School Program: Teachers are provided with pre-visit information and given questions that can be reproduced, to help students focus on exhibit material. Some of the questions they are given are outlined on the next page to show how this exhibit can be tied into local studies in the curriculum. Teachers can also use this model to do their own research and classroom exhibits.
When school groups come to visit, information on the school's community is included in the program. For example, archival documents from the Massachusetts Archives, on that community may be displayed or reproduced for school use, including founding documents, survey maps (1794, 1830 series), and census records. Seals of Lynn, Sudbury, Wayland and Springfield are also exhibited. The first Colony seal, brought from England, depicts a Native American saying, "Come over and help me." Springfield's has four scenes with buildings and the Ct. River, which tell much about community history and self-image.
Lynn: Documenting the Changing Landscape By pressing buttons five Lynn maps for five periods of time can be shown on the video screen. On the counter are five historical maps of the Lynn area with summaries of these periods:
The Great Migration, the first major wave of immigrants, was a strong middle class family group with economic incentives who emigrated with their Charter in hand. This meant that their new communities had a firm foundation and set precedents. The origins of English founding settlers is on a map which shows a majority of the emigrants came from Eastern counties. Another related map shows the towns they planted in MA with their small town model.
Sudbury is a case study of an inland frontier town which adopted the open field plan more typical of Western counties than Eastern. Its land use policies caused a division which resulted in a group leaving to found a town still father westward, Marlborough.
Springfield was more commercial than most early towns and was founded by William Pynchon & Co. to take advantage of the fur trade with the Indians. It was one of the few early towns where transient laborers worked. Its Connecticut River location in an area where Indians remained made it an outpost that had to adapt to survive.
The current exhibit is called Beyond Its Waters: The Quabbin Experience. The exhibit, a cooperative effort between the Commonwealth Museum, the Swift River Valley Historical Society, the MWRA, MDC and the Mass. division of Fisheries and Wildlife, takes the visitor through the four critical stages of development in the Swift River Valley. From the first inhabitants, the Native Americans, to the four towns of Enfield, Prescott, Dana and Enfield that were discontinued in order to create the Quabbin Reservoir which is now not only eastern Massachusetts' source of water, but also an area which has become a haven for some endangered species such as the eagle and the loon.
An education program is offered for this exhibit. It gives the students the opportunity to explore daily life in western Massachusetts from the 18th to the early 20th century. It also investigates the process in which the four towns were abolished and the impact that it had on the region, including a reenactment of a town meeting by the students and an examination of oral histories given by former residents of the discontinued towns..
For information contact the Commonwealth Museum, 200 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125; Tel# (617) 727-9268 or Fax# (617) 727-8730.
The OSV Museum Education Department has gathered primary sources together into both topically organized primary source packets and into case studies of particular communities. The packets of primary sources, accompanied by classroom suggestions for teachers, can be excellent complements to materials from the local community.
Topics include Farming, Poverty and Poor Relief, Town Government and Town Meetings, Antislavery and Women's Rights, Trades and Trading. Curriculum Case Studies include the Worcester Sourcebook and Teacher Guide, From Farm to Factory, and Community: People and Places. Workshops on educational uses of primary sources are available for teachers.
The Museum Education Department has worked with teachers to develop an interdisciplinary, multicultural curriculum unit for upper elementary grades entitled "Exploring Family in the Past and Present: Reading and Writing About History." The kit includes a teacher's guide curriculum guide, two videotapes, a student reader and a set of activity originals ready for copying. Teacher workshops help teachers become familiar with curriculum methods and materials.
For information on school programs, contact: Coordinator of Teaching, Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA 01566. Tel# (508) 347-3362 and Fax# (508) 347-5375; send for a catalog of teacher materials from the same address or order materials directly from the Gift Shop.
"Unknown Hands: Everyday Life of Bostonians in 1800," uses the Harrison Gray Otis House in Boston to explore life in Boston and the West End after the American Revolution. Students actively experience history by becoming people from 1810, exploring the concepts of work, household, and neighborhood 200 years ago. "Classic Times: Pompeii through Today" uses the same historic house and neighborhood to study classical motifs used throughout Western culture. Both programs include exploring the Otis House, Beacon Hill, and working in a plaster workshop. Many Boston school students participate in both programs.
