It's the end of an era as I know it: I just gave the last official school tour at the historic house for my own kiddos! Two years ago, I conducted an in-class visit at school and then led their class around house, talking about daily life in the colonial era (I think we strung up dried apples--it was before we changed that to making butter.) Today, we talked about the Revolutionary War using both the house and My Brother Sam is Dead, a book they read about two brothers in Connecticut. Their class is so bright, curious, enthusiastic, and chatty group--I veered off track several times (usually when they asked a question.) But we had fun. It hadn't started to rain yet, so they were able to play Graces and other games outside, plus the stenciling, paper cutting (papyrotamia), and seed packet activities we have.
A funny thing happened on the way to the tour. I was picking up lunches for Sis and Bud at the deli and talking to the "deli lady" about butter, which she was scooping out. A voice behind me said to me, "Don't you make that yourself?" See, I was in costume. I replied, "I definitely know how to--and I'll be doing that in about an hour!" Okay, so that's the third grade tour in the fall, but he didn't know that. Usually people just ignore my full colonial garb when I go to the deli or the coffeeshop or pizza place on tour days. Nice to be noticed for a change.
Especially on this special day.
Showing posts with label tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tour. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Historic Hell
UPDATE: Why does it always rain on field trip days? I think of the seven or so days of tours we've had, it's rained 6 times!! This means damp kids (because they walk over, money being too short for a bus), lunch inside (oh, the smell of bologna sandwiches on a wet day! It's like wet dog.), and no outdoor activities, so they don't get the full historic house experience AND are restless and extra noisy. Do we have to make up the deficit in our annual rainfall in October???
-=-=-=-=-=-
Okay, it's not that bad. But we have been having a few glitches with the historic house tours this season. Volunteer shortage is always a challenge and this year is no different, but we're filling in the slots and I'll end up doing about half of them. Almost a chance for me to wear all my different costume pieces! (Though, if it doesn't cool off, I'll be wearing my vest instead of my bodices and one skirt instead of two!)
But there have been other things. The biggest challenge has been our new activity: making butter. We talk about prepping for the winter and storing the harvest because there were green grocers. per se. We used to string apple slices on string and hang them in the fireplace, talking about pie for breakfast and lunch and dinner so that Americans were called "pie eaters," but this year we're making butter. Kid are fascinated to learn than a.) butter was not available all year long because cows don't naturally produce milk all year b.) butter was salted to preserve it because there was no refrigeration (butter is still salted as a preservative--buy unsalted; it's fresher.) c.) butter isn't naturally golden yellow, though it does have a faint yellow hue when it separates--real gold color is obtained using marigold petals and d.) YOU can make butter yourself.
Except it hasn't been working. In theory, you shake heavy cream (not half and half or, heaven forbid, any low-fat project--you need the fat) in a container with some kind of agitator; this mimics the old-fashioned butter churn with the plunger-stick. We started with glass jars with screw-top lids and marbles. I even tested it with the kiddos--voila, butter in less than five minutes. But on the very first day of tours, in the first class, the bottom of a glass jar just sheared right off, spraying cream, but luckily not glass, everywhere. I guess there was a flaw in the glass, though I expect better of Ball jars.
Better safe than sorry, we switched to screw-top Ziploc snack containers, the kind in which my kids take apples to school. But the plastic can't stand up to the use--perhaps it's the marble or the dice (or sometimes the Lego) hitting the plastic, but small cracks appeared in every single container, even on the first go-round. I even bought a second round of containers, but, still, leakage.
We were going to go back to jars today, but there were two kids with dairy allergies so we returned to stringing apples. Besides, the class was 45 minutes late, and apples are faster. Still, the kids are fascinated by the butter and we'll return to that tomorrow.
But the late classes these last two days has been another headache. Docents have to trim the tour, sometimes by as much as 45 minutes! That's hard on the fly. Especially after the kids have been inside all day and are noisy and restless (they go to another museum before us)--with the wet weather, they can't eat outside before the tour or play outside afterwards. (Today, one of the teachers had just given up, wouldn't even try to quieten the kids.) This causes chaos.
Especially with cream flying everywhere.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Okay, it's not that bad. But we have been having a few glitches with the historic house tours this season. Volunteer shortage is always a challenge and this year is no different, but we're filling in the slots and I'll end up doing about half of them. Almost a chance for me to wear all my different costume pieces! (Though, if it doesn't cool off, I'll be wearing my vest instead of my bodices and one skirt instead of two!)
