PROGRAMS
Education Programs and Resources for Teachers
The Hermitage History Lecture Series
The Hermitage History Roundtable
Other Historic Sites in Northern New Jersey
Lesson Plans and Assignments for Students
The Rise of Industrialism, 19th Century
Architectural Changes, and The Hermitage
The Revolutionary War in Bergen County
The Hermitage offers teacher workshops for professional development credits on an occasional basis. It has presented and hosted teacher workshops on the use of historic sites by teachers and on hands-on learning. Plans are being formulated for future teacher workshops. Announcements will be sent to teachers and schools in northern New Jersey. Please call 201-445-8311 to be added to the mailing list.
In addition to this teacher resource section of the Hermitage web site, other sections of use to teachers include three history sections: an extensive one on the history of the people of The Hermitage from the early 18th century through to the end of the 20th century; another on a history of the architectural changes at The Hermitage; and finally an extensive year by year account of events and quotes related to the Revolutionary War in Bergen County.
Teachers who wish to obtain more information about The Hermitage education programs or how they can be customized to meet particular teacher’s needs or who wish to discuss other aspects of local and New Jersey history for their teaching are welcomed to call and make an appointment for a consultation at The Hermitage or by phone with a member of The Hermitage educators at 201 445-8311.
Here are some recent comments made by teachers who have used Hermitage programs.
From Judy Calissi, Midland Park Middle School and High School:
The Hermitage provides an opportunity for my 10th grade U. S. History Honors students to see primary resources. Students visit this site where museum educators present a program explaining how various artifacts are preserved and maintained. They demonstrate how students should handle these documents, magazines, pictures, clothing, etc.
Students then actively participate in viewing the vast variety of resources available at The Hermitage. Prior to the actual visit, the students have been instructed how to analyze various types of resources. Integral to their visit, they have been assigned to choose a document, diary, photo or artifact of particular interest and complete an in-depth, written analysis for discussion in a follow-up class. They will also turn this assignment in for a grade.
As advisor to a middle level, mini-historians club, I have brought small groups to The Hermitage for the standard tour. This serves as an introduction to local history and it acts to prime their interest in this field. Other sites we have visited include the Steuben House, the Garrettson Forge, and the Dey Mansion.
Outreach programs prove helpful to the classroom teacher as well. This year, we found ourselves with too few bus drivers, thus limiting our ability to take field trips. The Hermitage educators have been very open to providing a classroom program similar to the one described above.
The Bergen County Historical Society also provides an interesting presenter. Her name is Joanne Carlino and her program about colonial life is intriguing to middle level students.
From Jane Terlouw, Woodside Avenue School, Franklin Lakes:
I have been bringing my fourth graders to The Hermitage for the past 4 years. The program on the Revolutionary War allows them to travel back in time and see a site where Washington actually stayed. They can relive the war through the eyes of people from that time period. After studying the Battle of Monmouth we, like Washington, visit The Hermitage.
This year the Hermitage staff came to us bringing a program on the Lenape. It was interactive and hands-on and also very informative. Although I used it as an introductory activity, it would also be good for a culminating one. We could refer to the things we experienced all through the unit. As a companion piece we also traveled to Waterloo Village in Stanhope, NJ. This is a great trip to view Lenape and colonial times.
Both of these programs have been at my children’s level and the staff is always willing to change or add material to fit my needs. My children also do a scrapbook of 10 historic sties in NJ. This is a year long project done by the parents and the children. The Hermitage is always one of the sites included in their books.
If you’re looking for professional development credit, the lecture series is a rewarding way to obtain them. The lectures are truly interesting on a personal and educational level.
Other Historic Sites in Northern New Jersey
Colonial and Revolutionary War Sites
The Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus
Within approximately 15 miles of The Hermitage
Blackledge-Kearney House, Alpine
Campbell-Christie House, River Edge
Demarest House, River Edge
Dey Mansion, Wayne
Fort Lee Historic Park, Fort Lee
Garretson Farm, Fair lawn
Old Stone House, Ramsey
Steuben House, River Edge
Van Allen House, Oakland
Zabriskie House, Wyckoff
Somewhat further away
Liberty Hall, Union County
Monmouth Battlefield State Park
Morristown National Historic Park
Ringwood and Long Pond Ironworks
Stony Point Battlefield State Park
Stony Point
Nineteenth Century Sites
Somewhat close by
Botto House, American Labor Museum, Haledon
Lambert Castle, Paterson
Old School House Museum, Ridgewood
Old Station Museum, Mahwah
Paterson Museum, Paterson
Ringwood Manor and Long Pond Iron Works
Somewhat further away
Lesson Plans and Assignments for Students
Additional programs using The Hermitage and its historical resources can be
requested or developed by a teacher. Teachers and The Hermitage educators have developed the following lesson plans. Please click on the titles that interest you.
