Historical Society of Cecil County and Museum [MD]

Description

The Historical Society of Cecil County seeks to preserve and share the history of Cecil County, MD and its people. To this end, the society operates a research library and museum. The library offers 12,000 newspapers, more than 2,000 books, souvenir booklets, pamphlets, various photographic media, letters, wills, land records, receipts, organization records, and other materials. Museum collections include furnishings, Victorian dollhouses, local artworks, and other artifacts. The museum's permanent exhibits address military history, log home living, country stores, and kitchens in early colonial America.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, and research library access. The website offers collection indexes.

Amistad Research Center [LA]

Description

The Amistad Research Center is the largest independent archives within the U.S., focusing on African American history, as well as the histories of other ethnic groups. Collections include 250,000 photographs from 1859 onward, manuscripts, and 800 African and African American artworks.

The center offers archive access, 45-minute guided tours, and art exhibits. Reservations are required for all groups, and must be made at least two weeks in advance. The website offers digital collection access.

Greene County Historical Society and Bronck Museum [NY]

Description

The Green County Historical Society operates the Bronck Museum and Vedder Research Library. The Bronck Museum consists of a complex of historic structures which previously functioned as a working farm. The complex holds a 1663 stone house, the oldest remaining residence in Upstate New York; a 1738 Hudson Valley Dutch and Federal brick house; a detached kitchen; a Victorian horse barn with exhibits of historical daily life in Green County, NY; a Dutch barn; and a thirteen-sided barn. The homes and kitchen are furnished with period pieces; china; glass; silver; and artworks by Ezra Ames, John Frederick Kensett, Ammi Philips, Richard Hubbard, Benjamin Stone, and Nehemiah Partridge. The museum also presents regional textiles, and information on both spinning and weaving. The Vedder Research Library offers primary and secondary sources for researching the history of Green County.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours, guided student tours, and research library access. School tours are available May 30 through October 31st by appointment only. Memorial Day weekend through mid-October tours are available to the general public. The website offers a suggested reading list.

Macculloch Hall Historical Museum [NJ]

Description

The Macculloch Hall Historical Museum preserves the circa 1810 residence of George Macculloch, known as the father of the Morris Canal, his immediate family, and his descendants. Collections include 18th- and early 19th-century fine and decorative art pieces from England and the U.S., as well as works by major 19th-century political cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902). Nast is responsible for the Republican elephant, Democratic donkey, and the prevailing U.S. visualization of Santa Claus. The grounds hold gardens, which have been restored to their 19th-century appearance.

The museum offers house tours, garden tours, and educational programs for students. School and group tours are by appointment only.

New-York Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The New-York Historical Society presents American and U.S. history through artifacts and documents relevant to the history of New York City and state. Permanent exhibits include slavery in New York and visible open storage. Collection highlights include George Washington's inaugural chair, Benjamin Franklin's cane, watercolors by John James Audubon, Hudson River School landscapes, Tiffany lamps, and Abraham Lincoln's life mask.

The society offers exhibits, guided tours, customizable group tours, school visits, guided student workshops, outreach programs for students, interactive stations, audio tours, teen audio tours, written gallery guides, research library access, educator professional development opportunities, and a cafe. An appointment is required to access prints, photographs, or architectural records. No appointment is necessary to access manuscripts and general collections. Wheelchairs are available for use on site. American Sign Language interpreters are available for tours with at least three weeks advance notice. The website offers digital collections access.

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame [TX]

Description

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame honors courageous and independent women of America's western frontier, mid-19th century through present. Interactive exhibits include the opportunity to learn to saddle a full-scale pony model. Select other exhibits address arena sports, rodeo fashion, bronc riding, rodeo evolution, oral histories, ranching, cowgirl equipment, and cowgirls in dime novels and on the screen. The museum exterior features artworks by sculptor Mehl Lawson and painter Richard Haas.

The museum offers an 8-minute introductory film, other thematic films, interactive and traditional exhibits, interactive guided group tours, outreach speakers for students and adults, Western lifestyle workshops and courses, school tours, 45-minute distance learning programs for students, a traveling trunk, educator workshops, and research library access. Group tours must include 15 or more visitors, and be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. Library access is by appointment only. Wheelchairs are available for use on site. The website offers activity suggestions for use in the classroom.

Landmark Center [MN]

Description

The Landmark Center was erected in 1902 as a Federal court house and a post office. Today, it houses a variety of community, art, and culture organizations. The center hosts five galleries—the American Association of Woodturners Galleries, which displays contemporary wooden artworks and historical lathes; the Landmark Gallery, depicting St. Paul, Minnesota's postal history; Uncle Sam Worked Here, covering Landmark Center history; the Ramsey County Historical Society's exhibits of local history; and the Museum of Musical Instruments and Gilman Ordway Manuscript Collection, the latter of which specializes in musical correspondence and writing.

The center offers exhibits, guided tours, self-guided tours, guided tours for students, group tours, and living history gangster tours. Student tours can be customized for areas of interest, and meet state educational standards. Reservations for student, group, and gangster tours must be made at least two weeks in advance, and the student and group tours must include 10 or more individuals. The website offers a virtual tour and activities for use by teachers.

The Museum At Warm Springs [OR]

Description

The Museum at Warms Springs is devoted to exhibiting the history of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, a Native American reservation in Oregon. The Museum rotates its exhibits once a year but focuses on showcasing the culture of the tribes, including tribal song and language, craftsmanship, and daily life.

School groups are welcome to tour the museum's gallery and its outdoor portion of the museum containing information on the museum's traditional architecture.

New York City Fire Museum [NY]

Description

The New York City Fire Museum presents firefighting history from the late 18th century to present day. The largest firefighting collection in the country, museum artifacts include art, uniforms, parade hats, tools, fire engines dating from the 1700s onward, other vehicles, and more than 2,000 fire marks. A permanent exhibit memorializes the firefighters involved in 9-11 disaster relief. The museum is located within a 1904 firehouse.

The museum offers exhibits, guided historical tours for groups, and interactive guided fire safety tours for students. Reservations are required for history group tours, which must include at least 20 individuals, and student tours. The website offers a teacher resource guide and a summary of the New York Fire Department's history.

Getty Center [CA]

Description

The Getty Center presents artworks with dates of origin ranging the Medieval period to present day. Collections include manuscripts, drawings, paintings, photographs, decorative arts, and sculpture. Members of nearly all of these categories are solely European in origin at the Getty Center. However, select photographs were produced in the United States. The center's research library contains more than 900,000 volumes.

The center offers a 10-minute orientation video, exhibits, gardens, guided collection highlight tours, guided garden tours, guided exhibit tours, guided focus tours, guided architecture tours, audio tours, self-guided sculpture garden tours, self-guided student tours, guided student architecture and garden tours, interactive guided lessons for students, a family room, research library access, a teacher resource center, a variety of teacher workshops and institutes, a restaurant, two cafes, a picnic area, and coffee carts. Appointments are recommended for research library use. Teachers may reserve audio guides for their students. Strollers and wheelchairs are available for use on site. The website offers the 10-minute orientation video, a collections database, a guide to creating lessons which focus on the arts, more than 200 searchable lesson plans, online games, a virtual world for children, and an educator listserv.