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.

Mark Twain House and Museum [CT]

Description

The Mark Twain House and Museum consists of the Hartford, CT property in which famed author Mark Twain (1835-1910) once lived. Changing exhibits provide social context for Mark Twain's literary works and the interpretation of his home. Twain is most widely recognized for his literary creations Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and his strong use of satire.

The house offers an introductory film, house tours, kitchen and servant wing tours, group tours, student tours, exhibits, curriculum-based student programs, concerts, and a cafe. Group and student tours must include 10 or more visitors, and be scheduled at least two weeks in advance. Reservations are required for all groups planning to use the cafe, and box lunches can be ordered in advance by groups of 15 or more. The upper floors of the home are not wheelchair accessible. The website offers a family tree, word search, and crossword puzzle.

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.

South River Museum--Old School Baptist Church [NJ]

Description

The South River Museum—Old School Baptist Church presents the history of South River, NJ. Exhibit topics include education, religion, everyday life, business, and local organizations and festivities. The area Baptist population erected the museum building in 1805 as a place of worship, and the church cemetery includes a memorial by sculptor John Frazee (born 1790).

The museum offers exhibits.

Hampton Historical Society [NH]

Description

The Hampton Historical Society of Hampton, NH is a local history organization with its own museum, the Tuck Museum. The Tuck Museum currently consists of many 20th century historical buildings including the Museum building, barn, beach cottage, schoolhouse, fire museum, well, and various monuments and markers. The collection contains period school equipment, antique fire-fighting tools, maps, photographs, painting, and other authentic local items.

The site offers group tours for school groups and customized educational programs for grades 1,2,3, and 8. Home-school activities are also available.

Madeline Island Museum [WI]

Description

The Madeline Island Museum presents the history of Madeline Island, WI and its people. An original 1835 American Fur Company building contains exhibits on Ojibwe life and the mixing of Native American, British, American, and French cultures instigated by the fur trade. Other exhibits address 19th-century trades and hand tools, 19th- and early 20th-century settler life, leisure and tourism, and Protestant and Catholic missionary activity. Other structures housing exhibits include a historic jail, an 1890s barn, and a home built in memory to a drowned sailor. Collection highlights include an 1862 Fresnel lens, religious texts translated into Ojibwe, a boat winch, and a maple-sugaring kettle. The grounds also include fortifications similar to those created by the French in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The museum offers films, exhibits, lectures, workshops, group tours, student tours, educational programs for third through fifth grade students, student tours of La Pointe village, and a fur trade traveling trunk. Group tours and field trips are available by appointment only. Group tours must be scheduled for mid-June through September, and field trips are offered in May and early June. The traveling trunk is available November through March.

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.

Kentucky Derby Museum [KY]

Description

The Kentucky Derby Museums presents the significance and history of Thoroughbred racing; Churchill Downs; and the Kentucky Derby, a world-renowned annual horse race. The grounds include the graves of several favorite Derby horses—Carry Back, Swaps, Brokers Tip, and Sunny's Halo. Permanent exhibits address Kentucky Derby hats; races from 1918 to present day; the jockey stance; winning horses, owners, and trainers; jockey and stable life; handicapping; and African Americans in Thoroughbred racing.

The museum offers interactive and traditional exhibits, films, trivia tests, guided walking tours of Churchill Downs, barn and backside van tours, behind the scenes tours, legends and lore tours, student tours, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based outreach programs, hands-on activities, scavenger hunts, summer camps, and a cafe. Social studies program topics range from economics to urbanization. The website offers a suggested reading list for students and relevant vocabulary.

Brownville Historical Society, Captain Bailey House, and Carson House [NE]

Description

The Brownville Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Brownville, NE and its people. To this end, the society operates the Captain Bailey House and Carson House. The Captain Bailey House, erected prior to 1877, was once home to a Civil War Captain. It now houses a museum of local history. The Carson House was built by the founder of Brownville prior to 1864, and contains many furnishings original to the site.

The society offers exhibits and period rooms. Both museums are open mid-May through October.

Fort Branch [NC]

Description

Fort Branch preserves the site of a Confederate earthwork fort, with the initial phases of construction having taken place in 1862. The fort's location permitted strategic defense of the Roanoke River, CSS Albemarle, and a railway bridge needed for supply lines. This is the only Southern earthwork fortification which possesses artillery original to the site. Sights include eight of the original 11 cannon, Native American pottery, artifacts from an 18th-century river town, a late 19th-century steam engine, and an 1850s farmhouse.

The site offers exhibits, and is open April through November.