Boston African American National Historic Site is comprised of the largest area of pre-Civil War black-owned structures in the U.S. It has roughly two dozen sites on the north face of Beacon Hill. These historic buildings were homes, businesses, schools, and churches of a thriving black community that, in the face of great opposition, fought the forces of slavery and inequality.
The site offers tours.
Adams National Historical Park tells the story of four generations of the Adams family (from 1720 to 1927). The park has two main sites: the Birthplaces of 2nd U.S. President John Adams and 6th U.S. President John Quincy Adams, and Peacefield including the “Old House,” home to four generations of the Adams family, and the Stone Library which contains more than 14,000 historic volumes.
The site offers guided tours of the homes.
The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park presents the history of New Bedford, whaling capital of New England in the mid-19th century, and the trade itself. This is the only national park to focus on whaling and the whale oil industry. The park consists of a portion of New Bedford itself, the starting point for the fictional voyage chronicled in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, as well as the majority of American whaling expeditions. Voyages could last upwards of five years per voyage, but were crucial to providing whale oil to light the 1800s United States.
The park offers an introductory film; exhibits on area preservation, whaling, and commercial fishing; a guided tour; self-guided tours on whaling and on the Underground Railroad; and Junior Ranger activities. The park is partners with the following area institutions: the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, Seamen's Bethel, Waterfront Visitor Center and Schooner Ernestina. Partner institutions offer more than 60 educational programs.
The Lowell National Historical Park presents America's Industrial Revolution via the example of the textile industry's use of the Merrimack River. The park also presents local history. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), famous member of the Beat Generation and author of On the Road, was born in Lowell.
The Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center offers exhibits. The park also offers tours, non-circulating library access, and teacher workshops. Appointments are required for library use. The website offers oral history transcriptions and a lesson plan.
Overlooking the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, Springfield Armory National Historic Site offers the story of the nation's first armory, established in 1778.
The site offers exhibits, tours, a short film, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
One of the earliest industrial operations in North America, the Saugus Iron Works was where European iron makers brought their special skills and equipment to one of the earliest American colonies. The Saugus Iron Works was a business failure, and was discovered by archaeologist Roland Robbins in the late 1940s.
The park offers guided tours and ranger led programs for visitors and schoolchildren. Curriculum-based field trip plans are also available. The website offers visitor information, a history of the site, resources for teachers including pre-field trip activities and worksheets, and a calendar of events. In order to contact the historic site via email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.
The Boston Harbor Islands Partnership is an umbrella organization representing the public access islands of Boston Harbor. Islands suggested for U.S. history studies include Deer, Thompson, Spectacle, Georges, and Little Brewster Islands. Topics relevant to the islands include Native American and settler relations, the King Phillips War (1674-1676), seacoast and harbor defense, navigational and lighthouse history, and the industrialization of Boston.
The site offers Junior Ranger activities and a GPS-based self-guided tour. The website offers an interdisciplinary guide for teachers; lesson plans, which focus on civic action, maritime history, settlement, and the Native American experience; thematic information on Native American life, geology, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, ecosystems, and science and technology; and a list of island suggestions according to educational theme. The partnership's other offerings include a video, for rent, on five local Native American tribes; the Harbor Connections educational program; and educator professional development programming.
Minute Man National Historical Park is the site of the Revolutionary War's opening battles, which took place on April 19, 1775. The site commemorates these battles and the ideals of freedom and liberty for which they stood. Topics covered include Paul Revere's Ride and the battles of Lexington Green, North Bridge, and Battle Road. Key sites include the Hartwelll Tavern, a period home; The Wayside: Home of Authors, eventual home to muster master of the Concord Minutemen Samuel Whitney, Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), and Harriet Lothrop (1844-1924); and the North Bridge, site of the "shot heard 'round the world."
The park offers two visitor's center, a multimedia presentation, a film, exhibits, an interpretive 5-mile trail, educational programs led by rangers in period and modern dress, musket firing demonstrations, guided tours of The Wayside, guided walks of the trail, cell phone audio tours, bicycle tours in cooperation with an outside company, professional development workshops for educators, ranger-guided education programs for students, and Junior Ranger activities. The website offers pre-visit materials, a lesson plan, a library catalog, structure reports, and national register documentation.
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.
The Boston National Historical Park interprets the pre- and early Revolutionary War history of the Boston area, as well as U.S. Navy history. Many of the sites at which rangers conduct programs are located along the Freedom Trail, which possesses a separate entry in this directory. Collections include more than 70,000 photographs and negatives, 13,000 architectural drawings, and shipyard records.
Between mid-April and November, the park offers 90-minute tours of the downtown portion of Boston's Freedom Trail. Lectures are offered at Faneuil Hall and the Bunker Hill Monument. Tours are offered of the World War II and Cold War destroyer, the USS Cassin Young. The park also offers a Freedom Trail slide show, exhibits, a 10 minute Naval Yard introductory video, Junior Ranger activities, 13 educational programs for students with pre-visit materials, and teacher workshops. The website offers a virtual tour of the USS Cassin Young, videos of Navy Yard structures which are not publicly accessible, suggested reading lists for students and teachers, and Web Ranger activities. The USS Cassin Young is not wheelchair accessible.