Eckley Outreach & Subsidy Programs – Eckley Miners' Village Museum

We’re excited to announce that we’ve received the Inspire! Grant (IGSM-257872-OMS-25) from the Institute of Museum & Library Sciences! This grant helps fund three different programs that will make the museum more accessible to schools and the community.

Transportation Scholarship

The first program that the Inspire! Grant (IGSM-257872-OMS-25) has helped fund is a transportation scholarship! We know that transportation is a financial barrier that many schools are facing with regards to field trips. We would love to help bring your students to the site so they too can be immersed in object-based, hands-on learning. Scholarships range from $100-$500, and Title-I eligible schools take precedence. The scholarship application is below. Please contact the Museum Educator, Nicole Negron, at nicnegron@pa.gov or at the museum at (570) 636-2070, to ensure the date of your visit is available before completing the Transportation Scholarship Application.

Transportation Scholarship Application

Eckley Explorers Multi-Media Education Kits

The Eckley Explorers Kits are educational, multi-media classroom kits that teachers can borrow from the museum. We worked with an advisory committee made up of teachers from various counties in the region to ensure the kits work with classroom curricula. The kits will have artifacts, lesson plans, enrichment activities, and supplies. In cases of need, we can provide shipping to and from the school.

Kit 1: In the Coal Patch – 19th Century Life

Subjects: history (U.S., Pennsylvania, & World), mathematics, geography, social studies, sociology, archeology, heritage & cultural studies

The Coal Patch kit will help students learn about important U.S., Pennsylvania, and World History events as well as develop historical analysis skills through immersive game play, enrichment activities, writing exercises, and more. Each activity uses Eckley Miners’ Village, a 19^th century coal mining town, as a lens by which to study life in 19th century America. Students will learn about historical perspectives, settlement patterns, social organization and labor relations, budgeting; learn to use chronological thinking as well as research, and primary and secondary sources to become critical thinkers.

Kit 2: The Pennsylvanian Period (coming soon)

Subjects: STEELS (geology, natural history, geography, etc)

Students will learn about coal formation and mining processes, coal as a natural resource; the relationship between the use of coal and the human impact on earth systems, the significance of the coal in energy production, and more! This kit employs game play, simulations, and science experiments to teach about the Pennsylvanian Period and beyond.

Kit 3: Push-Pull Passport (Immigrant Experience)

Subjects: social studies, immigration, Reading & Writing in History and Social Studies, research, personal history & genealogy, heritage and cultural studies, mathematics, life skills

Using the Push-Pull Passport kit, students will learn the reasons for and process of emigrating to America in the 19th century (before and after Ellis Island), appreciation for cultural perspectives; how to conduct historical- , primary- and secondary-source analysis, historical interpretation; they will learn about the contributions of individuals and groups, and more. Activities range from immersive role play, genealogy activities, and reading and creative writing exercises to other enrichment activities.

Kit 4: Labor History & Career (coming soon)

Subjects: labor history, economics, industrial revolution, museum careers

More information soon.

Eckley Explorers Reservation Form

Traveling Trunk Subsidy

Are you interested in learning about the lifeways of a 19th-century coal mining village, but are unable to make an excursion here? Our Patchtown Traveling Trunk Program brings the museum to you. An interpreter will bring the trunk to your location and give an hour-long, interactive presentation that includes a power point, a description of village life, and access to various artifacts and replicas which represent Eckley Miners’ Village.

This is an excellent way to learn about the history of Pennsylvania’s coal region without ever leaving your location! As a part of the IMLS Inspire! grant, the trunk has been revamped and we can now provide a subsidy to cover the cost of its use.

***This program is best suited to small group presentations, rather than auditorium shows. The trunk services a 60-mile radius from the museum.

Traveling Trunk Reservation Form

This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this (publication) (program) (exhibition) (website) (article) do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.