Contact us if you would like us to visit your school, a museum tour
or
if you would like assistance on Civil War curriculum planning.

Contact Paul F. Cairrao paulm198@cox.net
For scheduling Museum Tours
&
"Visitors From The Past"
If you want to call us, call Paul at: (401) 253-5297
or
Rev. Raymond Ferrick at (401) 886-5341
or
You can also call and leave a message at the Sprague Mansion at:
(401) 944-9226
If we miss your call one of our staff will get back to you.
If you leave a message please let us know your phone number and e-mail address.

WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

Gregory H. Payne
Education Committee Chairman
School Visitation Curator
"Visitors From The Past"
and parade coordinator
c/o 12 Tucker Hollow Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island, 02857
(401) 647-9698

Charles D. Blanchette
Education Committee – Curriculum Planning Curator
Coventry Social Sciences Teacher

Henry C. Duquette
Education Committee – Civil War Music Education Curator

Please Read Carefully:
All participants and staff are service volunteers of the museum’s Education Programs; "Visitors From The Past" School Visitation Program and “Museum Tour” Program.    They all perform their services gratis to support the museum as their contribution for museum operations.    All funds and donations generated through the programs of the museum are tax deductible.    The museum and its entities: (Battery A, the 1st RI Infantry, the 2nd RI Infantry Color Guard, Company D, the museum High School ROTC Program, the museum Tour Program and museum music program) all fall under the museum’s 501c3 non profit status and are legally registered in the State of Rhode Island and with the Internal Revenue as a single Public Service non profit organization and Institution.    All "Living History", "Visitors From The Past" and prescheduled museum tour guides perform their services in Civil War Period attire.

Our goal is to make history fun, informative and interesting.    Our participants are among the most knowledgable Living Historians in the State.    Our team of Education Committee Members consists of teachers, historians, re-enactors, artists and museum professionals who can help you decide on the program that best fits your need.    To schedule a school visitation you must first decide the extent of the school presentation you want (number of visitors, extent of historical display material, etc.).    Please keep in mind all our participants are volunteers and need to plan their personal work schedules around their participation in all museum programs.    You therefore need to give us enough advanced time to properly organize a school visitation team and the appropriate artifacts for your school.
NOTE: Unloaded authentic Civil War Period weapons are often a part of our living history presentations.    Our Visitors From The Past museum program requires written permission to bring all such material into schools.    Some of our participants also perform first and third person characterizations.    The RI GAR Civil War Museum must receive a written and signed authorization by the school principle.    The museum must receive this authorization in advance to each school visitation along with the agreed upon contribution to the museum for its services.    All contributions and fees must be made out to the RI GAR Civil War Museum, not in the name of the museum military unit or museum program.    Paul F. Cairrao and Gregory H. Payne can assist you with your needs and scheduling dates and times.

Our ROTC and music programs are new and not in full operation as yet, however you can contact Henry C. Duquette to discuss you needs and the program the museum is planning for 2009 and the near future.    If you are a teacher and would like our assistance and advice concerning Civil War education and curriculum planning you may want to contact Charles D. Blanchette and/or Gregg A. Mierka.    You may also want to click the following links:

THE PRIMARY CIVIL WAR HISTORY WE CONVEY

RI MOLLUS (RI Civil War Officers) & "Rhode Island’s Own" Civil War History: Biographies & Personal Narratives (War Papers-eye witness accounts of their war experiences), several notable Rhode Islanders who served in the war, many who were also members of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and who also published their writings after the war for MOLLUS through the R.I. Soldiers and Sailors Historical Society (today part of RI MOLLUS).    The series is a Wikapedia recommended resource.

The Rhode Island Grand Army of the Republic Civil War Museum has developed this section to further assist teachers and students with the study of the Civil War.    This section is designed to assist Teachers in their classroom curriculum planning and it is an added resource for students.    Museum members involved with this project are themselves teachers, writers and Civil War scholars who are abreast of current trends in education.    Teachers interested in further advice on Civil War curriculum planning can contact our consultants by e-mailing our museum staff.