But there have been other things. The biggest challenge has been our new activity: making butter. We talk about prepping for the winter and storing the harvest because there were green grocers. per se. We used to string apple slices on string and hang them in the fireplace, talking about pie for breakfast and lunch and dinner so that Americans were called "pie eaters," but this year we're making butter. Kid are fascinated to learn than a.) butter was not available all year long because cows don't naturally produce milk all year b.) butter was salted to preserve it because there was no refrigeration (butter is still salted as a preservative--buy unsalted; it's fresher.) c.) butter isn't naturally golden yellow, though it does have a faint yellow hue when it separates--real gold color is obtained using marigold petals and d.) YOU can make butter yourself.
Except it hasn't been working. In theory, you shake heavy cream (not half and half or, heaven forbid, any low-fat project--you need the fat) in a container with some kind of agitator; this mimics the old-fashioned butter churn with the plunger-stick. We started with glass jars with screw-top lids and marbles. I even tested it with the kiddos--voila, butter in less than five minutes. But on the very first day of tours, in the first class, the bottom of a glass jar just sheared right off, spraying cream, but luckily not glass, everywhere. I guess there was a flaw in the glass, though I expect better of Ball jars.
Better safe than sorry, we switched to screw-top Ziploc snack containers, the kind in which my kids take apples to school. But the plastic can't stand up to the use--perhaps it's the marble or the dice (or sometimes the Lego) hitting the plastic, but small cracks appeared in every single container, even on the first go-round. I even bought a second round of containers, but, still, leakage.
We were going to go back to jars today, but there were two kids with dairy allergies so we returned to stringing apples. Besides, the class was 45 minutes late, and apples are faster. Still, the kids are fascinated by the butter and we'll return to that tomorrow.
But the late classes these last two days has been another headache. Docents have to trim the tour, sometimes by as much as 45 minutes! That's hard on the fly. Especially after the kids have been inside all day and are noisy and restless (they go to another museum before us)--with the wet weather, they can't eat outside before the tour or play outside afterwards. (Today, one of the teachers had just given up, wouldn't even try to quieten the kids.) This causes chaos.
Especially with cream flying everywhere.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Today's Tour
The last historic house tour of the season, the one with Sis and Bud's classes, went wonderfully well. The rain had stopped before the tour, but they all ate inside--I had brought special deli sandwiches, chips, and cookies for them. They ate with their friends while I got everything squared away. When the tour started, Sis joined Bud's class, carrying my phone around to take pictures.
Here's a view of the tour from her vantage point:
We did all the usual third grade historic house tour things: I dressed volunteers up in colonial garb; they strung dried apples, played with paper dolls, practiced chores like churning butter, and examined recent artifacts uncovered during the construction (namely a broken late 19th-century white ceramic vase/pot.) We talked about the history of the family, the structure and evolution of the house, clothes, trades, food, seasonal activities, and children of long ago.
And, because the rain held off, we even got to go out to the herb garden that our Brownie troop created.
Sis and Bud didn't answer many of my questions; Sis had said she wanted to give other kids a chance (same with using other volunteers for dress-up). But even though they were just two more faces in the group, they were my familiar little faces. And I so really enjoyed today, having waited for it for a long time now. It'll be two more years before they come back. I hope I'm still volunteering then, because I'd really like to take them on another tour.
UPDATE: The kids told me over dinner that both of their docents at the other house (they go to two) asked how they knew so much!!
Here's a view of the tour from her vantage point:
We did all the usual third grade historic house tour things: I dressed volunteers up in colonial garb; they strung dried apples, played with paper dolls, practiced chores like churning butter, and examined recent artifacts uncovered during the construction (namely a broken late 19th-century white ceramic vase/pot.) We talked about the history of the family, the structure and evolution of the house, clothes, trades, food, seasonal activities, and children of long ago.
And, because the rain held off, we even got to go out to the herb garden that our Brownie troop created.
Sis and Bud didn't answer many of my questions; Sis had said she wanted to give other kids a chance (same with using other volunteers for dress-up). But even though they were just two more faces in the group, they were my familiar little faces. And I so really enjoyed today, having waited for it for a long time now. It'll be two more years before they come back. I hope I'm still volunteering then, because I'd really like to take them on another tour.
