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4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park, MD 20737
301-864-0420; TTY 301-454-1472; Fax 301-927-3498
riversdale@pgparks.com
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Learn about and experience the rich history of Riversdale by participating in a variety of events, educational programs, and tours that are offered. To register for events at Riversdale, call 301-864-0420.
2009 EVENT CALENDAR
Tuesdays, March 24, April 14 & 28, May 5, 7:30 pm
Spring Lecture Series
March 24
Dave Murray, Retired president of surveying firm Ben Dyer Associates, Inc., The 1853 Sides Map of Charles Benedict Calvert’s Property and the Surrounding Area.
April 14
Susan Pearl, Retired historian, M-NCPPC, The Stier-Peeters Art Collection
April 28 (postponed from March 3)
Ann Wass, History/Museum Specialist at Riversdale, “A Great Variety of Articles Both Elegant and Useful”: Antebellum American Agriculture Fairs.
May 5
Panel of faculty, staff, and students from the University of Maryland, College Park, The Investigation of the Role of African-American Slavery in the Early History of the Campus.
Fee: $5 per lecture
Friday-Saturday, March 13-14, 5 pm
Hands-On History: Teen Immersion
Girls ages 13-19 will experience life in early Federal America, including cooking, crafts, and other activities, during 24 hours in the historic house. Advance payment required by March 6.
Fee: $75 resident; $90 non-resident
Sunday, March 22, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: Soup du Jour
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Join them at the hearth for an early spring cozy afternoon. With little fresh food available at this time of year, it would not be uncommon to ear lots of root-vegetable laden soups and stews. Drop by to see what the cooks stir up!
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Saturday, March 28, 8 pm
Tavern Night
Join us for an evening of rousing entertainment by the Ship’s Company Chanteymen and partake of tavern-style food and beverages. Advance payment required; must be at least 21 years of age.
Fee: $20 resident, $24 non-resident
Saturday, April 18, 10 am
Open Hearth Cooking Class
Members of the Riversdale Kitchen Guild will teach basic techniques using a variety of equipment and seasonal ingredients. Advance payment required by April 13.
Fee: $38 resident; $45 non-resident
Sunday, April 19, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: The Cat’s Run Away With the Pudding String: Steamed and Baked Puddings
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Learn the meaning of this nursery rhyme as you watch Kitchen Guild volunteers prepare two types of early 19th century puddings: a baked pudding in a paste and a pudding boiled in a bag and tied with string.
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Sunday, April 25, 10 am
Not Your Mother’s Packaged Gelatin: The How and Why of Calves’ Feet Jelly
The Historic Foodways Guild of Maryland and the Riversdale Kitchen Guild present Sophie Frederickson, a food historian and holistic food counselor. She will explain the process of preparing the jelly from scratch and demonstrate various ways to use it.
Fee: $5
Sunday, May 3, 12 noon
Children’s Day
Come out and play! Children of all ages can enjoy old-fashioned, unplugged fun and games, a Maypole dance, Punch & Judy show, and make and take crafts.
Fee: $2 children & adults, children must be accompanied by an adult
Also be sure to visit the Town of Riverdale Park’s ArtsFest at Town Center.
Sunday, May 17, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: Rosalie’s Dairy: Butter Making
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Mrs. Rosalie Calvert ran a successful butter-making business at Riversdale. See Kitchen Guild volunteers churn cream into butter. They will also wash it and prepare it for long-term storage the early 19th century way without the help of refrigeration.
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Sunday, June 21, 11 am
Maryland Charter Day
Celebrate the 375th anniversary of the founding of Maryland with refreshments, children’s crafts, and more.
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Sunday, June 21, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: From the Ice House: Ice Cream, Creams & Jellies
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry are all ice cream flavors we know and love. But have you ever heard of parmesan cheese, millefruit, or burnt filbert flavors? See Kitchen Guild volunteers prepare early 19th century style ice cream. They will also make custard creams and gelatins using isinglass, a gelling protein found in the air bladder of fish!
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Week 1: Monday-Friday, June 29-July 3, 10 am–2:30 pm
Week 1: Tuesday-Friday, July 7-July 10, 10 am–12 noon
Hands-On History Days: The Grand Tour
Each day features crafts and games from a different country on the “grand tour”, a traditional travel circuit around Europe for wealthy boys and young men in the 19th century. Participants will travel back in time and across the Atlantic as they engage in activities from countries including France, Italy, Turkey, and more!
