Bill and Bonnie Daniels Firefighters Hall & Museum [MN]

Description

The Firefighters Hall & Museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history of firefighting in Minneapolis, as well as working to educate local children on fire safety and firefighting in general. The museum boasts an impressive collection of firefighting memorabilia and equipment.

The museum offers exhibits and tours. The website offers very basic visitor information.

Niagara County Historical Society [NY]

Description

The Niagara County Historical Society owns and operates the Historical Museum at Lockport, a local history museum which chronicles the history of life in American and Niagara County over the last 175 years. The museum is composed of seven distinct buildings with the Outwater House serves as the main portion of the museum. There are also three other historic house museums, a fire house, transportation building, and barn.

The museum offers exhibits and historic house museums. Guided tours are available by appointment. The museum also contains a library, which is open on the weekends year round. The website offers visitor information, and brief histories of all of the buildings which comprise the museum.

City Lore [NY]

Description

City Lore seeks to preserve and share New York City's history. To this end, they have created the C.A.R.T.S. (Cultural Arts Resources for Teachers and Students) project; and maintain a resource library with more than 1,500 books, 120,000 slides, and audio and visual materials related to oral histories and traditional arts.

City Lore offers educator workshops; residencies, 8- to 20-week programs of fine arts, folk arts, historical, cultural, or folklore education; and a resource center. Appointments are required when visiting the resource center.

Dumbarton House [DC]

Description

Dumbarton House reflects the emerging Adamesque style of architecture of the early Republic, and houses collections of Federal period (1790–1830) furniture and decorative arts. Federal period architecture emphasizes symmetry and balance while incorporating neoclassical elements. The majority of collection artifacts are from the Federal period, although Chippendale and Louis XVI styles are also present. Joseph Nourse (1754–1841), Register of the U.S. Treasury for the first six Presidents of the United States, was the house's first resident between 1804 and 1813. The year after Nourse left, Dolley Madison would stay at the residence as she left the White House to avoid the invading British.

The museum offers an introductory film, guided public and school tours, period rooms, exhibits, lectures, concerts, educational programming, week–long summer programs, and programs for home school students.

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site [SC]

Description

The 28-acre Charles Pinckney National Historic Site preserves a portion of Snee Farm, the plantation owned by Charles Pinckney (1757-1824), a man who was deeply involved in the writing of the U.S. Constitution, as well as a signer of the finished document. The site also addresses the life of African Americans in South Carolina's Lowcountry plantations. The visitor's center is housed in a circa 1838 residence. Note that it is not typical of architecture with which Pinckney would have been familiar.

The site offers a half-mile trail with wayside exhibits, a 20-minute orientation video, exhibits, educational programs, Junior Ranger activities, and a picnic site. Advance notice is required for educational programs. The website offers a teacher's guide, which includes content relevant to the Pinckney site, as well as Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie.

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.

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site [NY]

Description

The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site contains of Lindenwald, the 220-acre farm where Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) spent the last 21 years of his life. Having served as Secretary of State, Vice President, and the eighth President of the United States, Van Buren conducted two additional (unsuccessful) presidential campaigns from this house before retiring as a gentleman farmer. His administration (1837-1841) is largely remembered for the Panic of 1837, which preceded a five-year economic depression. Conflict concerning the need to maintain national unity and Van Buren's disapproval of the institution of slavery in newly admitted states presaged the upcoming Civil War. The mansion itself contains 36 rooms.

The site offers mansion and grounds guided tours, period rooms, and educational programming. These programs consist of in-classroom activities, with one program also making use of web-based learning. The website offers an extensive virtual tour of the mansion.

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site [NY]

Description

Sagamore Hill was the home of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, from 1885 until his death in 1919. During Roosevelt's time in office, his "Summer White House" was the focus of international attention. The house itself dates to the 19th century, and is situated on 83 acres of forest, meadow, salt marsh, and beach.

The site offers podcasts, online photo galleries, sound bytes, teacher preparation packets, suggested reading, and field trip programming.

Museum of the Western Prairie [OK]

Description

From geologic uplifts and ancient seas to irrigated farming and Altus Air Force Base, the Museum chronicles the history of Southwest Oklahoma. Visitors can follow the activities of Native Americans, frontier soldiers, cowboys, and homesteaders and trace the region's economic development, from assurances that "rain will follow the plow," to "Dust, Drought, Depression," and beyond.

The museum offers exhibits and tours.

Jennings County Historical Society [IN]

Description

The Jennings County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Jennings County, Indiana. To this end, the society operates a museum, located in the 1838 North America House, which originally functioned as a stagecoach stop and inn. The society possesses over 1,000 artifacts, including an 1870s cherry rope bed.

The museum offers exhibits. Outside of the museum, the society offers annual events including the Sassafrass Tea Festival and Civil War History event and the Town and County Home and Garden Tour, which features historic properties.