Arts-In-Education Exploratory Enrichment

Become a Spy @ The Brewster House, 1665

Presented by The Ward Melville Heritage Org.

Why was New York the birthplace of the Culper Spy Ring? Bring your students to the historic Brewster House to find out. This living history experience is set in 1776, after the Battle of Long Island. Students will meet Rebecca Brewster, who unbeknownst to her has neighbors who turned to espionage to assist General Washington. During their conversation with Rebecca, students will learn about life on Long Island under British occupation, hunt for a coded message, and venture to ask Rebecca the question: is she willing to become a spy? Students explore the motivations for the American Revolution and explore multiple perspectives- Patriots, Loyalists, women, the enslaved, and Native Americans - to reflect upon how freedom and revolution sometimes meant different things to different groups of people.