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WHS History Department
AP US HISTORY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT
SUMMER 2012
Over the summer we would like you to engage with some of the history we’ll cover in class next year, so we are asking that you visit ONE of the following sites and reflect on what you see. The list below contains local places of historical interest, but if you are traveling elsewhere in the country this summer you may substitute for a local site with a visit to places like Ellis Island (NY), Independence Hall (PA), the Alamo (TX), etc. Should you have questions about specific sites, please feel free to email any one of the AP US History teachers:
Mr. Benson: bensond@weston.org
Mr. Cochran: cochranm@weston.org
Mr. Smith: smiths@weston.org
Ms. Wanosky: wanoskyr@weston.org
Note: You should also know that this activity mirrors extra credit assignments available during the school year. You will have four more opportunities to visit sites and engage with local/national history.
What you need to do:
• Pick a site (1) to visit from the list below. We suggest that you check their websites for operating hours and any entrance fees.
o Colonial - Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge, MA)
o Colonial - Plymouth Plantation & Mayflower II (Plymouth, MA)
o Colonial/Rev. War Minute Man national Historic Park (Concord, MA)
o Colonial/Rev. War/Early Republic - Freedom Trail (Boston, MA)
o Colonial/Rev. War/Early Republic - Adams Historic Site (Quincy MA)
o War of 1812 - Charlestown Naval Yard NHP/U.S.S. Constitution (Charlestown, MA)
o 19th Century - Black Heritage Trail (Boston, MA)
o Colonial through 19th Century - Museum of African American History (Boston, MA)
o Reform - Fruitlands (Harvard, MA)
o Literature/19th Century - The Orchard House (Concord, MA)
o Literature/19th Century - Longfellow House (Cambridge, MA)
o Literature: House of Seven Gables (Salem, MA)
o Industrial Revolution - Slater Mill (Pawtucket, RI)
o Industrial Revolution - Tsongas Industrial History Center (Lowell, MA)
o Industrial Revolution – Lowell National Historic Park (Lowell, MA)
o Maritime/Commercial - New Bedford Whaling Museum (New Bedford, MA)
o Maritime/Commercial - Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA)
o Maritime/Commercial - The Custom House Maritime Museum (Newburyport, MA)
o Religion - Hancock Shaker Village (Pittsfield, MA)
o Gilded Age - Newport Mansions (Newport, RI)
o Gilded Age - Boston Public Library (Boston, MA)
o WWII - Battleship Cove (Fall River, MA)
o WWII - USS Salem (Quincy, MA)
o WWII - New England Holocaust Memorial (Boston, MA)
o Cold War - JFK Library & Museum (Dorchester, MA)
o Americana - Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, MA)
o Cultural: Art of the Americas Wing, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MSA)
• While you are visiting:
o Pick up some literature about this place; for example, a brochure.
o Take at least two pictures of yourself proving that you were there.
o Take some notes so you can answer the questions below.
• Reflect on your visit: Please respond to ALL OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS in your reflection.
1. BEFORE you visited this place, what did you think would be there? What interest prompted your choice? What did you want to find out there?
2. Put your site into historical context. What was happening in US History to make this place significant? In other words, why is the site worth visiting and remembering? (Note: This aspect of the assignment may require you to do some light research so that you can answer the question.)
3. List and explain at least 3 ASPECTS of your visit that stood out for you. In other words, what will YOU REMEMBER about this visit? For example:
- Did a Park Ranger tell a good story about this place?
- What did you think about the art and/or architecture of the site?
- What do you imagine it would have been like to have lived and/or worked here in that period of time?
- We encourage you to take a few moments and really look at the place you are visiting. What does it tell you about U.S. History?
4. AFTER your site visit, go back to the first bullet and compare your initial expectations to what you know now. What did you think you’d see, and what did you actually learn in your time visiting this place?
• Turn your work in on the first day of class in September. You should have:
o Your written reflection answering the above questions
- It should not be shorter than one page and does not need to be longer than two pages.
- Please type and double space.
- We encourage you to use as little paper as possible; therefore you may have wide margins, and a font as small as 11. Please feel free to double-side your response.
o Your two pictures in your word document (they can be imported onto page 2 or 3 of your reflection)
o Any literature you collected. Please attach it to your reflections
o A (second) paper copy of your reflection to share with your class.
This assignment is due the first day of class: Wednesday, September 5
Note: Each AP teacher will handle this assignment differently for his/her class in terms of point value, how it will be presented/shared, etc.). Should you have questions, please contact your AP US History teacher.
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