Homestead National Monument of America [NE]

Description

The Homestead National Monument of America addresses the impact of the Homestead Act of 1862 on agriculture, Native Americans, national land policy, the prairies, industrialization, and immigration. Sights include the 1872 one-room Freeman School, Heritage Center, Education Center, 1867 Palmer Epard Cabin, and restored tallgrass prairie. The cabin presents post-Civil War homestead life. The Freeman School has been restored to an 1870s appearance. Under the Homestead Act, anyone 21 or over and/or the head of a household could claim 160 acres of previously federally owned land as their own private property.

The monument offers an introductory film, interactive exhibits, Freeman School guided tours, trails, curriculum-based programs for students, Scout programs, interactive demonstrations, distance learning opportunities, and Junior Ranger activities. The school is open for tours on request. Classes can host a day of lessons within the Freeman School. The website offers historical photographs, videos of farming demonstrations, audio files of Abraham Lincoln's words, a curriculum guide, a math activity booklet, a coloring book, dot-to-dot activities, and a suggested reading list for students.

El Morro National Monument [NM]

Description

The El Morro National Monument preserves a campsite which has been used by Ancestral Puebloans, the Spanish, and U.S. immigrants, leaving 2,000 years of petroglyphs, signatures, and other carvings. The site's popularity for early travelers is derived from the fact that a waterhole could be reliably located near the base of the bluffs. These bluffs provided natural defense for Atsinna, an Ancestral Pueblo dwelling site which was inhabited between 1275 and 1350.

The monument offers a 15-minute introductory video, exhibits, a 1/2 mile trail which passes the pool and numerous inscriptions, a 2 mile trail which reaches Atsinna, Junior Ranger activities, a children's corner, and a picnic area. The 1/2 mile trail is wheelchair accessible with assistance. School groups may reserve the picnic area. Visitors are asked to remain on the trails for their own safety.

Ponzi's Scheme: True Story of a Financial Legend

Description

Professor Mitchell Zuckoff follows the life of Italian immigrant Charles Ponzi (1882-1949), legendary con man who set up the Securities Exchange Company, which promised investors massive returns on their investments based on the buying and trading of international postal reply coupons. The scheme, begun around 1918, collapsed in 1920 after the Boston Post revealed it to the public. The presentation includes slides.

Audio and video options are available.

Boston's Made Land

Description

Scholar Nancy Seasholes looks at the history of land creation in Boston over its 375-year history. She focuses on the Central Waterfront area. Her presentation includes slides.

An mp3 of the lecture audio can be downloaded.

Free People of Color in New England

Description

Two scholars present papers on the history of slavery, the slave trade, and African-American life in New England. The papers are "Creoles and Colonization: African Colonization Movements in Rhode Island and Nova Scotia in the Age of the American Revolution" and "William Lanson and the Vagaries of Early Free Black Life in New Haven, Connecticut, 1800-1831."

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