Civil War Washington Teacher Fellows


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Join up to 25 teachers to learn about Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and the city of Washington during the Civil War!

-Walk in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln, his “Team of Rivals,” and Confederate spies who plotted against him at Ford’s Theatre

-Experience the home of a southern sympathizer in historic Georgetown, and learn how she saved her beloved estate from the Union army

-Learn about the contraband camps and Emancipation Day as you follow Lincoln’s commute to and from the Old Soldier’s Home on a hill north of the city

-Visit historic Anacostia and the beautiful home of Frederick Douglass as he helped raise up the formerly enslaved during and after Reconstruction

Come away from your week in Washington familiar with: an array of virtual tours, the oratory skills to get your students on their feet performing speeches by Lincoln and Douglass; comfortable taking students on content-driven experiential learning adventures; and excited about using classroom drama to help historic characters come alive!

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Reservations for School Groups


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Reservations

We look forward to welcoming your group to the Cottage. When planning your student or teacher group visit, please keep the following in mind:

-3 weeks advanced reservations required.
-Download the brochure, guidelines, and application form here.
-Send the complete form as an email attachment to LincolnEd@savingplaces.org or send via fax to 202-829-0437.
-Submitting the application does not mean you have a confirmed tour.
-Upon receipt of the application, you will be contacted within 48 hours to either confirm or reschedule your tour. Confirmation emails are sent between 9am-5pm on weekdays only.

Programs For Educators


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President Lincoln’s Cottage offers on campus workshops for educators and frequently collaborates with other historic sites and museums to offer additional workshop and training opportunities.

Civil War Washington Teacher Fellows

The Civil War Washington Museum Consortium, including President Lincoln’s Cottage, Ford’s Theatre Society, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, and Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, offers week-long, summer workshops for educators. These workshops provide a place-based approach to exploring Washington during the Civil War as teachers spend time at each participating site, discover Civil War neighborhoods through walking tours, and leave with an array of resources to use in their classrooms.

Applications are due March 29, 2013. For information on dates, pricing, applications, and more, click here.

Living Lincoln: A Workshop for Teachers

During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln developed a unique leadership style that continues to resonate with today’s leaders. In Living Lincoln: A Workshop for Teachers, a museum educator facilitates an interactive workshop for school leaders that uses Lincoln’s pragmatic style as a model for helping students develop the skills they need to be effective leaders. In this workshop, educators receive a customized tour of the Cottage, a resource packet of reflection activities and lesson plans, and an introduction to Lincoln’s Toughest Decisions: Debating Emancipation.

This program lasts approximately 1.5 hours and is available for $15 per person, with a minimum of 10 teachers. For more information on this program, please contact LincolnEd@savingplaces.org.

Reservations: Advance reservations required at least three weeks prior to visit. Non-refundable deposit required when reservation is confirmed. Make reservations here.

Distance Learning Programs


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President Lincoln’s Cottage offers distance learning programs that can be used in the classroom or computer lab for grades 6-12.

Debating Emancipation, Online!

Our award winning Lincoln’s Toughest Decisions: Debating Emancipation is now available online. This online version of Debating Emancipation was made possible by a grant from the Motorola Foundation.

Download the Debating Emancipation Online Teacher Guide.

Debating Emancipation is also available as an on campus program in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center at President Lincoln’s Cottage.

Lincoln’s Commute, Online

Through a grant from the White House Historical Association, President Lincoln’s Cottage developed an animated short film about Lincoln’s Daily Commute from the Soldier’s Home to the White House. That film may be viewed in the Wartime Washington exhibit in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center at President Lincoln’s Cottage. In 2008, was made into an online program courtesy of White House Historical Association.

View Lincoln’s Commute Program Online

Teacher Resources


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Please note that selecting a link below will prompt a new window to open and, in some cases, will redirect you to a site run by an outside organization.

