New York City has grown from a quiet backwater into the vibrant city it is today. It is home not only to fantastic entertainment and global business activities but also to key historical and political events. These have had a profound impact on local, national and global politics.
History trips to New York City are an ideal choice for GCSE and A level students looking to understand the bigger picture. Through a variety of historical visits to museums and other areas of interest, history students will get the chance to expand their knowledge for upcoming examinations while creating memories to last a lifetime.
A WST tour to New York will support the study of elements of the following exam board specifications.
History
AQA
GCSE
Period studies: America, 1920–1973: Opportunity and inequality
Modern depth study: The USA, 1954–75: conflict at home and abroad
A level
Edexcel
GCSE
Modern depth study: The USA, 1954–75: conflict at home and abroad
A level
OCR
GCSE A
Period study and non-British depth study
A level
SQA
National 5
Higher
Advanced Higher
Eduqas
Non-British Study in Depth: The USA: A Nation of Contrasts, 1910-1931
Period Study. The Development of the USA, 1929-2002
Politics
AQA - A level
Edexcel - A level
OCR - A level
Eduqas - A level
Located on the World Trade Center site this memorial is a tribute of remembrance and honour to the people killed in the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001. The main feature of the memorial is the twin reflecting pools which sit within the footprints of where the twin towers once were. The names of every person who died are inscribed into bronze panels edging the pools. The Memorial Museum includes an exhibition on the events of 9/11 and the aftermath.
Located next to FDNY firehouse and across from the World Trade Center site, the Tribute WTC Center offers a ‘person to person history’ to help visitors to New York understand the historic events and the people who experienced them. During a New York history trip, your students can have the unique opportunity of taking a guided tour around the 9/11 Memorial with a Tribute Center Walking Tour Guide; survivors, workers who assisted in the recovery efforts, lower Manhattan residents, or family members that lost loved ones. Each tour will offer a unique personal experience of the events, the aftermath and how life goes on.
As always the best way to get around and see a city is on foot, especially when looking at it from a historical perspective. New York history school trips' downtown walking tours will take in some of the well known locations in New York’s political and economic history including Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and Battery Park.
Located in the Main Building of the former immigration station complex, the Ellis Island Museum holds the history of the 12 million immigrants who came to America through the golden door of Ellis Island. The exhibits in this museum include artefacts, photographs, prints, oral histories and much more.
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is an American military and maritime history museum with a collection of museum ships in New York City. It is located at Pier 86 at 46th Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood on the West Side of Manhattan. The museum showcases the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the submarine USS Growler, a Concorde SST, a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance place and the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
A trip to the Museum of American Finance can help your students to learn more about the Wall Street Crash and to understand how finance impacts their daily lives today. Whilst visiting the Museum, along with a guided tour, your students can take part in a 45-60 minute lesson taught in the education center by museum educators and industry experts.
As the largest indoor theatre in the world, when depression hit this prime spot in Midtown New York, it was turned into the Radio City Music Hall. Visiting Radio City can allow your students to learn about its history, listen to the ‘mighty Wurlitzer’ and enjoy ‘a masterpiece of American Modernist design’.
The world’s preeminent spy museum and experience. You can explore the fascinating world of hacking and espionage, and discover your inner spy. Real spy challenges include lie-detection in interrogation booths, observation in surveillance missions, and agility in special ops laser tunnels. Their profiling system (developed with a former Head of Training at British Intelligence) will tell you what kind of spy you’d be. SPYSCAPE brings amazing spy artefacts and stories to life in a uniquely entertaining experience.
The Tenement museum shows the experiences of 19th and 20th century immigrants from many different cultures. It allows the students to visit one of the tenement apartment buildings which was home to almost 7000 working class immigrants and tells the stories of their lives in America.
The UN Building is the work place to representatives of the earth’s six billion people who discuss and decide issues of peace, justice and economic and social well being. Going on a guided tour of the United Nations headquarters in New York can offer your students a behind-the-scenes view of this organisation at work.
