Mosby Heritage Area Association
2014-15 Middle/Upper School Programs
NOTE: All Mosby Heritage Area programs introduce students to the idea of the “historic
landscape” in which we live in our section of Northern Virginia, and to just how special and yet
fragile that landscape is in a rapidly growing region. Students are encouraged to visit that
landscape as follow-up to our programs. They are given a history scavenger hunt to help
explore their county with their family. We give out t-shirts for completion. The heritage
area is not a Mosby heritage group, it is a historic preservation through education effort.
“Slave Country, Right Here”—Designed for 6th graders taking U.S. History I but can also be used with 5th
graders taking U.S. History I . Most teachers and students forget that on the eve of the Civil War, Virginia had
The Mosby Heritage Area is, of course, an historic preservation effort.
more slaves than any other state. This program examines the nature of enslavement and resistance to it by looking at
stories from the historic landscape that still hint at what was in now largely suburban Northern Virginia. The program
looks at slavery close to your school, and emphasizes slavery as it was in your county. Heavily illustrated, this talk is
bold in grappling slavery yet sensitive to what an uncomfortable subject it is for modern children and particularly
teachers. The stories are engaging and provocative, and time-tested with both student and adult audiences.
Students will come away with an appreciation of just what places and stories are out there on the historic landscape.
“Katy’s Hollow, the Civil War, and You”—Designed for Loudoun 6th graders taking U.S. History I. This program
takes one event—a bushwhacking Confederate guerilla attack on Union cavalry three weeks before the end of the
Civil War--and uses it to humanize the Civil War and its participants, provide a local overview of the Civil War in the
region and its devastating impact, and introduce 6th graders to the nature and importance of the historic landscape
around them. The program has an overview of the Civil War in our region, ties it to the experience of other
Americans and Virginians and features a myriad of human interest stories. The program is done over two days to
accommodate all students in a middle school’s sixth grade. It is illustrated with gripping stories from local historic sites,
excellent photography, and moral dilemma. Katy’s Hollow today, preserved until 2001, is now the home of an out-ofstate corporation’s subdivision.
At the end, we give students a scavenger hunt booklet of your county we’ve
designed to get them to go explore some of the best local historic places with their family! It provides you with an
excellent extra-credit opportunity to get students to take history further. Stories are based on local historic sites.
“1862: Civil War Leesburg.”—Designed for Loudoun 6th graders taking U.S. History I. The year 1862
encapsulated Leesburg’s Civil War experience—the ever-present military, dog money, invasion, slaves running away,
and romance, the town saw what it had never seen before. Using local historic sites and their accounts and stories,
this heavily illustrated program is an easy way to give your sixth graders a sense of the Civil War as it played out here.
We also incorporate what was going on near your school so that students can see the tie-in with the county seat’s
experience. At the end, we give students a scavenger hunt booklet of your county we’ve designed to get them to go
explore some of the best local historic places with their family! It provides you with an excellent extra-credit
opportunity to get students to take history beyond the classroom. All stories are based on local historic sites.
“Clarke County’s Civil War Heritage”— A Civil War Sesquicentennial Program—a classroom program for 5th, 6th,
or 7th graders. Designed for students taking U.S. History I, this program introduces students to the story of
Clarke County in the Civil War and to its amazing still-preserved Civil War landscape. Difficult local decisions
about secession, the role of slavery in Clarke, the first experiences with all-out war, the Union invasion, the coming of
emancipation, the engulfing nature of John Singleton Mosby’s guerilla war that involved Clarke citizens during186365, and the devastation brought to Clarke by 1864 are all brought to life with stories from local historic sites,
photographs, artifacts, and role play. We make sure to tell at least one story from the neighborhood of your school—
or two or three, since all schools in Clarke sit close to Civil War historic sites! Then we give students a scavenger
hunt booklet of Clarke County we’ve designed to get them to go explore some great local historic places with their
family! All stories are based on local historic sites.
“The Big Change: Virginia after the Civil War.”—Designed for 7th graders in Loudoun, Clarke, or Fauquier
Counties taking U.S History II. With the end to the Civil War, Northern Virginia found itself undergoing massive
change. With the end of slavery, the massive destruction of farms, the devastation of mills, the ruin of transportation
infrastructure, and the rapid advent of soldiers with new life experiences, freedmen, new people, new ideas, and new
inventions, the region could re-invent itself. To what degree did it do that? Using local historic sites and their
gripping stories, photos and primary accounts, the local experiences of 1865-1888 will be examined. This program
is particularly recommended for a near-the-beginning-of school 7th grade program.