Guilford Courthouse National Military Park [NC]

Description

The Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates the largest Revolutionary War battle fought in the Southern Campaign, the March 15, 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse. At the altercation, Major General Nathanael Greene led the American troops, while Lord Charles Cornwallis led the British. The battle was a success for the outnumbered British, who forced the Americans to retreat. However, the loss of roughly one-fourth of their force led Cornwallis and the British to abandon their attempts to overtake the Carolinas. Cornwallis is best remembered as the general who lost the American colonies. It is of note that Cornwallis fought in the revolution despite misgivings about the harshness of British rule over the colonies.

The park offers exhibits; a 32-minute introductory film; a 10-minute animated map program on battle tactics; a walking, biking, or driving self-guided tour with wayside exhibits; 28 monuments; Junior Ranger activities; interpretive talks; musket firing demonstrations; a scavenger hunt; and an educational program. The website offers digital exhibits, historic photographs and postcards, lesson plans, a teacher's guide to the American Revolution, a timeline of the Revolutionary War, and two films for rental. Visitors with visual impairment can participate in a 20-minute tactile map program.

Capitol Hill Parks [DC]

Description

Capitol Hill Parks includes all parkland between the 2nd streets NE and SE and the Anacostia River. The four major parks in this space are the Folger Park, which contains numerous examples of historic architecture; Lincoln Park, which contains memorials to Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States, and Civil Rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955); Marion Park; and Stanton Park, which houses a statue of General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), the Revolutionary War leader who drove the British out of Georgia and the Carolinas in 1782.

The site offers tours upon request.

Minute Man National Historical Park [MA] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:34
Description

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.

Fort Sumter National Monument [SC]

Description

The Fort Sumter National Monument commemorates the official initiation of fire of the Civil War. April 12, 1861, the Confederates directed the first shot at the Union's Fort Sumter, located in the Charleston Harbor. Exhibits discuss the growing tensions between the North and the South and their eventual turn to civil war, as well as the physical and social history of the fort itself. Also on location is the site of the first U.S. victory over the British Navy, which occurred at Fort Moultrie in 1776.

The monument offerings differ at each fort. Fort Moultrie offers a 22–minute introductory video at the visitor center, exhibits, self–guided tours, limited ranger–led programming, and Junior Ranger activities. Fort Sumter offers 10–minute talks by park rangers aboard the ferry, exhibits, self–guided tours, and Junior Ranger activities. Reservations are required for school groups at both sites. The website offers lists of relevant state education standards, lesson plans, activities, a teacher's guide, photo galleries, and a webcam.

Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site [NY]

Description

The Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site contains an 18th-century stone church, a cemetery in use beginning 1704, and a portion of the Village Green on which the Election of 1773 took place. During this local election, Quakers were effectively barred from voting. The church itself served as a Revolutionary War hospital, following the 1776 Battle at Pell's Point. Topics addressed by the site include freedom of religion, freedom of the press, colonial life, and the events which led to the American Revolution.

The site offers exhibits, guided cemetery tours, guided church tours, and a 105-minute Revolutionary War program for students.

Fort Stanwix National Monument [NY]

Description

The Fort Stanwix National Monument presents the fort's Revolutionary War history and its impact on the history of New York settlement. Collections consist of more than 476,000 artifacts. Three trails circle the fort. One follows the Oneida Carrying Place, while the other two interpret the siege of 1777. During the seige, Colonel Peter Gansevoort maintained control of Stanwix despite the concentrated British, Loyalist, German, Canadian, and Native American troops which surrounded the structure, earning it the nickname of "the fort that never surrendered." This victory is one of several which eventually led to political alliances with The Netherlands and France. The fort is located on traditional Oneida lands. The Oneida Carrying Place is an over land route between Wood Creek and the Mohawk River.

The monument offers an orientation talk, three trails, exhibits, guided curriculum-based educational programs, self-guided fort tours, audio-visual displays, weapons demonstrations, guided tours, living history programs, an activity for three through six year olds, Junior Ranger activities, and an area for building model forts. Reservations are required for all guided programs. The website offers lesson plans, a 1777 campaign Revolutionary War map, a word match, a crossword puzzle, a word search, and suggested reading lists for students and teachers.

Boston National Historical Park [MA] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:37
Description

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.

Stealing God's Thunder: Benjamin Franklin's Lightning Rod

Description

Author Philip Dray looks at Benjamin Franklin's work as a scientist, particularly his work with lightning and electricity. Dray examines opposition and detraction that Franklin faced based on religious grounds—objections that he was interfering with the weapons of God—and compares Franklin's struggles with these detractors to the American struggle to define itself after the Revolutionary War. His presentation includes slides.

Audio and video options are available.