As always the best way to get around and see a city is on foot, especially when looking at it from a historical perspective. During history trips to New York, a Midtown walking tour is the best way to see some of New York’s iconic sights in a very short time. You tour can include Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue, 42nd street, Central Park and Times Square or can be tailored to suit your choices.
No visit to New York is complete without a visit to the top of New York’s most iconic skyscraper.
Get a close up view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island you can choose from two options:
The Hershey’s Chocolate World Sweet Educational Tour is ready to show you a world you've never known. Set as A walking tour of the iconic Times Square location, this learning experience is about more than milk, sugar and cocoa. You'll learn more about Hershey’s iconic brands, why we decided to come to the crossroads of the World, Times Square, and of course taste several different Hershey’s products. Milton Hershey loved nothing more than to enrich the lives of others, and this tour plans to do just that!
An insider’s look at this state of the art arena. You will explore the Knicks and Rangers locker rooms and relive historic moments with the new Garden 366 experience and Defining Moments exhibit.
Go behind the scenes of some of the most well-known TV shows. You will visit the NBC Sharp Globe Theatre, Broadcast Operations, the Make Up room, and even produce your very own news and weather programme.
The observation desk at the top of the Rockefeller Center provides a unique 360 degree view of New York, including the Empire State Building.
The tallest observatory in the western hemisphere, located at the 9/11 memorial site, offering spectacular panoramic views of New York. The visit also includes numerous videos and multimedia experiences. There are 5 lifts including a sky pod elevator that ascends to the 102nd floor in under 60 seconds. You can choose from various cafés and restaurants. Visit lasts approx. 45 to 60 minutes.
Choose from a range of coach or walking tours around the city, taking in locations of well-known shows and movies, venues where the stars hang out and even see where your favourite celebrities live. Shows and movies include Friends, Seinfeld, Glee, The Devil Wears Prada, Spiderman, Elf, Hitch and many more. Themed tours include Sex and the City Hotspots, Central Park Movie Sites, Gossip Girl Sites and Sopranos Sites.
One of the largest art galleries in the world, located on Fifth Avenue next to Central Park.
Often seen as one the most influential museums of modern art, the MoMA offers a collection of both modern and contemporary art. It is centrally located between 5th and 6th Avenues.
The Guggenheim is visited not just for its exhibitions of impressionist, post-impressionist, early modern and contemporary art, but also its iconic building which is known as one the 20th Century’s important architectural landmarks. The museum is located on the exclusive Upper East Side.
This unique visit allows the public to explore what was once a major train line known as New York Central Railroad. The train line, which was very popular in the 1930’s became less successful in the 1980’s, forcing it to close. In 1999, Friends of the Highline decided there was still life in the old railroad yet and embarked upon a journey of re-development. The train line is now a beautiful public park and architectural masterpiece. School groups can opt for a structured visit or they can simply guide themselves around. There are also free educational materials to support your visit available on their website.
Subject to availability your group can attend a sporting event in and around the city. If you ask us early enough we can look at what is available with all the different New York teams for something to suit your budget.
‘The Met’ opera company is located at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts and is the largest classical music organisation in North America. The season runs from September to May and the schedule of performances offers some student rates on key performances throughout this time. Contact us for more details.
Give your students an experience to remember by arranging a trip to a Broadway show. They’ll really go home with the ‘WOW’ factor. Current popular shows are Lion King, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Disney’s Aladdin, Chicago and Matilda.
A trip to New York is not complete without a trip to world famous shops and department stores:
We can arrange evening meals in restaurants in the city with options to suit all tastes. Our most popular choices are:
Carole Burrows is the most helpful person I have ever dealt with! Nothing was too much trouble for her and worked with me every step of the way to ensure an extremely successful trip! She is absolutely phenomenal and I will look forward to working with her again this year.
Bridgewater High School, New York