"The Case of the Empty House" uses the Codman House in Lincoln to teach skills of observation, deduction, and reasoning. As detectives, students learn basic methods of investigation and reasoning by examining "evidence" left behind by the Codman family in the house and on the grounds. Teams assemble clues and deduce how successive generations of Codmans lived. Teachers from Lincoln and nearby towns helped design the on-site visit and in-class lessons.
"Family Ties" uses the Josiah Quincy House in Quincy and the extensive journals of Eliza Susan Quincy, who chronicled her family's history, to teach students skills needed to chronicle their own family histories: observing and drawing, inventorying, collecting oral histories, and describing the world around them. They then compile family and community albums. Teachers from Quincy helped design this program.
For further information, contact Jocelyn Young, School Programs Coordinator, SPNEA Education Department, 141 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02114, (617) 227-3956.
Education programs center on Mayflower II, a reproduction of the ship that brought the English colonists, the 1627 Pilgrim Village where costumed people assume the roles of town residents and ship's crew, and Hobbamock's Homesite where the life and family of a Native neighbor is represented and the Wampanoag Indian culture is discussed.
In addition to school programs at the Village, outreach to area schools, and teacher hands-on workshops are scheduled.
For more information contact the Education Department, Plimoth Plantation, P.O. Box 1620, Plymouth, MA 02360, (508) 746-1622 and Fax# (508) 830-6022.
Education programs include Shaker Children's Life guided tour; selected craft workshops; farm program; classroom program; and Shaker music and dance program.
For information Contact Education Department, Hancock Shaker Village, P.O. Box 898, Pittsfield, MA 01202. (413) 443-0188.
Heritage State Parks are located in Fall River, Holyoke, North Adams, Lawrence, Lynn and Springfield (Lowell is temporarily closed). Before the budget crunch other parks were on the drawing boards.
For information on education materials and programs, contact Director of Interpretation, Department of Environmental Management, Saltonstall Building, 100 Cambridge St., Boston, MA 02202, (617) 727-3180.
Faneuil Hall, "the cradle of liberty", served as a town meeting hall and forum for political ideas. Meetings are still held here to promote the free exchange of ideas. Programs relate to historic meetings held here in the past.
Bunker Hill - Charlestown: A 221-foot monument and exhibit commemorate the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. Nearby, at The Charlestown Navy Yard, are the USS Constitution, known as "Old Ironsides,"; and The USS Constitution Museum, as well as World War II destroyer USS Cassin Young.
Old North Church, Old State House, Paul Revere House and Old South Meeting House, all part of the Boston National Historical Park, have education programs run by each independent institution.
Other National Park Service programs in Massachusetts which include community history and museum education are Adams National Historic Site, Quincy, Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Salem, Minute Man National Historical Park in Lexington-Concord, the Black Heritage Trail of Boston African American National Historical Site, the Frederick Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline (landscape history), John F. Kennedy Birthplace National Historic Site, Brookline; Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge; and the Saugus Ironworks National Historic Site, Saugus.
General information on these sites from National Park Service, Boston National Historical Park, 15 State Street, Boston 02109, (617) 242-5690.
For information contact Dorrie Bonner, Tsongas Industrial Center, Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 400 Foot of John Street, Lowell, MA 01852.
Information on education programs can be obtained from Education Director, Museum of Our National Heritage, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA 02173, (617) 861-6559.
One series of programs is the Native American Lifeways, which includes the topics, Foodways, Stone Tools, and Archaeology: a simulated shoebox dig which stresses technique as students formulate deductions based on their findings. (second grade and up).
The next series is called 18th Century Colonial Life, which includes several topics such as, Community and Craftsmanship, Colonial Music, Colonial Cooking, Fleece to Fashion, Colonial Childhood: Designed to introduce students to the realities of everyday colonial life through living history, a museum tour, hands-on activities and a student produced puppet show, and Relive 1775: Dilemmas, discoveries, and decisions facing families during the revolutionary times provide the framework for this program. A walking tour and student investigation of the issues supply the background knowledge necessary for discussion and voting in a simulated town meeting.