UPDATE: The kids told me over dinner that both of their docents at the other house (they go to two) asked how they knew so much!!
Friday, October 25, 2013
My "Lousy" Days
Four classes, two days. I just finished giving in-class programs to the third graders at Sis and Bud's school in preparation for their field trip next week to the historic house where I volunteer. I entitled it, "Weird but True: Colonial Life," but maybe should have called it "Ewww But True" because of all the gross stuff I shared--no baths, corn cobs for toilet paper, lice/fleas/nits, mice, trash middens right in the backyard, multiple-seat privies, hay mattresses, also boys dressing in skirts until they were about 7, corsets, long slow travel times, cold and dark houses, etc. And then we made sachets, using lavender, winter savory, and rosemary, which were designed not only to smell sweet but to ward off bugs!
I forget perhaps how well-versed Sis and Bud are in historic houses, because several of these kids didn't realize that colonists had no electricity, no plumbing, no heat/AC, no well-stocked stores, no plastic, no trash pick up, no hospitals (yes, one girl asked me how women had babies! She didn't mean physically, thank heavens, but where.) I think they could barely fathom it. And I forgot to start so simply because I figured they knew. I won't make that mistake again. They had lots of great questions--and some challenging ones, like how would Santa get in the house if there was usually a fire--I had to tell them that colonists didn't really dwell on Santa Claus or even on Christmas. They did not like the picture of the rat skeleton but loved the discussion of toilets the most. They were shocked by the boys in skirts but pretty uninterested in how syllabub is made straight from milking a cow and not so surprised by the pillow I stuffed with hay to represent the mattresses they had. They were all pretty surprised by the picture of George Washington's fake teeth and the fashion of wearing white-powdered hair (or wigs.) They couldn't believe how long travel took (5-6 days between Boston and NY! And sleeping in inns in bed head-to-toe with strangers!) And they liked the etymology of "lousy," being full of lice, especially because lice had been going around school.
They all seemed to enjoy the sachet project, though one class ran so long that they'll have to save making theirs with their teacher next week (that was my only disappointment, especially because it was Sis's class.) They followed directions for a pinch of this and a spoon of that well enough, even managing to bundle the cheese cloth into a little packet, but many of them couldn't tie. I never dreamed that third graders would be unable to tie a knot or bow. It's a great project, but prepping materials for 100 students would be my limit--I'm not sure I could do the sachet project with all schools if and when we could expand the in-class program (that would be 700 or so strings and cheesecloth squares!) I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it.
It was fun to be in Sis and Bud's class, though neither of them answered any of my questions, letting the other kids have a turn. I had a few pictures of them--Bud at the archaeological dig in the backyard, Sis cooking in the fireplace. And a picture showcasing the Brownie troop because they built the herb garden, which provided the winter savory and rosemary for our sachets (but not the lavender, as our plant didn't flower, so I bought buds in bulk.) Everybody got a kick out of recognizing people in the photos--one class wanted me to take their picture at the house, too (but permissions being what they are, who knows! Which is why this post is un-illustrated.)
So in a week, I welcome them to the historic house, on the last tour day of the season. It's been a pretty good one, but I'll be glad for a bit of a break.
I forget perhaps how well-versed Sis and Bud are in historic houses, because several of these kids didn't realize that colonists had no electricity, no plumbing, no heat/AC, no well-stocked stores, no plastic, no trash pick up, no hospitals (yes, one girl asked me how women had babies! She didn't mean physically, thank heavens, but where.) I think they could barely fathom it. And I forgot to start so simply because I figured they knew. I won't make that mistake again. They had lots of great questions--and some challenging ones, like how would Santa get in the house if there was usually a fire--I had to tell them that colonists didn't really dwell on Santa Claus or even on Christmas. They did not like the picture of the rat skeleton but loved the discussion of toilets the most. They were shocked by the boys in skirts but pretty uninterested in how syllabub is made straight from milking a cow and not so surprised by the pillow I stuffed with hay to represent the mattresses they had. They were all pretty surprised by the picture of George Washington's fake teeth and the fashion of wearing white-powdered hair (or wigs.) They couldn't believe how long travel took (5-6 days between Boston and NY! And sleeping in inns in bed head-to-toe with strangers!) And they liked the etymology of "lousy," being full of lice, especially because lice had been going around school.
