Visit our museums with your students and open a door to Rhode Island’s extraordinary history!
We offer a wide range of school tours, which are described below, listed by RIHS location. The Field Trip Free for All Program offers all standard, museum-based, educational programs at no cost for teacher-supervised visits. Our programs are led by staff and docents. We also offer funding towards busing for Title 1-designated schools thanks to the Klyberg Fund for Educational Access. Applications can be downloaded here.
We welcome teachers to contact us to arrange a tour by calling us or emailing us, along with submitting our Inquiry Form.
Click here for scheduling and location information
Can’t come to us? We also offer a variety of virtual school programming including live virtual visits with a museum educator! Please visit our Virtual Tours and Resources page for more information.
Our School Tours
John Brown House Museum
School programs at the John Brown House can be customized for your students based on content and grade level. Possible topics include life in early America; the American Revolution; the city of Providence; the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade; the Gaspee Affair; and Rhode Island in the world. Click here for scheduling and location information. Back to top.
Free for all
Interactions with the Colonial Period
Step through time into the colonial period at the John Brown House Museum and learn about life in 18th-century Providence. This program uses stations inside the house to offer interactive and experiential learning with sensory objects, discussion, and object analysis.
Recommended Grades
Best for 3rd-6th Grade Level LearnersDuration
50 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House Museum
Free for all
Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Connections
This program illustrates these connections through a hands-on activity called the “Web of Complicity” that shows the relationships that stretched from the city to the sea in the global enterprise of the slave trade.
Recommended Grades
Best for 4th-8th Grade Level LearnersDuration
60 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House Museum
Avi’s Something Upstairs Walking Tour
Step back in time and explore the streets of Providence through the lens of Avi’s Something Upstairs.
Recommended Grades
Best for 4th-7th Grade Level LearnersDuration
75 minutes, covers one mileLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House Museum
Free for all
John Brown House Museum Guided Discussion
Travel through time at the John Brown House Museum with a guided discussion and tour through our historic space.
Recommended Grades
Best for High School & College StudentsDuration
60 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House MuseumMuseum of Work & Culture
Dedicated to sharing the stories of those who came to find a better life in Rhode Island’s mill towns, the Museum of Work & Culture’s exhibits provide an immersive look into the past. Exhibits include a nineteenth-century farmhouse, the floor of a textile mill, the parlor of a triple-decker home, a parochial school classroom, and a union hall. Click here for scheduling and location information. Back to top.
Free for all
Museum Docent Guided Tour
Students are led through the museum by one of our trained docents. Docent guided tours are also available in French.