The last series of programs is 19th Century Life. It includes the topics, The puzzling Life of George Brooks, Why Can't I Do What My Brother Does?, an investigation into the role of 19th century female experiences, and In The Spirit Of Improvement, from diet to abolition, a community is involvement and response to reform. Can be combined with a program at the Orchard House, home of the Alcotts, to include a families contribution to reform.
For more information contact Jayne Gordon, Concord Museum, 200 Lexington Rd., Concord, MA 01742. Tel#(508) 369-9763 and Fax# (508) 369-9660.
School programs include The Man Behind The Myth (3rd to 6th grade), Walking Tour: Paul Revere's Boston (3rd to 12th grade), Paul Revere's Midnight Ride: Storytelling Program (1st to 3rd grade), Children's Lives in 18th Century Boston (4th to 6th grade), Immigrants and a Changing Community (4th to 12th grade). Some of these programs are also available for classroom presentation.
For more information contact Education Department, Paul Revere House, 19 North Sq., Boston, MA 02113; Tel# (617) 523-2338. Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance. For reservations in April, May or June several months advance booking is recommended.
Preservation Worcester schedules programs for Worcester schools in the classroom and out in the community. Several tours are offered which emphasize architecture and the built environment: neighborhood discovery; Worcester Common and Elm Park; and a city-wide bus tour. Curriculum materials include a curriculum kit, structure inventory, activity books, pictorial map, and video on Worcester's architecture and history. Contact Preservation Worcester, 20 Washington St., Worcester, MA 01604, (508) 754-8760.
Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609 presents varied school programs related to Worcester history depending on exhibits. Contact Richard Jones, Education Coordinator, (508) 753-8278.
In grade two students study Henry David Thoreau and visit the Thoreau Lyceum and Walden Woods. In grade three under the study of self and community, students are introduced to members of the Alcott family and life in Concord from 1840-1888 through an Orchard House program. In grade four, the emphasis is on colonial studies with an in-depth recreation of a local town meeting during the Revolutionary Period, through collaboration with the Concord Museum.
The Concord Historical Collaborative includes the Concord Museum, Orchard House, R.W. Emerson House, The Old Manse, Concord Library, Minuteman National Historical Park, The Wayside, Walden Pond State Reservation, Chamber of Commerce and the Thoreau Lyceum.
For information on this curriculum model, contact Bob Fardy, Curriculum Center, Concord Public Schools, 120 Merriam Road, Concord, MA 01742.
Materials and kits can be borrowed free but workshops and presentations are arranged on a fee schedule. Over 40 packaged kits have been developed on local environment, archeology, Native Americans and town history as well as the natural and physical sciences. One program designed for the second grade is "The Village Evolves," an interactive presentation comparing the Native American and first European settlement and a "time machine" tour of related local sites.
For further information contact: Local Studies Center, P.O. Box 56, Wayland, MA 01778, (508) 358-5364 (a phone machine is available when Center is not staffed).
Contact: Education Director, Andover Historical Society, 97 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, (508)475-2236.
Fourth grade programs include: "Life Aboard `Old Ironsides'," "Paul Revere: The Man Behind The Myth", "Merchants and Farmers in Battle" (Bunker Hill Monument), "Resisting for Justice" at the Old South Meeting House and Granary Burying Ground and "If Buildings Could Speak" at the Old State House and Fanteuil Hall.
Fifth grade programs include: "The Boston Massacre: An Incident in King Street" (Old South Meeting House), "Two Voices of the 18th Century: Phillis Wheatley" (Old South Meeting House) and "Abigail Adams" (Adams National Historic Site), From Sail to Steel: Shipwright Skills" (Salem Maritime National Historic Site) and "Rosie the Riveter" (Charlestown Navy Yard), "Families in the Revolution: Patriots in Town" (The Paul Revere House) and "Patriots in the Countryside" (Adams National Historic Site), "Trade Routes and Trade Goods" (Salem) and "From Immigrant to Citizen" (Revere House and Faneuil Hall).