They all seemed to enjoy the sachet project, though one class ran so long that they'll have to save making theirs with their teacher next week (that was my only disappointment, especially because it was Sis's class.) They followed directions for a pinch of this and a spoon of that well enough, even managing to bundle the cheese cloth into a little packet, but many of them couldn't tie. I never dreamed that third graders would be unable to tie a knot or bow. It's a great project, but prepping materials for 100 students would be my limit--I'm not sure I could do the sachet project with all schools if and when we could expand the in-class program (that would be 700 or so strings and cheesecloth squares!) I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it.
It was fun to be in Sis and Bud's class, though neither of them answered any of my questions, letting the other kids have a turn. I had a few pictures of them--Bud at the archaeological dig in the backyard, Sis cooking in the fireplace. And a picture showcasing the Brownie troop because they built the herb garden, which provided the winter savory and rosemary for our sachets (but not the lavender, as our plant didn't flower, so I bought buds in bulk.) Everybody got a kick out of recognizing people in the photos--one class wanted me to take their picture at the house, too (but permissions being what they are, who knows! Which is why this post is un-illustrated.)
So in a week, I welcome them to the historic house, on the last tour day of the season. It's been a pretty good one, but I'll be glad for a bit of a break.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Apple Art
One of the big activities at the historic house where I volunteer involves apples, a major food staple of colonial life. In fact, as we tell our student visitors, colonists and early Americans were often referred to as "pie eaters" for all of the apple pies they consumed. And so, in our keeping room before the 7' hearth, we string up dried apples.
We just have to dry the apples beforehand. After cutting them into small slices with a mandolin and soaking them in cider, we dry them slowly in a low oven. Voila, dried apples. Of course, colonists would have strung up the apples without drying them first, hanging them up in the rafters of their smoky kitchens to dry. Then they would re-hyrdrate them as needed and bake them in pies. Our apples are hung in our hearth, which would have been too close to the fire but makes a pretty and central decoration in the house, along with all of our fresh herbs.
We just have to dry the apples beforehand. After cutting them into small slices with a mandolin and soaking them in cider, we dry them slowly in a low oven. Voila, dried apples. Of course, colonists would have strung up the apples without drying them first, hanging them up in the rafters of their smoky kitchens to dry. Then they would re-hyrdrate them as needed and bake them in pies. Our apples are hung in our hearth, which would have been too close to the fire but makes a pretty and central decoration in the house, along with all of our fresh herbs.
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| 1. Slice whole apples thinly with mandolin. Toss apples in apple juice and soak for 7+ minutes to prevent browning. Arrange a single layer of apple slices on baking sheet covered in parchment paper. |
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| 2. Bake apples at 225F for 3 hours, turning over and rotating sheets (if more than one) halfway through. Cool apples and enlarge core or pierce hole for easier stringing. Store in paper bag. |
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| 3. String up and hang for decoration.. These are for educational and decorative purposes only; do not eat. |
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Fabulous Field Trip!
Today, I was a chaperone on the children's first school field trip to a local historic farm.
And after my experiences a week or so ago with poorly behaved teachers and chaperones on my own historic house tour--the teacher talked through the whole tour, not noticing when her kids misbehaved and not stopping when I privately requested she do so (besides that, we've had chaperones talk and text on their phones, teachers and chaperones abandon their classes and wander off, and more)--I wanted to be a model chaperone. And I think I was--helped the kids follow instructions, kept them all together, and never distracted from the docents. Though, perhaps, I spoke up a couple of times enthusiastically--"oooh, kids, you won't get to touch a 200 year-old loom again!" or "wow, just imagine cooking on that stove!" But I didn't dominate or ask too many questions (only one or two, on the side) and I never answered them. (Yes, I wanted to. But I didn't find any fault with any of the tour.)
We had a wonderful time! The kids learned about blacksmiths and "jobbing", getting to try their hands with "frog-lip" tongs and "duck-billed" tongs. They planted green bean seeds in containers to take home. They fed sheep and chickens. They helped weave a floor rug with fabric scraps on the aforementioned loom. They made and ate cornmeal pancakes, after looking at an old wood-burning stove, and got to touch ice in a real icebox. They carded and then spun by hand yarn from the sheep, tying it into a bracelet to take home. It really was a fabulous tour--well-paced, well-structured, well-timed, with a diversity of information and hands-on activities with enthusiastic and engaged docents. As a fellow museum educator, I was impressed; as a mom, I was grateful. Because I know how much effort went into the tour.
