Tennessee State Library and Archives

Description

The Tennessee State Library and Archives collects publications and archival materials relevant to the history of Tennessee. Collections include manuscript materials, birth and death records, census records, county records, governors' papers, military records, Native-American and African-American records, newspapers, maps, photographs, postcards, state records, and Tennessee legislative records.

The website offers research library and archives access as well as virtual exhibits, lesson plans, primary sources, and an archive of digitized primary sources.

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.

Beckman Mill Park [WI]

Description

The 50-acre Beckman Mill Park contains an 1840s cooperage; a fish ladder; dam; vintage saw mill, blacksmith shop, and creamery displays; and an 1868 grist mill with an operating water-powered Leffel turbine. The mill has been restored to its 1920s appearance. The fish ladder is a graded water passageway which allows fish to move between the two bodies of water separated by the dam.

The park offers exhibits, period rooms, guided mill tours, student tours, and bus group tours. Reservations are required for student and bus group tours.

Windham Textile and History Museum [CT]

Description

The Windham Textile and History Museum presents the history and influence of the U.S. textile industry. Particular focus is given to 1870 through 1920 cotton thread manufacturers in eastern Connecticut; the ethnicity, duties, and recreation of mill workers; and the role of mill managers and employees in U.S. industrialization. The museum is housed within two 1877 structures, once part of the Willimantic Linen Company complex.

The museum offers exhibits, 90-minute guided student tours, hands-on activities for students, slide presentations for students, outreach programs for students, and research library access. The library offers materials on mills, immigration, Connecticut history, and textiles. The website offers PowerPoint presentations for use in the classroom, short videos, and worksheets.

Willa Cather State Historic Site [NE]

Description

Willa Cather, Nebraska's Pulitzer Prize-winning author, spent her formative years in Red Cloud. Many of the scenes and characters in her writings are based on the people, streets, and landscapes Cather encountered here in her youth. Visitors to the site encounter eight period structures that influenced her writing, including her childhood home; the Catholic and Episcopal churches; the Garber Bank; the Burlington Depot; and the Pavelka Farmstead, home of Annie Pavelka, the basis for the title character of Cather's most famous novel, My Antonia.

A second website for the site, maintained by the Cather Foundation, can be found here.

The site offers exhibits, tours, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Gem County Historical Society and Historical Village Museum [ID]

Description

The Gem County Historical Society of Gem County, ID operates the Historical Village Museum. The museum complex contains a museum of the history of Emmett, ID; the circa 1900 cottage of the fifth governor of Idaho (1901-1903), Frank W. Hunt; the Little Red Schoolhouse; the Bunkhouse; and the Blacksmith Shop. The Hunt cottage contains its original furnishings. The Bunkhouse presents information on indigenous animal species and the local cattle and sheep industries. Topics addressed in the local history museum include Native American life, irrigation, the fruit industry, settlers, trappers, and miners. Collection highlights include a "coyote gun" and a broom maker dating to the 1880s.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, and presentations and tours for students.

Northern Indiana Historical Society and Center for History

Description

The Northern Indiana Historical Society operates the Center for History. The center consists of a Victorian mansion, a circa 1820 cottage, local and Notre Dame history exhibits, and a children's museum. The 1896 Romanesque Queen Anne mansion Copshaholm contains its original furnishings. The residence was home to J.D. Oliver, president of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works. The grounds hold of 2.5-acres of gardens, restored to their 1915 appearance.

The center offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours of Copshaholm and the Worker's Home, student exhibit and house tours, summer camps, educational programs for students, and archive access. Neither Copshaholm nor the Worker's Home is wheelchair accessible. Appointments are recommended for archive access. The cottage is only open during annual educational events. The website offers an mp3 self-guided West Washington Street walking tour and a curriculum guide for Copshaholm.

The children's museum is currently closed for renovation.

Wylie House Museum [IN]

Description

The 1835 Federal and Georgian Wylie House was home to Andrew Wylie, the first president of Indiana University. The site has been restored to its appearance prior to 1860. Topics addressed include Bloomington, IN; Indiana University; and domestic life.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, guided tours, and educational programs for students. The museum is open March through November. The website offers virtual exhibits.

Vermont State Historical Society and Museum

Description

The Vermont State Historical Society presents the history of the state of Vermont from the days of Abenaki dominance to circa 2000. To this end, the society operates a museum and a history and genealogy research library. The Vermont History Museum's permanent exhibit depicts change over time through a series of full-size period settings, interpreting the state motto, "Freedom and Unity." Collection highlights include the document which officially admitted Vermont to the Union and shoe buckles once worn by Ethan Allen (1738-1789), who helped capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775.

The society offers exhibits, curriculum-based guided student tours with hands-on activities, curriculum-based student educational programs, traveling trunk rentals, a lending library for educators, in-service educator training, family workshops, and research library access. Students and members may use the library free of charge. The website offers virtual exhibits, transcriptions of select manuscripts and Civil War diaries and letters, historical photographs, and lesson plans.