An example of one fifth grade program is "John Adams to the Defense." This program is offered at the Adams National Historic Site in Quincy. It is a role-playing exercise that allows students to explore why John Adams, an ardent patriot and future President of the United States, would defend the British soldiers who fired into a Boston Crowd on March 5, 1770. Students become a television news team and talk with Boston Massacre witnesses in order to find out. Then at an on-camera "press conference" students get to interview Adams' law clerk (portrayed by a costumed park ranger), the town watchman and two of the eye witnesses (all students) to explore the events surrounding the "Massacre" and the reasoning of its famous defense attorney. The video tape becomes a "news broadcast" in which students write the history they interpreted.
It is the goal of this program that students gain an appreciation of John Adams' courage in standing up for justice when he defended the British soldiers. The program takes place in the home that Adams grew up in, where he learned to make decisions based on what is right even though it may not be popular. As educators we want to impart to our students the belief that discovering truth is an important aspect of living in a civilized world. For information on this program contact Adams National Historic Site, Dept. of Interpretation, PO Box 531, Quincy, MA 02169. Tel# (617) 773-1177 or Fax# (617) 471-9683.
Each summer, the People and Places Program sponsors a three-week intensive institute for upper-elementary school teachers in Boston, Salem and Quincy called "New England and the Formation of a New Nation."
For more information on this program and its learning experiences, contact John Piltzecker, People and Places, Boston National Historical Park, 15 State St., Boston 02109, (617) 242-5690.
Funded partially by a Horace Mann Grant, the project was developed by the Hingham Public Schools working with the Hingham League of Women Voters and the Hingham Historical Society. Prepared originally for use in the fifth grade of Hingham schools, its use outside the schools is encouraged. It can serve as a model for other towns substituting their own information. For information on materials and permission, contact Social Studies Dept., Hingham Public Schools, Hingham, MA 02043 (617) 741-1566.
There are three components: an archaeological study, use of microfilm, and video genealogies. An archeology sandbox has been built containing four levels for study, from prehistoric to modern, in which students learn to map, excavate, study soils and conduct laboratory analysis. This is a spring interdisciplinary project. In the summer it is offered for handicapped and retarded students who will help with digs in the Boston area with the City Archeologist of Boston.
The second component is a microfilm study of census records 1790-1910 to compare Beverly statistics for such topics as % of working women, changes in occupations, foreign and native births, and literacy rates.
The third component is a video genealogy program offered on Saturdays, using students volunteers as a community service, and an example of civic education. Students are trained to conduct interviews with multi-generational families of Beverly concerning family history. Families receive a copy of the interview, and they are encouraged to bring in photographs and other material to go along with the taped interview for the family history archives.
For information on this project, contact W. Dean Eastman, Beverly High School, Beverly, MA 01915, (508) 921-6132.
For information contact Clinton Richmond, Project Director, PO Box 865, Brookline, MA 02146. Tel# (617) 739-7978.
For high schools, the programs focus on student teams exploring Boston's landmarks, parks, historical trails, and neighborhood sites associated with the positive contributions made by people from diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds. Student teams present their findings to the entire school.
To find out more about programs and collaborations, contact Joyce Stevens, Heritage Education, 24 Irving St., Arlington, MA 02174 (617) 646-4769.
Contact President of Commonwealth Folklife Associates, P.O. Box 282, Quincy, MA 02269, (617) 328-6135.
A similar project in Lawrence, "Starting Over", has reached many recent immigrant students who learned to share similar experiences and feel more comfortable expressing themselves. This model has been tailored to other schools needs, including a collaborative program with the Roxbury Youth Build, called "Finding Our Way".
Another successful project is the Cambridge Women's Oral History Project in which high school girls interviewed older working women. This resulted in a slide/tape presentation, "Let Life Be Yours," used for community discussion groups. Other community programs help groups document and celebrate their own history.
Project development, teacher workshops in oral history training, curriculum packets, books and audio/visuals are offered through the OHC, 25 West St., Boston, MA 02111; Tel# (617) 661-8288.
For information contact: Cynthia Robinson, Principle, C&S Associates, 498 Main St., Acton, MA 01720; (508) 263-4031.
Contact Anna Roelofs, Executive Director and Anne Watt, Program Director, Primary Source, PO Box 1711, Cambridge MA 02138. Tel# (617) 661-8832 and Fax# (617) 661-6113. E-mail: primary@ace.com