Programs for Kindergarten - 5th Grade

Interactive, Educational & Engaging History
Center for History’s unique programs challenge students to discover, explore, and experience the past. The Center’s multi-disciplinary programs are designed to enrich classroom curriculum through professionally researched, engaging, and interactive presentations tailored to fit curriculum requirements. Use the Center’s education programs as a resource to meet state standards and provide a rich learning experience for your students. The Center will work with teachers, curriculum chairs, and administrators to incorporate selected programs into their lesson plans or develop a new program.

S.S. Eastland Program

The Eastland Story
Available only at 315 W. Front St.
Explore how this unbelievable tragedy brought a community together
to help those suffering after the capsizing of the Steamer Eastland in
the Chicago River July 24, 1915. Beginning as a day filled with fun
and adventure, the Western Electric company outing to Michigan City, Indiana, turned deadly even before departing Chicago. Hear stories of survivors, witnesses, victims, and heroes as they recall the rescue effort. People were rescued and comforted by an array of heroes, such as survivors, firemen, policemen, welders, bridge tenders, passers-by, switchboard operators, doctors, hard-helmet divers, and merchants. This dynamic exhibit examines the causes of the accident, safety issues enforced after the Titanic, and the event itself. Students will learn how objects relating to the Eastland such as silver tea service, coroner’s stars and a replica of the ship’s wheelhouse tell stories of the tragic day.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Urban History, Social History, Transportation

Slavery, Abolition & the Underground Railroad Programs

NO RIGHTS! The Injustices of Slavery
Available only February through end of April at 606 North Main Street
Squeeze into a small space as you investigate the passage from Africa to America on a slave ship. Feel the power of control exerted over the enslaved and examine the laws that governed slavery. Discover the ingenuity and cleverness utilized by those who made daring escapes. Talk with a costumed interpreter about the challenges of daily life as an enslaved person. Hear about secret messages in songs to help guide fugitives to freedom and imagine life on the run as an abolitionist provides shelter. This disturbing time in American history takes on new meaning and relevance through costumed first-person interpretation, role-play, songs, and hands-on object investigation. Bring to life the enslaved individual’s experience for each student through this powerful, award-winning program.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $6.00 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, Civil War, African-American History

The Life of the Enslaved and Their Journey to Freedom
Available year round only at 606 N. Main St.
Visit a recreated station on the Underground Railroad and experience what conditions were like for those who took the hard road to freedom. Probe the hidden messages in songs and secret codes used by those who escaped and the people who risked their lives to aid them. Hear stories of escape and the struggle to survive under the heavy burden of enslavement. Investigate the slavery debate in this area, challenges and risks enslaved individuals confronted on their journey to freedom, and dangers faced by abolitionists while assisting fugitives. Discover why the Chicago area was an important and often-traveled connection to freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Reading List Available
Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, Civil War, African-American History

From Slave Auction to Freedom: An Arduous Journey
Available only at your site for groups of 100 or more
Experience the chilling reality of being an enslaved person through powerful interpretation, hands-on objects, music, and role-playing. Experience the passage from Africa to America on a slave ship. Reenact stories of escape by putting on a disguise or crawling into a shipping box. Feel the power of control exerted over the enslaved people and discover the worst form of punishment. Tackle some of the daily chores of the enslaved and learn about slave rations. Investigate secret codes and messages used on the Underground Railroad. Examine authentic slave documents and artifacts.

Reading List Available
Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $6.50 per person plus travel fee
Includes use of recreated Henry “Box” Brown’s cargo crate
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, Civil War, African-American History

In Harriet Tubman's Footsteps
Explore the daily life of an enslaved person through stories and role-playing. Experience what life would have been like on the plantation. Feel the rough fabric and try on clothing an enslaved person would have worn. Imagine sleeping on a pallet filled with straw. Haul a peck of corn, carry firewood and investigate other chores children were required to do. Hear songs to discover their hidden messages. Discover the secret codes that runaways used to make their way to freedom. Try to find your way to freedom during an interactive role play game. A story time ties the whole program together.

Reading List Available
Grade: 1 through 3
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: African-American History, Social Studies

Civil War Program

Civil War: Brothers Against Brothers program gives a first hand account of this treacherous battle in America from 1861-1865. Once the South divided the Nation and created the Confederacy, the wages of war effective everyone. This program will have students muster into the army and discover how males under 18 years of age or women successfully enter the military; complete tasks of cavalrymen and securing food for their mount; practice drills and formations for marching and during battle; discover 19th Century medical practices for wounded soldiers and what mothers, wives and siblings were doing to help on and off the battlefield.

Fee: $6.00 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: American History

World War II Programs

If You Grew Up During World War II
Experience how America mobilized for World War II. Hear first-person accounts of women going to work and the contributions children made to help the war effort. Discover how rationing of sugar, metal, rubber and gas altered everyday life. Explore how the entire community, even children, worked to help the war production effort. Investigate photographs, letters, and artifacts to understand how the war changed American life. Discuss the role of radio and listen as this primary source of information and entertainment sheds light on the War.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $6.00 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, American History, Social History

Golf Program

No Talking Please!
Available only at 315 W. Front St.
The rules and etiquette of golf will be investigated in this interactive program. By utilizing the artifacts in the Fairways, Greens & Clubs exhibit, participants will have fun exploring the rules of golf as they changed over the years. Discover a bunker, a birdie, and even an eagle. This participatory program will equip the students with the basics of golf history in an entertaining and unique manner.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, American History, Social History

Programs on History, Architecture & More!