-=-=-=-=-
Cornmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted shortening or vegetable oil
1 egg, well beaten
Add together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Then mix in boiling water. Stir milk, shortening, and egg into batter.
Drop large tablespoonful onto a hot, well-greased frying pan or griddle. Turn the heat down and cook the cakes until they are brown (and begin to bubble.) Then flip them over and brown on the other side. Eat and enjoy!
And after my experiences a week or so ago with poorly behaved teachers and chaperones on my own historic house tour--the teacher talked through the whole tour, not noticing when her kids misbehaved and not stopping when I privately requested she do so (besides that, we've had chaperones talk and text on their phones, teachers and chaperones abandon their classes and wander off, and more)--I wanted to be a model chaperone. And I think I was--helped the kids follow instructions, kept them all together, and never distracted from the docents. Though, perhaps, I spoke up a couple of times enthusiastically--"oooh, kids, you won't get to touch a 200 year-old loom again!" or "wow, just imagine cooking on that stove!" But I didn't dominate or ask too many questions (only one or two, on the side) and I never answered them. (Yes, I wanted to. But I didn't find any fault with any of the tour.)
We had a wonderful time! The kids learned about blacksmiths and "jobbing", getting to try their hands with "frog-lip" tongs and "duck-billed" tongs. They planted green bean seeds in containers to take home. They fed sheep and chickens. They helped weave a floor rug with fabric scraps on the aforementioned loom. They made and ate cornmeal pancakes, after looking at an old wood-burning stove, and got to touch ice in a real icebox. They carded and then spun by hand yarn from the sheep, tying it into a bracelet to take home. It really was a fabulous tour--well-paced, well-structured, well-timed, with a diversity of information and hands-on activities with enthusiastic and engaged docents. As a fellow museum educator, I was impressed; as a mom, I was grateful. Because I know how much effort went into the tour.
-=-=-=-=-
Cornmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground cornmeal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted shortening or vegetable oil
1 egg, well beaten
Add together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Then mix in boiling water. Stir milk, shortening, and egg into batter.
Drop large tablespoonful onto a hot, well-greased frying pan or griddle. Turn the heat down and cook the cakes until they are brown (and begin to bubble.) Then flip them over and brown on the other side. Eat and enjoy!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
One Down
Our first week of tours at the historic house are over. I did two of the tours--one was great, the other was good enough. I've added some new bits to this year's tour--some more Revolutionary War facts and a section about colonial music. We even play a recording of "Yankee Doodle" with different lyrics, first the British ones and then some American ones making fun of George Washington. To go with the music, I added a lap harp the students can play to our activity centers; there's even sheet music for "Yankee Doodle." I also changed the weaving activity--instead of a small inkle loom, we now have a more historically-accurate paddle loom on which women and girls would make tape, or ribbons. And today, with beautiful weather (and because the class arrived 45 minutes early and we were stretching things quite a bit), the students played outside. First, it was boy vs. girl in a race of wooden hoops. Then they lined up to play snap the whip, tumbling all over the ground. All in all, a good week. I look forward to four more.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Worst of Tours, Best of Tours
I had one of those tours today that make me love talking to kids in historic houses and museums. Though it started out very poorly--they were early, but the teachers insisted that each child go to the (single-toilet-with-old-plumbing!) bathroom before we could begin and so we started 45 minutes late! And they had to be on the bus with less than 45 minutes for the tour. With two docents trying to steer 45 kids total through everything without bumping into each other.
But it was wonderful, even though I rushed through topics and skipped certain activities like stringing apples and playing charades. They were engaged and curious, asking questions and giving answers.
I knew a boy with visual impairments would be on my tour so I had practiced how to describe the house, the big fireplace, and my costume with vivid words and references to placement and size (thanks, AIC and Met for that training!). To evoke the period for him through touch, we passed around ceramics, let everyone play in the big fireplace, and all felt the difference between the new floorboards and the 18th-century ones.n It took extra time to describe the wallpaper and clothing that everyone else could see, but I didn't want him to miss out (or to bore the other kids, so I tried to deftly weave it all in). As he left, he said to his aide, "That was a great house!"
