Event Details
Come visit SERC for hiking all weekend and explore the Smithsonian in Your Backyard! Visit the oldest building in the Smithsonian still in the original location, at the Woodlawn History Center, open 10am-2pm, with a weekend architectural tour of the house.
Please note: Outdoor interpretive stations with science docents at our Reed Education Center and along the Rhode River have been canceled due to weather. The guided architectural tour of Woodlawn and archaeological talk with Jim Gibb on Saturday remain on as scheduled.
Free!
March 22, 23, & 24 from 8:00am to 5:30pm (10:00am - 2:00pm for the Woodlawn History Center)
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (Directions)
Schedule of activities
Saturday 10:00am - 10:45am:
Architectural tour of Woodlawn: Oldest building in the Smithsonian’s collection, still in the original location, circa 1735 (and 1841).
The tour will include the rarely seen upstairs of the building. As this is a historic home, there is no elevator. The upstairs portion of the tour requires walking up 2 flights of stairs; or join us for the first floor and exhibit.
Where: Woodlawn Historic House and Exhibit
Please sign up here for more information: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E044FA8AB29A1FE3-48185203-architectural
Saturday 11:00am - 12:00pm: Presentation and Talk:
"Two Family Plantations on the Frontier: Excavations at Shaw’s Folly and Sparrow’s Rest"
Join us for a talk about what the Smithsonian's Environmental Archaeology Lab (SEAL) has done and found on SERC's campus. Presentation by Dr. Jim Gibb, Smithsonian Environmental Archaeology Laboratory Director.
Smithsonian’s Environmental Archaeology Laboratory (SEAL) continues excavations and analyses of finds at two 1660s plantation sites on the SERC campus. This illustrated talk summarizes what we did and what we found. Exotic pottery, personalized spoons, tobacco pipes bearing the manufacturers’ initials, animal bones from innumerable meals…these things and more. After the presentation we hope you’ll visit the exhibit where you’ll see some of these objects up close.
Where: Schmidt Conference Center
Sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D4FADAA28A3F58-48183396-twofamily#/
Saturday and Sunday 11:00am – 2:00pm: Welcome Table and Interpretive Stations (CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER)
SERC will have a welcome table set up at the Reed Center where visitors can learn about SERC’s mission and our facility, view displays and publications, and pick up trail maps. We will also have interpretive stations set up near the Reed Center at the SERC dock and at the marsh boardwalk. Volunteer docents will be at the stations to share stories about SERC’s history and our research on coastal ecosystems; highlighting accomplishments and impacts in addressing challenging environmental issues. Visitors will be encouraged to ask questions and learn alongside others to connect them to our work on developing solutions for a sustainable planet.
Where: Reed Education Center, SERC dock and the marsh boardwalk.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10:00am - 2:00pm:
Woodlawn History Center open special hours.
Come visit the oldest building in the Smithsonian still in the original location and learn about all of the different people throughout history who lived and worked on what is now the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center’s campus. Learn about how this small place and local history fit into the broader national story, about the building itself, how humans impacted the environment and how Smithsonian scientists study the environment today.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 8:00am - 5:30pm:
SERC trail hiking special hours.
Get out into nature by hiking SERC’s multiple miles of woodland trails, including along the Rhode River and Muddy Creek.