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Education & Engagement

Montpelier offers unique learning experiences for local students of all ages

Your contribution will directly support Montpelier’s ongoing efforts to preserve the legacy and ideals of liberty that founded our nation. Together, we can ensure the American story is told in its entirety–one that resonates with all Americans and reminds us of our shared journey towards a more perfect union.

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Bringing the Past to Life

Montpelier offers students unique ways to experience history

History is often taught as a series of disconnected names, dates, and historical events. James Madison wrote the Constitution, the Civil War started on April 12, 1861, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. This information is often stored only to be regurgitated for tests then promptly discarded, the empty coffers repopulated by a new set of names, dates, and events. 

What we’re missing is making history relevant to, and engaging for, students. Connecting the past to the present in a way that allows them to see the importance of their shared past as Americans, and use this knowledge and historical context to offer solutions that will lead to a more cohesive future. 

Montpelier aerial. Aaron Watson photography. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

For many years Montpelier has worked to engage public, private, and home-schooled students around the state, connecting the past to the present through the lens of the Constitution. As part of our commitment as a cultural institution, we offer educational programs and class field trips catered to inquiring minds of all ages. Our programs are hands-on, interdisciplinary, and complement the Virginia History and Social Science Standards of Learning. 

Homeschool Day. Ethan Hickerson, Mobelux. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

Students receive a guided tour of the Madisons’ home led by one of our specially-trained educators. House tours are tailored to fit any grade-level and cover a wide range of historical topics in a way that excites, challenges, and educates the students. From there, participants have the opportunity to experience myriad engaging activities that offer them the rare opportunity to tactilely engage with history and the process of historical discovery. 

Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.
Montpelier education program. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.

Montpelier is proud to host over 100 field trips every year, engaging with over 5,000 students ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

To learn more about Montpelier’s educational programming, check out https://www.montpelier.org/visit/students-families.

Students experiencing The Mere Distinction of Colour exhibition during a field trip. Becky Ellis, ACPS.

What About the Difficult History?

Race, culture, history, and truth

Not all of our history is rosy. Kids today have access to an incredible amount of information, but curriculum alignment around teaching race, the legacies of slavery, and the Civil Rights movement is highly-variable. 

According to recent study by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project, schools are not adequately teaching the history of American slavery, educators are not sufficiently prepared to teach the subject, and textbooks don’t contain enough material about it. As a result, students lack a basic knowledge of the important role it played in shaping the United States and the impact it continues to have on race relations in America.
 
In the midst of a social watershed moment, young people, particularly high schoolers, are forging their identities and equipping themselves with the knowledge to contend with the forces at play around them. The students live in a community where their friends, parents, and teammates are all having different experiences, conceptualizations, and internalizing different information with which to process today’s conversations about race, equality, and how that maps to American history.

Students and teachers have expressed a need for high-level interscholastic conversations that equip them with the skills, context, and spaces to engage in meaningful dialogue with an eye towards formulating plans to actively participate in, and hopefully contribute to, social change.
 
Montpelier’s Power of Place

Montpelier is, in many ways, is the embodiment of the contradiction of America’s founding era. How do we contend with fact that the man who wrote about liberty and equality owned slaves, never freeing a single one? How do we unpack hundreds of years of history so that these students, on the cusp of adulthood, can absorb and apply its lessons?

Montpelier's Jim Crow-era Train Depot. Ethan Hickerson, Mobelux. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

At Montpelier, we link our shared American past to our present to help contextualize some of the issues we still contend with today. We rely on years of research and archaeology to present a thought-provoking and fact-based interpretation to our visitors through our groundbreaking exhibition, The Mere Distinction of Colour. 

Brick mosaic of young enslaved boy made from bricks excavated from South Yard. Bricks contain finger prints of the enslaved children who made them

Using the exhibition as a foundation, and through innovative partnerships with Albemarle County Public Schools and Tandem Friends School, Montpelier has expanded its educational programming. By curating customized programming that resonates with students and is topically relevant, Montpelier does what few other historic sites will: offers an elevated space in which to have the uncomfortable conversations about our sociocultural environment, grounded in history.

Let ‘Em Shine

Albemarle County Public Schools holds 2 day seminar at Montpelier

On December 6th and 7th, 2017, Montpelier hosted nearly 200 students from Albemarle County Public Schools as part of the “Let ‘Em Shine” project, funded through an Educator Innovator grant from the National Writing Project and backed by singer-songwriter, John Legend. Focused on public memory, the goal of this project is for students to help unite the community by using what they learn during the immersion-focused trip to Montpelier and other sites to create a symbolic monument to a significant person, event, or era, that tells a broader story and honors our rich cultural history.

