JUST FOR TEACHERS

Your class can use the picnic area on the grounds, but you must bring trash bags and carry your garbage to the dumpster on site or take it off-site with you.

Prompt arrival of your group is necessary.  If you are more than 15 minutes late, we cannot guarantee that you will receive a tour.

The following Teacher Packet was prepared for the Third Grade Classes of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools to prepare them for their visit to Historic Rosedale Plantation and interest them in the study of local history. Please feel free to print a copy for use in your classroom.  A PDF version is also available.

v Introduction

We would love to have your children visit here at Historic Rosedale.

This packet of information and activities is designed as a planning tool for you and your class to use in preparation for your visit to Historic Rosedale.  We hope the information will enable you to smoothly incorporate your visit into the curriculum, and assist your students in understanding the concepts introduced at this nineteenth century historic site.  Students who have been introduced to the subject matter before their visit find the experience much more enjoyable and informative. 

Below is an outline of the tour.  Each tour will be slightly different, but should include the following basic topics.  The tour was designed to meet current Social Studies Curriculum and we have included curriculum goals that were considered in the development of each section of the tour in the following synopsis.

Tour Outline

Introduction – The Community of the Plantation
Compare and contrast the family, the house, the plantation and the community of Charlotte in 1840 and today.            Curriculum Goals:  2, 3, 6

Dr. David Caldwell and ‘Heroic’ Medicine
Examine the role of plantation owner and doctor.  Explore ‘heroic’ medicine, barter system, herbs, men’s clothing and phrenology; compare and contrast to today.                                       Curriculum Goals: 2, 3, 6, 10, 11

Miss Mary Ann Frew – Education
 Attend a classroom session with a 19th century tutor.  Study geography, map skills, sewing, journal writing, manners and deportment from an 1840’s viewpoint.  Examine women’s opportunities in the 19th century as opposed to men.                                         Curriculum Goals:  1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11

Slave life and Chores
Examine the lives of slaves of the plantation.  Hands on activities simulating chores and work done by the slaves on the plantation including: cooking, laundry, trapping, sweeping, grinding corn, carrying water, etc…                                                Curriculum Goals:  2,6,10

v Tour Tips

  • Ideal group size is 45 students; no more than 60 students can be handled on site at one time.  Large schools must be scheduled in two slots.

  • The total group of students touring at one time will need to be divided into three somewhat equal groups, if possible please divide your students before arrival.

  • If you have students with special needs please alert us so that we may be prepared.

  • Please have one adult for each group (teacher or parent).

  • The tour will last an hour and a half

  • A docent will meet you at the front door on your arrival.

  • No eating is allowed in the house.  There are, however, available picnic areas, with a number of picnic tables, for bag lunches but there is no shelter.  Please let us know if you plan to stay for lunch.

  • There are only two rest room facilities on site.  These are located in the outbuilding behind the house.

  • Please remind students not to touch any of the walls or woodwork in the house.  Chewing gum is not allowed!

  •  If for some reason after scheduling, you are unable to bring your class to Rosedale, please call us as far in advance as possible. The scheduling of your tour requires a commitment of time and energy from the staff and volunteers.  Thank you!

Encourage your students to visit Historic Rosedale with their parents.
 

Rosedale is located three miles from the center of Charlotte at 3427 N. Tryon Street.    We are between 36th Street and Sugar Creek Road right next door to Highland Elementary School.

v The Families of Historic Rosedale

Archibald Frew built Rosedale.  He was a merchant who ran a store in the village of Charlotte.  The house was finished about 1815 and was considered very large.  The neighbor’s called it “Frew’s Folly”, possibly because of the size or the color it was painted (white with yellow trim).  The house was a new style for Charlotte.

The tour focuses on the Caldwell family who lived at Rosedale. In 1826 Dr. David Caldwell and his wife Harriet moved into Rosedale.  The Caldwells lived in the house and operated the plantation for many years.  Dr. Caldwell and his wife had eight children, four girls and four boys who grew up on the plantation.  Your students will learn about the lives of several of these children including of Willy, who hopes to become a doctor like his father and Sarah Jane, a budding artist.  Tutors lived with the family to teach the children when they were young.  One of the tutors was Miss Mary Ann Frew.

