School Tours
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Dates
for 2008 Cabin Days have been announced more...
Most of the curriculum for our school programs are now on CD-ROM. Ask our Tour Coordinator about this exciting offering!
Are you a South Bend Community
School Corporation or Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation
school? You have FREE admission to the
Center for History! Click Here
for more information
Not only do your students have access to the Center for History, but your students have the opportunity to visit the Studebaker National Museum. Get two museum field trips with one visit! Call our Tour Coordinator at (574) 235-9664, ext. 239 for more information.
PARENTS!
Want to help your child learn social studies everyday?
Check out some tips on how you can use things in everyday
life to reinforce the study of social studies (you don't
have to be a historian!) more...
Would you like your next field trip to:
Generate
classroom discussion?
Complement
your curriculum?
Be a
multi-sensory, imaginative experience that makes
history vibrant and alive?
Encourage
pride and interest in our local community?
Be
easy to coordinate and implement?
We invite you to visit the Northern Indiana Center for History. We have so much to offer including tours of Copshaholm, the Oliver mansion; Dom Robotnika, the Worker's Home; Kidsfirst Children's Museum; Voyages: Exploring the History of the St. Joseph River Valley; and the Ernestine M. Raclin Gallery of Notre Dame History. We have many additional resources that will expand and enhance your classroom studies.
Click here for school admission costs.
School Programs/Tours meet Indiana Academic Standards
Our school tours and programs now meet Indiana Academic Standards. more...
School Tours of the House Museums
Copshaholm,
the Oliver Mansion
It was well over 100
years ago that 20th-century industrialist J.D. Oliver, his
wife Anna, and their four children moved into their new home
at 808 W. Washington. Built in 1895-96, Copshaholm, as
they would later name it, is a 38-room Romanesque Queen Anne
house designed by New York architect Charles Alonzo Rich.
Check out the Indiana Academic Standards for Social Studies
that this tour satisfies by
clicking
here
Dom
Robotnika, The Worker's Home
In sharp contrast to
the elegant Oliver mansion, Dom Robotnika (Polish for
worker's home) is a modest residence that could have been
home to a factory worker of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works.
Built in the 1870s, the house was moved to the property by
J.D. Oliver in 1907. In 1992, it was moved to its
present site. While inside the Worker's Home it is
easy for your students to visualize what life was like for a
family of five living in this 1200 square foot home.
Check out the Indiana Academic Standards for Social Studies
that this tour satisfies by
clicking
here
All grades will visit both house museums by guided tour that lasts 2 hours. Pre-visit curriculum is available on this website by clicking here or you can have it sent to you by contacting the Tour Coordinator at (574) 235-9664 ext. 239.
During the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to mid-January, Copshaholm and Dom Robotnika are beautifully decorated.
Kidsfirst
Children's Museum
Pre-school to Grade 3
This interactive gallery allows children to explore history through fun activities including:
paddling a canoe
playing inside a Native American wigwam
"playing school" in a one-room school house
exploring a authentic log cabin
playing inside a Conestoga wagon
see what items are "for sale" in the trading post
Check out the Indiana Academic Standards for Social Studies that this tour satisfies by clicking here
Voyages
Gallery
All Grade Levels
Voyages is a 10,000 square foot permanent exhibition with nine galleries designed for children and adults. The gallery themes include geological history, Native American culture, French exploration, pioneer settlement, the Great Kankakee Marsh, agriculture, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, industrialization, immigration, and material culture.
Many of the galleries in Voyages are multi-sensory--students will "walk" the well-known portage that connected the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and stand on a replica of a dredge boat used to drain the Kankakee Marsh in the "Using the Land" gallery.
There are grade-level appropriate activity sheets that go with the Voyages exhibit. We now offer activity guides in Spanish for grades 4-6.
Check out the Indiana Academic Standards for Social Studies that this tour satisfies by clicking here
Changing Exhibition Galleries
Located on the first floor of the History Center, these galleries focus on various themes throughout the year. Contact the Tour Coordinator for exhibit information at (574) 235-9664, ext. 239 or tours@centerforhistory.org
Ernestine M. Raclin Gallery of Notre Dame History
This permanent gallery features changing exhibitions which relate significant historical aspects of the University of Notre Dame.
Historic East Race Tour
This tour will show students how South Bend came to be the leading industrial city in the United States. Some of the factories your students will be introduce to are: South Bend Woolen Company, A.M. General and Singer Sewing Machine Company.
Cemetery Tours
Believe it or not, a cemetery has a wealth of historical value. Cemeteries here in South Bend are a literal 'who's who' of local history. This tour will give students the opportunity to visit the final resting places of the most famous Michiana residents. Teachers can pick two cemeteries to visit, either City Cemetery or Riverview Cemetery, both located in South Bend, Indiana. A curriculum book is available when you book this tour.
Planning Your Field Trip
Select
a school tour or program
that complements your classroom curriculum (or
call our Tour Coordinator for further
information).
Choose
dates and make your reservation by phoning our
Tour Coordinator at (574) 235-9664, ext. 239 or click here
Watch
your mailbox or fax. Once we confirm your
tour date, time and price we will send you a
confirmation. Please read and understand
everything on your confirmation sheet. Make
sure the dates and times are correct.
Make transportation plans. There is plenty of school bus parking at the Center for History.
Admission
Costs
There is no admission charge for school corporations that support the Center for History through House Act 1294 or for private/parochial schools which are located within the district of those school corporations. For schools located in school districts not supporting the Center for History through House Act 1294, the fees are as follows. ***Free admission to schools that support the NICH through House Act 1294 is limited to the History Center, the Worker's Home, and Copshaholm only. Fees will be charged to all schools for special exhibitions, changing exhibitions, special programs, or special tours.*
| School Admission Prices |
House
Act 1294 |
Other |
|---|---|---|
|
General Admission (which includes Copshaholm, Voyages, and/or Kidsfirst tours)* |
Free* |
$3.00* |
| East Race Tour | Free | $2.00 |
| Cemetery Tours | Free | $2.00 |
| Ice Age Program | Free | $3.00 |
| Civil War Program | Free | $3.00 |
| Fur Trade Program | Free | $3.00 |
| Cabin Days Program | Free | $3.00 |
| Price is per student | ||
*This price does not include the Studebaker National Museum, call for details.
We recommend you allow this amount of time for our tours and exhibits:
Historic
Homes..........2 hours
Kidsfirst Museum.......1 hour
Kidsfirst & Voyages....1 1/2 to 2 hours
Voyages Gallery.........1 to 1 1/2 hours
Changing Exhibitions...1/2 to 1 hour
Cemetery Tours...........1 to 1 1/2 hours
East Race Tours..........1 to 1 1/2 hours
Cancellations
To receive a refund
and/or avoid administrative fees, cancellations must
be made at least 48 hours prior to the program date.
In the event of cancellation by the Northern Indiana Center
for History, full refunds will be given. To cancel by
phone, call our Tour Coordinator at (574) 235-9664 ext. 239.
Accessibility?
click here
