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• The Great Awakening
• Cradle of Religious Freedom: Historic Polegreen Church: Preserving and Interpreting the Historic Site

Teacher Lesson Plans

The Virginia Declaration of Rights

• Lesson 1: Colonial America Outline Map
• Lesson 1: Connecting the Dissenter Movement with the Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Lesson 1: George Whitefield Preaching Picture with Questions
• Lesson 1: Reading: The Dissenter Movement in Virginia
• Lesson 1: Understanding the Reading: The Dissenter Movement in Virginia

• Lesson 2: Patrick Henry as a Change Agent
• Lesson 2: Patrick Henry as a Change Agent: Graphic Organizer
• Lesson 2: Patrick Henry as a Change Agent: Reading

• Lesson 3: The Polegreen Meeting House
• Lesson 3: Time Travel Activity: The Polegreen Meeting House
• Lesson 3: Time Travel Activity: What Really Happened

• Lesson 4: Samuel Davies and the Polegreen Meeting House
• Lesson 4: Struggle for Religious Liberty and the First Amendment: Graphic Organizer
• Lesson 4: Struggle for Religious Liberty and the First Amendment: Seminar Personal Checklist

• Lesson 5: Connecting Samuel Davies and the Hanover Dissenter Movement with the Declaration of Independence
• Lesson 5: Samuel Morris Biography

• Lesson 6: The Great Awakening
• Lesson 6: The Great Awakening: Learning Grid

Historic Polegreen Church Foundation Newsletters

• Spring 2010
• Fall/Winter 2009
• Spring 2009
• Fall 2008
• Summer 2007
• Spring 2007
• Fall 2006
• Spring 2006
• Spring 2005
• Summer 2004

• Colonial Letters in the Defense of the Establishment
• Sermons on Important Subjects by the Reverend Samuel Davies A.M., President of the College of New-Jersey
• Sermons by the Rev. Samuel Davies, A.M., President of the College of New Jersey

• Living on the Borders of Eternity by Bob Bluford, Jr., President of Historic Polegreen Church Foundation
• Samuel Davies and Transatlantic Campaign for Slave Literacy in Virginia
• Notes for a speech on Samuel Davies and Patrick Henry by Dr. Jan Swearingen, Texas A&M University and Historic Polegreen Foundation Advisory Board Member
• Memoir of the Rev. Samuel Davies, Formerly President of the College of New Jersey
• The Story of the American Hymn, page 42, sketch of Davies
• Transcription and Two Translations of the Inscription on Samuel Davies' Gravestone Courtesy of the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton, NJ

• Transcription(pdf)
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6
• Part 7
• Part 8
• Part 9
• Part 10
• Part 11
• Part 12
• Part 13
• Part 14
• Part 15

• Timeline of Religious Freedom Slideshow

Guide by Cell Tour of the site
Visitors to the historic Polegreen Church site can now take a tour of the site using their cellular phone. By calling (804) 205-9836, Dr. Dan Roberts of the University of Richmond and host of National Public Radio's

1. Religious Freedom
2. Polegreen Church: The Beginning
3. Samuel Davies
4. Samuel Davies and Patrick Henry
5. Moving toward Tolerance
6. Davies and Black Literacy
7. Princeton
8. The Demise of Polegreen Church
9. Polegreen Today
10. Why Preserve Polegreen

Historic Polegreen Church Foundation Lecture Series

• 2008: Dr. Jan Swearingen, Professor of English at Texas A & M University, addressed seminarians and guests from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia on the Rhetoric and Oratory of Samuel Davies.
  
  
• 2007: Noted church architect James Depasquale in a program titled A Celebration of Richmond's Historic Houses of Worship: Reclaiming the Ecclesiastical. The talk examined the definition of "church" and its evolving history as explored in its architecture.
  
  
• 2006: Dan Roberts, host and producer of the popular public radio show A Moment in Time, in a program about the life and significance of Reverend Samuel Davies.
  
  
• 2005: Robert Bluford, Jr., President of the Foundation, portrayed colonial dissenter Samuel Morris, credited as being one of the first in the region to challenge the Established Church in the 1740s. The program was titled: A Conversation with Samuel Morris: the Man Behind the Minister.
  
  
• 2003: Dr. Jan Swearingen, Professor of English at Texas A & M University, speaking on "The Patrick Henry/Samuel Davies Connection". Also, a musical presentation by Dr. John Turner, Program Developer/Producer of the Religious Project of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
  
  

An event at the Historic Polegreen Church site

Polegreen is perfect for group functions, family reunions, picnics, and weddings. For more information on hosting your special event at Historic Polegreen Church, please download the information below.

• Facility use form