CIVIL WAR EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

The History Channel Home Page

In the links below you can "hear" what happened.    Below are broadcasts produced by the CBS Radio Network Program, "You Are There" ; a series of original broadcasts May 22, 1949, the same year as the last National Encampment (Meeting) of the "Grand Old Fellows In Blue", the Union Civil War Veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).    The CBS series was acclaimed by the Grand Army of the Republic, the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), and the Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV), as being an outstanding account of the events of the period.    These broadcasts are an excellent way to teach all Americans about the Civil War.    Listen to each of the following links to learn more.    Use this in your classroom as part of your teaching curriculum.    E-Mail us and let us know what you think.    Click the "back button" on your top tool bar at the conclusion of each program to return to this Page to hear each broadcast.

Photos Above: Major General George Sears Greene
Cousin of Major General Nathanael Greene (Rev-War)
Oldest General (either side) of the Civil War
Born: 1801 ~ Died: 1899
And His Men, One & All, Loved Him Deeply

It was a true test of the American Character, permitting the country to become what it is today.    More than six hundred and twenty four thousand Americans died in the Civil War, at a time when America’s total population was only about 30 million, or one tenth of the total population today.    About one thousand seven hundred Rhode Islanders died in the war, 1861 to 1866.    Their names are inscribed on monuments and memorials in cities and towns throughout the State.    About 1 in 3 Rhode Island men joined to fight in the war (or about 23,000), at a time when the total population of the State was under 100,000.    About 26,000 Civil War Veterans are buried in Rhode Island, because after the war about 3,000 moved to the State from other locations.    Women worked in factories and mills on the home front and formed societies to support the war effort.    Rhode Island formed the country’s “first” all African American unit of "free born" soldiers, called the 14th R.I. Volunteer Heavy Artillery.    Men of all religious and ethnic backgrounds as well as new immigrants joined to fight in the war: Protestant, Catholic and Jewish faiths; European Americans, (Italian Americans, Irish Americans, French Americans, German Americans, Hispanic Americans, Portuguese Americans, Scandinavian Americans, Polish & Eastern European Americans), as well as Native Americans and African Americans.    The average age of men who fought in the war was 18, same as today.    The average height of American Servicemen during the Civil War was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and their average weight was about 130 pounds.    The Civil War was America's first "total war", costing the country millions, or the greatest percentage of America’s gross national product that any other war in our history.    It involved as many of the cultures within our society that exist in America today.    It was a struggle to affirm principal, not war of conquest or to gain wealth.    In fact the Civil War nearly bankrupted and destroyed the nation.    It was fought to re-enforce the United States Constitution set forth by the Founding Fathers, to guarantee equal rights for all American citizens, and to ensure America would be one nation, undivided and inseparable for all time.    All American Citizens, young and old, should possess and higher appreciation and a far greater sense of understanding about their Civil War Period History and the people who lived it.—G. Mierka, 2009 President RI GAR Civil War Museum & Library, inc.

The R.I. GAR Civil War Museum, Library & Research Center is being developed for educational purposes.    The R.I. GAR Civil War Museum, Library & Research Center in Cranston at 762 Dyer Avenue.    The museum's "Visitors From The Past" living history program is an outreach program for Rhode Island Schools to help teach Civil War History and assist teachers.    Our members appear in period cloths and uniforms with a wide variety of display items.    Displays may range from full encampments with tents to classroom presentations.    The museum is working with the Cranston Historical Society and the Governor Sprague Mansion Museum to house important records and collections in its new facility at the Old Sprague Mansion Carriage House.    It plans to make all its resources available to the people of Rhode Island more and more in the near future.    You may want to look at the RI MOLLUS Information Center Webpage for more information, by clicking HERE and the RI MOLLUS Internet Civil War Educational series "Rhode Island’s Own", HERE .    You may want to look at the RI SUVCW Governors Elisha Dyer Camp No. 7 links page for more history and information concerning general research and genealogy assistance.    Click HERE to see our "Links Page Index" for more of our links to historical sites.