Two slave families also lived and worked at Rosedale.  One of the slaves was named Nat, and he was a blacksmith.  Ben was the carriage driver and drove Dr. Caldwell on his visits to sick people.  Ben’s wife, Jenny was the cook for the family and prepared food for as many as 35 people each day over an open hearth.  Ben and Jenny’s daughter Rena helped her mother with chores in the kitchen and was being taught to read by the tutor (even though it was against the law to teach slaves to read at the time, documents show that members of this family were teaching their young slave children to read the Bible).

The plantation of Rosedale contained 911 acres and was one of the largest in Mecklenburg County.  Most people in Charlotte were not as wealthy as the Caldwells.  They lived on small farms or in small houses in the village.

Some Facts on Slavery in NC


 Rosedale was an operating plantation during the days of slavery.  Slaves of the plantation are introduced as individual persons and their jobs and responsibilities are discussed.  Any questions will be frankly answered, but a discussion of slavery as an institution is not part of the tour. 

You may want to prepare your students for the mention of slavery, but most students, we have found, take the information as a matter of fact.  They are quite interested in the place of African Americans in the community of the plantation. 

Slavery in the backcountry of NC was different than in other parts of the south.  Small plantations and farms covered this part of the state.  75% of whites in NC never owned slaves.  Most who did, in Mecklenburg County, owned 1 or 2 who lived with the family, ate with the family and worked side by side with the family.  Rosedale was one of the largest plantations in the county and had 20 slaves, usually only 6 – 8 adults at any given time.  Each slave had a job to do and it is these jobs within the framework of the plantation that are discussed.  If you have any questions about this subject feel free to call us before your visit.

Activities

v Children's Timeline

Put these events in order.  Where does Rosedale belong?  Cut apart and arrange in order. For a printable version click here

George Washington becomes President of the US (1789)
Moon Landing (1969)
Dinosaurs (245 million years ago)
Gold was discovered in NC (1799)
First Flight at Kitty Hawk (1903)
First Automobile (1896)

Abraham Lincoln becomes President of the US (1860)

Rosedale built (1815)

First Thanksgiving (1621)

Columbus’ Voyage to American (1492)


v Journal Writing

Much about history can be learned from papers and journals kept by people living long ago.  A journal is a book where a person can record private thoughts and ideas.  They may contain information about business or daily life.  Read the following journal entry written by Mrs. Harriet Caldwell’s sister, Sarah Frew Davidson and see what you can learn about life in Charlotte in the year 1837.

Biography of Sarah Frew Davidson

Sarah was born in 1804.  Her father was William Davidson, a NC State senator from 1813 - 1817.  She had a brother William and two sisters, Margaret and Harriet.  In 1837 Sarah lived on a plantation called “The Grove” with her father.  It was about three miles west of the village of Charlotte.  Her sister, Harriet, married Dr. David Caldwell and they lived at Rosedale.  Sarah was well educated and spent much of her time teaching.  She taught music to many children in Charlotte and on the farms and plantations close by.  She also taught Sunday School at her church.  As we can see in her journal, she also taught her father’s slaves to read, even though this was against the law in NC at the time. 

Journal Entry

“February 17, 1837   Visited my sister - Mrs. Caldwell.

My visit was unexpected.  She was not aware of it until I entered her chamber and it more than compensated me for a cold ride on a disagreeable horse to observe how much she was gratified by my visit.  When I returned home, found my friend Mr. Blackwood had walked from the village to pay me a visit.  I was truly sorry.   Yet when I thought of the gratification my sister manifested in the morning, I was content.

After tea as usual, instructed the young servants...

My father, being much indisposed from a cold, I had his feet bathed and sat up a while until all was still, then... returned to rest.”                             

 

v Vocabulary Words

 There are some words that are used in Sarah’s Journal that you may not be familiar with.

chamber - bedroom                                   gratified - pleased    

compensated - satisfied                             indisposed - sick                  

manifested - showed                                 content - happy 

Discussion Questions
 

1.  It was considered impolite in 1837 to call someone by his or her first name.  What did Sarah Davidson call her sister?  What do you call your sister?     

(i)                  Goal 6.1

2.  How did Sarah Davidson travel to Rosedale to visit her sister?  How would you travel today?

(ii)                Goal 9.4

3.  Sarah’s friend Mr. Blackwood had walked to her plantation, “The Grove”, but she wasn’t home, so he walked back to the village of Charlotte.  How far did he walk?