WEEK 1:
Children ages 8-12. Advance registration required.
Fee: $30 resident, $135 for all 5 days; $36 non-resident, $144 for all 5 days
WEEK 2:
Children ages 5-8. Advance registration required.
Fee: $15 resident, $55 for all 4 days; $18 non-resident, $60 for all 4 days
Sunday, August 23, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: In a Pickle: Putting up Vegetables
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Carrots, cucumbers, beets, peppers, and summer squash will be harvested; those that are not eaten fresh will be pickled in vinegar, salt, and spices. Kitchen Guild volunteers will tackle this summer chore the early 19th century way!
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Sunday, September 20, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: Health Nut: Sylvester Graham and the 19th Century Whole Foods Movement
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Did you ever wonder where Graham crackers got their name? They are named after Sylvester Graham who realized that white refined flour was not wholesome and healthy. Instead, he promoted cooking with flour made from the whole grain. Consequently, in the 19th century, Graham flour was synonymous with whole wheat flour.
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
Sunday, November 15, 12 noon
Seasonal Selections: Preparing for Winter: Sausages and Mincemeat
The Riversdale Kitchen Guild presents its monthly special program. Late fall was slaughtering time. Join the Kitchen Guild as they ready the larder for winter by turning pork into sausages and using suet to create mincemeat. Take home recipes and you can create your own mincemeat for holiday pies!
Fee: Regular admission fees apply, includes tour of the house
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
Out of the Shadows: Riversdale’s Servants in the Spotlight
This program will highlight the inner economic workings of an early 19th century Maryland estate and working farm. The central role as mistress of the household was to oversee all domestic tasks. She ran a staff of servants composed of free whites and enslaved African Americans who processed the crops, cooked, cleaned, served meals, took care of the children, and made textiles, among other duties. Students will view each room in the house from the perspective of a servant and participate in a workshop where each child will role-play servants’ experiences.
Tour Length: 45 minutes
Level: Grades 3-6
Cost: $2 per person (Adult and Student)
NOTE: Fulfills Standard of Voluntary Curriculum: Economics and African American History.
WORKSHOP ADD-ON
Rosalie's Helpers: A Hands On Workshop
Students will try their hand at various household tasks of 200 years ago
Student will grind herbs & spices and make a sachet to take home.
Workshop Length: 45 minutes
Workshop will follow Out of the Shadows tour
Workshops can only be offered to one class per day.
Students need to bring a bag-lunch (Students may eat lunch on the grounds or inside the mansion depending on weather.)
Pinch, No Smiles: Early Nineteenth Century Play at Riversdale
This tour is designed to introduce students to Riversdale by using the perspective of a child. George and Rosalie Calvert had nine children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Students on this tour will move from room to room and discover the ways in which an early nineteenth-century child would have played, worked, and lived in each room. In addition, slave children also resided at Riversdale. Students will compare and contrast their living, working, and playing conditions with that of the Calvert children. Students will also participate in a hands on workshop where they will learn a traditional English country dance and play the game, Pinch, No Smiles.
Tour Length: 60-90 minutes
Level: Grades 1-4
Cost: $2 per person (Adult and Student)
Note: This tour fulfills the Content Standard for 3rd Grade: Individuals and Society Change Over Time
WORKSHOP ADD-ON
Riversdale Amusements: A Hands On Workshop
Make an optical illusion toy such as a Thaumatrope
Play early American games such as Pinch, No Smiles
Workshop Length: 60 minutes
Workshop will follow Pinch, No Smiles Tour
Workshops can only be offered to one class per day.
Students need to bring a bag-lunch (Students may eat lunch on the grounds or inside the mansion depending on weather.)
Open Hearth Cooking Workshops
Make a 1-2-3-4 Cake on the open hearth. Participants will make their own butter, too!
Because the Riversdale kitchen is small, these workshops are available to groups consisting of no more than ten people (including teachers and chaperones).
Perfect for History Clubs, Scout Groups, and Home-school Groups.
Advance registration required at least 2 weeks in advance.
