Resources: Walldogs Murals

Learn About the Past with Walldog Murals

Grades K-2. Mini Unit. This unit introduces students to artifacts and how they can be used to tell stories about the past.  The Walldogs murals will be the focus of study.  Students will be able to demonstrate how artifacts tell stories by bringing in an artifact from...

Walldogs Murals: Teaching Us History Using Artifacts

Grades 3-5. Mini Unit. This unit deepens students' understanding of the role that local history played in developing the city of Keene's Walldogs murals. It can also be used to introduce local artifacts/primary sources to upper elementary students.  Students will...

Railroads and Economics

Grades 3-5. Mini Unit. This unit of study focuses on the economic impact of the railroad. Students learn about local and national history of the railroad and how it fundamentally changed the way business was conducted. They learn essential vocabulary and develop...

Kingsbury Toys for Boys and Girls

Grade School, video.  The story of how toys came to be made in Keene, NH, from the 1890s-1940s.  Introduction by Jennifer Carroll, Director of Education, Historical Society of Cheshire County.

Toy Manufacturing in Cheshire County

Middle School, High School.  Online exhibit reveals technological innovations in Cheshire County, NH, the history of childhood play in America, the impact of popular culture on industry, and how both national and international forces impacted the toy industry.  Toys...

Meet Elizabeth: a 20th Century Abenaki Story

Grades: K-3.  In this 7-page booklet, students learn about a local Abenaki family's story.  Elizabeth Sadoques grew up in Keene, NH, as a child in the early 1900s. Her story is multi-generational and linked to her family's culture.  Questions at the end test students'...

How to Play 18th Century Games

Grade 2-5, Video with activity.  Let 8-year old Cheshire County student Ruby teach you and your students a couple of Colonial era games. Available on the Historical Society of Cheshire County's YouTube channel.  Both of these games are available for loan to local...

The Wyman Tavern and Horatio Colony House

Grades: 3-4.  Lesson/Story. Students can read about the history of two of Keene's historical sites, the Wyman Tavern (1762) and Horatio Colony House (1806).  They will be introduced to important events and people in Keene's history.  Students will gain a better...

Caring for Pets

Caring for Pets Grades K-3.  Lesson.  In this 8-page colorful booklet, students learn about wants vs. needs of animals and humans and the responsibility involved in caring for pets.  This lesson introduces students to the role of humane societies in our community and...

Horses in our Community’s Past

Grades K-3.  Primary Source Packet.  12 enlarged historic photographs of Cheshire County scenes that contain images of horses.  Students will note the various ways in which horses were a vital part of our town's economy and culture.  Works well with Lesson: Caring for...

Western Abenakis, the Sadoques Family

Middle School & High School.  Primary source packet.  Contains historic photographs representing four generations of the Sadoques family of Keene.  Students will note an Abenaki presence in the Connecticut River Valley region that persists today. Each photograph...

Trolleys, Trains, and Flyers

Middle School, High School. Film. Available on DVD or via Vimeo Stories from Keene residents who remember the days when Keene was a railroad center. Interviews with Ernest L. Bell, Sally Bell, Donald Carle, Philip H. Faulkner, Jr., Judy Hall, Margaret Hanrahan, Robert...

Lost Boundaries

The story of fair-skinned African American family, the Carters who move to Keenham, New Hampshire.  Parents Scott and Marsha decide to 'pass' as white and lead a successful life in town until World War II when an investigation reveals the family's black heritage. ...

Here I Am, Send Me

Middle School, High School. Film. Available on DVD or via Vimeo In the spring of 1965, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a twenty-six year old student at an Episcopal seminary became one of the many young Americans who answered the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr's call to help...

Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve

High School, Film. Available on DVD or via Vimeo How does a teacher training school in rural New Hampshire transform itself into a leading public liberal-arts college? This documentary chronicles Keene State's rise from Keene Normal School, founded in 1909, to an...

Abenaki Culture: Pre-European Contact

Grades 3-5.  Touchable Artifact Kit.  Man-made objects used by the indigenous people N'dakinna (including Cheshire County) thousands of years ago.  Objects reflect everyday life and are all made from natural resources.  Together the artifacts relate to food...

Abenaki Culture Post-European Contact

Grade 3-5.  Touchable Artifact Kit.  Reproductions of European trade items and Native-made objects, used by the Abenaki people during the 17th-19th centuries.  Teacher guide and activities included with Wonder Box.

Colonial Period Games

Grades 3-7. Touchable Artifact Kit.  Help students develop their math skills while learning games that children played in the 18th century. Nine games include board games, dice games, card games and marbles.  Wonder box contains all game pieces as well as instructions...