New York History School Trips & Tours - Political History & Civil Rights

Venture over a quarter of a mile skyward and observe as your group takes in the scale of the immense urban landscape which opens up before them. This is a great way for your students to gain artistic inspiration away from the hustle and bustle of the streets below. A particularly popular evening visit.

Experienced in dealing with groups, our local guides will bring the history and culture of New York to life. Students will be amazed as they walk down world-famous streets such as Fifth Avenue, 42nd Street and Broadway and through Central Park and Times Square.

Our expert guides can lead students through the neighbourhoods of Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo and along Wall Street and Battery Park to give your group an insight into Manhattan life and the history of the city.

We have developed links with key figures within the Civil Rights Movement who would like to share their unique experiences with our groups. Spend an hour in the presence of men and women who worked and campaigned alongside Martin Luther King and gain an electrifying experience that few, whether students or teachers, will ever forget.

Alongside the ultimate landmark of New York and one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and democracy, the Ellis Island Museum is dedicated to the history of immigration and the important role this island claimed during the mass migration of humanity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A 45-minute audio tour invites students to relive the immigrant experience as if they were the new arrivals and includes artifacts, photos, interactive displays and videos including the award winning ‘Island of Hope, Island of Tears’.

You will visit the island as part of a short boat cruise passing the Statue of Liberty, which was the first sight for the millions of immigrants.

On this guided tour around the UN Building, your students will learn about the organisation, its structure and history. Your group will leave feeling enlightened about the broad range of fundamental issues dealt with here, from sustainable development, democracy and human rights, to governance, economic and social development, and more.

Located in New York City, the world's first and foremost vertical metropolis, The Skyscraper Museum celebrates the City's rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.

See the Lower East Side through the eyes of the immigrants who have lived here for 150 years during this 90-minute tour.
Discover the towering Jarmulowsky Bank building, where immigrants deposited (and eventually lost) their life savings, the Daily Forward building, where socialists fought for worker rights, and PS 42, where generations of immigrants learned how to be 'American'.

For generations of immigrants, the Lower East Side wasn't just a place to find a cheap home. It was also where they learned how to start a business, build a congregation and educate their children. Discover the fascinating history of this neighbourhood during this two-hour tour and find out why it’s such an ever-changing mix of the old and the new.

Highlighting the experiences of poor 19th century and early 20th century immigrants from different cultures, the museum tells the stories of one tenement apartment that was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants.

Tours also available including Irish Outsiders, Meet the Residents, and Hard Times.

A Living Memorial to the Holocaust - honouring those who died by celebrating their lives - the museum’s core exhibition, personal objects, photographs, and original films illustrate the story of Jewish heritage in the 20th century.

Opened in 2014, the museum explores the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring 9/11’s continuing significance. It demonstrates the consequences of terrorism on individual lives and its impact on communities at local, national and international level. The museum is growing a permanent collection of artefacts, stories, photos, video and other materials.

Visit the site of the city’s first slave market and learn about the origins of slavery in colonial New York. Discover the secret escapes of the Underground Railroad and view a former stop along this famous route. Visit the African Burial Ground Memorial, a powerful tribute to the nation’s earliest known African and African American cemetery.

Learn the exciting history of how a band of brave men and women formed the networks that became the Underground Railroad. Visit an archaeological site and memorial dedicated to the memory of enslaved Africans in colonial America. View a former station of the Underground Railroad. Learn about the riots, revolts and dramatic escapes that occurred during the era of American slavery. Listen to tales of courage and triumph and discover the stories of real New Yorkers who risked their lives and properties to help people escape slavery.

The 9/11 memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2011 in a ceremony for victims’ families. The memorial honours the 2,983 who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The memorial allows visitors to come together again in the spirit of unity and courage that emerged in the wake of 9/11. The memorial consists of two pools set in the footprints of the Twin Towers, surrounded by a plaza of more than 400 trees. The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze around the pools.

Inside Out Tours offers off-the-beaten-path and hidden history sightseeing tours of New York City that share the common theme of civic responsibility. This Harlem tour focuses on the social movements of African Americans in New York City including the abolitionist movement against American slavery, the civil rights movement and today’s social justice struggles for affordable housing, equal justice under the law, and safe community streets.

The 104 storey building stands on the World Trade Center site in Manhattan - giving amazing views of the city as well as interactive exhibitions on the building and the city. Groups will ascend to the 102nd observation floor in under 60 seconds in one of five sky pod elevators!

Consisting of a multimedia bus/walking tour or a guided walking tour, this experience takes you to the heart of the Civil Rights Movement in Harlem and to the very sites where history happened. Includes the mosque of Malcolm X and the church of Wyatt Tee Walker (top aide to Martin Luther King).

Get an insider’s look at three of Manhattan’s oldest and most diverse ethnic neighbourhoods! Explore Little Italy, a vibrant enclave of Italian-American culture and cuisine famed for its many authentic Italian eateries, colourful history, and iconic churches. Immerse yourself in NYC’s Chinatown, home to the largest concentration of Chinese immigrants in the western hemisphere and experience its famous landmarks. Lastly, visit Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where you will view stunning historic synagogues and learn about the rich Jewish history of this immigrant neighbourhood.

RiseNY pairs museum-style galleries with an amusement park-quality ride.

Begin your adventure with an immersive film by an award-winning documentarian that transitions to an interactive self-guided walkthrough tracing tipping points in history that helped shape Music, Fashion, TV, Theater and more in each dedicated gallery:

• Discover the rise of Wall Street and The New York Stock Exchange in the Finance Gallery.
• Learn the history of mass media with Telsa’s Coil in the TV/Radio Gallery.
• Understand the law of physics through the Otis elevator brake in the Skyline Gallery.
• Visual, language and performing arts come to life in the Fashion, Music, Broadway and Film Galleries.

Then, board an extraordinary elevator experience that transports you to a spectacular virtual soaring ride! Feel the rush of wind in your hair as you “fly” over the world’s most stunning skyline.

Explore three levels of mind-bending multi-sensory immersive experiences. With magnificent views over the Manhattan skyline, Summit takes the concept of an “observation deck” to entirely new heights.

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere, a marvel of architecture, engineering, and technology with panoramic views of New York City. Edge combines the pulse-quickening excitement of leaning out over a 100-story outdoor balcony with the warm welcome of elevated food & beverage service in a unique social space.