EDUCATION FIELD TRIPS, TOURS AND PROGRAMS

The 1820 Colonel Benjamin Stephenson House offers a variety of field trips, tours and programs for students, primary through secondary. Special seminars and lectures are also offered for the adult learner and are scheduled throughout the year as described under the Special Events section.

Appointments for scheduling a field trip or tour can be made by calling the Col. Benjamin Stephenson House at 618-692-1818. The cost for a field trip and/or tour is $2.50 per student. Teachers and teaching assistants are free. For parents accompanying a field trip or tour, the fee is $5.00. Student groups up to sixty can be accommodated per visit. Field trips or tours for school age students are best scheduled on Thursdays and Fridays during normal hours of operation. School buses are requested to unload students and park on the Linden Street side of the property.

Field trips tours generally take two hours and are empirical in nature. Students touch, see, hear, smell and even taste aspects of life in the 1820s. Students are divided into three or four groups and interact with the docents at various different stations.

Tours focus on sharing general information about Benjamin Stephenson and his accomplishments during his time in the Illinois Territory and Edwardsville. Students have the opportunity to see and hear this information as they visit the house, kitchen and grounds. Stephenson’s home, family members and the contribution of the indentured servants are discussed as visitors tour the home.