Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site offers engaging field trips for students in grades 6-8. Topics include international trade, including the slave trade, slavery in New York, the development of New Netherland and New York colonies, the manor system and tenant farmers, the fur trade and land agreements with the Munsee Lunaape, early colonial politics, and the American Revolution.
Price: $3/student
Time: 60-90 minutes, flexible start and end times
Group Size: Up to 2 classes (50 students) at a time
Philipse Manor Hall has limited parking available for buses and picnic tables for eating lunch on site. Ask about walking tours or a joint program with the Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park!
To reserve your date use the contact form on the main Education page.
All programs include a tour of the new museum exhibits at Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site. The new exhibits at Philipse Manor Hall introduce students to three main cultures in Colonial New York: The Munsee Lunaape, enslaved Africans and people of African descent, and European colonists. Interactive exhibits follow these three groups from the before the establishment of the New Netherland colony to the end of the American Revolution. Tours are tailored to individual group needs and emphasize inquiry-based learning. Download the one-sheet description of the museum exhibits and themes.
This program includes a tour of the museum and an interactive, sit-down activity: the Philipse Manor Hall Fur Trade Game. This engaging card game is based on historical evidence of fur trading in the Hudson Valley. Small groups or pairs of students represent one of four groups: the Iroquois, the Munsee, the Dutch West India Company, or the Philipse family as they engage in trade with each other. Groups are issued biographical information, a wish list, and an inventory list with cards representing fur bearing animals and historical trade goods. Students develop interpersonal skills and use basic accounting math to determine the value of their goods and engage in trade with each other. The objective of the game is to fulfill your wish list and to learn more about how the fur trade actually worked in practice.
New York City was once the second-largest slave trading port in the colonies and the colony of New York had more enslavers per capita than any other American colony. Slavery in New York persisted as late as the 1840s. But enslaved Africans and people of African descent resisted slavery at every turn. One way to resist was through self-emancipation, or running away. This program includes a tour of the museum and a sit-down primary source document workshop. Students will read and analyze historical runaway slave advertisements and analyze the documents for both reading comprehension and historical empathy. Groups can then choose a creative writing or art component based on their primary document.
