Heidi:
This is the first time I am answering one of these. I am sorry if it is
not what you are looking for.
I worked two summers as a living history interpreter in Copper Harbor,
Michigan at the Historic Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. I was one of
about 6 college students from Northern Michigan University who were
summer interns there. We were a combination of history and theater
majors who were employed during the summer for enough money to by food
and a credit at school for our work that summer.
We were immersed in first person for about 8 hours a day and you do have
to be comfortable being someone else for a bit. The only problem we had
was getting the visitors to realize what was going on. They just
wandered around and didn't know what they were walking into sometimes.
I am not sure how they run the site today, but I know that SVSU and U of
M Flint are rather close by. Is there a chance you could partner with
them, making it part of a credit might make them a bit more stable, even
though you might have to change out by season. I know that Fort Wilkins
is run by the State - the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries.
Maybe someone there might have some ideas.
The museum that I am currently with does not use living history, and I
have not worked in it for a very long time, but I loved it and the
children and adults actually get a lot out of the experience. I hope
that I have been a little informative
Good Luck.
Stacey Gibson
Education Staff
Museum of Mississippi History
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Jackson, MS
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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--
Stacey Gibson, Historian
Museum of Mississippi History
PO Box 571
Jackson, MS 39205
Telephone: 601-576-6932
Facsimile: 601-576-6981
Email: [log in to unmask]
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