Traveling Museum Artifact Boxes

What would you find in a soldier's traveling haversack? A lady's pocket bag? A Native American's traveling bag? Or even among an enslaved person's unique items? Morristown’s Traveling Museum Artifact Boxes contain groupings of ­­­reproduction artifacts similar to those that would have been typically found in the possession of various persons during the late eighteenth century. The purpose of these boxes extends beyond a mere show-and-tell experience for students. Morristown National Historical Park has constructed these traveling educational units to enable students to simulate what the Park and other museums do when archiving, storing, and interpreting objects from the past. We hope that by examining these objects in “museum condition,” students will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the work involved in preserving a record of the past, as well as expand their historical reasoning and historical empathy skills. And ultimately, we hope that these boxes will serve as useful preparation for teachers planning a field trip to the Morristown National Historical Park Museum.

Traveling Museum Artifact boxes are available for two week loan intervals (teacher pick up only) and include adaptable activities appropriate for primary, middle, and secondary grade levels.

Schools within the state can request the loan of the Traveling Museum Artifact Boxes by contacting 973-539-2016 (Sarah Minegar @ x 215) or (Jude Pfister @ x 204)

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We have two boxes available for loan beginning February 1, 2013: (Unit 1) The Contents of a Slave's Bag & (Unit 2) The Contents of Native American Bandolier Bag. 

We hope to have (Unit 3) The Contents of a Colonial Lady's Pocket and (Unit 4) The Contents of a Soldier's Haversack ready soon!

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Our Traveling Museum kits utilize replica artifacts and lesson units originally developed and distributed by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. These original Hands-On History Kits can be found here. Morristown National Historical Park has utilized these fantastic materials to create its own derivation demonstrating the museum end of artifact preservation. These derivations include artifact "housing" and original lesson materials and activities. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is in no way affiliated with the derivation of materials found here.

*A special thanks for intern Julie Carlson for assembling these museum boxes and creating unique curriculum materials to accompany these reproduction artifacts. Read more about Julie HERE.