The Kingston Urban Cultural Park/Heritage Area presents the historical importance of Kingston, New York. Kingston was a site of Dutch colonization and Revolutionary War meetings and attacks, as well as a major transportation nexus.
The park offers exhibits and interpretive signs.
The Portland Harbor Museum presents the maritime history of New England's Portland Harbor. Available topics for educational programming include Casco Bay lighthouses, the forts of Portland Harbor, 19th-century clipper ships, 19th-century Portland Harbor, modern Portland Harbor, and the liberty ships of World War II.
The museum offers exhibits, a standards-based curriculum, and customizable educational programs for students.
The Raynham Hall Museum is a historic home depicting life between the 1770s and 1870s. Samuel Townsend, a prosperous international merchant, purchased the property in 1738. Townsend later served on the New York Provincial Congress. Between 1778 and 1779, the Queen's Rangers, led by English Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806), made the Patriot family's home their headquarters. During this time, legend has it, Sally Townsend overheard Benedict Arnold's plan to surrender the West Point fort to the British; and informed the Culper Spy Ring about Benedict (1741-1801) and his accomplice Major John Andre (1750-1780). The site displays over 500 artifacts, including pieces owned by the Townsends and others made in Long Island.
The museum offers colonial and Victorian period rooms, colonial- and Victorian-style gardens, and children's summer workshops.
When Joseph Priestley (17331804) is remembered today, it is usually for his 1774 discovery, in England, of oxygen. Few know he was a noted theologian, political progressive, and prolific author whose scientific contributions include the development of the carbonation process, the identification of carbon monoxide, and early experiments in electricity. He counted Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Watt among his friends. Yet Priestley was also a controversial figure whose views were so odious to some of his countrymen that his house, Fair Hill in Birmingham, was burned in a riot, and he and his family left England. Priestley spent the last 10 years of his life in Northumberland, PA, where he continued his work in science, religion, and education. But even in this democratic republic his liberal ideas were frequently received with intolerance, and the peace that he so ardently desired was often elusive. Today, the Joseph Priestley House is an historic site that preserves and interprets the contributions and significance to American history of Joseph Priestley, noted English theologian, educator, natural philosopher, and political theorist.
The house offers a short film, exhibits, tours, educational programs, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
The Brandywine Battlefield Historic Site brings to life the largest engagement of the Revolutionary War, fought on September 11, 1777, between the Continental Army led by General George Washington and the British forces headed by General William Howe.
The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
The historic town of Sonoma is located in the heart of the beautiful wine country between Napa and Santa Rosa off Highway 12. Situated around a central plaza (the largest of its kind in California) filled with shops and restaurants, the city is home to Sonoma State Historic Park—site of the northernmost Franciscan Mission in California and birthplace of the California State Bear Flag. Unlike most parks with a plot of land and geographical boundaries, Sonoma State Historic Park is a series of historic attractions in several locations within the community. The park is comprised of six sites: the Mission San Francisco Solano; the Blue Wing Inn; the Sonoma Barracks; and the Toscano Hotel, as well as La Casa Grande and Lachryma Montis, the homes of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Military Commander and Director of Colonization of the Northern Frontier.
The park offers exhibits and tours.
In 1839 a Swiss immigrant named John Sutter received a land grant in the Sacramento Valley from the Mexican government. He used the land to create a flourishing agricultural empire and named it New Helvetia (New Switzerland.) This empire established Sacramento's earliest settlement and the first non-Indian settlement in California's Central Valley. In 1847, Sutter sent aid to the Donner Party, a group of immigrants trapped in a winter storm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Word spread and Sutter became known for his hospitality and for providing temporary refuge to travelers. This reputation made New Helvetia the destination for early immigrants to California. Less than a decade after they were established, Sutter's properties were overrun by gold seekers and the fort is all that remains of New Helvetia. It has been restored to its former state based on an 1847 map published in Darmstadt, Germany and is open daily for tours.
The park offers exhibits; tours; and recreational and educational events, including living history events.
The temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California. On display are art objects, pictures, mining tools, and weapons used in the 1854 Tong War. This Taoist temple is still a place of worship and a fascinating look into the role played by Chinese immigrants in early California history. The temple was built in 1874 as a replacement for another that had burned. Many of the historical objects have been restored and the structure itself stabilized.
The park offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events.
The Minnesota Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Minnesota. To this end, the society operates a history center and 26 historical sites located throughout the state. The Minnesota History Center collections include more than 230,000 artifacts, including a collection of Ojibwa pieces; 6,000 works of art; and 53,000 cubic feet of government records, among other items.
The Minnesota History Center offers a 30-minute introductory film, exhibits, interactive field trip programs, library access, and two lunch sites—one indoor and one outdoor. Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance for field trip programs and/or use of the indoor dining area. Lunches can be ordered ahead from the museum restaurant. The center can arrange for sign language interpreters and wheelchair availability. The society also offers outreach presentations given by costumed interpreters and continuing education workshops for teachers.
The website offers blogs on selected artifacts, local historical organizations, and the archives; a forum for historical researchers; video podcasts; historical images; lesson plans on Minnesota and the Holocaust; and a Minnesota history curriculum available for purchase.
The Museum tells the stories of 97 Orchard Street. Built on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1863, this tenement apartment building was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants. They faced challenges people understand today: making a new life, working for a better future, starting a family with limited means. In recognizing the importance of this seemingly ordinary building, the Tenement Museum has reimagined the role that museums can play in modern lives.
The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and educational and recreational events.