Friends of the Morrill Homestead
The Morrill Homestead is a vibrant and crucial resource for teaching history, education, architecture, horticulture, and historic family farming traditions.
Schools are welcome to visit and can plan a trip to the Justin Morrill State Historic Site, which offers a variety of programs about the life and times of Justin Smith Morrill.
Justin Morrill’s legacy is one many students are already living—often without realizing it. In 1862, Morrill wrote the legislation that created America’s Land Grant Colleges and Universities, opening higher education to more people, including many who were unable to access it before. Since then, an estimated 400 million students have graduated from these schools, and many young people today will continue to follow that path.
Morrill believed education should be practical, accessible, and connected to the public good. His influence extended well beyond colleges. He helped create National Statuary Hall, supported the artist Constantino Brumidi whose paintings adorn the U.S. Capitol dome, and engaged Frederick Law Olmsted to design the Capitol grounds. For Morrill, learning, civic life, and beauty were deeply connected.
His story shows how one person’s vision can expand opportunity and shape a nation—across classrooms, communities, and generations.
Explore Strafford’s famous statesman and rural life in Vermont during the late 1800s by using the resources, activities, and games found in the complete educational enrichment kit, Senator Justin Morrill’s Trunk (available to schools at no charge).
Please contact the Friends of the Morrill Homestead to borrow Senator Justin Morrill’s Trunk:
These educational programs and Senator Justin Morrill’s Trunk are made possible by generous grants from these supporters:
Please contact the Division for Historic Preservation to schedule a site tour for your class:
