The Future of the Past Last year the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation conducted a survey of over 40 living history organizations. Read the results in this blog written by director of education Mark Howell.
The Future of the Past
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The Asiatic Cholera Pandemic of 1832
In many ways the 1830s is a distant mirror of today. A time of promise but also unsettling social, political and technological changes, it, too, faced and survived its own pandemic: the Asiatic cholera, which appeared in the United States in 1832.
Working From Home
Working from home seems like a new challenge, but until about 1850, over half of all families farmed and worked where they lived.
Yellow Fever: Savannah’s Dreadful Pestilence
With the concerns today over Covid 19 what can we learn about past epidemics? Read excerpts from a past proceedings over yellow fever epidemics. What will the future think of this pandemic?
The Challenges of Portraying a Famous Person
First person interpretation can be very challenging, but portraying a famous person can be a minefield. Learn more about Ron Carnegie's approach to portraying George Washington
Skills Training: Plowing Workshop
Since I began working for the Oklahoma Historical Society, Tillers International has been on my bucket list of places to visit. When ALHFAM announced the first STP (Skills, Training, and Preservation) plowing workshop was going to be held at Tillers I was excited.
I was told if you want to attract a crowd, make some noise.
The pfut-pfut-pfut of the tractor engine, the slapping belt, the clacks and rattles of the thresher did draw some people to the fence of the show ring at the fairgrounds. The public, ready for the sensory appeal of carnival rides, food trucks and other vendors, found instead an active agricultural display. Threshing day at the… Continue reading I was told if you want to attract a crowd, make some noise.
It Takes A Village
Hopefully by now word of ALHFAM’s Skill Training and Preservation initiative (STP) has permeated the living history community, arousing interest. For some it may also have raised questions. What is being preserved and why? What infrastructure is needed at our living history sites to nurture the ongoing acquisition of historic skills and their preservation? Are… Continue reading It Takes A Village
Association of European Open Air Museums
By Kathy Dickson "Poland is a country which has popped up on the map of Europe from time to time never quite in the same place twice." Olga Tokarcuk, Polish writer, activist and Nobel recipient In August I had the opportunity to travel to Poland to represent ALHFAM at the biannual conference of the Association… Continue reading Association of European Open Air Museums
How to Host an Early Twentieth-Century Halloween Party
The end of the nineteenth century and first few decades of the twentieth century are considered by many to be the "Golden Age" of Halloween celebrations in the United States. Before the advent of trick-or-treating as we know it, the Victorians and their successors enjoyed hosting and attending Halloween parties, complete with seasonal decorations, festive foods, homemade costumes and a variety of games and stunts. Learn how to turn this bit of history into a fun event at a museum or historic sites.
