The 19th century American artist, Charles Willson Peale was also a scientist who collected fossils and dinosaur bones. Peale created a painting for President Thomas Jefferson called the "Exhumation of the Mastodon". The painting is a form of historical evidence and shows Peale's project to assemble natural history objects for his museum in Baltimore. It also reveals President Jefferson's interest in showing Europeans that North America had better fossils than Europe! A children's book explains Thomas Jefferson's quest to display the mastodon that Peale assembled for his museum. A discussion with the children will bring these points together using the STEAM vision. The children's book and illustrations will be used for this presentation.

For Children Ages 6-12, Free

For more information: montpeliermansion@pgparks.com