Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture [WA]

Description

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture presents exhibits and information of cultural, historical, and/or artistic note. Collections include more than 68,000 artifacts from Europe, Asia, and both North and South America. Artifacts are of regional historical interest, works of art, and/or related to Native American populations. In addition to these exhibits, the museum operates the Campbell House which interprets daily life circa 1900.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, an activity area, activities to be completed throughout the museum, summer camps, thematic tours, traveling trunks, educator's workshops, public lectures, and a small restaurant. Wheelchairs are available. Advance registration of group visitation is appreciated, and appointments are necessary for research library and/or archival access. The website offers teacher resources and podcasts.

Due to financial necessity, the Campbell House is no longer open to the public. School groups may still schedule tours of the building.

Salem Historical Society and Museum [VA]

Description

The Salem Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Salem, Virginia. To this end, the society operates a museum. Located within a mid-19th-century residence, post office, and general store, the museum offers exhibits on daily life, local Native American groups, the Civil War, local African American history, and the Lakeside resort. A historic herb garden and late Victorian parlor are also available for viewing.

The museum offers exhibits, a period room, a historic garden, walking tours, and outreach presentations.

The Salem Museum is currently closed for renovation. However, walking tours and outreach presentations are still available.

D and H Canal Historical Society and Canal Museum [NY]

Description

The D and H Canal Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of the Delaware and Hudson Canals with specific attention given to those portions of the canals within Ulster County. To this end, the society operates the Canal Museum. The museum boasts a collection of more than 4,000 artifacts including photographs, artworks, documents, models, a recreated interior of a canal boat cabin, and other items. Artwork includes a painting by Hudson River School artist William Rickarby Miller. The remains of five canal locks can be seen.

The society offers exhibits, guided museum and walking tours, a scavenger hunt, lesson plans, activity suggestions, traveling trunks, and Scout programs.

Reynolda House Museum of American Art [NC]

Description

The Reynolda House Museum of American Art is located in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and was originally built by Richard Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company. The home was opened as an art museum in 1967, and since then has worked towards its mission of showcasing the very finest American art.

The museum offers galleries, an attached historic house museum, guided and self-guided tours, field trip programs, and summer camps. The website offers a history of the museum, information regarding current collections and exhibits, visitor information, and an events calendar.

George Eastman House [NY]

Description

The George Eastman House serves as both a historic house museum and an educational institution that chronicles the history of photography and motion pictures. In addition to exhibits on the history of photography and motion pictures, the George Eastman House boasts a world-renowned motion picture collection.

The museum offers guided tours, virtual field trips, field trip programs, traveling trunks, professional development for teachers, and a lecture series. The website offers information about all museum programs, visitor information, an events calendar, and a history of the home.

Also explore Discovery Kits Online, designed to make the collections and expertise available for teachers, students, and recreational learners. Discovery Kits were developed with the help of educators with attention to K-12 curricular goals and assessment methodologies. Each unit (kit) is designed to supply classroom-ready lesson plans and study materials that can be used in direct online interaction or as slide shows and printable resources for offline use.

International Motorsports Hall of Fame Museum [AL]

Description

The International Motorsports Hall of Fame is located in Talladega, Alabama, and serves both as a Hall of Fame and as a museum of motorsports. The Hall of Fame has been open since 1990 and currently has well over 100 inductees. The museum chronicles the history and technology of motorsports, and features an impressive collection of vintage and modern racing cars, including Richard Petty's Dodge Charger and the first vehicle to break the speed of sound on land.

The museum offers self-guided tours, exhibits, a research library, and tours of the adjacent Talladega Superspeedway. The website offers a photo gallery of the museum, brief biographies of all inductees, a virtual tour, a history of the Hall of Fame, and general visitor information.

Maryland Historical Society [MD]

Description

The Maryland Historical Society is dedicated to the preservation of the diverse historical heritage of the state of Maryland, and runs a museum of Maryland history in order to showcase the society's impressive collection. The museum is located in downtown Baltimore, and is open to the public year round.

The society offers exhibits, guided tours, field trip programs, in class presentations, traveling trunks, primary source kits, and a student research center. The website offers information regarding all society programs, visitor information, and an events calendar.

Oriskany Museum [NY]

Description

The Oriskany Museum, located in Oriskany, New York, is focused on chronicling the history of the Battle of Oriskany in 1777, the town of Oriskany, NY, and the carrier USS Oriskany. The museum is operated by the Oriskany Reunion Association, which coordinates reunions and memorabilia sales for the now-defunct USS Oriskany. The carrier was recently sunk and now serves as the world's largest artificial reef.

The museum offers tours and artifacts from the history of Oriskany and the USS Oriskany. The website offers a detailed history of the ship, a history of the town, and a history of the battle. In addition, the website offers visitor information regarding the museum.

Massachusetts Historical Society [MA]

Description

The Massachusetts Historical Society is an independent research library and manuscript repository. The society holds millions of rare and unique documents, many of which are vital to the study of national history and are national treasures. Examples of society treasures include architectural drawing by Thomas Jefferson and correspondence between John and Abigail Adams.

The society offers a research library, educational programs, lesson plans complete with primary sources from the society, and teacher workshops. The website offers visitor information, information regarding the educational resources offered by the website, an online catalog, and a collection of online primary resources. In order to contact the society via email, use the "contact us" link located at the top of the webpage under the "About MHS" tab.

Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea [CT]

Description

Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea, located in Mystic, CT, takes visitors back to an era when seaports were the hub of the New England economy. Today, the site presents a representation of the trades and businesses typical of a mid-to-late 19th-century seaport, including those which would have been located on the water's edge and others which would have operated further inland. Trades and skills represented within the village include medicine, general sales, chandlery sales, navigation, life saving, cooperage, blacksmithing, sail making, rigging suppliers, whaling, commercial fishery, oystering, and rope making.

The village also contains a church, seamen's friends site, residences of several periods, and other structures, the vast majority of which are period. Vessel highlights include the last wooden whaleship in the world, a Newfoundland commercial fishing schooner, and a lighthouse tender used to smuggle Jews out of Nazi-occupied Denmark.

The seaport is also home to exhibits of maritime history and art, a planetarium, carefully restored tall ships and historic vessels, and a working preservation shipyard. Demonstrations depict whale boat stations and rowing, period domestic life, life saving techniques, rope making, sail hauling and furling, and sea chanteys.

The seaport offers a planetarium, traditional and interactive exhibits, presentations, field trip programs, interpretive activities aboard the seaport's fleet of ships, outreach programs, summer camps, a playground, children's games and activities, living history demonstrations and reenactors, opportunities to sail or row, steamship and catboat rides, a water taxi, adult and college classes, guided and self-guided tours, and overnight activities.

The museum is designed to engage, educate, and entertain visitors of all ages; and also offers collections and research library access at a location near the main museum complex. The website offers visitor information, online research resources, a calendar of events, and information regarding all of the programs offered by the seaport. In order to contact the website via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

The Charles W. Morgan, the whaling barque, is currently under restoration in the Preservation Shipyard. This is an excellent opportunity to see master craftsmen at work on an outstanding vessel, and to get a sense of vessel construction.