Albemarle High School students take notes during 2017 Let ‘Em Shine workshop focusing on memorialization and public memory. Becky Ellis, ACPS.

Scholars and experts from around the country came to Montpelier to run workshops to help the students answer some of the project’s looming questions and help orient them towards their final product. A diverse and high-profile group of local and national designers, museum professionals, media professionals, and educators worked with the students to tackle an array of complex topics.

COMPLEX TOPICS

  1. What constitutes a monument?  
  2. Why do we build monuments?
  3. What stories are we telling through our public memorials and monuments?
  4. Who decides who is memorialized?  
  5. What are possible methods of memorialization?
     
     
Proun Design Principal, Chris Danemayer, leads a workshop for a group of local high school students. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

An event like this was the first of its kind at a Virginia historic home, and one that was transformative for the students and teachers. It marked the beginning of a new conceptualization of how museums and cultural institutions interact with students and educators. 

“Thank you for such an amazing opportunity for our students. They loved how interactive their sessions were and how much they got to do while they were there. The Mere Distinction of Colour exhibition is breathtaking."

ACPS TEACHER
Youtube video
ACPS students take part in Let 'Em Shine workshops at James Madison's Montpelier

Montpelier owes a debt of gratitude to Kirt Van Daacke, Kathy Harris, Chris Danemayer, Braden Paynter, Deborah McDowell, James Perla, Kelley Libbey, Peter Hedlund, and Justin Reid for offering their time and expertise to this program.

 

Tandem Friends School

Local private school tackles complexities of race, history, and culture

In January of 2018, following the success of Let ‘Em Shine, Montpelier hosted the entire 11th grade from Tandem Friends School, a local private school in Charlottesville, VA. For Tandem, Montpelier created a customized experience to complement their rigorous and challenging curriculum, and offered the students new avenues through which to explore race, culture, and history, framed by the Constitution and America’s founding.

The day-long program leveraged The Mere Distinction of Colour to explore history’s impact on the present and as a springboard for a larger discussion about the human struggle for freedom in our nation. Montpelier staff, in conjunction with Tandem teachers, challenged the students to think critically about the linkages between the past and the present and encouraged participants to have elevated conversations about the impact of history on modern social issues.

A student from Tandem Friends School participates in afternoon workshop at James Madison's Montpelier. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

The day ended with an open forum, offering the students an opportunity unprecedented at sites like Montpelier: the chance to have a candid conversation about the racial and cultural issues they face every day, moderated by experts in the field.

“At first glance it might have seemed like a typical field trip: visiting an old president’s home? What’s the excitement in that?”commented one student. “But the trip exceeded expectations. We visited the museum’s new exhibit, The Mere Distinction of Color, and ended the day with a meaningful discussion.”

The discussion started with the students, in small groups, being given the chance to express unfiltered thoughts and questions. These were subsequently displayed and presented to the group to be discussed, anchored by, and harkening back to, the historical context from the  day’s earlier tours.

Initial questions posed by Tandem students during afternoon workshop. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation
Initial questions posed by Tandem students during afternoon workshop. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation
Initial questions posed by Tandem students during afternoon workshop. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation
Initial questions posed by Tandem students during afternoon workshop. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation

It was a rare opportunity for the students to make their voices heard in a controlled but open environment. The students were encouraged to challenge each other, and attempt to unpack the incidents of August 12 to understand how it affects their hometown dynamic, their friend groups, and how it fits into the broader conversation of race in America. 

“Our discussion, guided by skilled Montpelier faculty, allowed us to process the harsh realities of life as a slave,” reflected one student. “We came away having a better understanding of not only what it meant to be a slave so many years ago, but the implications of racism and legacies of slavery in today’s world. I cannot more highly recommend this program; it should be a requirement for all Virginia citizens. ” 

Tandem students in the midst of a workshop on race, history, and culture. Kendall Madigan. Courtesy of the Montpelier Foundation.

I cannot more highly recommend this program; it should be a requirement for all Virginia citizens.

TANDEM FRIENDS SCHOOL STUDENT

“It was important to us that the students lead the discussion,” reminds Montpelier Director of Marketing, Price Thomas, who pioneered these initiatives on behalf of Montpelier.” These kids are coming into their own with a litany of complex questions that shape their personal realities, but don’t have a reliable place to filter through and discuss them without judgement. It was exciting to see them having honest conversations with one another about, and experiencing, maybe for the first time, genuine agency in, the state of their school and community, as it pertains to this broader conversations we are all grappling with as Americans.”

