The best way to engage young people and help them explore their heritage is to walk in the footsteps of history. Freedoms Foundation's Encounter History Tours bring students to the sites where the United States of America was born through the love of labor of our earliest civic heroes and introduce them to such important figures as George Washington, John & Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Phyllis Wheatley, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Dolly Madison, and many more.
On this page you will find brief descriptions of our three main programs, links to detailed program schedules, and videos describing our programs from both student participants and their parents, teachers, and administrators. All Encounter History Tours are completely customizable to coincide with individual school curricula and state standards. Programs can be developed for groups of all sizes and levels.
Birth of a Free Nation (sample itinerary)
This week-long residential academic tour helps younger students develop a greater knowledge and appreciation of American history. Guided visits to important historical sites, such as Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center, and Valley Forge National Park, among others, complement the Freedoms Foundation classroom instruction. Special appearances and presentations by actors portraying Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington "bring history to life."
Milestones in American History (sample itinerary)
Like the Birth of a Free Nation, this week-long residential program develops a better understanding of American history, through visits not only to Colonial Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Dutch Country, but to sites in New York as well. Students will spend a day in the Big Apple with site visits to Ground Zero, Battery Park, Time Square, Fifth Avenue, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Cornerstones of Freedom (sample itinerary)
This academic tour includes Colonial Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC. With an overnight in our nation's capital, students will visit the National Mall to explore memorials to Lincoln, Jefferson, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, as well as stops at the Smithsonian's Air and Space and American History Museums. No visit to DC would be complete without a visit to the class' Representative on the Hill and a chance to see the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence at the National Archives.
Click for the History Encounters Brochure PDF
To receive a brochure and DVD on Freedoms Foundation's Encounter History Tours, sign up online.
To discuss scheduling a History Encounters Tour, contact the Freedoms Foundation Education Department at 610.933.8825 x 233 or email jraia@ffvf.org.