The Civil War in Bergen County, Using Primary Sources from The Hermitage Archives.
* Developed for a middle school class by Judy Calissi from the Midland Park School District
Lesson description: This lesson should be utilized during the study of the antebellum period to give students an insight into how slavery and the Civil War impacted on a family in Bergen County, the Rosencrantz family living in The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus, as well as other in this area of New Jersey. A visit to The Hermitage will reinforce the learning goals of this exploration. There are 16 documents included in this program and are grouped to answer the important questions listed below.
New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards Met by this program: 6.3, 6.4 and 6.6.
Topics
Slavery in Bergen County
Bergen County and the Civil War
Varying attitudes toward the war in Bergen County
Important Questions
To what extent did slavery exist in New Jersey before the Civil War?
How did the legislature New Jersey deal with slavery in the 19th century and what were some responses to the law that they passed?
How did various people and groups in Bergen County feel about The Civil War?
What factors affected those feelings?
How was the Rosencrantz family in particular affected by the Civil War?
Generating Interest
(To be done in class before visit or at Hermitage)
Divide the class in two. One half of the class will represent South Carolina, the other half will represent New Jersey. Tell them to imagine that they are part of a Congressional hearing in 1856. Ask them to respond to the question of whether the United States should continue to allow slavery. Each respondent must give a reason for his/her answer.
The Task
By 1860 the people of South Carolina, New Jersey, and the whole United States, having failed to solve the differences between the north and the south, including the question of slavery, were involved in a war between the secessionist South and the North determined to maintain the union. The war has been going on for two years. There still remains in parts of the north opposition to the war and pressure for peace based on compromise with the south. One of these areas is Bergen County.
Now the students are given the task of examining how people in Bergen County were thinking about war and why there was some opposition to it. Tell the students that they are part of a Congressional committee assigned to find out what people in Bergen County think about slavery, about the south and about the war. The Committee only has a short amount of time to do this investigation, so they will be able to examine only a limited number of documents.
The Process
The Committee (the students) will visit one of the leading families in north central Bergen County, the Rosencrantz family who live in The Hermitage in Ho-Ho-Kus. Here they will get a briefing about this family, its relation to African Americans, its work (running a cotton warp mill), the family connections to the south, and their church affiliation. They will also get some information about others in the neighborhood, including mill workers.
The students will then visit The Hermitage, which had been reconstructed in the late 1840s - in the then newly popular Gothic Revival style. This reconstruction was a testimony to the success of the cotton mill and was a little more than a decade old in 1860. The students will discuss the life style of this leading Bergen County family.
The students will then return to the classroom in The Hermitage Education and Conference Center to read and discuss documents that will give more information on attitudes of the Rosencrantz family and others in this part of Bergen County. (Each student will receive a copy of each document. Some originals from The Hermitage archive will be on view)
The Documents
Ad for a runaway Bergen County slave couple
How is the slave described?
Why would an owner advertise for a slave’s return?
What does the offer of a reward tell you?
Gradual Abolition Act of 1804 in New Jersey
What does gradual abolition mean?
Why would someone support such an act?
Why would someone not support such an act?
Petition against the Act
What is a petition?
Who is supporting this petition?
Where do the petitioners live?
What is their viewpoint?
Why do you think he has this opinion?
Purchase of the slave woman Gin
Who is making the purchase and from whom?
How can this purchase be made after the passage of the Act of 1804?
To whom do her children belong?
U. S. Census Data, 1830-1860 for the Rosencrantz household
Who is the owner and who belong to his family?
What is the status of the African Americans in this household?
How does the household change from 1830 to 1860?
The building of a cotton mill on the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook
Who built the mill?
What was made at this mill?
What was the source of the raw material
What was this product used for?
The running of the cotton mill
Who managed it?
What was the source of power for the mill?
Who were the workers?
John Rosencrantz letter from Arlington, Virginia, 1859, writing about his attitudes toward southerners and toward John Brown and the abolitionists
Who is John Rosencrantz?