Montpelier Director of Marketing, Price Thomas, and Research Associate, Hannah Scruggs, converse with students from Tandem Friends School

What’s Next?

Making the experience accessible to all

Montpelier remains committed to opening its doors to students of all ages and offering them new and exciting ways to interact with American history. From hands-on-history for primary students to in-depth social conversations for older students and classes, Montpelier has a wealth of knowledge for teachers and schools to take advantage of.

Community Engagement

The success of this year’s programs paves the way for Montpelier to be a thought-leader in high-level programming for school systems. Building on the success of the partnerships with ACPS and Tandem, and leveraging the powerful lens on America’s race conversation via The Mere Distinction of Colour, James Madison’s Montpelier will move forward to create a curriculum and dialogue partnership with public and private schools that will offer a powerful combination of historical context, expertly-mediated conversations, digital media engagement, and ongoing forums for dialogue on the subjects of race, history, and equality.

By encouraging our students to ask questions and honestly analyze and talk about where we are as a collective, we can begin to take steps towards the “exceptional” America we all aspire to be a part of.

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Why did James Madison have a temple in his front yard? He didn’t come here to pray– it wasn’t that kind of temple. Maybe it reminded him of the ancient Roman temple where the “flame of Liberty” was kept burning. But what does “liberty” mean? Does it mean that you can do anything you want? Whenever you want? Of course not! Can you imagine a whole country of people doing whatever they want? Imagine how quickly things would get out of control!

Things were getting out of control after the colonies broke away from the King of England during the American Revolution. The new states didn’t have a good system to govern themselves. They needed a rulebook. They needed a constitution.

Enter James Madison. He read lots of books right here at Montpelier that gave him ideas about the rules that other countries played by, if they didn’t have a king. Madison went to Philadelphia and worked with people from many different states to write a Constitution. His ideas were so helpful that now he is known as the “Father of the Constitution.”

What does the Constitution say about who makes the rules? Instead of a king, it’s “We The People.” The Constitution gives citizens the FREEDOM to govern themselves, to choose their own leaders, and to make their own laws and rules. The Constitution also protects the people’s rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press.

At first the Constitution didn’t allow everyone to participate in government, but over the past 240 years, Americans have made changes — things called Amendments– that let more people have rights, and vote, and run for office. Now “We the People” means just about “All the People!”

The United States Constitution is the modern world’s longest lasting Constitution, and many countries have used it as a model when they wrote their own Constitutions . And just think: it all began right here, on this plantation, Montpelier. That’s how Montpelier made its mark on the world!

Madison was the 4th President, but can you guess six other Presidents who came to Montpelier?

Madison’s best friends were Presidents 3 and 5. Maybe you’ll visit their homes, Monticello and Highland. Who were they? … Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe!

President Number 7 visited Montpelier in 1832. Someone in your family might have his picture right now – he’s on the $20 bill. Who was he? … Andrew Jackson!

Three other Presidents visited Montpelier after Madison’s lifetime. They might be harder to guess, but let’s give it a try.

President Number 19 came in 1878, and gave a speech in praise of Madison and the Constitution. In fact, his last name rhymes with “praise.” Any guesses?… Rutherford B. Hayes!

President Number 26 came to Montpelier on Thanksgiving Day 1907, when the duPonts lived here. A toy bear is named for him. Who was he? … Teddy Roosevelt!

And finally, President Number 41 came here in 1991 for the 200th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. His son was a President too. Can you guess? … George H. W. Bush!

That’s a lot of Presidents who made their mark on Montpelier. And today you’re here! Now you’re part of Montpelier’s story too.

Sometimes the people who lived at Montpelier chose to make their mark, but other times they were forced to make their mark. From the time President Madison’s grandparents came to Montpelier, it was a plantation––a huge farm–where enslaved people of African descent grew crops like tobacco, wheat, and corn and did many other jobs to make money for the Madison family. People who were enslaved had many skills and worked hard, but they didn’t get the benefit.

It was not only enslaved adults that labored for the Madisons, but enslaved children were also forced to do a lot of different tasks such as gathering firewood, helping in the kitchens, hauling water, cleaning stables, and… making bricks. Look at this huge house in front of you— each and every one of these bricks was made one at a time, by hand. On plantations, brick-making was often a task given to enslaved children. They pressed wet clay into rectangular-shaped molds. Then the bricks were left in the sun to “bake,” and once enough bricks were made they “fired” them to harden them. Have you ever pressed your fingers into wet clay? What happens when you do that? Your fingerprints make a mark. That’s exactly what happened here when enslaved people were making bricks to build this house. As you walk around the house, see if you can find any fingerprints in the bricks. These fingerprints remind us that nearly 300 enslaved people, of all ages, made their mark on Montpelier.