(iii)               Goal 9.4

4.  Charlotte is called a village.  How large is a village?  Is Charlotte a village today?

(iv)              Goal 2.1,2.3,6.1

5.  What was Sarah doing that was very dangerous?   Is it against the law for anyone to go to school today?

(v)           Goal 4.1,4.24.3,4.4

6.  Sarah had the slaves treat her father’s cold.  What did they do?  How do we treat colds today?

(v)               Goal 3.1,3.2,3.3

Today’s Version
 

If Sarah lived today, she would not have used the same words in her journal.  The way we talk, the slang we use is, different today.  And the world we live in is different.  If Sarah were writing in her journal today, what would it have said?  Maybe something like this.

Feb. 17, 1997

I visited my sister Harriet, today.

Wow, did I surprise her. She didn’t know I was coming, and I snuck up on her in her room.  Boy, was she surprised and glad to see me.  It was real cool!

When I got home, I found out that “Blackie” had stopped by and I had missed him.  I was really bummed out!  But, then I remembered how much fun Harriet and I had had, and it was OK.

After dinner, I let my little brother play a video game on my computer.  My Dad’s got a cold, so a brought him some “NyQuill” and we watched TV for a while.  And then I hit the sack.

Vocabulary

 
If children in the future read our journal entry above, they might have trouble understanding what we were saying.  What words might they not understand? Make a vocabulary list and include the meanings.

(vi)                Goal 6.3 

Help Miss Frew Find the Presidents
For a printable version click here

X

N

O

S

R

E

F

F

E

J

V

A

V

B

U

R

E

N

Z

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N

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T

G

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H

S

A

W

O

E

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R

N

O

M

U

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K

S

B

C

G

I

A

Q

V

E

J

K

A

M

A

D

I

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O

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C

A

T

F

H

L

N

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X

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Find: 

WASHINGTON
ADAMS
JEFFERSON
MADISON
MONROE
JOHN Q ADAMS
JACKSON
VAN BUREN


Presidential Facts

  • George Washington had his groomsmen brush his horse’s teeth every day.

  • John Adams was the first president to live in the White House.

  • Thomas Jefferson had the government purchase the ‘Louisiana Purchase’ for only 3 cents an acre.

  • James Madison was only 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighed 100 pounds.  He was first President to wear long pants.

  • James Monroe was the first president to travel around greeting the people.

  • John Quincy Adams was the first president to have his picture taken.

  • Andrew Jackson had bathtubs and running water put in the White House.  He insisted the world was flat.

  • Martin Van Buren put forth the idea of a national bank. The bill passed in 1840 and now we have the U.S.TREASURY.

v The Explorer Friends
 

At the end of your students’ visit to Historic Rosedale each class will be given an Explorer Friend (in picture form) to accompany them back to school.  Each class will receive the picture of one of the children of 1840’s Rosedale introduced to them during the tour, and be asked to take this child on an adventure of exploration into their modern day community.  After visiting the students for a while, students will be asked to help their friend write a letter about their adventure discovering things, ideas and customs that have changed since 1840.  Your Explorer Friend might write about a modern day classroom and what has changed since 1840, or talk about differences in clothing or customs; Friends might go home with students and describe a student’s home or family life; or the Friend might go shopping or to a ball game or have many other adventures.  The possibilities for adventure are limitless.   We hope your students will extend their learning experience by viewing their life in the 21st century through the eyes of their 19th century Explorer Friend.

The Explorer Friends are based on known facts about documented individuals of the Caldwell plantation.  Rosedale is fortunate to have Dr. D. T. Caldwell’s plantation records and the Journal of Sarah Frew Davidson, which paint a credible picture of life on a NC plantation in the early 1800’s.  Willy did indeed become a doctor, just like his father.  Drawings and paintings done by the young Sarah Jane still exist, and Rena lived as a child on the plantation with her parents whose jobs are accurately portrayed.  Although we have no documented proof of Dr. Caldwell’s slave children being taught to read on the Caldwell plantation, the Journal of Sarah Frew Davidson of Charlotte, aunt to the Caldwell children, mentions teaching her slave children to read the Bible even though it was against the law in 1840.    Some slight literary license has been taken to flesh out the personalities of these children.

Introduce your students to the Explorer Friends of Rosedale.  They may decide which friend they would like to have come visit their classroom.

Willy is the 11-year-old son of Dr. & Mrs. Caldwell.  He hopes to become a doctor like his father and is very interested in plants and animals. Willy often goes with his father when he visits the sick.  He watches as his father examines and treats the patients, and then carefully records the medicines prescribed in his journal.  The doctor’s patients have little money and often pay Dr. Caldwell with food, clothes or by offering to work.

