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Teaching About the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area
Bring Your Local History into the Classroom
Clarke County students visit the Burwell-Morgan Mill as part of our annual Clarke Triangle field trip program.
Call us at (540) 687-6681, email us, or click here to fill out a program request form.
Demonstrating historic open fire cooking and describing life in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
In-Person or Virtual Classroom Presentations
Each free classroom presentation includes
Director of Education Travis Shaw discusses local Civil War history with Middle School students in Loudoun County.
A professionally trained public historian with classroom experience
Free scavenger hunts for each student
Primary sources and fascinating stories from your area!
Great for Homeschool learning
Any of these presentations can be booked for homeschool groups of 8 or more students
Presentations can be conducted at VPHA headquarters or another mutually agreed upon location
The programs listed below represent just a few of our offerings. We can create custom programs for any historic topic and grade level. Just ask and our professional historians will do the rest!
In-Class Program Offerings
The First Virginians: Learn about the Native Americans who inhabited the Virginia Piedmont and how they viewed and shaped the landscape over thousands of years.
Virginia and the New Nation: Discover your county’s colonial history, including stories from English descendants from the Tidewater and international immigrants like Germans, Scots-Irish, and Africans. Students will explore themes of Virginia geography and how the landscape of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge shaped agricultural practices and social developments in the 18th century. Finally, the group will learn about local contributions to the Revolutionary War and the early Republic.
Antebellum Virginia: This program provides a local, county specific look at the major changes that swept Virginia in the decades following independence. Students will learn about the region’s growing industry, the rising conflict between slavery and freedom, and a visit from one of America’s greatest revolutionary heroes.
Our Civil War Heritage: Designed for students taking Virginia Studies and customized for each county, this program introduces students to complex local decisions about secession, the role of enslavement, the first experiences with all-out war, freedom seekers, John Mosby’s guerilla war that involved civilians during 1863-65, and the devastation brought in 1864 by the Great Burning Raid. All are brought to life with stories from local historic sites, images, and artifacts.
The Land of the Free: With the end to the Civil War, Northern Virginia found itself undergoing massive change. With the end of enslavement, the destruction of farms, devastation of mills, ruin of transportation infrastructure, and the new life experiences of freedmen, the region would have to re-invent itself. Students use local historic sites and their stories to examine the local experiences of 1865-1888.
Virginia in the Great War: America’s involvement in the First World War profoundly changed our society and our position as a global power. Students will learn how members of their local community experienced the war on the home front as well as “Over There.”
Seeking Civil Rights: Snapshots from the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area: Designed for students taking U.S History II. The Civil Rights movement and the problems that gave rise to it were alive and growing here in the Heritage Area. The landscape of that era and the landmarks of that fight still exist today. Through photography and incidents based in this landscape, VPHA staff present stories that give a sense of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s as the Civil Rights struggle evolved. Each student will receive a history scavenger hunt for their county and information about key sites of the Civil Rights fight that are still a part of their everyday landscape.
On-Site Program Offerings
Reading the Historic Landscape: Students take a guided walk through Gilbert’s Corner Park to discover how people have been using the Piedmont landscape for centuries. The group will learn how Native American trade routes grew into the modern road system we see today, how agriculture defined the region from the 18th to 20th centuries, and how native and non-native species shape our landscape.
Revolutionary Leesburg: Students take a one hour guided tour around Leesburg to immerse themselves in the colonial era and learn about the American Revolution from the words of those who lived it.
Leesburg’s Civil War Landscape: For four long years, Leesburg and Loudoun County were on the battlelines between the United States and the Confederacy. This hour long walking tour takes students to a variety of historic sites, where they will explore the lives of locals from multiple perspectives - soldiers and civilians, men and women, free and enslaved.
Middleburg’s Civil Rights Story: From post-Civil War emancipation through the sit-ins of the 1960s, learn about the role that the Middleburg community played in the Civil Rights Movement. This tour is approximately one hour in length.
Special Field Trip Offerings
These field trips are designed to give students an in-depth look into the history of their community by bringing them to a variety of sites and rotating them through learning stations. Due to their size, we only offer these programs if there is a high enough demand - typically multiple schools or classes - and months of preparation. If you are interested please contact us at travis@piedmontheritage.org and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Aldie Triangle: This three site program brings students to Mt. Zion Church Historic Site, Aldie Mill, and Roundabout Meadows Farm. At each stop, students will visit stations that explore different facets of local history, including historic agriculture, Civil War medicine, and industrial history. This program is in partnership with NOVA Parks and Piedmont Environmental Council.
Warrenton Triangle: Students take a walking tour through centuries of history in historic downtown Warrenton. Stops include the Old Jail Museum, Warrenton Cemetery, and Eva Walker Park. This program is in partnership with the Fauquier Historical Society and the Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County.
Digital Education Resources
VPHA offers a wide range of digital content designed to bring local history to you! Resources include blog articles, videos, and more, covering topics ranging from the earliest inhabitants of the heritage area through the twentieth century.
Scavenger Hunts in the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area
Scavenger hunts are now available for Loudoun, Clarke, and western Prince William counties. Each with a map and careful directions for the driver, these scavenger hunts get your students and their families out into the history of your county, visiting historic sites, villages, and back roads that make our region unique. You can download the scavenger hunts here on the website. They are also available in booklet form: they are given to all students when we visit your classroom with a program. They make a good extension to what you do in class and a great “extra credit” family activity.
It Happened Near Me: Pieces of the Past From Where We Live
Want to work some local history examples into your U.S. History class so students see how their local area connects to what they are studying? Need to have your students work more with primary sources and photographs to develop their analysis skills? You'll find the materials for "It Happened Near Me" activities here.