Creating an Architectural Eye
Architecture captures the history of a community by depicting its growth, culture, and lifestyles. This interactive program introduces students to architectural elements as clues to different building styles. Students become familiar with the architectural terminology used to describe details, such as the shape of a roof, types of windows, and façades. By identifying these features, students begin to understand how the built environment serves as a timeline of the past, present and future development of a community, and thus grasp the importance of historic preservation.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person/12 person min.
Length: 60 minutes
Subject: Architecture, Local History

Architecture Walking Tour
On this walking tour through a residential area, students actively participate in the detection and identification of various architectural styles and features. Distinguishing between various rooflines, windows, and other decorative features and structural elements, students discover clues relevant to a community’s past, present and future. This fun tour reiterates the importance of a town’s built environment established in Creating an Architectural Eye (listed above), and offers an opportunity to put students’ architectural sleuthing skills to the test.

Can be adapted to explore architecture around your school or neighborhood
Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local History, Architecture

Images of Wheaton
During this interactive PowerPoint presentation, students discover what it takes to build a community and make a city grow. Over a hundred years of images reflect the changes and progress of the county seat brought about by railroads and the development of quality education. Make a personal connection to the past by getting to know individuals from Wheaton’s history. This program provides an exciting introduction to how Wheaton’s founders influenced our present community. Hands-on objects and documents put students in touch with the past. The Local Government Walking Tour (listed below) is an excellent enhancement to this program.

Note: If program is being presented to more than one group, please have facilities available so that speaker does not have to move equipment between rooms.
Grade: Wheaton Schools Grade 2
Fee: $65.00 per class
Length: 60 minutes
Subject: Local History, Transportation, Urban History

Local Government Walking Tour
Discover how our federal, state, county and local governments work together to create a well-organized and safe city. Look for government at work around downtown Wheaton and inside City Hall. Search for clues about the way changing technology, from train safety to stop lights, shaped the way the city looks. Explore City Hall and see the details of government at work first hand. As students stop at historic sites they saw in the Images of Wheaton PowerPoint program (listed above), they make connections between community history and the town they see today. This program complements the local history curriculum and its content is relevant to all communities in DuPage County.

Grade: Wheaton School Grade 2s
Fee: $6.00 per person
Length: 90 minutes; limited to Wheaton City Hall hours
Subject: Local and Suburban History, City Government

Welcome to 1890!
What was life like in a one room schoolhouse? Travel back to the 1890s and discover a world of dunce caps and strict rules. Participate in a school day from the past by using a McGuffey Reader, writing on a slate, and competing in the math game of “Buzz.” Try your hand at some chores from the past. Match the artifact to the chore as you explore how tools such as a washboard, sad iron, and rug beater were each part of a week’s worth of work. Play some games from the era to see how children entertained themselves before electricity was installed in homes.

Grade: 2 through 4
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local, Family and Illinois History

Peek into the Past
Investigate the past by examining Civil War, World War II, and personal artifacts and archival materials, such as land deeds, letters, photographs, report cards, store advertisements, surveying equipment, military and athletic medals, toys, and household items. Each object tells a story about life in the past and how technology has changed it today. Artifacts vary with age group.

Grade: 1 through 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: Local and Illinois History, Fine Arts

Residents Before the Settlers
Discover the culture and traditions of tribes that called Northern Illinois home. Explore the nomadic life of these residents through this hands-on program. Play the same games the Native Americans enjoyed, master a few dance steps, plus listen to ancient stories with familiar morals. This participatory program allows students to experience traditions important in Native American life by examining the food, clothing, housing, economic system, and art of the original inhabitants. Through hands-on activities students use their senses to smell tanned leather and touch soft fur and other objects as they travel back to another time.

Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: American History, Local History

Active Citizen
Discover the qualities that make a good citizen by getting to know people from the past who took an active role in shaping your community. From founding fathers to city council members, learn the traits that make a good leader and the value of being well-informed and active in the community. Investigate how to exercise your right of free speech by examining current issues in your town. End the day by writing a letter to a newspaper, or a city or county official.

Grade: 4 and 5
Fee: $5.50 per person
Length: 90 minutes
Subject: American History, Local History, Local Government

Just for Fun Activities

Victorian Customs
Journey back to the Victorian Era when life was more formal more social customs were observed. Imagine communication before the telephone or email. Learn the fine art of social customs and manners. Discover the meaning of a flower bouquet and the signals of a hand-held fan. Young ladies easily “waved” messages to young gentlemen across the room.

Out of This World
Boldly go where no class has gone before! Explore the galaxy with Outer Space games, crafts, and story time. Your students will be inspired to reach for the stars when they learn about famous local scientists, like Edwin Hubble and Grote Reber, who made space exploration possible.

Teddy Bears and Toys
Children in the past used creativity and skill to make their own toys. Teddy Bear and Toys Fun Day offers students the opportunity to craft their own toys, from Jacob’s ladders to teddy bears, while learning the fascinating history of such crafts.

Dino Dig
Enter the fascinating world of paleontology during the Dinosaur Dig Fun Day! Dig for fossils, dance the T-Rex tango, craft dinosaur masks, and learn all about these giants who once walked the earth.