School Tours & Programs

The Detroit Historical Museum provides engaging field trip experiences for students in grades 3 through 12. Aligned with state social studies standards, our tours and programs will enhance any curriculum.

Tours, programs and workshops must be booked a minimum of one month in advance. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation letter with an invoice and other important information. Full payment is due two weeks prior to the program date. Your field trip is subject to cancellation if your payment is late.

There must be one chaperone for every 10 students. Please note, due to space constraints, we cannot accommodate additional chaperones that were not included in your reservation.

Parking in our lot is $9 per car and based on availability. 

Please note

• The Detroit Historical Museum does not allow self-guided groups of more than 30 people. If self-guided groups are not booked in advance, they may not be granted access to the museum, please call 313.833.7979 to reserve.
• If your group cancels in less than 48 hrs, or does not show up for your reservation time, a $50.00 cancellation fee will be applied to your school or group account. 
• Should you need to reschedule or cancel your reservation, please contact our education team as soon as possible (313.833.7979), so we can accomadate your reservation changes. 

 Download our 2018-19 School Programs Planning Guide

  Download our Pre-visit Museum Guide 

Adopt-A-Class Funding is available for Title 1 Schools.

The Adopt a Class Program provides qualifying schools with a free field trip, bus reimbursement up to $250, and a lunchroom at the Detroit Historical Museum or Dossin Great Lakes Museum.  If your school’s free and reduced lunch price numbers are greater than 65%, your school is eligible for this program. Program funds are available at the beginning of each school year on a first come first serve basis.

Adopt-A-Class Program Policies and Field Trip Guidelines 

Tours

Historical Perspectives Tour

Appropriate for 3rd - 12th grade

During this 90-minute tour of the Detroit Historical Museum, students will learn about the significant geographic, economic, social and cultural developments of the city. Students will also learn about why the French settled the area and how the fur trade and other natural resources contributed towards industrialization and our growth into America’s Motor City.

• Tour times: Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
• Cost: $5 per participant

 

Detroit 67: Perspectives Facilitated Group Experience

Appropriate for 9th - 12th grade

During this 90-minute facilitated experience of the Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibition, students will take part in discussions surrounding the significant economic, social and cultural factors that led to the turbulent summer of 1967. This experience allows students to fully engage, think through and draw conclusions about this tumultuous summer and its wider ramifications for Detroit.

• Tour times: Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
• Cost: $10 per participant

A note to our visitors:

• The Detroit 67: Perspectives facilitated experience is not a typical museum tour! (Typically, a museum guide will lead you through a space and talk to you about the information and objects you see.)
• Because the Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibition is about events, people and social change, your facilitator will provide some key information regarding this history, but will then ask questions to generate dialogue and conversation about the topics in the exhibition. 
• Audience participation is a key part of this experience.
• Detroit 67: Perspectives highlights events and ideas that have the potential to be sensitive and personal. Issues of race, social unrest and economic injustice are all a part of what led to this period of civil unrest. 
• As an institution, the Detroit Historical Society is not taking a position regarding these events, nor are we judging them. Our commitment is to present as many perspectives as possible from those who experienced the events first hand. 

  Download our Detroit 67: Perspectives Educator Resource Packet

Programs

StoryLiving

Bring history to life by booking a StoryLiving program. In these interactive programs, a professional storyteller shares Detroit history with your students using drama, group pantomime, role playing, songs and creative problem-solving. These programs can be performed at the Detroit Historical Museum or in the comfort of your classroom. Mileage will be charged for venues located more than 30 miles from the Detroit Historical Museum.

• Maximum 60 students
• Cost: $400

The Underground Railroad

Appropriate for 3rd grade

In the mid 1800s, thousands of African Americans escaped through Detroit on their way to freedom in Canada. Students will discover more about the Underground Railroad and the role Detroit played in it.

The Great Fire

Appropriate for 1st - 3rd grade

It’s been over 200 years since the Great Fire set the city of Detroit ablaze displacing over 700 residents. After the destruction, Detroiters did not abandon their city. Through strength and determination they set to work to rebuild Detroit, leaving the legacy of the city we see today. Students will become firefighters who must work together to save the community.

The Great Migration

Appropriate for 4th & 5th grade

Over the course of six decades, nearly six million black southerners left the South and fanned out across the United States transforming urban America. Join us as we highlight three women of Detroit and the circumstances of how their family’s migration and their experiences, shaped who they were and defined the course of their lives in the 1920s, 1940s and the 1960s.

 

Workshop

Trading Post Workshop

Appropriate for 3rd - 5th grade

In this 90-minute combination tour and workshop, students will explore Detroit’s first 200 years with a guided tour of the Frontiers to Factories: Detroiters at Work exhibit, followed by a facilitated fur trading game where students must barter with each other for furs and trade goods.

• Maximum 30 students
• Tour times: Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
• Cost: $200 per group

For more information on our programs or to book a field trip, please call us at 313.833.1419 or complete the short form below.

Add a lunchroom to your reservation for an additional $50.