Programs
School Programs and Field Trips
Let Fort Negley’s knowledgeable staff and volunteers provide a memorable experience for your students!Fort Negley offers FREE school programs and field trips Tuesday through Friday with advanced reservations. Please make reservations at least two weeks in advance using our Educational Group Tour Request Form.
School programs and field trips include a guided tour of Fort Negley, access to Fort Negley Visitors Center exhibits and films, and a choice of hands-on activities tailored to meet your specific needs.
Groups of 30 or more must be divided and rotated between a film, the tour, and other activities prepared by Fort Negley staff. All programs and tours are adapted according to grade level and address Tennessee state performance indicators for social studies. Allow a minimum of one to two hours for your visit.
Guided Walking Tours
Our guided walking tour, “Fort Negley: A Symbol of Union Occupation,” emphasizes the fort’s impact on military operations, race relations, and occupied civilians through first-person accounts and official records. Interpretive panels illustrate life in occupied Nashville, Fort Negley’s construction, key political and military figures, and a variety of other topics. Boardwalks located within the fort offer students access to the largest inland masonry fortification built during the Civil War to better understand the design and construction. Fort Negley’s commanding position atop St. Cloud Hill, 260 feet above the Cumberland River, provides students a one-of-a-kind view of the city. Allow a minimum of one hour to tour the fort.
Hands-on Activities
Fort Negley’s staff and volunteers offer a variety of activities tailored to meet your educational needs.
General George Thomas portrayed by Daniel Hughes conducts Fort Construction and Destruction activity with school children. Our Fort Construction/Destruction activity allows students to experiment with fort design and construction.
Our What Would You Do? activity presents students with thought-provoking scenarios actually experienced during the Civil War and challenges them to question how they would have reacted.
Our Fossils at the Fort activity enables students to discover Fort Negley’s natural history and why Nashville is home to some of the nation’s most well-preserved coral fossils.
Each activity lasts approximately 20 minutes.
School Program, Field Trip and Guided Group Tour Reminders
Make reservations two weeks in advance
Dress for the weather
Wear comfortable shoes
Fort Negley is a protected historic site
Climbing on the stonework is prohibited
All visitors must remain on the designated path and boardwalks
Other Programs and Events
Become a Fort Negley Junior Historian!
The Junior Historian program is free and open to all school-age children. Pick up the Junior Historian scavenger hunt flyer in the visitors center and complete the questions by using the interpretive panels at the fort. Bring your completed scavenger hunt form back to the visitors center to receive your certificate and a prize.
Nashville Civil War Roundtable
Founded in 2009, the Nashville Civil War Roundtable provides a relaxed atmosphere for all those interested in the American Civil War to learn and discuss.
Join the Nashville Civil War Roundtable on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Fort Negley Visitors Center for an extraordinary line-up of presentations, lectures, and programs.
All programs are free and open to the public but the group also encourages membership. Annual membership dues along with proceeds from the silent auction support programming and local preservation causes. For more information, please visit http://nashvillecivilwarroundtable.wordpress.com/. Find us on Facebook!
Fort Donelson Camp No. 62
Sons of Union Veterans: Fort Donelson Camp No. 62, Sons of Union Veterans, meets at Fort Negley Visitors Center on the fourth Tuesday every other month. The business meeting begins at 6 p.m. followed by the program at 7 p.m. All programs are free and open to the public. For more information, check out the web site at http://www.tnsuvcw.org/.