What is a Museum Collection?

What can objects tell us? Introduce younger students to the world of the curator at a museum. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Gallery and see artifacts up close. Students will be engaged as active learners in a museum, developing historical thinking skills while learning how a museum presents artifacts and shares the stories that they tell.

Suggested for students in grades 1 - 12.

Old Burying Ground Challenge

This innovative program combines history with orienteering, math and teamwork. Students will learn basic compass and pacing skills and will be divided into groups to complete an orienteering challenge - in the Old Burying Ground! Students discover information about life in colonial times while completing their Challenge Trail utilizing a compass.

Suggested for students in grades 1 - 12.

* OUTDOORS / HISTORIC BUILDING

Walking Tours are outdoor programs with limited availability and accessibility. Please call with any special needs and we can adjust the program for your group.

What Makes a Community?

Students will understand the important elements that shape a town during a walking tour of the historic Green in Fairfield. Inside the museum, students will view a model of the town’s original “four squares” as it was in 1779. An interactive map will show students where important events happened and how the region developed. On the walking tour, we’ll explore the geography and buildings on the Green, the signpost, the Old Burying Ground, the Academy schoolhouse and more. Suggested for students in grades K - 2.

The American Revolution

Learn about the people of Fairfield and the stories of their struggles during the American Revolution.  View authentic objects in the galleries and learn about the Burning of Fairfield by the British in 1779. On the walking tour, students will view the houses that survived the burning of Fairfield and the route the British took to invade the town.

Suggested for students in grades 4 - 12.

Colonial Life Walking Tour

Students will view a model of the town’s original “four squares” inside the museum. On the walking tour, we’ll explore the Old Burying Ground, the Academy schoolhouse, the Historic Green and the houses that survived the Burning of Fairfield.

Suggested for students in grades 3 - 5.

The Ogden Family

Part I: In the pre-visit, an educator will visit your school with a Powerpoint presentation about the Ogden family, colonial trades, the life of a farmer and the thriving community of Fairfield in the late 1700s. In a hands-on activity following the presentation, students will view and touch original and reproduction objects related to trades from the period.

Colonial Workshop!

Students will enjoy hands-on activities while learning about aspects of colonial life. Choose from:

• Corn Husk Dolls

• Make a Journal & Write with a Quill Pen and Ink

• Candle-dipping

Length: 1 hour

* THE TRAVELER - This program can come to your school.

Cost at Your School: 1 Activity = $5 per student, 2 Activities = $8 per student

Living History Presentation

Using reproduction objects and engaging stories, a re-enactor will bring history to life for your students in a third person portrayal of an American Marine or a soldier in the militia during the American Revolution.

Primary Source Workshops

These workshops utilize primary source materials selected and adapted specifically for educational use. Students will first learn about primary source basics, different types and how to question purpose and intent. Then students will utilize critical thinking skills to analyze these primary sources to determine integrity, bias and purpose.

The program uses resources from the museum’s Special Collections library and the Library of Congress include photographs, manuscripts, transcribed letters, primary accounts and more.

Recommended for Grades 5 - 12.

Cost: $75 per class at your school

$5 per student at the museum

1. Who Killed Bill?

What questions do we ask to analyze the integrity of information?

Students solve the mystery of Who Killed Bill through clues from real letters disguised as text messages. This program uses letters home from a Civil War soldier, newspaper articles, original drawings and photographs to tell the heroic and tragic story of William Disosway, a Union soldier in the Civil War.

2. World War II Poster Art

What did it mean to be an American during the World War II era?

Stemming from Roosevelt’s New Deal, artists were put to work creating bold and dramatic posters that encouraged “every citizen to be a soldier” during World War II. The Fairfield Museum’s World War II poster collections offer students a glimpse into life during wartime. Limited resources and increased demands for supplies affected the choices made by individuals, households, businesses and the government. The posters are grouped into themes that explore issues such as cultural stereotypes, sacrifice, wartime production and the changing role of women.

3. Peril & Prosperity – Character Portraits

How can we use primary sources to teach language arts?

This program integrates history and language arts to encourage students to discover people in history through their stories and achievements. Students receive Character Portrait Kits containing clues about a character and complete a graphic organizer. The personages include; 

Caleb Brewster – a privateer from Long Island and a member of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring. He placed ads looking for runaway slaves after the war.

William Disosway – a Civil War soldier from the Union side, William died an honorable death from a gunshot wound.

Annie B. Jennings – a wealthy heiress from the Gilded Age who built an expansive mansion and gardens, opening them up to the public in the early 1900s.

Captain Isaac Jennings – lured by the sea at a young age, Isaac defied his parents and became a sailor at the age of 15. His journals, original paintings and manuscripts detail his many adventures.

Mary Fish Silliman – the wife of General Gold Selleck Silliman, Mary’s writings are a rare glimpse into a colonial woman’s life. Her husband was kidnapped and brought to Long Island for almost one year and she witnessed the Burning of Fairfield without him.

Gustave Whitehead – a German immigrant and inventor, Gustave build flying machines in Bridgeport, Connecticut and may have flown a plane before the Wright Brothers.