The Historic Halifax State Historic Site provides an opportunity for teachers and students to move beyond the social Studies textbook and experience living history programming and historic buildings. There are costumed interpreters who provide tours and detail significant contributions that were made by the people in this town. Halifax was a major town during the Revolutionary War period and the subsequent period of the founding of the United States of America. But that is not all..... from Native Americans, colonial conflicts, development of the first state university, famous racehorses, the quest of enslaved for their freedom, the Ram Albemarle, Lafayette, George Washington, ....there are so many stories to tell. COME VISIT.
SCHEDULE FIELD TRIPS TO THE HISTORIC SITE
Staff at the historic site will welcome all students and educators but particularly students of grades 4/5, 8, and 11 since those the objectives of those grades in the NC social studies curriculum align with the history of this site. Schedule a customized visit with a costumed interpreter by calling the historic site: 252-583-7191.
To assist your instruction, several instructional plans have been developed for educators of grades 6 through 12 that either focus on the Revolutionary War history or the Underground Railroad history. These can be used in your classroom to prepare the students before the visit and also to follow up afterwards. These lessons are also in alignment with the themes of the 250th Commemoration of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence that will be celebrated in 2026.
The websites for both the US 250th Commission and the NC 250th Commission are listed on this website and contain a wealth of events, videos, documents that are of interest.
INSTRUCTIONAL PLANS FOR GRADES 6-12 that include primary source documents and selected SCOS:
Primary Source Document Analysis
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Individual copies of the Halifax Resolves with Guided Reading Questions
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Individual copies of the HIPP Analysis Sheet
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Individual copies of the Declaration of Independence
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Individual copies of Gallery Walk Template
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Individual copies of Meet the Artwork Analysis Sheet
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1 set of Freedom Seeker Advertisements to post for the gallery walk. This can be separate from the previous copies. It may be beneficial to enlarge for the wall if possible.
Standards Activity
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Individual Copies of the NC 8th Grade Standards for American History
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Individual Copies of the NC Standards for High School American History
Instructional plans for grades 6-12
Individual Copies of Lesson Plans (Halifax Resolves and Underground Railroad)
Individual Copies of Lesson Plan Review Templates a useful tool if providing professional development for teachers in your district.
Extension Activity
Individual Copies of the closing Extension Activity
SPECIAL RESOURCE located in the media centers of all schools, grades K-12, in Halifax County.
With funding from the Society of Cincinnati, The Friends of Historic Halifax gifted class sets of two Tar Heel Junior Historian special editions, Its Revolutionary! to each school in Halifax County. These booklets are produced by the Museum of History for classroom use with concise articles, definitions, activities, authentic documents, and historical tidbits. Teachers of grades K-12 should check them out for use in the classroom.
Volume 63, Number 1: It’s Revolutionary!, Prelude to War
Volume 63, Number 2: Its Revolutionary! Choices in Conflict
IF OTHER COUNTIES ARE INTERESTED IN THIS RESOURCE or other educational resources, they can explore the website for the Museum of History in Raleigh, NC
[North Carolina Museum of History | NC Museum of History], click on "Learn With Us!"
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES
- PRINT SHOP WORKSHEET Print Shop
- Digital Resources | NC Historic Sites
- YouTube video by Sons of American Revolution (SAR) on William R. Davie CONSTITUTION WEEK William R Davie
- YouTube presentation on Halifax Resolves: History and Highballs | NCMOH
BOOK REPORT: WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE, a book by Blackwell Pierce Robinson, University of NC Press, ISBN 978-1-4696-9267-8
Many school media centers will have a copy of this book. If not, books are available on the historic site. For student book reports, the following questions are recommended: Click Here
CAROLINA PUBLIC HUMANITIES WEBSITE- an excellent collection of lessons for educators: Carolina K-12 - Carolina Public Humanities
Click on top menu, Carolina K-12, then scroll to bottom of page, and click on Lesson Plans
Database of K-12 Resources | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Recommended:
Halifax County, The Roanoke River, and Freedom Seeking: HalifaxRoanokeRiver.pdf
The Haliwa-Saponi and Magazine Springs: MagazineSpring_2.pdf
Revolutionary War