Willy practices to be a doctor by helping take care of the plantation animals. He pretends they are his patients and carefully asks them questions and listens to their reply, just like his father does. He bandages their injuries and pretends to mix their medicine and writes down the patient’s name in his journal. “Baa, the sheep – broken leg.”  Sometimes the animal patients are more difficult than his father’s real patients.  Have you ever tried to put a bandage on a lamb’s leg?  And how does a lamb pay his bill?

Sarah Jane is the 8-year-old daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Caldwell.  She is an excellent student who loves to read and play the piano.  She works very hard at her lessons with the tutor, Miss Frew, and enjoys drawing.  Her father brought her a set of paints from Charleston for her birthday and she spends many hours sitting in the fields painting pictures of animals, trees and flowers.  Her favorite drawing is of her brother’s lamb, the Baa, running through the meadow. 

Sarah Jane enjoys helping her mother stitch letters on the family linens to mark them. The colors of the silk threads in her mother’s sewing box are the most beautiful shades she has ever seen.  She hopes in a few years to go to the Charlotte Female Academy in the village and learn to do beautiful needlework like her mother.

Rena the 10-year-old slave child is the daughter of Ben the carriage driver and Jenny the cook of the Caldwell Plantation. Rena helps her mother with the preparation of food.  They prepare food for 35 people, three times each day in the kitchen in the basement of the plantation house.  She stirs the pots over the hot fire, grinds the salt and spices, washes the dishes and sweeps the dirt floor.  However her favorite chore is going to the kitchen garden and picking the plants that will season the food for the family or be used to keep the house fresh and clean.  She loves to escape from the hot kitchen and hard work to sit among the plants in the garden.  The breeze cools her skin, and the herbs in the garden smell so sweet as the bees and butterflies fly by on their busy routes.  Rena’s favorite herb is lavender with its beautiful blue flowers and lovely fragrance.  Lavender is placed between the freshly washed sheets to make them smell nice when placed upon the bed.

Rena is very glad that Dr. Caldwell is allowing Miss Frew, the tutor, to teach her to read the Bible. Rena dreams that one day she will be free to travel to far off places.

One of The Explorer Friends (in the form of a picture) will visit your classroom and your students will help him/her to explore life in the 21st century.

Return letters to:
 Miss Mary Ann Frew
3427 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28206

Or  roseedu@historicrosedale.org

More Explorer Friends Learning Exercises
 

Please use your Explorer Friend freely in your classroom.  You may keep your friend for the rest of the year if you like.  The following are addition exercises that you may enjoy.  Please let us know how these activities work and send us examples of the children’s work so that we can judge how successful this program is.  We’d also enjoy hearing about any further activities you may come up with using the Explorer Friend.   Thank you.  You can contact us by mail:

Camille Smith Curator of Education
Historic Rosedale
3427 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC 28206

Or through e-mail at:  roseedu@historicrosedale.org 

  • Students may work on vocabulary through the following exercise:

Make a list of vocabulary words for your Explorer Friend.  What words used today in your classroom would your friend need to know?  What is the definition of these words? 

  • Students may work on writing skills, library skills and learn about their community through the following exercise:

Write a description of Charlotte today for your Explorer Friend to send back to his teacher Miss Frew.  How large is Charlotte today?  What interesting things are in the vicinity of Charlotte?  Who are the important people of Charlotte today?  What would Miss Frew like to know about Charlotte in the present?

  • Students may work on writing skills, role-playing and oral and visual communication through the following exercise:

Write a play about Willy, Sarah Jane and Rena after your character returns to Rosedale from their adventure.  What would they talk about?  What could your Explorer Friend share with his friends from the past?  What questions would they ask about his trip?

  • Students may work on writing skills, supporting a position through the following exercise:

Write a paper from your Explorer Friend’s perspective expressing “Why I prefer living in 1840” or “Why I prefer living in the present.”  Students would be expected to write their paper supporting their position with facts and comparisons.

  • Students may work on writing and communication skills through the following exercise:

Correspond with other CMS 3rd grade classes participating in the Explorer Friend program.  Students can write letters from their Explorer Friend to one visiting another school.  Contact us for a partner class.

  • Students may work on creative writing and creative questioning skills through the following exercise:

If your Explorer Friend could meet any person alive today, who would they want to meet?  What questions might they ask?  What could they learn?

v Supplementary Reading

We hope your find this reading list useful.  We’d love to have your input.  What books did you find helpful?  Which were not?  Were they on level or difficult for your students?  Do you have suggested additions? Are any the books out of print or unavailable?  Your help is very valuable and appreciated.
 

