School Tours & Programs

67 tour
DHM with buses
Storyliving
Dossin kids

The Detroit Historical Museum and Dossin Great Lakes Museum provide engaging field trip experiences for students of all ages. Aligned with state social studies standards, our tours and programs will enhance any curriculum. We offer guided tours, scavenger hunts, and self-led tours. Guided school tours are docent lead and tour itineraries are listed below; guided school tours are for grades 3 through college. Group rates for all field trips are for 15 students or more. Please fill out the Request a Tour form at the bottom of this page.

If you’re planning a visit for adult or family groups, please explore our Group Tours information page.

FIELD TRIP policies & information

  • There must be one chaperone for every 10 students; these tickets are free. Groups will not be permitted entry without the appropriate number of chaperones.
  • Should you need to reschedule or cancel your reservation, please contact our education team as soon as possible (education@detroithistorical.org), so we can accommodate your reservation changes.
  • Guided tours and programs must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance.
  • Payment can be made over the phone with a credit card, via Venmo, or via check according to your institution’s payment procedures.
  • While neither museum has a lunchroom or café, designated spaces are available for school groups to eat lunch and can be reserved for a $150 fee.
    • At the Detroit Historical Museum, the lunch area is located in the Grand Trunk Passenger Station within the Detroit’s Brewing Heritage exhibition. Please note that this exhibition explores the history of beer brewing.
    • At the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, the lunch space is the Deroy Room.

Additional Services

  • Enhance your visit by reserving the Detroit Historical Museum Auditorium for announcements, supplementary learning, or group reflections.
    • Auditorium Rental: $150
    • Auditorium with AV package (includes DHS AV staff support): $450
  • AV Package for Deroy Hall (includes DHS AV staff support): $300

Explore More

  • Length: we estimate your students will need 60-90 minutes at the museum
  • Tour times: Wednesday - Saturday, 10am-4pm, Sunday 1pm-4pm
  • Capacity: 125 students* per field trip
  • Cost at Detroit Historical Museum: $8 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $150 minimum charge
  • Cost at Dossin Great Lakes Museum: $5 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $100 minimum charge

*Note: One teacher/chaperone is required for every 10 students and is free!

  • Length: we estimate your students will need 60-90 minutes at the museum
  • Tour times: Wednesday - Saturday, 10am-4pm, Sunday 1pm-4pm
  • Capacity: 125 students* per field trip
  • Cost at Detroit Historical Museum: $10 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $150 minimum charge
  • Cost at Dossin Great Lakes Museum: $6 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $100 minimum charge

*Note: One teacher/chaperone is required for every 10 students and is free!

Detroit Historical Museum GUIDED TOURS

Museum educators lead students through an interactive tour of key museum exhibits. The tours have been designed to meet Grade Level Content Expectations and Common Core Standards for grades 3 – 8, but our tour guides can accommodate students in grades 3 through college.

  • Length: guided tours are about an hour; we recommend staying a maximum of one additional hour to allow students to explore the museum.
  • Tour times: Available Tuesday - Friday at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm as staffing allows.
  • Max capacity: 25 students per tour; multiple tours may be available per timeslot
  • Cost: $12 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $150 minimum charge

*Note: One teacher/chaperone is required for every 10 students and is free!

  • Length: guided tours are about an hour; we recommend staying a maximum of one additional hour to allow students to explore the museum.
  • Tour times: Available Tuesday - Friday at 10am, 11am, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm as staffing allows.
  • Max capacity: 20 students per tour
  • Cost: $16 per student* (includes general admission) | $10 per additional chaperone | $150 minimum charge

*Note: One teacher/chaperone is required for every 10 students and is free!

A note to our visitors:

  • The Detroit 67: Perspectives facilitated experience is not a typical museum tour! (Typically, a museum guide will lead you through a space and talk to you about the information and objects you see.)
  • Because the Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibition is about events, people and social change, your facilitator will provide some key information regarding this history, but will then ask questions to generate dialogue and conversation about the topics in the exhibition.
  • Audience participation is a key part of this experience.
  • Detroit 67: Perspectives highlights events and ideas that have the potential to be sensitive and personal. Issues of race, social unrest and economic injustice are all a part of what led to this period of civil unrest.
  • As an institution, the Detroit Historical Society is not taking a position regarding these events, nor are we judging them. Our commitment is to present as many perspectives as possible from those who experienced the events first hand. 

Download our Detroit 67: Perspectives Educator Resource Packet

20 guests maximum per tour. Cost is the greater of $300 or $15 per person. (includes general admission)

  • Max capacity: 20 students per tour
  • Cost: $15 per person* (includes general admission) | $300 minimum charge

StoryLiving

Bring history to life by booking a StoryLiving program at the Detroit Historical Museum or your own location. In these interactive programs, a professional storyteller shares Detroit history with your students using drama, group pantomime, role playing, songs, and creative problem-solving.

  • At museum: $450 flat rate for up to 120 students (includes general admission). Two presentations back to back $450 for first session, $625 for second session.
  • Virtual: $450 flat rate, no capacity limits
  • At your school: $500 flat rate *Mileage fee of $50.00 will be charged for venues located more than 30 miles from the Detroit Historical Museum.
The Underground Railroad

Recommended for 3rd grade, can tailor to other age groups

In the mid 1800s, thousands of African Americans escaped through Detroit on their way to freedom in Canada. Students will discover more about the Underground Railroad and the role Detroit played in it.

Block by Block: The Great Fire

Recommended for 1st - 3rd grade, can tailor to other age groups

It’s been over 200 years since the Great Fire set the city of Detroit ablaze displacing over 700 residents. After the destruction, Detroiters did not abandon their city. Through strength and determination they set to work to rebuild Detroit, leaving the legacy of the city we see today. Students will become firefighters who must work together to save the community.

The Great Migration

Recommended for 4th & 5th grade, can tailor to other age groups

Over the course of six decades, nearly six million black southerners left the South and fanned out across the United States transforming urban America. Join us as we highlight three Detroit women and how the circumstances of their family’s migration and their experiences shaped who they were and defined the course of their lives in the 1920s, 1940s and the 1960s. 

Other StoryLiving presentations may be available.

Dossin Great Lakes Museum Guided Tour

Museum educators lead students through an interactive tour of key museum exhibits. The tours have been designed to meet Grade Level Content Expectations and Common Core Standards for grades 3 – 8, but our tour guides can accommodate students in grades 3 through college.

  • Length: Guided tours are about an hour; we recommend staying a maximum of one additional hour to allow students to explore the museum.
  • Tour times: Available Friday (Fall - Spring) and Wednesday-Friday (Summer) at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm as staffing allows.
  • Max Capacity: 25 students per tour; multiple tours may be available per timeslot.
  • Cost: $7 per student* (includes general admission) | $7 per additional chaperone | $150 minimum charge

*Note: One teacher/chaperone is required for every 10 students and is free! 

Detroit Historical Society Visitor Policies

Request a tour

A staff member from the Education Department will contact you about your form.

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