Yakima Valley Museum and H.M. Gilbert Homeplace [WA]

Description

The Yakima Valley Museum's 65,000-square-foot facility offers historical exhibits on the Yakima Valley—its natural history, American Indian culture, pioneer life, early city life, and the roots and development of the Valley's fruit industry. The museum also houses a collection of horse-drawn vehicles, from stagecoach to hearse; an historical exhibit and reconstruction of the Washington, DC, office of former Yakima resident and environmentalist, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas; and a changing schedule of special exhibitions. A special set of exhibits, the Children's Underground, provides hands-on activities that complement the core museum exhibitions; and visitors can eat and drink in a functioning replica of a late 1930s Art Deco soda fountain.

The Museum also owns and operates the restored 1898 H.M. Gilbert homeplace, which is available for tours.

The museum offers exhibits, research library access, guided tours for student groups, cultural trunks for rent, performances, and other recreational and educational events.

Smithsonian American Art Museum [DC]

Description

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, the nation's first collection of American art, houses one of the largest and most inclusive collections of American art in the world. Its artworks reveal key aspects of America's artistic and cultural history from the colonial period to today. More than 7,000 artists are represented in the collection, including major masters, such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Childe Hassam, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Helen Frankenthaler, Christo, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Lee Friedlander, Nam June Paik, Martin Puryear, and Robert Rauschenberg.

The museum offers exhibits; tours, including self-guided and guided tours for school groups; videoconferencing "virtual fieldtrips" for classrooms; and recreational and educational events, including performances.

Star of the Republic Museum [TX]

Description

Located at the site where 59 delegates gathered on March 2, 1836 to declare Texas's independence from Mexico, the Star of the Republic Museum traces the history of the Texas Republic (1836–1846) and interprets the history, cultures, diversity, and values of early Texans. Through 10,000 square feet of exhibits and audiovisual presentations, the Museum presents the experiences of ordinary Texans and extraordinary events. The exhibits emphasize social and cultural history, as well as military and political events. Primary memoir accounts are used as much as possible to let the people of the Republic tell their story "in their own words." Exhibits are designed to interpret interesting and significant artifacts with photographs, graphics, contextual material, and text labels. The interpretation of the artifacts also includes the social context of the objects, illustrating the people and values from which they were produced. In addition, seasonal exhibitions, special events, and interpretive demonstrations illustrating early 19th-century life are regularly scheduled, while the Showers Brown Discovery Center incorporates hands-on educational activities to help visitors make a personal connection with the past.

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

Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History [TX]

Description

The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History presents the story of a cultural crossroads of the New World. With a confluence of natural history, science, people, and environments, the South Texas area has served as a stage for the ongoing discovery of the Americas. The museum's exhibits explore natural history and South Texas history, and include full-size, functioning reconstructions of Christopher Columbus's three ships.

The museum offers exhibits, self-guided and guided tours for school groups, tours of the Columbus Ships, traveling trunks available for rent, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum [TN]

Description

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum presents the history of country music through its permanent exhibit, "Sing Me Back Home," showcasing both the music and the artifacts behind and surrounding it—costumes, lyrics sheets, musical instruments. It also hosts traveling and changing exhibits and programs and performances.

The museum offers exhibits, tours and in-museum workshops for school groups, curriculum guides, and educational and recreational events.

Reece Museum [TN]

Description

The B. Carroll Reece Memorial Museum, part of the East Tennessee State University, houses the University's Art Department's permanent collection of works of art and a historical collection which serves to preserve the story of the settlement of Johnson City, Washington County, and the surrounding region.

The museum offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events, including art classes for students.

Hershey Story: The Museum on Chocolate Avenue [PA]

Description

The Hershey Story takes visitors on a journey through the life of Milton S. Hershey: the man, his chocolate company, the town that bears his name, and his legacy. It explores the accomplishments of an American entrepreneur through interactive museum exhibits and laboratory classes.

The museum offers exhibits, in-museum interactive classes and scavenger-hunt tours for school groups, workshops for visitors, and educational and recreational events.

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum [OK]

Description

The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum is America's premier institution of Western history, art, and culture, collecting, preserving, and exhibiting a collection of Western art and artifacts.

The Museum offers educational programs suitable for grades K-6, focusing on the American Cowboy or American Indian. Students spend time in a classroom setting participating in hands-on activities with Museum artifacts then take a guided tour of art and historical galleries with special exhibits supporting the chosen theme. Programs meet select Oklahoma PASS skills for Art and Social Studies.

Guided tours are provided for grades 7-12 and can be tailored to specific themes. Traveling Trunks also are available for two week periods and focus on American Indian or American Cowboy lifestyle or Oklahoma history.

Mahoning Valley Historical Society and the Arms Family Museum of Local History [OH]

Description

The Arms Family Museum is housed in Greystone, a century-old Arts and Crafts-style residence. On the first floor, in original period rooms, visitors can experience the Arms's love of handicraft, medieval architecture and design, and the natural environment. The lower level and second floor feature exhibits that explore the history of all the people who have lived in the Mahoning Valley. Artifacts displayed and interpreted in changing galleries help the visitor understand the way of life in the Mahoning Valley for different people at different times, whether Native American, pioneer settler, Welsh coal miner, African American freeman, or Eastern European immigrant.

The museum offers exhibits, guided tours for student groups, teacher resource kits for loan, curriculum guides, teacher in-services, in-class traveling suitcase outreach presentations, and research library access.

Strong National Museum of Play [NY]

Description

Strong National Museum of Play houses the National Toy Hall of Fame, the National Center for the History of Electronic Games, and the world's largest collection of toys, dolls, games, and other items that celebrate play. Visitors may explore both interactive exhibits designed for children and display exhibits preserving and presenting the history of play. History-relevant exhibits for children include One History Place and TimeLab, which explore U.S. history and pop culture history, respectively.

The museum offers exhibits and a range of educational programs, including standards-based tours for student groups and orientation programs for educators.