President Lincoln’s Cottage Online Resources
-Become a fan of the Cottage on Facebook
-Follow us on Twitter
-Watch our channel on YouTube
-Read our electronic Newsletter
-Try our Lesson Plans & Classroom Activities

Books about President Lincoln’s Cottage

-Lincoln’s Sanctuary, Matthew Pinsker (Oxford University Press, 2003)
-Lincoln’s Other White House, Elizabeth Brownstein (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005)
-Cottage Photo Biography, National Trust for Historic Preservation (2011)

Related Webcasts

-President Lincoln’s Cottage Grand Opening – C-SPAN (2008)
-Lincoln’s Other White House, Elizabeth Brownstein – Library of Congress (2007)
-Lincoln’s Sanctuary by Matthew Pinsker: Booknotes – C-SPAN (2003)

Related Sites and Other Online Resources

-Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
-Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project
-The Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum
-Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
-Abraham Lincoln Online
-Abraham Lincoln Research Site
-Abraham Lincoln Timeline
-The American Civil War Homepage
-The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College
-The Collected Works of Lincoln
-Ford’s Theater
-The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
-Library of Congress
-Lincoln Boyhood Memorial
-Lincoln Day by Day Online
-The Lincoln Forum
-Lincoln Home in Springfield
-The Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College
-Lincoln Memorial
-Looking for Lincoln
-The United States Civil War Center

Girl Scouts at President Lincoln’s Cottage


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President Lincoln’s Cottage would like to give a special welcome to all of the Girl Scouts from around the country that have traveled to Washington, D.C. for Rock The Mall starting June 1. There are so many fun and engaging places to visit in this city and President Lincoln’s Cottage is one of them! When scouts visit the Cottage with their families, they learn about President Lincoln’s leadership during one of the most tumultuous times in American History – the Civil War. The Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home served as a great place of solitude from downtown Washington for Lincoln and was where he developed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Cottage offers a special admission price just for Girl Scouts! Included with the Girl Scout Ticket scouts receive a President Lincoln’s Cottage patch and an activity sheet that help scouts earn one of the following badges: Listening to the Past, Communication, Folk Arts or Building Art.

Click HERE to purchase your ticket. Advanced ticket purchase is strongly recommended, we cannot guarantee a spot on a tour without a reservation.

Cataloging Cemeteries


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By Zachary Klitzman

One reason President Lincoln moved to the Cottage was to escape the constant reminders that he encountered at the White House of the ongoing Civil War.  But even here at the bucolic Soldiers’ Home, Lincoln could not completely escape the war.  Looking just a few hundred yards to the northeast of the Cottage, the President could see the first national cemetery, with dozens of weekly burials.

View of the Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery in 1864.

Opened in August of 1861 in response to the bloodshed of the Battle of Manassas, this cemetery, now officially called the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery, lies adjacent to its namesake retirement home.  Although the cemetery is not part of the standard tour at President Lincoln’s Cottage, visitors are welcome to explore the graves on their own.

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A Teacher’s Reflection


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“One of the toughest things that we can do as people is step back, take a look at ourselves and evaluate not only what we do, but who we are as people. While this exercise can be very difficult for us, it is this reflection that can help us move forward by looking back and become a better husband/wife, teacher, friend or brother by reflecting on the times when we haven’t been at our best.”

Frank McCaughey, a history teacher in Queens, NY, participated in the Civil War Washington Teacher Fellows Program last week in Washington, DC along with 24 other teachers. The program included trips to the Frederick Douglas House, Ford’s Theatre, Tudor Place, and President Lincoln’s Cottage. On Wednesday, the group spent the day at the Cottage and Mr. McCaughey shared his experience on his blog. Read about how the day had him “thinking about thinking” here: http://thenewlywedteacher.blogspot.com/2011/07/learning-in-dc-day-3-lincoln-and.html

For more information about this program and all education programs at President Lincoln’s Cottage, visit the Education page.

A Week with Civil War Washington Teacher Fellows


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By Callie Hawkins

Two weeks ago, President Lincoln’s Cottage, Ford’s Theatre, Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, and Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, which makes up the Civil War Washington Museum Consortium, hosted a group of local teachers for a week-long workshop designed to enhance their understanding of Washington, D.C. during the Civil War.  Throughout the week, the Teacher Fellows explored these four sites, located in different geographical areas across the city, and also visited the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall.  Along the way, teachers gathered not only vital instructional content to take back to their classrooms, but also skills in working with role play, primary sources, and oratory activities.

The group spent a full day at President Lincoln’s Cottage. The Teacher Fellows toured Lincoln’s “summer White House”, debated emancipation in the role of Lincoln’s Cabinet members, and explored the Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery.  At the end of this long, but beautiful day, I asked teachers to reflect on their experience at this place the Lincoln’s loved so much.  For the full video of these reactions check back soon!

The Civil War Washington Museum Consortium will offer a second week-long workshop from July 11-16.  For more information about how you can get involved please contact Associate Director of Programs, Callie Hawkins at CHawkins@savingplaces.org.