Berkeley County Historical Society [WV]

Description

The Berkeley County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Berkeley County, West Virginia, founded 1722. To this end, the society operates a museum within the Belle Boyd House. The residence was the childhood home of Belle Boyd (1844-1900), Confederate spy and femme fatale actress. Exhibits topics include the Civil War in the Lower Shenandoah Valley, Belle Boyd, county history, 1860 through 1920 dress, Abraham Lincoln, World War II, the Spanish American War, the Revolutionary War, African American history, and baseball player Hack Wilson. The grounds include an herb garden and a rose garden.

The society offers a 51-minute film, exhibits, gardens, archival access, and research assistance. A fee is charged for research requests.

Old State House Museum [AR]

Description

The Old State House Museum, housed within the 1842 Greek Revival former state capitol building, presents the history of the state of Arkansas and its residents. The structure served as the state capitol until 1911; both a Confederate and Union capitol; a medical school and research site; and a popular campaign site of Bill Clinton (born 1946), 42nd President of the United States. Period rooms include a 1901 through 1906 parlor, 1870 through 1900 parlor, a 1750 through 1800 library, an 1860 through 1870 Rococo Revival parlor, an 1836 through 1860 library, and 1836 through 1885 House of Representatives chamber. Permanent exhibits address 19th- and 20th-century women's lives, the building's construction, Bill Clinton, hands-on 1930s artifacts, early 19th-century life, Arkansas governors and their families, and 1819 through 1919 Arkansas political history.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, hourly guided tours, self-guided tours, eight thematic tours for students, outreach programs for students and adults, educational programs for students or adults, living history characters, a summer camp, teacher's workshops, and traveling trunks. Groups of 12 or more must make reservations for guided tours. Living history characters can be scheduled into tours with advance notice. The website offers virtual exhibits, lesson plans, activities, games, and crosswords.

Sarah Orne Jewett House

Description

Writer Sarah Orne Jewett spent much of her life in this stately Georgian residence, owned by her family since 1819. The view from her desk in the second-floor hall surveys the town's major intersection and provided her with material for her books, such as The Country of the Pointed Firs, which describe the character of the Maine countryside and seacoast with accuracy and affection. In decorating the house for their own use, Miss Jewett and her sister expressed both a pride in their family's past and their own independent, sophisticated tastes. The result is an eclectic blend of 18th-century architecture, antiques, and old wallpapers with furnishings showing the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The house offers tours and educational and recreational programs.

Salem Witch Museum [MA]

Description

The Salem Witch Museum commemorates the men and women who were put on trial and executed during the Salem Witch hunts of 1692. These witch hunts were the product of unexplained sickness and hysterics of some of the village girls and resulted in the death of at least 19 townspeople and a period of terror in Puritan Massachusetts.

Group tours of the museum are offered for school groups.

Highlands Historical Society and Historic Village [NC]

Description

The Highlands Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Highlands, North Carolina, founded in 1875. To this end, the society operates the Historic Village, which consists of the 1877 House-Trapier-Wright Home, 1908 Bug Hill Cottage, and the Highlands Historical Museum and Archives. The House-Trapier-Wright Home serves as a living history museum. The Bug Hill Cottage is an open-air cubicle once used to house and treat tuberculosis patients. 60 such cubicles once existed at the sanatorium on site. The historical museums exhibits address women's lives, moonshine, historic structures, genealogy, education, religion, and the area tuberculosis sanatorium, among other topics.

The society offers exhibits, period rooms, and living history interpretation.

Old City Cemetery and Museums [VA]

Description

The Old City Cemetery is the oldest public cemetery in Virginia, in continuous operation since 1806. The site includes the Mourning Museum, Pest House Medical Museum, Hearse House and Cemetery Caretaker's Museum, Station House, and Chapel and Columbarium. The Station House is furnished in a circa World War I style. The Hearse House contains a circa 1900 hearse and a variety of cemetery caretaker tools. The Mourning Museum presents 19th- and 20th-century mourning attire, jewelry, and etiquette, as well as the history of coffins and embalming. Topics relevant to the site include horticulture, symbolism, ironwork, Civil War medicine, mourning practices of the Victorian era, railways, African American history, the founding of Lynchburg, women, archaeology, and local disasters. The cemetery has been in use since 1806.

The cemetery offers self-guided tours; period rooms; exhibits; Mourning Museum tours; interior tours of the Pest House, Hearse House, Station House, and Chapel; audio tours; customizable guided cemetery tours; and wayside signs. Appointments are required for interior tours of the Pest House, Hearse House, Station House, and Chapel, as well as for guided cemetery tours. The website offers lesson plans, brief descriptions of notable figures interred on site, a virtual African American history tour, and brief informative articles.

Atlanta History Center [GA]

Description

The Atlanta History Center consists of the Atlanta History Museum, Swan House, Tullie Smith Farm, Centennial Olympic Games Museum, historic gardens, Kenan Research Center, and the Margaret Mitchell House. The Atlanta History Museum depicts the story of Atlanta, GA, from early settlement to modern day. Permanent exhibits address historical development, the Civil War, folk arts, and golfer Bobby Jones. The Olympic museum presents the history of the Olympic Games and the sports which take place at the games via a collection of artifacts and photographs. Topics addressed include financing the event, community involvement, global travel to the Olympics, the bid process, and building game venues. The six historic gardens represent groups of people who influenced the development of Atlanta. The Kenan Research Center provides resources for the study of the history and culture of Atlanta and the South. Particular emphasis is given to gardens, military history, decorative arts, and genealogy. The 1928 Swan House portrays life in the 1920s-1930s; while the 1840s Tullie Smith Farm home is representative of area rural life, and is surrounded by outbuildings, such as a blacksmith shop. The Margaret Mitchell House is listed separately within this database.

The center offers guided student tours, self-guided student tours, traveling trunks, interactive outreach programs for students, homeschool days, educator workshops, lectures, toddler programs, summer camps, musical performances, gardens, and living history presentations. The Atlanta History Museum offers exhibits, summer camps, and a cafe. The Centennial Olympic Games Museum offers interactive and traditional exhibits, a sports lab, and multimedia presentations. The Kenan Research Center offers research library access. The Swan House offers an exhibit of decorative arts, audio tours, guided tours, and period rooms. The Tullie Smith Farm offers period rooms, guided tours, and demonstrations. The website offers lesson plans, a virtual tour, and a game based on the P.O.W. experience.

Tehachapi Museum [CA]

Description

The Tehachapi Museum presents the history of Tehachapi, CA. Exhibit topics addressed include women of note, children, Native American life, early man, costumes and textiles, geology, the railway, and Ice Age animals.

The museum offers exhibits and self-guided area walking tours.

Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace [GA]

Description

The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace preserves the home in which Juliette Gordon Low (1860-1927), founder of the Girl Scouts within the United States, was born. The house itself is an 1818 English Regency townhouse. The home is furnished with family possessions, objects which belonged to Low herself, and artifacts selected to depict period taste.

The site offers period rooms, guided tours, school tours, Scout programs, and nine educational programs for students. Educational programs range from the life of Low to shipping and the cotton industry in Georgia. The website offers photographs and pre-and post-visit activities.