Yay!
But it was wonderful, even though I rushed through topics and skipped certain activities like stringing apples and playing charades. They were engaged and curious, asking questions and giving answers.
I knew a boy with visual impairments would be on my tour so I had practiced how to describe the house, the big fireplace, and my costume with vivid words and references to placement and size (thanks, AIC and Met for that training!). To evoke the period for him through touch, we passed around ceramics, let everyone play in the big fireplace, and all felt the difference between the new floorboards and the 18th-century ones.n It took extra time to describe the wallpaper and clothing that everyone else could see, but I didn't want him to miss out (or to bore the other kids, so I tried to deftly weave it all in). As he left, he said to his aide, "That was a great house!"
Yay!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
My First Tour
More than a year in the making and then waiting, I finally gave my first costumed historic house tour on Friday! It was like redemption or finally catching up to where I left off last spring (similarly, we're trying to reschedule the things that were canceled that we can re-do, like our trip to Plymouth).
And it was marvelous!
I was nervous beforehand. I haven't given a tour since November 2004, a long time ago (though I did it weekly, and sometimes daily, from June 1998 until then). And never in a house, or in a costume. Sure, I helped write the tour and have been researching the colonial period since January 2011, but leading a tour is something different altogether.
Thank heavens for adrenaline.
Not only did I enjoy the tour, but I think it went well. I remembered all of the facts, hit the transitions, managed interactive questions, and kept the discussion going. They paid attention and there were no discipline issues (that can be so, so common with 5th-grade tours!). And I think they enjoyed it, from the stories about slaves and Native Americans to the discussion of the archaeological excavations that tell us about life in the 18th century.
And I got to do it all in a costume! Chemise, underskirt, gathered overskirt, English bodice, apron, gathered cap, even pockets tied around my waist. Which contained my smartphone! Other major anachronism: I had my fancy tennis shoes on.
But they got me through the morning with no spasms or serious weakness, which was a major achievement. Even a month ago giving the same tour to the docents, I almost didn't finish.
I hope I get to do another tour soon.
Especially because my favorite costumer has new bodices and flounced skirts in their catalog!
And it was marvelous!
I was nervous beforehand. I haven't given a tour since November 2004, a long time ago (though I did it weekly, and sometimes daily, from June 1998 until then). And never in a house, or in a costume. Sure, I helped write the tour and have been researching the colonial period since January 2011, but leading a tour is something different altogether.
Thank heavens for adrenaline.
Not only did I enjoy the tour, but I think it went well. I remembered all of the facts, hit the transitions, managed interactive questions, and kept the discussion going. They paid attention and there were no discipline issues (that can be so, so common with 5th-grade tours!). And I think they enjoyed it, from the stories about slaves and Native Americans to the discussion of the archaeological excavations that tell us about life in the 18th century.
And I got to do it all in a costume! Chemise, underskirt, gathered overskirt, English bodice, apron, gathered cap, even pockets tied around my waist. Which contained my smartphone! Other major anachronism: I had my fancy tennis shoes on.
But they got me through the morning with no spasms or serious weakness, which was a major achievement. Even a month ago giving the same tour to the docents, I almost didn't finish.
I hope I get to do another tour soon.
Especially because my favorite costumer has new bodices and flounced skirts in their catalog!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
My New Project
About a year ago, I was deep into research on the history of slavery in Connecticut, as part of my work on the education committee of a local historic house. I learned how this state was the "Georgia of the North," with more slaves than any other New England colony, and also how slaves continued their West African religious practices such as hiding minkisi under floorboards for protection. I also spent some time looking into pirates and privateers who operated in the waters of Long Island Sound.
Now I'm beginning research on Native Americans in colonial Connecticut, in the 18th-century. It's just the beginning of my research, but with both the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and the Institute for American Indian Studies here in the state, I know I'll turn up some interesting information to share with the fifth graders come April. But one statistic strikes me: there were approximately 30,000 Native Americans here in what is now Connecticut when colonists arrived. By 1762, there were less than 1,000.
