History Colorado Museums and Historic Sites

Description

History Colorado, the Colorado Historical Society, is a Smithsonian Affiliate that operates a variety of museums and historic sites in locations throughout the state that each highlight different periods of Colorado's history — from Victorian house museums, military and trapper/trader forts, an operating historic steam train and tour of a historic silver mine mine to a host of historical museums, such as the Ute Indian Museum, El Pueblo History Museum, Trinidad History Museum, and more. The main museum in Denver, where its rich historical collections are housed, has closed and will be replaced by the History Colorado Center, which is under construction. As a new statewide tourist destination, a thought-provoking center for civic conversation and an environment that encourages an inspirational journey into the future by understanding the past, the History Colorado Center will house all new, highly dynamic exhibits and educational experiences. During the construction period, History Colorado's education department continues to offer workshops, lectures, walking tours, and other educational and recreational events in Denver, as well as special events taking place at the statewide museums. Contact the education department for more information.

In addition to the new museum and education/public programs, the History Colorado Center will contain the Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the State Historical Fund, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Stephen H. Hart Research Library, and other History Colorado functions. Administrative functions will open in 2011. The opening date for the museum and public programs is not yet set.

Providence Preservation Society [RI]

Description

Formed in 1956 to respond to the proposed demolition of a number of 18th- and early 19th-century houses on College Hill, the Providence Preservation Society (PPS) has grown to a citywide preservation organization. With a large membership, a professional staff, and countless volunteers, the Society is able to provide a broad range of services that fulfill its mission to improve the quality of life in the city of Providence through historic preservation and the enhancement of the built environment. Society activities include the Festival of Historic Houses, advocacy, tours for school children, homeowner resources, and many other events and programs.

The society offers tours, educational programs, lectures, occasional exhibits, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Gwinnett Historical Society and Elisha Winn House [GA]

Description

The Society operates its center and library on the second floor of the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse in downtown Lawrenceville, along with the 19.2-acre Elisha Winn Property in the Hog Mountain-Dacula area. The Winn House is open the second Saturday in the month and includes the rehabilitated 1811 Elisha Winn House (birthplace of Gwinnett County); a 12-acre wooded area; and a variety of other buildings of historic interest, including the Walnut Grove one-room schoolhouse, the old Lawrenceville Jail, and a blacksmith shop.

The society offers a research library with main emphasis on Gwinnett and surrounding counties.

B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretative Center [MS]

Description

The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center will take visitors back to the place where B.B. King grew up and lived the blues long before he learned to make the music that would change his life. Proposed educational, cultural, and character development programming will take the form of classes, mentoring, and interactive exhibits. In addition, the stories of the Delta, from its history to its music, social mores, race relations, literature and legends, and adversities and successes will be examined in one interpretive setting.

Please note: The museum will open Sept. 13, 2008.

The museum will offer exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events and programs.

Chattanooga African American Museum [TN]

Description

The Museum operates as a source of curricula, historical references, creative works, and media about the African-American experience. The Museum maintains a collection of multimedia presentations, rare artifacts, African art, original sculptures, paintings, musical recordings, and local Black newspapers. Visitors can explore the history of Africans in Chattanooga, a region where most Africans were bought to be personal servants or laborers, rather than field hands.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Oysterponds Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The Oysterponds Historical Society preserves and interprets the heritage of Orient and East Marion (formerly Oysterponds) by maintaining a museum that collects, preserves, and exhibits artifacts pertaining to Oysterponds history and life; by maintaining a research library of material relevant to Oysterponds history; by providing cultural opportunities through educational and public programs and activities; and by promoting an interest in the history of Oysterponds. The Society is housed in several historic structures, including the 1888 Old Point Schoolhouse, which displays exhibits, and the 1720 Webb House, which offers seasonal tours.

The society offers research library access and occasional educational and recreational events; the museum offers exhibits and tours.

Randolph County Historical Society and Museum

Description

Visitors can experience the tangible artifacts of Randolph County's history at the Society's Museum. Housed in the 1828 Blackman-Bosworth Store building in the center of Beverly, the museum has a broad-based collection including early settlement tools, Civil War artifacts, belongings of early citizens, store and business collections, and much more. Behind the museum, open by appointment or during special events, is an original subscription school rescued from a rural Randolph County location. This small schoolhouse originally housed a school "subscribed" by parents who would band together to hire a teacher before universal public education in the area. Today it features an extensive collection of one-room school artifacts and memorabilia. Under construction behind the museum is the relocated Stalnaker Cabin, an early settlement log cabin. Saved and moved by the Stalnaker Family Association, the cabin is being restored by the Society and will be a future addition to the museum holdings. The museum also features rotating special exhibits in the meeting room, as well as hosting the regular informative programs of the Society.

The museum offers exhibits.

Kaw Mission State Historic Site

Description

The Kaw Mission houses a museum that tells the story of the building that was home and school to thirty Kaw boys from 1851–1854. The Kaw lived in the Neosho Valley for less than thirty years when, despite an impassioned plea by Chief Allegawaho, the U.S. government removed the Kaw to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). At the museum, visitors can learn more about Chief Allegawaho, the Kaw Indians, and others who lived in the area.

The site offers exhibits, a short film, and tours.

Mystic River Historical Society

Description

The Mystic River Historical Society, founded in 1973, owns an ever-growing collection of Mystic-related historical books, maps, photographs, and other documents and artifacts contributed by the community. It houses these collections in the William A. Downes Archives Building, erected by the Society specifically to provide a safe environment for them. It maintains part-time archival and curatorial staff available to assist researchers and to continue the organization and cataloging of the collections. In addition to the Downes Building, the Society owns the 1839 Portersville Academy, purchased from the Town of Groton in 1975 and partially restored. This historical building serves as the Society's education and outreach space. A schoolroom of the 1840s has been recreated upstairs, and historical displays form a backdrop for educational activities downstairs.

The society offers exhibits, lectures, tours, research library access, and educational programs.

Old Salem [NC]

Description

Old Salem includes four museums—the Historic Town of Salem, the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), the Old Salem Children's Museum, and the Old Salem Toy Museum— which engage visitors in an educational historical experience about those who lived and worked in the early South.

The museums offer exhibits, tours, demonstrations, and other recreational and educational events (including living history events).