SCHOOL TOURS
Are you an educator interested in organizing a field trip to Arthurdale for your class? To help you plan, we've provided a brief FAQ list as well as information about what is included on the tour and what learning outcomes it will meet for your students. Contact us to arrange a trip for your class!
PROGRAMS
From our after-school and summer programs for kids to historic skills and preservation classes for older kids and adults. Our weaving program in particular is a point of pride for us, and we are dedicated to preserving these traditional skills and to offering activities for local children and families.
Children's Art Classes
Fiber Arts Classes
Fiber arts, especially weaving, were important historically in Arthurdale, and we are proud to preserve this tradition through our newly renovated loom room where we will offer weaving, spinning, and other fiber arts classes.
Check our events page for updated class information or our Fiber Arts page for detailed information on the guild, events, and future plans!
Blacksmithing
We are eager to begin teaching blacksmithing classes in the historic Lon Fullmer Forge, which is one of our original buildings that was erected in the 1930s.
If you would like further information about signing up for a blacksmithing class, please contact us.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
For educators and homeschoolers, we are excited to offer an assortment of lesson plans for you to use with your students. Though most plans are directed at a specific age, they are adaptable to a wide age-range. If there are additional subjects you would like us to cover, please contact us with your ideas!
Arthurdale was the nation's first New Deal Homestead Community, and its legacy remains an example of how important investment in people and communities is. We know, however, that Arthurdale and other New Deal Communities are rarely covered in standard curricula, so we have provided some information and possible lesson plans below.
We were also very fortunate to be selected recently for two grants from the Smithsonian: Crossroads: Change in Rural America and Coming Home: Stories from Main Street. Because Coming Home focuses on children's voices and asking them to think about the history and future of their communities, we compiled our lesson plans into a PDF for homeschool families or teachers to download and use.
If you live locally and would like to get involved or participate in our children's education programs, please see our information page on what we offer, and feel free to contact us about any ideas you have or things you would like to see!
Arthurdale: A New Deal Community Experiment
A lesson plan created by the National Park Service as part of their series on Teaching with Historic Places. The lesson focuses on the role of government in community planning and how New Deal programs impacted the lives of people in the Great Depression who were lifted out of poverty.
Coming Home Lesson Plans
An extensive PDF including our lesson plans for the Smithsonian Coming Home grant, assignment instructions and examples, and a suggested reading list. This is mainly designed for upper elementary and middle school but could be adapted for younger or older students as well.
DONATE TODAY!
Arthurdale Heritage needs your help! With your support, we can continue to provide valuable community and educational efforts. We sincerely appreciate any assistance you can provide.
