Scotts Bluff National Monument [NE]

Description

Scotts Bluff National Monument encompasses 3,000 acres of natural bluff formations that once served as landmarks for pioneers on the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express Trails. The park's four-room Oregon Trail Museum and Visitor Center houses displays on natural history, westward expansion, and the artwork of William Henry Jackson (1843-1942).

The site offers a slide presentation, exhibits, historic and nature trails (including remnants of the Oregon Trail), living history demonstrations (in the summer months), guided hikes, and other recreational and educational events.

Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island [NY]

Description

Ellis Island operated as an immigration station between 1892 and 1954, entering more than 12,000,000 individuals into the U.S. legal system. At least one ancestor of more than 40 percent of U.S. citizens entered the United States through this port. A museum of station and immigration history is located on Ellis Island with the Hearing Room having been restored to its 1908 through 1911 appearance. Topics addressed include the immigration process, island history, immigration hearings, health, and current circa 1900 immigration law. France gifted the U.S. with the Statue of Liberty circa 1886 as a symbol of freedom and democracy. Statue of Liberty exhibits address the icon's history and present the original torch.

Ellis Island offers exhibits, a 45-minute presentation and film, a 30-minute dramatization of the immigrant experience, a one-hour Ferry Building tour, an interactive living history program, self-guided tours of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, guided tours, audio tours, immigrant manifest database access, Junior Ranger activities, a monthly genealogy workshop, curriculum-based programs, a traveling trunk, and distance learning opportunities for students. Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty Monument audio tours are available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, Arabic, German, Japanese, Polish, and Mandarin. Reservations are required for Ellis Island group audio tours. Wheelchairs are available for use on site. The website offers a teaching guide, in addition to visit and pre-visit activity sheets. The Statue of Liberty Monument offers an introductory film, 45-minute guided tours, exhibits, audio tours, Junior Ranger activities, and a traveling trunk. The website offers a virtual tour and a teacher guide.

Touro Synagogue National Historic Site [RI]

Description

The Touro Synagogue was dedicated in 1762, and serves an active congregation today. The congregation was founded in 1658 by Sephardim who fled the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal and were searching for a haven from religious persecution in the Caribbean. Today, the synagogue celebrates not only their story, but serves to honor all who came to this shore seeking to worship freely.

A second website for the synagogue can be found here.

The site offers tours.

Fort Stanwix National Monument [NY]

Description

The Fort Stanwix National Monument presents the fort's Revolutionary War history and its impact on the history of New York settlement. Collections consist of more than 476,000 artifacts. Three trails circle the fort. One follows the Oneida Carrying Place, while the other two interpret the siege of 1777. During the seige, Colonel Peter Gansevoort maintained control of Stanwix despite the concentrated British, Loyalist, German, Canadian, and Native American troops which surrounded the structure, earning it the nickname of "the fort that never surrendered." This victory is one of several which eventually led to political alliances with The Netherlands and France. The fort is located on traditional Oneida lands. The Oneida Carrying Place is an over land route between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River.

The monument offers an orientation talk, three trails, exhibits, guided curriculum-based educational programs, self-guided fort tours, audio-visual displays, weapons demonstrations, guided tours, living history programs, an activity for three through six year olds, Junior Ranger activities, and an area for building model forts. Reservations are required for all guided programs. The website offers lesson plans, a 1777 campaign Revolutionary War map, a word match, a crossword puzzle, a word search, and suggested reading lists for students and teachers.

Presidency of LBJ

Description

Lyndon B. Johnson biographer Robert Caro introduces a panel discussion on the presidency and legacy of LBJ, with the panel including writers; historians; and former adviser to President Johnson, Jack Valenti.

Audio, video, and text options are available. The video can be viewed with or without captions.

War of Words: The Last Colonial War in American Literature

Description

Professor Wayne Franklin discusses the life and work of James Fenimore Cooper, his inspiration for and work on the French and Indian War novel The Last of the Mohicans, and the influence of his depiction of this war on U.S. popular novels, works on the war, literature and on the colonial-era history of the U.S. Franklin also covers, in relation, the history of fiction-writing and novels in the U.S.