On The American Experience trip, high school students (and parents) will visit fascinating historical and cultural sites. The nature of history is the actual setting of time and place when and where events of great importance occurred. This tour will take the students to cities, great and small, to explore the fabric of interwoven lives and ideas that coincided to bring new vistas within reach. The fundamental lesson is that individuals matter; and, when individuals coalesce and aggregate their talents, their power is magnified tremendously. This expedition takes us to places filled with the power and energy of both the past and present, and ensures we view and experience the present through the knowledge we’ve gained from the past.

The American Experience expedition explores our society, its growth and challenges, and timeless lessons, from the establishment of the nation in the Revolution through the new birth of freedom that arose in the Civil War to the workings of our capital today.

We begin the adventure in New York City, one of the earliest colonial towns and by 1775 our most important port. We will explore this “capital city of the World” in all of its facets – from colonial and Revolutionary days through the Civil War, the Gilded Age, and its metamorphosis into the modern international metropolis. Home to some of the world’s greatest art and theater, we will also explore those aspects. It is a high-energy examination of immigration, colonization, revolution, civil rights, arts and leisure, economic growth and much more.

From Broadway we move to Philadelphia, where we will explore more of the origins of our nation, especially along the grounds of Independence Mall. From the iconic buildings that housed the first and second Continental Congresses to the homes of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, from the signings of the Declaration and Constitution to the practicalities of being the first and third US capitals. As we depart Philadelphia, we will visit Valley Forge, where in the harsh winter of 1777-78 Washington rebuilt the defeated American Army and made it a force to contend evenly with the British.

Our next stop is the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle there in July 1863 was a titanic, three-day engagement and we will visit famed sites including McPherson’s Ridge, Oak Knoll, Barlow’s Knoll, Culp’s Hill, Big and Little Round Tops, the Wheatfield, the Peach Orchard, and Cemetery Hill. We will take two extended hikes – one with John Bell Hood’s division in James Longstreet’s attack on 2 July and the second with George Pickett’s division in Longstreet’s Assault on the afternoon of 3 July. We will complete our expedition in the National Cemetery where President Lincoln gave his dedication address that forever changed America.

Enroute to our nation’s capital we will visit Harpers Ferry National Historical Park at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, with its exhibits on the industrial revolution and the National Armory, westward expansion, the Lewis & Clark Expedition, the Storer College/WEB DuBois Niagara Movement, and John Brown’s Raid among others.

Our final destination is Washington DC, where we will explore both history and current events. Our nation’s capital in the springtime, with the promise of the cherry trees in full blossom, is the perfect setting to commemorate the wars and challenges that made America what it is today. We will visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon home and the streets of old Alexandria. In Washington, we will also have plenty of time to visit the treasures that our capital holds – from museums to art galleries to memorials. We will walk the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery, and start our Mall walk from Lincoln’s Memorial. Ford’s Theatre Museum and the Petersen House are also stops on the way and we may see a stirring play in the very theater where the tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination occurred. From visits to the Capitol, Supreme Court and the White House, from the National Archives to Lafayette Square at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, and so much more.

This expedition, “The American Experience,” is designed to take us from our roots to the present – from colonial New York through revolutionary Philadelphia to Civil War Gettysburg to the power in Washington today. Along the way, each site has modern aspects and lessons to share, as well. Throughout, we will hear the words of men and women who shaped the future of the nation. The end result will be an experience that high school students will appreciate for a lifetime. The knowledge that past is prologue; that what happens today is shaped, in some form, by the events and, more importantly, the people that went before us. That is the reflection that the students will ruminate upon for years to come.