Heidi: You might direct your questions to Conner Prairie Living History Museum located in Fishers, IN (www.connerprairie.org). They do mainly first person interpretations with paid staff and volunteers and they run an program about the Underground RR thru Indiana called Follow the North Star. Ed Hale -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Heidi Wing Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 14:56 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Living History 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] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).