Hello, Heidi,

You  might contact Ann Birney and Joyce Thierer of Ride Into History  
Cultural and Educational Project, Inc.  (RIHCEPI) in Admire, Kansas  
(620) 528-3580 or [log in to unmask]  They have years of  
expereince providing first person interpretation-based programs to  
schools, museums other cultural groups and would have all kinds of  
suggestions for you.  they are a great resource.

Sarah Wood-Clark

On Apr 16, 2007, at 1:55 PM, Heidi Wing wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I'm looking for some help and opinions on the topic of Living  
> History, or first
> person interpretations. Here's some background....
>
> Several years ago, we received a sizeable donation to create a  
> Living History
> program for our museum. The main push of this Living History  
> program was the
> idea that kids learn better through first person interpretations  
> and/or are more
> engaged with dramatizations. We have found that this is successful-- 
> in part.
>
> One of the results was that a performance piece was created about the
> Underground Railroad. Actors go out to schools and perform a play  
> about the
> UGRR and then take questions from the audience. This piece was most
> successful the first few years of the project. But here we are,  
> several years
> later, and not as many schools are interested. It is a bit pricey  
> ($600) but not
> if you consider that 300 kids can see it at once, assembly style.   
> We don't
> think that it is a grade overlap problem (for example, this year's  
> fifth graders
> saw the play as third graders).
>
> Several of our regular classes that we offer at the museum,  
> including one on
> the birth of the auto industry in Michigan and one on WWII in  
> Michigan, had
> been utilizing Living History actors to portray real people to  
> children.
> Essentially, their field trip would involve "meeting" a person from  
> the past,
> hearing about their life, and participating in a hands-on activity.  
> So we have
> used Living History both in the museum, and as an outreach tool.
>
> And here are the problems..... Living History is expensive. We have  
> established
> the habit of paying our performers a sizable fee per event, making  
> it all but
> impossible for us the clear any profit on the activities (yes we  
> are nonprofit,
> but as you know, we still have to bring in the money).  It is also  
> a matter of
> staffing. Our education team is not comfortable in first person,  
> but happy in
> third (and teachers don't seem to mind). Scheduling is difficult  
> when our
> acting pool is small, and often jumps at any chance to make more  
> money,
> sometimes leaving us in the lurch.
>
> So this is what I'm asking (in a very round about way, my  
> apologies). Does
> your institution utilize Living History, or first person  
> interpretations? How
> successful, or unsuccessful, are your programs? What works best?  
> What are
> the challenges that you run into? Why, or why not, do you use  
> Living History?
>
> Again, apologies that this is such a long request... please help!
>
> Thanks,
> Heidi Wing
> Assistant Curator of Programs
> Sloan Museum and Longway Planetarium
> Flint, MI
> [log in to unmask]
>
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