We're also going to be including some discussion of archaeology, essentially how we as historians and docents learn about the ordinary people who didn't make it into the written historical record. There have been thousands of artifacts discovered at our site, which should make for wonderful discussion, even if we can't show the classes anything more than pictures of objects or replicas. Of course, when I was in elementary school, Indiana Jones popularized archaeology. I hope our tour will be able to do the same and get the students excited about our local history and how we learn it.
Now I'm beginning research on Native Americans in colonial Connecticut, in the 18th-century. It's just the beginning of my research, but with both the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and the Institute for American Indian Studies here in the state, I know I'll turn up some interesting information to share with the fifth graders come April. But one statistic strikes me: there were approximately 30,000 Native Americans here in what is now Connecticut when colonists arrived. By 1762, there were less than 1,000.
We're also going to be including some discussion of archaeology, essentially how we as historians and docents learn about the ordinary people who didn't make it into the written historical record. There have been thousands of artifacts discovered at our site, which should make for wonderful discussion, even if we can't show the classes anything more than pictures of objects or replicas. Of course, when I was in elementary school, Indiana Jones popularized archaeology. I hope our tour will be able to do the same and get the students excited about our local history and how we learn it.
Monday, November 7, 2011
An Historic SuperBetter Day
After welcoming them to the house, I told them we would be traveling back through time and that I was dressed to take them through my 350-year-old house. I let them point out what was anomalous about my outfit and they eventually spotted my therapeutic sneakers (a big docent no-no! But this was unofficial). Bud also said that my eyeglasses were wrong, since Ben Franklin invented them, which he'd read recently in a book (and it's partially true--Franklin did invent bifocals, but glasses had been around, but not common, for hundreds of years).
We went inside to help the kids make their own mop caps (appx 18" diameter muslin circle with slits about 1.5" from edge and a few inches apart gathered with yarn) so they'd feel dressed for the period. While they worked, I talked about my costume--my layered skirt (and how I'd wear more and heavier layers for winter), my separate pockets ("Lucy Locket lost her pocket"), my always-covered head, how they had few outfits and only washed the layer next to their bodies (and usually only took sponge baths!), how clothes were not purchased ready-made but sewn out of purchased fabric by tailors or the women in the family (except during the war) and that clothes were patched and passed down because they were valuable, how boys wore dresses until they were "breeched" sometime in young childhood, and how girls never wore pants. This last fact shocked the all-pants-wearing troop the most. But that's because we didn't talk about how they didn't wear underwear!
Appropriately covered, we headed into the kitchen to talk about other aspects of colonial life:
- lighting by candles, oil lamps, firelight, increased by reflections off pewter plates or mirrors, but especially sunlight--how they woke with and went to bed with the sun
- heat only by fireplace, compounded by lower ceilings, smaller windows, heavier clothes and blankets, and foot- and bed-warmers
- transportation by foot because only the rich had horses or carriages
- sleeping altogether, with parents and siblings, in rope beds or pallets
- children's chores: sewing, helping with the cooking, cleaning (with a broom made of sticks), feeding the livestock, fetching water, carrying wood, gathering eggs (eggs were more seasonal then, with chickens not laying in cold months), making butter (another seasonal food because cows didn't give milk in winter)
- food harvesting (and the long tradition of harvest festivals, even before the official Thanksgiving holiday in 1863) and preservation, especially the popularity of drying apples and making pies to eat at every meal (and why you just couldn't leave whole apples in the cellar--rot, mice, thieving kids!). Also how the big meal was in the middle of the day.
- how water was not the drink of choice because it was easily contaminated and could make you sick; they drank cider and hot tea, often made from leaves broken from bricks of tea from China
Then, in the waning afternoon light, without turning on any electricity, they kids worked on weaving projects. I showed them all the tape, or ribbon, in my clothes--my cap, shift, and gathering my skirts--and demonstrated how it was woven on my replica colonial tape loom. Then they did some decorative circle weaving on paper plates (notch a plate with an uneven number of slits, set "warp" by crossing through center and passing to next slit, weave over-under in a circle, changing colors whenever), similar to the woven rag rugs they were all seated upon.
After everyone had left, while Mama and I were cleaning up, Sis and Bud played house in the enormous fireplace--sweeping, baking, stirring the kettle, churning butter, fetching wood and water. Watching them bring history alive for themselves is why I love being a docent.
Definitely a "Power Up" moment.
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