About This Lesson
This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file "Hornbek House" and historical documents compiled by staff at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The lesson was written by Laine Weber, former Park Ranger at Florissant Fossil Bends National Monument. TwHP is sponsored, in part, by the Cultural Resources Training Initiative and Parks as Classrooms programs of the National Park Service. This lesson is one in a series that brings the important stories of historic places into the classrooms across the country.
Where it fits into the curriculum
Topics: This lesson could be used in teaching units on the Homestead Act and western expansion or units on women's history.
Time period: 1860s-1905
Relevant United States History Standards for Grades 5-12
Relevant Curriculum Standards for Social Studies
Objectives for students
1) To determine how the Homestead Act impacted the economic opportunities of some women.
2) To compare general perceptions of homesteading life with the life of female homesteader Adeline Hornbek.
3) To examine the socially perceived standards for women of the Victorian Era and describe how those norms differed from the realities of Hornbek's daily life.
4) To determine if the Homestead Act impacted the development of their community or region.
5)To investigate the role of important women in their own community's history.
Materials for students The materials listed below either can be used directly on the computer or can be printed out, photocopied, and distributed to students. The maps, photos, floor plan, and Testimony of Claimant appear twice: in a low-resolution version with associated questions and alone in a larger, high-resolution version.
1) three maps of Florissant, Colorado and surrounding region;
2) two readings about Adeline Hornbek and women in the Victorian Era;
3) a copy of Hornbek's Testimony of Claimant;
4) two photos of the Hornbek Homestead and a barn;
5) a floor plan of the Hornbek house.
Visiting the Site
The Hornbek Homestead is included within the boundaries of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, which was created in 1969 to protect and interpret plant and insect fossils dating from 35 million years ago. The monument is located approximately 30 miles west of Colorado Springs and is accessible from Highway 24. For further information contact the Superintendent, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, P.O. Box 185, Florissant, Colorado, 80816 or call (719) 748-3253. For more information, visit the park web pages.
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