What was John doing in Arlington in 1859?
How does John feel about the south?
How was he and his family greeted by those who lived in Arlington?
Who was John Brown? What was he in favor of? What did he do?
Does John Rosencrantz agree with John Brown?
Why do you think Rosencrantz and his family in Bergen County think as they do?
Who would disagree with John Rosencrantz in Bergen County?
Voting statistics from the 1860 election -for the United States, for New Jersey, for Bergen County
Who won the election for president in 1860?
Which party did he belong to? What did they stand for in regard to slavery?
How did New Jersey vote as a state, how did Bergen County vote?
How do you think John and Elijah Rosencrantz voted?
If the winner only got 40% of the votes, how did he win?
All of his electoral votes came from what section of the country?
What was the reaction of the other section of the country? Why? And with what result?
John Rosencrantz letter dated April 1861 from Arlington, Virginia, writing about the southerners' attitude toward the war
How does John Rosencrantz describe the feelings about the war among the southerners?
What does he think will happen?
How do you thing John feels about the war?
Albert Terhune wrote about a pro-union rally in Ho-Ho-Kus and the rally resolution in April 1861
Who participated in the rally?
Describe the rally.
What does the resolution tell about the attitude toward the war of those Bergen County people who signed it?
How do you think that the Rosencrantz family reacted to the rally?
What actions do you think followed from the rally and how would it affect the Rosencrantz and other cotton factories in the area?
An account of the actions of the pro-union minister at the Dutch Reformed Church in Paramus, an account of parishioners who left to form an Episcopal Church in Ridgewood, and a letter from a New Jersey volunteer from the Sixth Regiment
What do all of these documents have in common?
How do they differ from one another?
What do these documents tell you about the feelings about the war here in Bergen County?
Accounts related to the impact of the war on the owners of cotton mills, including Elijah Rosencrantz, in Bergen County - Chart showing the changing costs of a bale of cotton in Bergen County; Reaction of customers to the changing price of manufactured warp (thread); A creditors letter to Elijah Rosencrantz; The response of Elijah Rosencrantz
What happened to the price of a bale of cotton?
Why was this happening at this time?
What was the impact on cotton mills in Bergen County ?
What is a creditor's letter?
What is Elijah Rosencrantz offer to do?
Why do you think that the Paterson creditor does not act on Elijah’s offer?
How do you think that these circumstances affected Elijah’s attitude toward the war and toward the Lincoln administration?
When do you think things will improve for Elijah and his cotton mill?
The Rise of Industrialism, 19th Century Architectural Changes, and The Hermitage
To Come
The Revolutionary War in Bergen County
Some questions for high school and some middle school students - from material presented on this site.
What was life like for the average resident of Bergen County in the early 1770s - on the eve of the American revolution?
Note the difference in the names of some communities in Bergen County between today and the 1770s. Of course some current towns in the County did not even exist or existed only as farms or forest in the 1770s.
How did Bergen County residents respond to the growing agitation against England and then the Declaration of Independence in 1776?
Why did Bergen County become a center - one of the most important centers - of conflict through the entire period of warfare - from 1776 to 1781?
What do the maps tell us about who was in military control for most of the war in the northern part of Bergen County and why? In the southern part of the County and why?
Where was the most contested area of the County and why was it there? What did each side want from this area? What did they get?
Who were the militiamen? (Revolutionary partisans) Who were the Loyalist soldiers? (Partisans fighting for the status quo) Give reasons why a man or woman in Bergen County in the late 1770s might chose to be a revolutionary, to be a loyalist, or to try to remain neutral. What were the advantages and the risks of each of these choices? How did the militiamen and the loyalist soldiers operate during the war?
What impact did the presence of Revolutionary militiamen, Loyalist soldiers, and persons seeking neutrality all residing in the same county and often in the same neighborhoods have on life in this contested area? What were the problems for the residents? Did the struggle provide any opportunities for the residents?
Discuss the position of Theodosia Prevost and members of her family at the Hermitage during the war. How did she respond to her position there? How do you evaluate her actions?
In what ways was Bergen County important to both the American Continental and French armies and to the British army? Discuss this from the point of view of overall military strategy and from the point of view of foraging. What is foraging?
Discuss how the conflict in Bergen County typifies guerilla warfare? Do you see any similarities between warfare here during the Revolution and warfare in the Vietnam War?
For additional information on any of the programs described above, please call 201-445-8311.