Since enslaved adults and children did most of the work at Montpelier, they didn’t have a lot of time for fun. What did they do when they did have a little time to themselves? Archaeologists found artifacts – marbles, doll parts, and toy wagon wheels – that tell us that enslaved children sometimes played with toys. Other artifacts, like musical instruments called jaw harps, tell us that enslaved people made music. Many of the activities that enslaved people probably enjoyed, like storytelling or dancing, didn’t leave artifacts in the ground.

The Madisons had much more time to themselves. Written records describe one of their favorite ways to have fun: parties.

Dolley Madison wrote about a barbecue picnic that she and James hosted on the 4th of July 1816. Ninety guests sat at tables set up on the lawn by enslaved people. Enslaved waiters served them roasted meats and punch, and most likely, fresh vegetables from the garden.

We don’t have a written account of what enslaved people had to do to get ready for that party, but historians found one written account that gives us a clue. In 1824, the famous General Lafayette visited Montpelier. A young enslaved maid named Ailsey Payne was there. Years later, she gave a newspaper reporter her eyewitness account. She saw so many horse drawn carriages she could hardly count them. Young enslaved men rode and led the horses. Enslaved people stored all kinds of food and meat in the icehouse. Ailsey Payne helped clean every inch of the House and shined all of the glass, silver, and china.

Ailsey Payne left her mark on Montpelier by telling her story! Will you tell someone about your visit?

Have you ever been asked to “sweep the floor?” Maybe it’s your chore to sweep up the crumbs that fall to the floor after dinner (if you don’t have a dog to do it for you). But have you ever been asked to “sweep the yard?” Archaeologists at Montpelier believe that enslaved people who lived here did just that! They used brooms to sweep away all of the grass and weeds. The ground would have been like a smooth, hard, clay floor.

Sweeping the yard cut down pests and unwanted creatures like ticks, mice, and snakes. It was a natural way of getting rid of pests that ruined food or caused disease.

The building in front of you was once a kitchen. Enslaved cooks labored here from long before sunup to long after sundown to prepare meals for the Madison family and their guests. They could build their hot cooking fires outside in the swept yard so that the work was more tolerable.

Except for the two smokehouses, the buildings here were homes for enslaved families who mostly worked inside the Madisons’ House. Their homes could be crowded, dark, and unbearably hot in summer. Having a smooth, swept yard allowed them to move many of their indoor activities outdoors. Imagine how busy this place would have been!

The ancestors of enslaved people at Montpelier had also swept their yards in Africa.They passed their wisdom along to their descendants. This is just one example of how enslaved people and their ancestors left their mark on Montpelier.

Do you have pets?

The Madisons had a pet parrot named Polly, but most of the animals at Montpelier weren’t pets – they were working animals. Horses pulled plows that made the ground ready for planting wheat or corn. Horses also pulled wagons, loaded with barrels of Montpelier tobaccos or wheat flour, to market in Fredericksburg and Richmond, and brought supplies back. Aleck was an enslaved wagoner who drove and cared for the horses. On one trip to Fredericksburg, Aleck had to borrow 50 cents to go to the blacksmith for new horseshoes so the horses could make the trip back.

Besides horses, there were cows and sheep and pigs at Montpelier. Some animals were raised for food. Sheep were also raised for their woolly coats. Enslaved women spun the wool into yarn or thread, and weavers like Reuben, Amy, and Harriet wove it into cloth.

James Madison wanted to improve the American breeds of cows and sheep. He bought some Merino sheep, because their wool was so good. A friend gave him some Devon calves as a gift, because they were a better breed of cows.

Animals made their mark at Montpelier – and so did the people who worked with them and took care of them!

How do we know what we know about the past? We can’t ask the people who used to live here— they’re long gone. We have to piece together clues from “primary sources”— letters, journals, diaries, paintings, and newspapers. History is kind of like a giant jigsaw puzzle— as we put the pieces together, a picture of the past emerges!

The very first people to live at Montpelier were Native Americans, or Indigenous people. They didn’t leave written records behind, but they did leave artifacts– objects that were made or shaped or used with their own hands. People who study artifacts are called archaeologists. Montpelier’s archaeologists have discovered artifacts that are about 2000 years old. That tells us that Indigenous people were here, thousands of years before the Madisons, or enslaved people, ever set foot on this land.

