Charlotte Museum of History

Charlotte Museum of History

The Charlotte Museum of History, a 501(c)(3) organization, educates a broad public audience about the founding story of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, in the context of national history. Our mission is to provide quality educational programming at the Hezekiah Alexander Home Site and to preserve the site for the education of present and future generations. The museum building is the location of three continuing exhibitions: Rock House Mysteries, Keeping Watch on Water, and Charlotte Neighborhoods. Hezekiah Alexander played a leadership role in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County during the years North Carolina was a British colony. He was elected by his peers to lead during the critical years of 1774 to 1776 when Committees of Safety served as the de facto government following the end of royal government. He was then elected to serve as a member of the North Carolina Fifth Provincial Congress that wrote North Carolina’s first constitution and bill of rights. Hezekiah Alexander is remembered as a signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the Mecklenburg Resolves. Our student orientation and tours of the historic home site discuss the three cultures that were present in colonial Charlotte/Mecklenburg County: the Catawba Indian Nation, European Immigrants, and African Americans. We discuss how these groups would have lived and interacted.

EDUCATOR CONTACT INFO

info@charlottemuseum.org

http://charlottemuseum.org/

 https://www.facebook.com/charlottemuseumofhistory/

https://twitter.com/CLThistory

  3500 Shamrock Drive

Mecklenburg

704-568-1774

History Detectives Residency Program

Program description

Build students’ skills at primary-source analysis with the Charlotte Museum of History’s History Detectives residency program. During the residency, students will engage directly with artifacts, documents, and images from the past. They will learn the critical skills required for primary source analysis and expand their understanding of what mysteries they can solve from even the smallest pieces of evidence. The content of each program is customized to meet your needs, but suggested topics include:

•The Colonial Backcountry: the journals of William Alexander provide insight on how rural communities in the Backcountry obtained and sold goods across long distances.
•Liberty, the Founding Ideal: an examination of international founding documents challenges students to analyze the meaning behind some of our most treasured ideals.
•Charlotte at War through the Centuries: letters from the CMH collection help us understand what life was like on the front lines during World War I.
•Backcountry Housewife: explore the role of women in early America by learning all the different types of primary sources historians use to tell the story of our subjects including objects, tools, clothes, and spaces.

History Detectives can be customized based on both grade-level and subject-matter to suit the needs of your classroom

Booking / scheduling contact

Lauren Wallace; Education Specialist

   704-568-1774

 lauren@charlottemuseum.org

Program detail
Artistic discipline:
Cultural Origin: American
Program type: Residency
Population served: Grade 10, Grade 11, Grade 12, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9
Subject: Social Studies / History
Bilingual: No
Available dates:

Tuesday – Friday

Available times:

9:00am – 3:00pm

Length of program: 3 sessions 50-60 minutes each
Location(s):

At your school; the Charlotte Museum of History (upon request)

Fees / Ticketing:

$10 per student + $100 offsite setup fee.

EDUCATION STANDARDS

NC Standard Course of Study:

 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

Students will see how primary sources can explain larger historical questions. They will learn how to find evidence and make statements about a source based on a close reading of the text. This close reading includes identifying key words, determining the author’s thesis, and understanding the source’s biases.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

Over the course of the residency, students learn to dissect and analyze primary sources. They will learn that the first step to analysis is understanding clearly what the source is saying.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

Students will learn the importance of source-specific terminology as well as tools for understanding how to tease out an author’s meaning from a primary source. Students will look at how words and phrases evolve in meaning over time.

NC Essential Standards:

AH1.H.1: Apply the four interconnected dimensions of historical thinking to the American History Essential Standards in order to understand the creation and development of the United States over time.

History Detectives encourages students to think like a historian and apply the historical method to primary source analysis. They will learn the importance of chronological thinking, historical comprehension, historical analysis and interpretation, as well as the important role primary sources play in historical research.

AH1.H.7: Understand the impact of war on American politics, economics, society, and cultures.

Students will read written material produced by North Carolinians who participated in conflicts such as the American Revolution and WWI. Students will gain a better appreciation for the far reaching effects of war on the role of marginalized individuals in a society, the concept of total war whereby everyone becomes involved in the war effort, rationing and the changing of consumption in times of war, and more.

AH1.H.6: Understand how and why the role of the United States in the world has changed overtime.

Primary sources offer a snapshot into specific moments in time. Students are given an on-the-ground look of how extraordinary historic events are viewed by ordinary participants. Students will learn to recognize larger themes that thread through these sources, including the increased globalization of the United States over time.

Qualifications

Conducts educational programming for 2 or more years: Yes
Performs criminal background checks on staff with youth contact: Yes
Maintains general liability insurance (Individuals and organizations listed in this Directory can provide proof of insurance upon request. ASC does not hold copies of current documentation for providers): Yes
Three letters of recommendation / references available: Yes
Provides study guides for teachers and or students: Yes
Connects to State and or Common Core Curriculum Standards: Yes
Provides tools to assess student learning (workshops and residencies): Yes
Provides scholarship and reduced fees: Yes
Conducts ongoing assessments of program quality: Yes
Cancellation Policy

$100 cancelation fee.

72 hours in advance.