Lincoln Home National Historic Site [IL]

Description

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln left his home of 17 years in order to assume to office of President, where he served until his assassination in 1865. The Lincoln Home has been restored to its 1860 state, and shows a different side of Abraham Lincoln to visitors. In the home, visitors can see Lincoln as a husband, father, and politician.

The site offers visitor information, a lesson plan for teachers, a museum shop, and brief historical information about both the historic Lincoln Home and Abraham Lincoln himself. In order to email the park, use the "contact us" link on the webpage.

Federal Hall National Memorial [NY]

Description

Federal Hall National Memorial is the site where George Washington took the oath of office as the first U.S. President, as well as the site of the first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch offices. The current structure, an 1842 Greek Revival Customs House, later served as part of the U.S. Sub-Treasury. Now, the building serves as a museum and memorial to the first President and the beginnings of the United States of America. The memorial presents information on the first Presidential Inauguration, with the first inaugural Bible serving as a collection highlight.

The memorial offers self-guided tours; guided tours and talks on a wide variety of subjects; a walking lecture of the 1776 Battle for New York, intended for high school seniors at the youngest; guided tours of lower Manhattan; exhibits; and curriculum–based programs.

John F. Kennedy National Historic Site [MA]

Description

The John F. Kennedy National Historic Site provides public access to the birthplace of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th President of the United States. The home has been restored to its 1917 appearance by Kennedy's mother, Rose Kennedy. Kennedy is the nation's only Catholic President, and the only President to have been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Events during his administration, cut short by his 1963 assassination, include the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Space Race, Civil Rights Movement, and the building of the Berlin Wall.

The site offers period rooms, 30-minute guided tours, self-guided audio tours, self-guided neighborhood tours, guided neighborhood walking tours, Junior Ranger activities, and teacher workshops. The audio tour consists of the words and memories of Kennedy's mother; and is available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Reservations are required for guided neighborhood walking tours. The site is currently inaccessible by wheelchair.

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site [NY]

Description

The Martin Van Buren National Historic Site contains of Lindenwald, the 220-acre farm where Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) spent the last 21 years of his life. Having served as Secretary of State, Vice President, and the eighth President of the United States, Van Buren conducted two additional (unsuccessful) presidential campaigns from this house before retiring as a gentleman farmer. His administration (1837-1841) is largely remembered for the Panic of 1837, which preceded a five-year economic depression. Conflict concerning the need to maintain national unity and Van Buren's disapproval of the institution of slavery in newly admitted states presaged the upcoming Civil War. The mansion itself contains 36 rooms.

The site offers mansion and grounds guided tours, period rooms, and educational programming. These programs consist of in-classroom activities, with one program also making use of web-based learning. The website offers an extensive virtual tour of the mansion.

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site [NY]

Description

Sagamore Hill was the home of Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, from 1885 until his death in 1919. During Roosevelt's time in office, his "Summer White House" was the focus of international attention. The house itself dates to the 19th century, and is situated on 83 acres of forest, meadow, salt marsh, and beach.

The site offers podcasts, online photo galleries, sound bytes, teacher preparation packets, suggested reading, and field trip programming.

Abigail Adams Birthplace

Description

The Abigail Adams Birthplace preserves the home in which Abigail Adams (1744-1818), First Lady, was born. Abigail married John Adams, second President of the United States, whom she considered her "dearest friend," in 1764. Adams often looked to his wife for political and intellectual advice and discussion. Abigail Adams promoted women's rights and was a staunch abolitionist. One of her sons, John Quincy Adams, would grow up to become the sixth President.

The site offers tours.

Adams Family Papers: Letters Behind an HBO Miniseries

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The Massachusetts Historical Society, home of the Adams Family papers for more than a century, has launched the website John Adams: the Letters Behind the Miniseries. Arranged by episode, these webpages link the HBO series, John Adams to digitized versions of letters from the Adamses and others. Adams family letters and additional documents are also on view at the Historical Society until May 31, 2008. (See local television listings for miniseries broadcast times.)

From April 7-30, the Society will mount an exhibition of Adams manuscripts at the Archives and Special Collections Library at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. Entitled My Dearest Friend, the exhibition consists primarily of letters chosen from among almost 1,200 surviving letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams.

iCivics

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Screenshot, Cast Your Vote, iCivics
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iCivics teaches students civics by way of online casual gaming. Don't write the site off because it consists primarily of games. Most of them are actually both entertaining and educational.

Games are divided into sections—Citizen Participation, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, Budgeting, Separation of Powers, the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch, with one to four games each. Games can also be sorted by overall time needed to play.

Try Cast Your Vote to learn to prioritize issues of importance to you and evaluate political candidates, Immigration Nation to learn reasons why people are and are not allowed into the country, Do I Have a Right? to review your amendments, Branches of Power to emphasize the relationships among the three branches of government, Executive Command to discover the responsibilities of the President, People's Pie to create a national budget, or Counties Work to manage county services. For an in-depth example, take a look at our Tech for Teachers entry on Do I Have a Right?.

Note that games include teacher's guides in the menu below the play area. Select Teachers' Tools, and look under Teacher's Files. Also under Teachers' Tools, you can search by your state name to find any standards directly related to the game in question.

Players can also earn points, and spend them on various causes such as Teens Against Domestic Abuse. The causes with the highest points each three months are awarded a monetary prize. This gives gaming point acquisition a real-life application.

In addition to games, the website offers curriculum units on budgeting, foundations of government, citizenship and participation, persuasive writing, and each of the three branches of government. These packages include lesson plans, appropriate iCivics games, and webquests. Webquests consist of thematic information linked to resources on external websites. You can also search for appropriate content by specific state standards, and/or register to create a class account.

Berkeley Plantation [VA]

Description

Berkeley Plantation is the birthplace of Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791), Governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) or "Old Tippecanoe", ninth President of the United States. The plantation lands were also the site of the first official Thanksgiving in 1619 and of the composition of "Taps" in 1862. The structure itself is Georgian in style and dates to 1726. Collections include 18th-century decorative arts, Civil War artifacts, and paintings by Sydney King.

The plantation offers house tours led by guides in period dress, period rooms, exhibits, an audio-visual program, self-guided tours of the grounds, and guided student tours. Student tour topic options include the life of children in the 18th century, William Henry Harrison, and Civil War Major General George McClellan (1826-1885) and Harrison's Landing circa 1862.

Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site [GA]

Description

The Jefferson Davis Memorial Historic Site, situated on the site where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was arrested, is located on 13 acres in south-central Georgia, and consists of a museum, short trail, gift shop, picnic area, and group shelter.

The museum offers an annual exhibits, along with a short film which showcases the history of the site. The historic site also offers ranger led tours and a short nature trail. The website offers basic visitor and historical information along with an events calendar.