The Manahoac tribe were the native people living on this land just before the Madisons arrived here. Artifacts show us that the Manahoac made their mark by making their homes here for periods of time. The artifacts found near President Madison’s house, and near his grandparent’s house at Mount Pleasant–objects such as ceramics, stone tools, and projectile points— show us that the Manahoac thought these were good places to live too.

Did you know that there are descendants of Manahoac people living and making their mark in Virginia today? They are now part of the Monocan tribe, one of the 7 Federally recognized tribes in Virginia.

Some of the people that left their mark on Montpelier are buried here in the Madison family Cemetery. Can you guess which of these gravestones marks the final resting place of James Madison? It’s the tallest monument, and it’s called an obelisk. Today it’s easy to spot Madison’s grave, but if you visited Montpelier in the first 20 years after his death, you wouldn’t know where he was buried unless you were a member of his family. James Madison passed away on June 28, 1836, and two days later, he was buried here, in an unmarked grave.

Why would a president of the United States be buried in an unmarked grave? Today we usually place a marker at the head of a grave, but in the 1700s and 1800s people didn’t always do that, especially in a family cemetery where everyone knew where their family members were buried. If you count the gravestones you’ll find that there are about 30, but we know there are about 100 Madison family members buried here.

It wasn’t until 20 years later that people, outside of the Madison family, decided to place the large gravestone to honor the “Father of the Constitution.” Now, ready for a creepy story? Before placing the gravestone, a deep foundation had to be dug to a depth below James Madison’s coffin. “The boards placed above the coffin had decayed…and the coffin lid was slightly out of place…” so the men digging the foundation opened the coffin lid and “looked in upon the remains…” of James Madison!

Some people made their mark at Montpelier by leaving it.

Anthony was just 17 years old when he decided to make his escape from Montpelier. He had been enslaved here all his life, working in the Madisons’ house, and he was ready to take a big risk for freedom. James Madison’s father placed an ad in the newspaper to say that Anthony had escaped. The ad said that Anthony had light hair and gray eyes, and it described his coats, pants, striped overalls, hat, and buckled shoes. The ad offered a reward for capturing Anthony.

Anthony didn’t want to be caught, so he told people his name was Robert Jones. But one year after he escaped, Anthony was found, about 70 miles from Montpelier. He told the men who captured him that he had traveled to port cities in Virginia, to Philadelphia, and even the West Indies.

But the very next day, Anthony escaped again. He managed to get papers that said he was a free man named Billy Willis. There was a rumor that he was heading to Philadelphia. The Madisons never heard from him again. What happened next is a mystery. But Anthony left his mark by taking a big risk for freedom.

The duPont Family bought Montpelier in 1901 and made many changes to the House and the property. Did you see the racetrack on your way in today? You might even have seen some horses!

Marion duPont Scott loved horses and horse racing. She helped make Montpelier one of the most important horse training centers in America. When three of her favorite horses passed away, she had them buried here and put up these markers to remember them.

Perhaps her favorite horse was Battleship. He was so small that people called him the “American Pony,” but Marion DuPont Scott knew that he had big talent. She sent him across the ocean to race in the British “Grand National,” an important steeplechase race that is still run today. The race is over 4 miles long, and the horses have to jump 30 fences! Many people thought that a small horse like Battleship couldn’t possibly win, but in 1938 he surprised them all! To this day, he is still the smallest horse ever to win the British Grand National. You might say that Battleship left his hoofprints on the history of horse racing!

Marion duPont Scott left another mark on Montpelier. She wanted to share Montpelier and its story with everyone. Thanks to her, you can visit Montpelier today!

Lots of people made their mark on Montpelier. But there are two people you might already know: James and Dolley Madison!

How did James Madison make his mark? He was a Virginia lawmaker, a US Congressman, the Secretary of State, and our 4th President! (Not all at the same time.)

But most importantly, Madison was “Father of the Constitution” and “Architect of the Bill of Rights.” He didn’t write those documents all by himself, but he shared lots of good ideas that still help us govern our country. Madison got his ideas from reading books right here at Montpelier, and he made notes to take to the Constitutional Convention.

Madison could spend so much time in public service because his family had money from owning this plantation. The Madisons enslaved people who grew crops and tended animals. The enslaved people didn’t have much choice about being here, but their hard work made Madison’s career possible. The enslaved people made their mark as the “invisible Founders” of our country.

Dolley Madison made her mark too. James was shy and quiet, but Dolley liked to bring people together for dinners and parties, especially in Washington, DC. That made it easier for James to connect with other people in government.

As you explore Montpelier, see what else you’ll find out about people making their mark!

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