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.
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
Young Historians
We create hands-on opportunities throughout the museum for young learners through colonial toys and games, clothing, sensory objects, and story time opportunities. Contact us to customize this program for your classes.
Recommended Grades
Best for K-2nd Grade Level LearnersDuration
40 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House Museum
Free for all
Interactions with the Colonial Period (Virtual Options Available!)
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 (Virtual Options Available!)
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 Museum
Benefit Street: A Mile of History Walking Tour for Students
Created in the mid-18th century “for the benefit of all,” this colonial thoroughfare offers an enviable collection of 18th and early 19th century wood-frame houses.
Recommended Grades
Best for high school and college studentsDuration
90 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
The John Brown House Museum
H.P. Lovecraft's Providence: A Walk Through History and Literature
Born in 1890 and writing through his death in 1937, H.P. Lovecraft‘s acclaim as a genius of occult and horror fiction lives on. See the city through this legendary author’s eyes as the passages of his work are connected with locations around the East Side.
Recommended Grades
Best for high school and college studentsDuration
120 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.
Assembly Line Activity
Students will get a hands-on understanding of history by participating as competing companies in an assembly line.
Recommended Grades
AllDuration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Suitcase Activity
Students will take on the role of a historian as they sort through the belongings of immigrant families.
Recommended Grades
6-12Duration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Living History Presentations
A living history interpreter performs a play describing her personal experiences at the turn-of-the century.
Recommended Grades
K-6Duration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Outdoor Walking Tour
Guides bring the classroom outdoors, tracing the history of the Blackstone River, water power, and ecology.
Recommended Grades
AllDuration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Blackstone Valley Explorer
Students travel the Blackstone River, learning about local wildlife, water quality, and historic sites.
Recommended Grades
5-12Duration
Additional 45 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Lunch Space Rental in Museum's ITU Hall
Students may bring bagged lunches to enjoy in the Museum’s ITU Hall.
Recommended Grades
AllDuration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
Pizza Lunch in ITU Hall by Olly's Pizzeria
A pizza lunch with soft drinks served on-site in the Museum’s ITU Hall.
Recommended Grades
AllDuration
Additional 30 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
French Canadian Lunch at Chelo's Restaurant
A traditional French Canadian lunch served at the Chelo’s Restaurant Woonsocket location.
Recommended Grades
AllDuration
Additional 30-45 minutesLocation / Meeting Point
Museum of Work & Culture
French Canadian Lunch at River Falls Restaurant
A traditional French Canadian lunch served at River Falls Restaurant.