$50 Flat Fee
Special Needs
Sensing the Past Workshop
This program is deisgned for students who have physical or mental disabilities. Groups that can negotiate the stairs take a 20 minute tour of the house. Those with physical disabilities tour only the rooms on the ground level – this tour is enhaced by a museum teacher-led interactive PowerPoint presentation of the rest of the rooms. All students participate in a workshop where they use their senses to make history come alive. They will feel, pick, and card wool and they will make an herb sachet to take home. This program can be geared to any level of abilities.
Tour Length: 60 minutes
Level: All levels
Cost: $2 per person (Adult and Student)
GIRL SCOUT PROGRAMS
Brownie Try-Its
Colors and Shapes
Colors and shapes will come alive as Brownies tour the Riversdale mansion looking for colors and shapes in the historic artwork, fabrics, and furniture contained within its doors. Scouts will make stamps, weave a placemat, and design their own quilt square.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)
Write Away
(Recommended for 3rd Graders, or those with strong reading and writing skills)
The Mistress of Riversdale, Rosalie Calvert, is the perfect role-model for how important letters can be to the study of the past. The extensive collection of letters still in existence between Rosalie Stier Calvert and her family in Belgium provides a remarkable narrative window into the past. Scouts will tour of the house, make marbleized journals, play games, and become reporters to help them build an appreciation for the written word.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)
Listening to the Past
Riversdale House Museum is the perfect environment for scouts to complete the Listening to the Past Try-It. Scouts will tour the house, cook in the open hearth, read wallpaper, and make and play with early American games and toys.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Try-It not included)
Junior Badges
Folk Arts
Folk traditions are those that are passed down from generation to generation and learned by observation and imitation. The products of folk art are aesthetically embellished objects that have a utilitarian purpose and do not necessarily need the decoration to carry out that purpose. In this program, scouts will compare and contrast fine art with folk art, make theorem paintings, learn an English country dance, and learn about quilts.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)
Architecture Adventures
Riversdale, completed in 1807, is unique to the area in that it includes elements of both traditional American Federal and European architecture. While touring the house, Scouts will gain an understanding of the main components of these types of architecture. Scouts will also learn about modern design, form, and function when they tour Riversdale's new Visitor Center building. Afterwards, Scouts will redesign a room and create a three dimensional garden.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)
A Stitch in Time
Fabric arts were as varied 200 years ago as they are today. Rosalie Stier Calvert dressed her family and decorated her home in a wide variety of European and American fabrics and cloths. Scouts will learn about decorative and functional fabrics, experiment with natural dyes, weave on a loom, and create their own fabric project.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)
Toymaker
200 years ago, toys and games were quite different than they are today. Riversdale was home to nine of Rosalie and George Calvert's children, as well as the children of their enslaved servants. While touring the house, Scouts will learn about how these children lived and played. They will try their hand at some nineteenth century games, make their own period toy, and create a board game about Riversdale.
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)
Local Lore
The town of Riverdale has a rich history with a great deal of importance placed on the Calvert family and their home, Riversdale. Scouts will discover how the Calverts would have lived and why they were so important. After a tour of the house, Scouts will use primary sources to make a poster about the local Battle of Bladensburg, perform a short play about an important event in the history of Riversdale, and become stewards of Riversdale by learning about how important it is to have volunteers work with the paid staff (scouts will lend a hand in a small project to assist the staff).
Fee: $10 per scout, $2 per adult (Badge not included)
Patch Programs
House Tour
Explore c. 1801 Federal style house and kitchen dependency. As scouts tour the house they will learn about art, architecture, and the Calvert family, particularly about Rosalie Stier Calvert, the empowered Mistress of Riversdale.
Fee: $1 per person, additional fee of $2.50 per Riversdale custom patch.
Open Hearth Cooking Workshop
Give your troop the unique experience of cooking on an early 19th century hearth using period correct recipes and receipts. This workshop is limited to groups of no more than 10 (including adults).
Fee: $50 per 2 hour session, additional fee of $2.50 per Riversdale custom patch.
TOURS & ADMISSION
Walk-in tours:
Fridays & Sundays, on the quarter hour, 12:15, 12:45, 1:15, 1:45, 2:15, 2:45, and 3:15. Purchase tickets at the Visitor Center.
Group tours by appointment.
Admission:
$3/adults, $2/seniors/groups, $1/ages 5-18, FREE/ages 4 & under
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