QUEEN SLIPPER CITY

The manufacture of shoes was an important industry in Haverhill. From the early ten-footers to the mammoth downtown factories, people were employed in all facets of shoemaking. The city’s population boomed as floods of immigrants flocked to Haverhill to power this industry. Participants in this program will visit the Daniel Hunkins Shoe Shop on the grounds of HHS and examine various shoemaking tools from the collection. Students will try their hand at designing their own shoes and piecing together a paper shoe pattern.

$5/student
 

ROLLING ON THE RIVER: 
LIFE & WORK ON THE MERRIMACK

The Merrimack River played a major role in the settlement of the Haverhill area. From the early Native American inhabitants to the Haverhillites of today, the river has supplied the raw materials for life and work along its shores. Join us for this program which makes use of exhibition spaces, hands-on artifacts, and the museum’s riverside location to examine the changing nature of the riverbank, industry along the river, shipbuilding and the sailor’s craft.

$5/student
 

PENTUCKET ON THE MERRIMACK: NATIVE AMERICANS ALONG THE MERRIMACK RIVER

In this popular program, students will learn how the Pentucket people lived and worked along the river before and after European contact and how their way of life was changed. Students will examine stone tools from the Luce Archaeology collection, sample traditional foods, tour the Native American exhibition, and try a Native American craft or game.

$5/student
 

HERE LIES HAVERHILL HISTORY

Hear the echo of days gone by etched into stone as we examine the tombstones of Haverhill’s first citizens. These valuable and durable documents offer clues to Haverhill’s past and events in the world at large. Join us as we visit the Pentucket Burial Ground to see how cherubs, willows, and skulls reflect changing attitudes about life and death.

$5/student
 

EARLY AMERICAN LIFE: 
A HANDS-ON HISTORY PROGRAM

Experience the savory smells of hearth cooking and traditional games as students learn about life in early America. Set in the historic John Ward House, this program brings students back in time to the early 1800s as they try their hands at hearth cooking or butter making. Activities focus on daily chores, family life, farm work, trade and industry along the river. Material in this program supports lessons in colonial through Federal period history. The flexibility of this program makes it an annual favorite!

$6/student
 

LOYALIST OR PATRIOT: 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 
IN HAVERHILL

In the decade before the American Revolution, taxes, boycotts, and trade embargoes changed the way Haverhill’s citizens felt about “Mother England.” Using museum collections and reproduction objects, students experience life during this turbulent time by examining how boycotts and battles affected the lives of farming families, loyalists like Colonel Richard Saltonstall, and soldiers such as General James Brickett. Haverhill’s part in the Battle of Bunker Hill and the role of women in the Revolution are included in this program.

($5/student)
 

Also available:

HISTORY FOR HALF PINTS

This program is designed with our youngest historians in mind. Pre-school and Kindergarten groups can choose from a variety of themes including: “Fun on the Farm,” “Playing in Pentucket,” and “The Merry Merrimack.” Additional themes are always being created.

For More Information: Half Pints Leaflet

($5/student)
 

Additional Information:

• Pre-visit materials with suggestions for classroom activities and further reading are available upon request.
• Hands-on Baskets that support educational themes are available for short-term loan at $10 per week, free for School Members. Please call for details and benefits of School Membership.
• The collections and documents of the Haverhill Historical Society allow us to adapt our programs to suit almost any grade level or ability level. The small staff and resources of HHS are our greatest strength. Please let us know if we can tailor a program to suit your specific needs or focus on a particular content area.
• All programs address the learning and content standards of the August 2003 edition of the Massachusetts Department of Education’s History and Social Science Curriculum Framework.
• Programs last two hours, but may be extended at an additional cost of $1/student per hour.
• All programs are available “TO-Go” for $50 an hour. Limit 30 students per group.