Antebellum life

Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters  by Pat McKissack, 1994, Scholastic Inc., NY. –  

Life on a Plantation (Historic Communities) by Bobbie Kalman. 1997, Crabtree.

Life on a Southern Plantation (Picture the Past) by Sally Senzell Isaacs. 2000, Heinemann. 

Daily Life on a Southern Plantation, 1853, by Paul Erickson.  Lodestar, 1998. 

Huskings, Quiltings, and Barn Raisings: Work-Play Parties in Early America by Victoria Sherrow, Laura Loturco. 1992,Walker and Co., NY  

Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie dePaola – 1982, Aladdin.   

Girl’s Own Book by Maria Child. 1834, Applewood Books. 

Boy’s Own Book by William Clarke. 1834, Applewood Books.

Medicine

Early Health & Medicine by Bobbie Kalman. 1983,Crabtree Publishing Co., NY. 

House Calls: The True Story of a Pioneer Doctor by Ainslie Manson, Mary Jane Gerber. 2001, Groundwood Books. 

Slavery

A Picture of Freedom, Diary of Clotee a Slave Girl, Belmont Plantation 1859; (Dear America Series) by Patricia McKissack. 1997,Scholastic. 

I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly, Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl (Dear America Series) by Jim Murphy, Scholastic. 

Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. 2003, Scholastic. 

The Drinking Gourd (I Can Read Book) by F  N. Monjo. 1993, HarperCollins.  

…If you Traveled on the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine. 1993, Scholastic. 

... If You Lived When There Was Slavery in America  by Anne Kamma, Pamela Johnson. 2004, Scholastic. 

The Last Safe House: A Story of the Undergound Railroad by Barbara Greenwood, Heather Collins (Illustrator). 1998, Kids Can Press.  

The Strength of These Arms - Life in the Slave Quarters by Bial, Raymond. 1997, Houghton Mifflin Company.  

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, by Deborah Hopkinson. 1995, Alfred A. Knopf, NY.   

Harriet Tubman, A Woman of Courage by Editors of Time For Kids. 2005, Harper Collins. 

Almost to Freedom by Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux. 2003, Carolchoda Books. 

Pink and Say by  Patricia Palacco. 1994 Philomel Books. 

Folk Tales

The Adventures of Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris, Frank Baber (Illustrator), Ruth Spriggs, Stephen Bates, Sarah White; 1941,Harper & Row. 

Civil War

When Will this Cruel War be Over? A Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson, Gordonsville Virginia, 1864 (Dear America Series) by Barry Denenburg.  1996, Scholastic. 

A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin, Fenwick Island, Delaware, 1861 (Dear America Series) by Karen Hesse.  1999, Scholastic. 

Yankee Girl at Fort Sumter by Alice Turner Curtis.  1999, Applewood. –  

Robert E. Lee; Civil War Hero (Junior World Biographies) by Jack Kavanagh and Eugene Murdock.  1995, Chelsea Juniors.  

…If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War by Kay Moore. 1994, Scholastic. 

Reconstruction

Papa's Mark by Gwendolyn Battle-Lavert, Colin Bootman, Holiday House, NY. 

Reference

Andrew Jackson (History Maker Bios) by Carol H. Behrman.  2005, Barnes & Noble Publishing. 

Thomas Jefferson (History Maker Bios) by Victoria Sherrow.  2005, Barnes & Noble Publishing. 

Life of a Slave on a Southern Plantation by Stephen Currie. – 1999, Lucent. 

Southern Plantation Cooking (Exploring History Through Simple Recipes) by Mary Gunderson, Melodie Andrews. 2000, Blue Earth Books. 

Lewis and Clark by Rebecca Stefoff. 1992, Chelsea Juniors.  

The Lewis & Clark Expedition by Sanna Porte Kiesling.  1990, The Globe Pequot Press. 

Slavery Time When I Was Chillun by Belinda Hurmence.  1997, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, NY. 

Freedom Struggle; Anti-Slavery Movement in America 1830 - 1865 (Crossroads of America) by Ann Rossi. 2005, National Geographic. 

From Slave Ship to Freedom Road by Julius Lester and Rod Brown.  2000, Puffin.
Historic Rosedale Plantation
3427 N. Tryon Street
Charlotte, NC  28206
(704)335-0325, Fax: (704)335-0384
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