skip to main content

Museum Access: Washington Irving’s Sunnyside

27 minutes, 23 seconds

Videos are generally available for preview to non-members as short clips. Limited full-length titles are also available. Log In to view the full length title.

Browse Full-length Non-member Titles
translation missing: en.dcmp.media.poster_alt_fallback

"Museum Access: Washington Irving’s Sunnyside" explores the life, literature, and historic home of Washington Irving, one of the first internationally recognized American authors. Set in Tarrytown, New York, the program examines Sunnyside as a National Historic Landmark and introduces key works including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." The video highlights American literature, Hudson Valley folklore, early U.S. history, museum preservation, archives, and artifact interpretation, including Irving’s writing desk, manuscripts, and personal objects. It also explains how museums preserve cultural heritage through restoration, digitization, and public history programs. This documentary supports curriculum connections in literary analysis, biography, U.S. history, and museum studies. Part of the "Museum Access" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 27 minutes, 23 seconds

Inside a museum with white walls and pillars. Several different types of aircraft hang from the ceiling on display, including a large passenger jet with an old United Airlines logo on the side.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 1
28 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Street view of the entrance of a large, ornate stone building with 4 Roman-style pillars and wide stairways leading up to it. Several banners advertising different museum displays hang on the building or between pillars.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 2
25 minutes 3 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Angled street view of the entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art at night. A lit-up water fountain is in front of the ornate Roman-style columns and archways, which are also lit up.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 3
28 minutes 4 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Window into a large fish aquarium at the John G. Shedd Aquarium. Several different types of fish swim by, including 2 that are shiny silver, tall, and thin, and have squared-off foreheads.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 4
25 minutes 15 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Street view of the entrance of the Adler Planetarium, a domed building made of darker stone with a wide staircase leading up to it. It is surrounded by a building of a triangular shape made of glass.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 5
28 minutes 44 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Aerial view of the Met Cloisters, a square building with a red roof, a large courtyard in the middle, and a tall tower in 1 corner. The building is surrounded by green trees and is near a body of water.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 6
28 minutes 9 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Old film projector made of dark metal sits on a table in a dimly lit warehouse room next to cardboard boxes and other artifacts in the background.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 7
25 minutes
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Closeup of the face and shoulders of one of the Terracotta Warriors. Parts of other Terra Cotta Warriors and one of the horses are visible in the background.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 8
25 minutes 8 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Sign with gold lettering on a green background that reads, "New York Botanical Garden," hangs on a low fence surrounded by blooming red and orange flowers on a sunny day.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 9
25 minutes 10 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Several aged pieces of paper with indiscernible handwriting and drawings of machine prototypes, including a gas balloon, a compound bow, and some sort of rake.
Museum Access
Season 1 / Ep 10
25 minutes 16 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12