On Nov. 27, the AP United States History Classes went on a field trip to the Fairfield Museum and History Center for an interactive learning experience to enhance their understanding of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Most students that visited the “Promise of Freedom” exhibition were from the sophomore AP US History classes, with some upperclassmen joining. APUSH teacher Mr. Daniel Heaphy escorted the group for the activity.
This Emancipation Proclamation exhibit not only features many original documents, paintings and artifacts from this period of time, but it is also the only exhibition in the New England area to display the original 13th amendment copy of the Proclamation.
Students appreciated the trip’s connection to the curriculum.
“I thought that the field trip was good because they had many interesting artifacts, which they utilized to explain the history of the period. This couldn’t have been taught to the same extent in the classroom,” said Gabe Pensak ’15.
“I didn’t learn anything new but it was interesting to see real life examples of what we had talked about in class,” said Chris Fincher ’13. “They had an authentic Ku Klux Klan outfit that was pretty chilling.”
Overall, students reflected positively on their out-of-classroom lesson experience.
“Only one of the guides was really good and the other one was really boring,” said Elizabeth Bennewitz ’15. “It was great being able to experience the topics of the classroom out at a museum. I think field trips in this class are a good idea.”
