert Moton, who stressed the need for health care for African American veterans. Carver is known for his support of the peanut as an alternative to the southern cotton crop, which had been ravaged by the boll weevil. Washington founded the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers, later the Tuskegee Institute, to provide education to African American students. Due to the strength of the aeronautical engineering program at the institute, the site was selected by the military to train African American pilots for World War II.

The site offers exhibits, interpretive programs, 30-minute introductory films on George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, guided tours of The Oaks, period rooms, tours of the historic Tuskegee University, and 2-hour curriculum-based programs. Reservations are required for curriculum-based programs. The Oaks is not fully wheelchair accessible. Films can be played with captions.

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park [OH] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:36
Description

The Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park celebrates the history and accomplishments of Wilber Wright (1867-1912), Orville Wright (1871-1948), and Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906). Other topics addressed include changes in Air Force aviation technology. Sights include two interpretive centers; the Wright brothers' printing office, styled to period; a Wright brothers' bicycle shop; the brothers' third airplane, built in 1905; the Huffman Prairie Flying Field; and Dunbar's final residence. The Wright brothers are best known for creating the world's first successful airplane, while Dunbar was an African American poet celebrated for his 1896 poem "Lyrics of a Lowly Life."

The park offers two introductory films; exhibits; period rooms; guided tours of the Wright Cycle Company building, Wright-Dunbar Village, and the Huffman Prairie Flying Field; guided bicycle tours; children's programs; curriculum-based educational programs; and Junior Ranger activities. Tours of the Wright Cycle Company building are available on request only, and reservations are required for groups. Reservations are required for all school programs. The website offers an interactive timeline.

Fort Davis National Historic Site [TX]

Description

The Fort Davis National Historic Site consists of a surviving frontier Indian Wars fort, used between 1854 and 1891. The soldiers of the fort sought to protect travelers along the San Antonio-El Paso Road and the Chihuahua Trail from Native American attack. The Comanche and Apache peoples proved to be the greatest concern for the fort. Five structures on site have been returned to their 1880s appearances, and are fully furnished. Visitors can also explore 20 other buildings and more than 50 ruins.

The site offers a 15-minute introductory film, period rooms, self-guided tours, one- to three-hour educational programs, costumed interpreters, audio programming, Junior Ranger activities, traveling trunks, hiking trails, and a picnic site. Junior Ranger activity booklets are available in large print and in braille. Reservations are required for school groups. The website offers curricula.

John F. Kennedy National Historic Site [MA]

Description

The John F. Kennedy National Historic Site provides public access to the birthplace of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th President of the United States. The home has been restored to its 1917 appearance by Kennedy's mother, Rose Kennedy. Kennedy is the nation's only Catholic President, and the only President to have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Events during his administration, cut short by his 1963 assassination, include the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Space Race, Civil Rights Movement, and the building of the Berlin Wall.

The site offers period rooms, 30-minute guided tours, self-guided audio tours, self-guided neighborhood tours, guided neighborhood walking tours, Junior Ranger activities, and teacher workshops. The audio tour consists of the words and memories of Kennedy's mother; and is available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Reservations are required for guided neighborhood walking tours. The site is currently inaccessible by wheelchair.

Natchez National Historical Park [MS]

Description

Natchez, Mississippi, is located on the banks of the Mississippi River and offers visitors a chance to explore life in the antebellum south. Natchez is home to the William Johnson House, the Cypress Swamp, and the Melrose Mansion, and so offers visitors a comprehensive view of southern culture, from the life of former slave William Johnson to the life of wealthy southerner John McMurran.

The historical park offers guided tours, field trip programs, and exhibits in the park visitor center. The website offers visitor information, curriculum materials for teachers, and a history of Natchez. In order to contact the park via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

William Howard Taft National Historic Site [OH]

Description

The William Howard Taft National Historic Site contains the house in which Taft (1857-1930), 27th President of the United States and 10th Chief Justice, was born and raised. Taft's term (1908-1912) is remembered for trust-busting, promotion of the 16th Amendment, and global economic development efforts. The first floor of the Greek Revival structure houses period rooms, while the second floor is devoted to exhibits. Topics include both Taft himself and his family.

The site offers guided tours of the William Howard Taft Birth Home, exhibits, period rooms, ranger-led field trips, and Junior Ranger activities. The website offers lesson plans.

Cumberland Gap National Historical Park [KY]

Description

The 20,000-acre Cumberland Gap National Historical Park preserves the site of the original "gateway to the west" used by settlers and pioneers. Native American populations had used this gap to cross the mountains for centuries prior to the arrival of European Americans. However, Daniel Boone (1734-1820) opened the Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap to these settlers in 1775. Sites of historical note include a historical iron furnace, the 1904 Hensley Settlement, and fortifications dating to the Civil War.

The park offers two introductory films, interactive exhibits, an educational activity area for children, Appalachian craft demonstrations, two-hour cave tours, three-and-a-half- or four-hour settlement tours, Junior Ranger activities, and picnic sites. Please note that if you are interested in the cave tour, the National Park Service requests that you do not wear clothing that you have worn to another cave. This is an effort to avoid spreading White-Nose Syndrome, a condition which has caused the death of countless bats. Even if you personally fear or dislike these creatures, please remember that they are an important part of their (and our) ecosystems.