In-School Programs – We Come To You!

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is proud to bring the history to your school! We offer two high school programs, and an elementary school activity. Explore the tabs below to learn more about our outreach offerings.

High School/Grades 11-12

In recognition of the America250 commemoration in 2026, The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is pleased to present two new outreach programs for high school & college-preparatory students of United States History, featuring primary source readings and analysis that delve into the influential life and work of Connecticut’s own Noah Webster.

Webster is chiefly remembered as the author of The American Spelling Book (1783) and The American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), but his contributions to the founding of our nation are more than significant; Webster’s acquaintances included the most important figures of the American Revolutionary period; George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

Noah Webster was a gifted writer who leveraged the power of his pen to define, for all social classes, the essential qualities of what it means to be an American, and how the words “We the People” could best ensure not only the survival, but the cultural vitality of our nation.

Part I:  Noah Webster: Patriotic Federalist (1758-1791) – This program focuses on Webster’s maturation during the period of mounting tensions within colonial Connecticut as it confronted British tyranny in the middle to late 18th Century.  Young Webster realized that independence could only be won if the thirteen diverse American colonies could each sacrifice a measure of sovereignty and effectively forge a united front to win the war.   He also believed that if victory was achieved, the new “United” States could only survive and prosper in a hostile world if it could sustain its “more perfect union” during peacetime.

A Noah Webster House Museum Educator* will travel to your school and will present a review of life & times of Noah Webster until the age of 31; your students will analyze a portion of Webster’s seminal work: Sketches of American Policy, a compelling pamphlet that anticipated The Federalist Papers, and galvanized colonial leaders to coalesce around a plan for a federal constitution.  A “jig-saw” exercise in your classroom will then bring students’ insights together to appreciate Webster’s vision for a truly unified American culture.

Fee: $200.00 (for each program, or $350.00 total for both programs)

Elementary Programs

READING ARTIFACTS

(Grades 1 – 4)

What can artifacts tell us about life in early America?

THEME:  The West Division of Hartford in the 1700’s was a small farming community. Noah Webster’s father was also a weaver. People traded with friends, neighbors, merchants, and artisans for goods and services they needed. Using hands-one, inquiry-based learning, students will work in small groups to “read” different types of artifacts from the Noah Webster House Museum. What is it? How was it used? Do we use anything like it today? What does the artifact tell us about life in the 1700’s?

Cost: $200

Program Length: 1 hour per classroom

Max. No. of Students per Classroom: 25

*High School Program Instructor Bio: 

Craig Hotchkiss taught United States History at South Windsor (Connecticut) High School for 33 years, including Honors & Advanced Placement classes, and served as the History Department Chair for nearly a decade.

Upon retirement, he joined the team at the Mark Twain House & Museum as Education Manager where he presented scores of public outreach programs at schools, libraries, and other civic organizations throughout Connecticut and the entire Northeast.   Mr. Hotchkiss was also the Site Director for the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Teacher Workshops at the museum for 5 years and taught a graduate level course Museum Education at Trinity College in Hartford.

How to Book Our Programs

Fill out the form below, or contact us at:

Email: [email protected] ~ Phone: 860.502.3257

Click here for our convenient, fast & secure online payment option

 

OR Mail A Check to the museum at 227 South Main Street, West Hartford, CT.

(Attn: Outreach Lecture)-Payments must be received prior to your scheduled visit.

Book your outreach program now!