Curriculum-friendly walking, museum and virtual tours help educators connect all grade levels to the Queen City’s past, present, and future

CHARLOTTE, NC – As the school year gets rolling, Levine Museum of the New South offers students and teachers an immersive front-row seat to Charlotte’s history through various affordable field trip options, including interactive in-person and virtual experiences, plus free online NC history resources.

These opportunities and materials allow teachers to connect local and state history to North Carolina social studies curricula, tailored to address specific standards across different grade levels and history courses from kindergarten through high school.

“Students will explore Charlotte’s transformation from a small farming community to a major financial center, learn about key figures in its Civil Rights and equality movements, and see how it’s evolved into the multicultural city it is today,” says Richard Cooper, Levine Museum President & CEO. “They’ll encounter unique artworks and artifacts that deepen their understanding of what has shaped the city where they live and learn.”

The educational offerings feature three distinct experiences, available in both self-guided and museum-guided formats:

Walking Tours (90 minutes-2 hours, up to 100 guests): Middle and high school students will explore the once vibrant and thriving neighborhood of Brooklyn, a historically Black community in Charlotte’s Second Ward, through narration, photos, poetry and voices of former residents. The guided tour begins with an introduction to Brooklyn’s origins, growth and eventual deconstruction. Utilizing the free KnowCLT app, students can see what seven places in Brooklyn once looked like through augmented reality. 

“Through our walking tours, students gain insight into the impact of Brooklyn’s rise and demise, how its story is still relevant in Charlotte, and its place within the larger framework of the national urban renewal movement,” says Lindsay Fairbrother-Henige, Director of School Programs.

Museum Tours (recommended 1 hour, up to 35 guests): Students of all ages are invited to visit the museum and explore its current exhibition, “Charlotte: Moving Forward, Looking Back,” which delves into Charlotte’s history from Native and early European settlements to today. Through interactive media displays, historical artifacts and art from local creatives, guests will learn the stories of the people, places and events that have shaped Charlotte. Group visits can be scheduled Tuesday through Sunday during museum hours, with an administrative fee of $25 for self-guided groups of 10 to 35 people.

Virtual Tours (1 hour, up to 85 guests): Bringing the Levine Museum to the classroom via Zoom, students will learn about Charlotte’s post-Civil War history across five galleries: reconstruction, Charlotte’s textile boom, the growth of the city, the Civil Rights era, and the city today. They will learn about unique artifacts that deepen the understanding of historical events in Charlotte, explored through one of three thematic lenses:

  • Growing Up in the New South: Journey through 150 years of Southern history from a young person’s perspective, including the lives of sharecropping children, mill kids and young freedom fighters of the Civil Rights movement.
  • New South, New Women: Learn about the lives and achievements of Piedmont women and their roles in the labor and suffrage movements, as well as other significant social changes.
  • Carolina Civil Rights Journey: Discover the triumphs and challenges faced by African Americans after the end of slavery, and how black North Carolinians fought to ensure the promises of the new South were upheld.

A guided experience is available upon request for an additional cost, depending on the program and group size. To schedule a K-12 experience, please complete the form on the Field Trips page.

In addition, the museum offers free, online, inquiry-based NC Case Studies assisting teachers and helping students further understand significant events in North Carolina history. Created by the Levine Museum’s Educator Advisory Board of Charlotte-area social studies teachers, these studies cover periods from Early Native Americans of North Carolina to the Desegregation of Charlotte’s Public Spaces. These resources can be adapted for any grade level and includes a corresponding teaching guide with background information, instructions, modifications and educational standards. 

The museum is located at 401 S. Tryon St., between Bernardin’s Restaurant and the Three Wells Fargo Lobby and is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, and 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday.