Ranger Talk/Tour: The Women of White Haven

White Haven was home to one of the most famous men of the 19th century, but it was also shaped by the lives of many remarkable women who made or witnessed history in their own right. From Julia Dent Grant and her sisters to the enslaved women who quietly kept the home a......More

White Haven was home to one of the most famous men of the 19th century, but it was also shaped by the lives of many remarkable women who made or witnessed history in their own right. From Julia Dent Grant and her sisters to the enslaved women who quietly kept the home and farm running, Park Guide Evan Meyer will explore The Women of White Haven.

History Talk: Analyzing Historic Photographs

What are the differences between a daguerreotype, an ambrotype, and a tintype? Park Historian and Curator Nick Sacco will explore a variety of historic photos from both the park’s collection and his own. He will explain the technology of photography and how it evolved d......More

What are the differences between a daguerreotype, an ambrotype, and a tintype? Park Historian and Curator Nick Sacco will explore a variety of historic photos from both the park’s collection and his own. He will explain the technology of photography and how it evolved during the19th century and how photographic technology combined with the subject can help historians to date the image. Visitors are encouraged to bring a historic photo of their own to include in the discussion.

White Haven Readers Guild

The Age of Reconstruction: How Lincoln’s New Birth of Freedom Remade the World by Don Doyle.The book club is open to all who are interested. The Reader’s Guild meets quarterly on Wednesdays at 2 PM. Enjoy a group discussion led by a park ranger. This has been reschedule......More

The Age of Reconstruction: How Lincoln’s New Birth of Freedom Remade the World by Don Doyle.The book club is open to all who are interested. The Reader’s Guild meets quarterly on Wednesdays at 2 PM. Enjoy a group discussion led by a park ranger. This has been rescheduled from October 1. The program is free. Call 314-842-1867 ext. 230 for reservations.

Civil War Days

A living history weekend to commemorate the 161th anniversary of the Confederatesurrender at Appomattox Court House. Activities will include presentations on thesurrender, soldier encampments, historic weapons demonstrations, children's activities,and information on res......More

A living history weekend to commemorate the 161th anniversary of the Confederatesurrender at Appomattox Court House. Activities will include presentations on thesurrender, soldier encampments, historic weapons demonstrations, children's activities,and information on researching your Civil War ancestors.

History Talk: Now is Our Time to Strike: 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry

The First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry were the first black troops to see combat in the American Civil War and this distinction was given to them at a battle that took place in Missouri! The risks they took in fighting for freedom included re-enslavement and death,......More

The First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry were the first black troops to see combat in the American Civil War and this distinction was given to them at a battle that took place in Missouri! The risks they took in fighting for freedom included re-enslavement and death, yet they joined anyways and helped to encourage hundreds of thousands of others African Americans to do the same. General Grant himself said 'They will make good soldiers', and he could not have been more correct. Come join Park Ranger Cody Faber as he discusses this important unit's creation, the battles they fought in, where they served and how their fight for freedom made them so influential in America's history!

Concert at the Park: Independent Silver Band

The Independent Silver Band is a vintage brass band, recreating a group in existence in Mt. Vernon Illinois between 1884 to 1889. Playing on period instruments and wearing period wardrobe, they play music from the second half of the 19th century. Bring a lawn chair or a......More

The Independent Silver Band is a vintage brass band, recreating a group in existence in Mt. Vernon Illinois between 1884 to 1889. Playing on period instruments and wearing period wardrobe, they play music from the second half of the 19th century. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket to enjoy this free concert. Outside food and beverages are allowed.

Civil War Days

A living history weekend to commemorate the 161th anniversary of the Confederatesurrender at Appomattox Court House. Activities will include presentations on thesurrender, soldier encampments, historic weapons demonstrations, children's activities,and information on res......More

A living history weekend to commemorate the 161th anniversary of the Confederatesurrender at Appomattox Court House. Activities will include presentations on thesurrender, soldier encampments, historic weapons demonstrations, children's activities,and information on researching your Civil War ancestors.

History Talk: Did the Civil War really end at Appomattox, Virginia?

It is commonly believed that the Civil War ended at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. However, was that really the case? As the Confederacy was falling apart an estimated 175,000 t......More

It is commonly believed that the Civil War ended at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865 when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. However, was that really the case? As the Confederacy was falling apart an estimated 175,000 troops remained in the field and were not included in the surrender. These troops were loosely dispersed throughout the Confederacy. Confederate President Jefferson Davis vowed to keep the war going. Ranger Ashton Farrell returns to the park to discuss what happened in the weeks and months after Generals Grant and Lees met at Appomattox Court House.

