National Postal Museum

Description

Housed in DC's Old Post Office, the National Postal Museum guides visitors through the history and development of the U.S. Postal Service, and its operation today.

The museum offers exhibits; self-guided and guided tours for school groups (for preK-8); and recreational and educational events, including lectures.

Mann House [MI]

Description

The Mann House, built in 1883 and furnished with pieces from the 1840s to the turn of the century, allows visitors a view into the life of Michiganians at the close of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

The house offers exhibits, guided tours, and special programs for school groups.

Chippewa Valley Museum [WI]

Description

The Chippewa Valley Museum preserves and presents the history of Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley through exhibits on the region's history and through historical structures, including the 1866 Lars and Grethe Anderson log home, the 1882 one-room Sunnyview School, and the 1871 Schlegelmilch House. Visitors may also eat and drink at a turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor within the museum.

The museum offers exhibits, tours for school groups, history kits for rent, a one-room schoolhouse which educators may rent for classes, and research library access.

Yakima Valley Museum and H.M. Gilbert Homeplace [WA]

Description

The Yakima Valley Museum's 65,000-square-foot facility offers historical exhibits on the Yakima Valley—its natural history, American Indian culture, pioneer life, early city life, and the roots and development of the Valley's fruit industry. The museum also houses a collection of horse-drawn vehicles, from stagecoach to hearse; an historical exhibit and reconstruction of the Washington, DC, office of former Yakima resident and environmentalist, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas; and a changing schedule of special exhibitions. A special set of exhibits, the Children's Underground, provides hands-on activities that complement the core museum exhibitions; and visitors can eat and drink in a functioning replica of a late 1930s Art Deco soda fountain.

The Museum also owns and operates the restored 1898 H.M. Gilbert homeplace, which is available for tours.

The museum offers exhibits, research library access, guided tours for student groups, cultural trunks for rent, performances, and other recreational and educational events.