Background Information and Guide for K-12 Field Trip
Theme: Children in 19th Century Charleston
House Museum: Nathaniel Russell
Grades: K-4th Grade
Charleston in the 19th century was much different than the 21st
century city that we know today. Students will tour the Nathaniel
Russell House and see how children and families of the past lived
and worked in their community. This program is suitable for
kindergarten, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.
Before You Visit
The Nathaniel Russell House was built in 1808 during the
Antebellum Period and is one of America’s most important
neoclassical homes. Russell was a successful merchant who
exported Carolina Gold rice, indigo, cotton, tobacco, and more
goods around the world. Russell, his wife, and their two daughters
lived in this home with their slaves until 1857. This house is a great
example of what a Charleston town home was like in the 19th century. Children lived much
differently in the past then they do now and at the Nathaniel Russell House, students will learn
what their life would have been like if they lived in 19th century Charleston. Before the trip, ask
students to think about some of the themes of the period and what life was like in Antebellum
Charleston and the South as a whole. How different would your
life be as a child living 200 years ago as compared to now?
Would you have your own bedroom or have to share? Would
you go to school every day locally, have a tutor come to your
house, or be sent away for boarding school? How would your
food have been prepared? What kind of toys would you have
played with?
During the Visit
Students will arrive at the Nathaniel Russell House and learn
about the house’s residents and the role they played in
Charleston and how they were similar to other families during
the time. The tour will start in the gardens and work yard where
children would have mostly played games as they were not
typically allowed on the first floor of the home. Inside the house,
students will learn how the family used each room of the home
and where children were allowed and not allowed in the house and why rules for children were
so strict. While on the tour, students should draw comparisons with the Russell girls’ lives and
their own. What are some clues in and around the house that tell how all of the occupants lived
and worked in the space? What do these facts tell us about what the Antebellum Era and what it
was like for children living during it? Do you have a
nanny that takes care of you instead of your mom?
After the tour, the group will participate in a hands
on activity of parlor games and looking at toys from
the 19th century. If children were from a wealthy
family, their parents may have bought them toys like
dolls, marbles, hoops, balls, and toy animals.
Children who were less fortunate would have to
make their own toys from whatever they could find;
mostly wood and paper. They also entertained
themselves with games like tag and games they
played on paper called parlor games. Students will play a few parlor games so they can fully
understand the differences between 19th century childhood and 21st century childhood.
After the Visit
Upon returning to school, encourage students to remember some of the differences they saw in
the Russell House as compared to their own house. How was education for kids different? How
about playing, eating, traveling, and sleeping? How did the community play a role in providing
for the Russells and other families living in Charleston? What kinds of choices did families make
in the past to fulfill their wants and needs and how are those choices different from today?
Does the house provide any commentary to what life was like in the U.S. during that time
period? Have students use the information they learned on their tour of the Nathaniel Russell
House help answer some of these questions. Additionally, have students take a piece of notebook
paper and fold it in half down the middle from top to bottom. On one side, students should write
some of the things they do on a daily basis such as
eating cereal for breakfast, going to school, playing
video games, doing homework assignments, eating
dinner with family, running around at soccer
practice etc. On the other side of the paper,
challenge students to write the 19th century
equivalent of the activity based on what they
learned at the Nathaniel Russell House. Children
did not eat meals with the family and only ate fresh
things from the market, girls went to finishing
school and boys were sent to boarding school,
there were no organized sports, children made up
their own games etc. This activity will help
students apply the information they learned on the tour to their own lives and understand some of
the differences between life in the past and life in the present.