Walk Through History: Healthy Parks, Healthy People Fitness-Based Program

Walk Through HistoryJoin a park ranger for fun, fitness, and history on a 3-mile, leisurely-paced, round-trip walk through Grantwood Village to the original site of Grant’s Hardscrabble cabin. The program is free. 

History Talk: Julia and Ulysses at home: the Grants in the White House, 1869-1877

Julia and Ulysses Grant would live in the White House for longer than they ever lived in any other house. For Julia it was home in a way the White House had never been for any previous first family. Ulysses Grant Dietz whose book Dream House: The White House as an Ameri......More

Julia and Ulysses Grant would live in the White House for longer than they ever lived in any other house. For Julia it was home in a way the White House had never been for any previous first family. Ulysses Grant Dietz whose book Dream House: The White House as an American Home was published in 2009 will explore Julia's role as first lady and her substantial impact on the White House itself. He will also look at both Julia and Ulysses and their backgrounds at the places and houses where their family lived over the years between 1848 and 1877 when they set out on their legendary world tour.Ulysses Grant Dietz served as curator of Decorative Arts at The Newark Museum from 1980 until 2017 and was appointed Chief Curator in 2012. He received his BA in French from Yale University in 1977 and his MA in Ameri can Material Culture from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in 1980. As the curator of 114 exhibitions covering all aspects of the decorative arts from colonial to contemporary he studied and collected furniture silver base metals glass ceramics textiles and jewelry. He is particularly proud of his work on the Museum’s National Historic Landmark Ballantine House built in1885. The Ballantine House was reinterpreted between 1992 and 1994 with a groundbreaking installation called House & Home.Mr. Dietz has published numerous articles on decorative arts drawn from the Newark Museum’s nationally known collections. His most recent publications are Masterpieces of Art Pottery 1880-1930 from the Newark Museum in 2009 and Dream House: The White House as an American Home released in September 2009 by Acanthus Press in New York. His last book as curator was Jewelry from Pearls to Platinum to Plastic published in 2017. Ulysses Grant Dietz is youngest of the 41 great-great-grandchildren of Julia and Ulysses S. Grant. He is descended from the Grants' eldest child Frederick Dent Grant and his mother's name was Julia. 

Author Talk: Following Ulysses Grant through our National Park System

As we celebrate National Park Week, join Dan Kroese as he retraces different periods and events in Grant’s life through the National Park Service sites that tell much of his life story. Over thirty NPS sites across the country, from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific,......More

As we celebrate National Park Week, join Dan Kroese as he retraces different periods and events in Grant’s life through the National Park Service sites that tell much of his life story. Over thirty NPS sites across the country, from the Atlantic Seaboard to the Pacific, are directly connected with Ulysses Grant. David Kroese is one of fewer than a hundred people known to have visited all 430+ National Park Service units. Over the past decade, David has logged 1,600+ site visits and 6,000+ trail miles exploring NPS units across the country. To celebrate the National Park Service’s centennial in 2016, David visited 387 parks in 360 days, traveling through all 50 states and the Caribbean territories. He completed his visits to all the parks in December 2017. David wrote of his experiences in 2016 and 2017 in the first published narrative through all the NPS sites, The Centennial: A Journey through America’s National Park System. 

National Junior Ranger Day 

No matter what age you are, you are invited to explore, learn, and protect on National Junior Ranger Day. Join this one-day celebration that is part of the annual National Park Week. Included in the day are 19th century farming demonstrations, a rain garden activity, ou......More

No matter what age you are, you are invited to explore, learn, and protect on National Junior Ranger Day. Join this one-day celebration that is part of the annual National Park Week. Included in the day are 19th century farming demonstrations, a rain garden activity, outdoor games, and bird watching. 

Ranger Talk: Plant Like Grant! Farming at White Haven

White Haven was a working farm from the time that Col. Frederick F. Dent purchased the property in 1820 until after Grant’s ownership ending in 1885 and through the early 20th century. Ranger Blake discusses Grant's farming experience at Hardscrabble as well as the farm......More

White Haven was a working farm from the time that Col. Frederick F. Dent purchased the property in 1820 until after Grant’s ownership ending in 1885 and through the early 20th century. Ranger Blake discusses Grant's farming experience at Hardscrabble as well as the farming process for the Dent family and enslaved laborers at White Haven.

Walk Through History: Healthy Parks, Healthy People Fitness-Based Program

Walk Through HistoryJoin a park ranger for fun, fitness, and history on a 3-mile, leisurely-paced, round-trip walk through Grantwood Village to the original site of Grant’s Hardscrabble cabin. The program is free.