John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum [MA]

Description

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum presents the presidency and impact of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th President of the United States. Museum exhibits make extensive use of video and sound recordings of Kennedy himself. Still other exhibits focus on Jacqueline Kennedy, the Oval Office, White House restoration, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Events during Kennedy's administration, cut short by his 1963 assassination, include the Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the Space Race.

The museum offers an introductory film, three theaters, period settings, 25 multimedia exhibits, guided tours and programs for school groups, research library access for students and scholars, and professional development conferences and workshops for educators. Wheelchairs are available for visitors; a sign language interpreter can be provided with advance notice; and all films are captioned. The website offers a digital archive, a virtual tour, and a suggested reading list.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum [IA]

Description

The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is a nationally recognized center for the study of 20th–century history and the American presidency, as well as offering exhibits relevant to the life of Herbert Hoover (1874–1964), 31st President of the United States.

The site offers exhibits, a research library, guided tours, and special events including concerts and reenactments. The website offers a variety of other online sources for students and educators, including lesson plans; games; digital image archives; digital copies of major Hoover documents; and information and activities focusing on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), pioneer and author of Little House in the Big Woods and its sequels.

Licking County Historical Society [OH]

Description

The Licking County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Licking County, Ohio. To this end, the society operates the Sherwood-Davidson Museum, located within a circa 1825 Federal-style structure and containing period rooms; the 1907 Webb House Museum, containing period rooms; the 1815 Greek Revival Buckingham Meeting House, which has hosted Presidents Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield and now contains the society library; and the Robbins-Hunter Museum, located within an 1847 Greek Revival structure and containing decorative arts exhibits.

The society offers period rooms and exhibits.

Mount Pulaski Courthouse

Description

Mount Pulaski Courthouse was built in 1848 and served as the Logan County seat of government until 1855. Attorney Abraham Lincoln regularly argued cases in the second-floor courtroom, helping to establish his reputation as both an accomplished practitioner of the law and a gifted speaker.

The site offers tours and occasional educational and recreational events.

Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices

Description

The Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices are within the only remaining building in which Abraham Lincoln maintained a law office. The site consists of the surviving portion of a three-story brick commercial block constructed in 1840–41. The restored building's first-floor visitor center consists of an exhibit gallery and audiovisual theater, along with a room interpreted as an 1840s post office facility. On the second floor are rooms representing those used by the federal court, and on the third floor a "common room" and three lawyers' offices. Two of the offices were used by Lincoln and his partners, prominent local attorneys Herndon and Stephen T. Logan. The recreated offices are notable for the plainness and disorder that were remembered by Lincoln associates.

The site offers exhibits, a short film, and tours.

Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society and Museum [NY]

Description

The historical society preserves the history of the Moravia, New York area as well as the history of Millard Filmore, 13th President of the United States. The society runs the History House, a local history museum that features a variety of exhibits, as well as the Luther Research Center and Archives.

The house and research archives are open to the public by appointment. The website offers visitor information and links to other Cayuga County historical resources.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum [IL]

Description

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum presents the history of President Abraham Lincoln and the state of Illinois. The non-circulating Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library's mission is the collection and preservation of archival resources related to state history. Holdings include more than 5,000 newspaper titles, 400,000 photographs, 5,000 broadsides, 7,000 audio tapes, 1,000 World War II oral histories, 10,000,000 manuscripts, and 1,500 letters signed by Lincoln. The museum focuses on Lincoln's life, divided between his presidency and the preceding years.

The museum offers traditional and interactive exhibits, full-scale dioramas, a 17-minute film, storytelling, a 15-minute holograph presentation, a children's area, library tours, research library access, a high school summer internship program, and catered box lunches. Appointments are necessary for research in the Manuscripts, Audiovisual, and Lincoln Collections. Advance notice is required for all school groups, box lunches, and for library tours. Wheelchairs are available for use on the premises. Theater presentation scripts are available in French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. The website offers a list of relevant state educational standards, seven teacher resource guides, information on the Horace Mann-Abraham Lincoln Fellowship for educators, and an educator's pass.

President James K. Polk State Historic Site [NC]

Description

Located on land once owned by President James K. Polk's family, this historic site is where the 11th president grew up. Here he spent spent most of his childhood, helping work the 250-acre farm. The site recalls significant events in the Polk administration including the Mexican War, settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, and the annexation of California. Reconstructions of typical homestead buildings—a log house, separate kitchen, and barn—are authentically furnished.

The site offers a short film, exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Arthurdale Heritage and New Deal Homestead Museum [WV]

Description

Visitors to Arthurdale, WV can revisit the 1930s. Established in 1933, by the United States government, Arthurdale is the nation's first New Deal Homestead Community. Created through President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation, the community provided a new chance at life for residents of West Virginia who were suffering from the Great Depression. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt served as the empathetic force behind the community, which became known as "Eleanor’s Little Village" because of her interest. Today, Arthurdale is a National Historic District that features 160 of the 165 original homesteads. The New Deal Homestead Museum is a multi-building museum comprised of a forge filled with original tools, a service station reminiscent of a bygone era, the historic Center Hall, the original federal government administration building, and a fully restored Arthurdale homestead.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Bourne Historical Society and Center, Aptucxet Trading Post, and Briggs-McDermott House [MA]

Description

The Society is housed in the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, built in 1897 by Emily Howland Bourne as a town library and as a memorial to her father, Jonathan Bourne, for whom the town was named. The Society also manages the Aptucxet Trading Post and the Briggs-McDermott House. The Trading Post recreates the first trade house built in 1627, by Plymouth Colony, located on the south bank of the Manomet (Monument) River, which is now part of the Cape Cod Canal. The Pilgrims traded with the Indians and the Dutch from New Amsterdam (New York City), thus having a source of income by which their debt to the London backers of their expedition to the New World could be repaid. The Trading Post site also houses Gray Gables Railroad Station, built for the personal use of President Grover Cleveland during the years of his presidency (1893–1896). The Greek Revival-style Briggs-McDermott House has been restored and furnished to reflect the period from 1840 to 1910, an important time for the Briggs family and Bourne.

The society offers lectures and occasional recreational and educational events; the center offers tours, exhibits, and research library access; the Trading Post offers tours; the Briggs-McDermott House offers exhibits and tours.