Each workshop will combine classroom and field studies, including archaeology, at The Hermitage. Participants will use as primary source evidence a variety of documents from the time period, the objects in The Hermitage’s collections, the books the Jackson family owned, the archaeological remains left behind by the enslaved black families, the architecture, and even the cultural landscape to examine these six interpretive themes.

Activities each week will take place at The Hermitage, an 1120-acre historic site that includes the main Jackson residence, the mansion kitchen and smokehouse dependencies, a one-acre historic garden, Tulip Grove mansion (1836), the Hermitage Church (1823), the First Hermitage complex (1801-1805), presently undergoing restoration, Jackson’s tomb and family cemetery, and the Donelson family cemetery. The Hermitage also has sites associated with the enslaved community, including Alfred’s cabin (c1840 duplex) and multiple archaeological sites.