The Fairfield Foundation is dedicated to involving the community in our efforts to discover and preserve local history. We offer hands-on activities to people of all ages who want to experience an archaeological dig, get their hands dirty in the lab, or help to preserve and restore historic structures.
Our outreach programs include public dig days at sites like Fairfield Plantation and New Quarter Park, preservation workshops, summer camps, cemetery clean-ups, and more! We also host public lab nights every Tuesday evening at the Center for Archaeology, Preservation and Education in Gloucester Courthouse. Check out our calendar to learn how you can get involved!
Fairfield also offers educational programming to schools across the Middle Peninsula. Our goal is to offer place-based learning experiences that integrate archaeology into class curriculum and demonstrate how subjects like math, science, history, and geography are applied in our field. We have visited classrooms in every school in Gloucester, Mathews, and Middlesex counties, and are working to expand our programming to reach every school on the Middle Peninsula and nearby.
Education Links:
‘Save Our History’ Videos
Armed with a grant from the History Channel we set out to challenge Botetourt Elementary fourth graders with a simple question, ‘What is a Plantation’. The students toured four Gloucester County plantation sites and documented with video, artistic sketches and written reports of what they found. Be sure to check out the entire video series and watch how these kids got involved in the history of their county.
Fairfield video ‘Who we are and what we do’
Contact us to learn more or schedule an Educational Outing for your group:
Rachel Boyd, Public Outreach Coordinator
[email protected]