First Person Interpretation Weekend Workshop

[CJDaley]

Fir-Per seems to be the standard for events these days so I thought I'd pass along some information regarding a course given at Colonial Williamsburg on doing better first person.

If you are affiliated with a living history museum (as a volunteer or employee), please speak with them about enrolling you in this course. It is run by professionals who've been doing first person longer than most of us have been alive.

Registration ends next week so if you want to learn more about researching and executing first person, my suggestion is not to delay.

http://www.alhfam.org/index.php?cat_id=123

[CJDaley]

PS: For 2009, I'd like to see the AC host some of these types of workshops and seminars.

Event planning
Material Culture 101
First Person
Sewing Boot Camps

I think spending time out of historic clothing in an academic setting can only benefit the future of our hobby.

[Cfarrell]

I'll second that! It would be nice to see something like this besides a COI style event. Maybe it could be in the style of a convention...perhaps one out East and another out West? It is a good idea that I personally would like to see come true.

Warm Regards,

[Utley]

Sounds like a great class to attend. I agree with Chris that more things like this in the CW community wouldn't be a bad thing by any means. Several years ago Ralph Ward used to host the "So You Want to Be a Farmer"" workshops at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill. While alot of time was spent in period clothing learning period farm activities, it was still a great learning environment. Sadly, from what I understand this event didn't survive for lack of participation. Other conferences such as the Midwest Open Air Museums Coordinating Council's spring and fall conferences as well as various other conferences are also great places to learn a great deal in an academic setting.

[SparksBird]

Chris,
I think that this would be a great opportunity for living historians to develop their first person skills. If I may be so bold, I would be more than willing to help organize such a venture in '09!!


Rick Musselman
Director of Education, Carriage Hill Farm
Palestine #158, F & AM

[jacobite8749]

Rick,
Couldn't it be incorporated into a "On the Farm" event for 09? You gotta be the man to do it mate.

[Cfarrell]

Question? Does something like this really require the need to be a in "period" setting? Do we really have to show up wearing our gear to take something away from an "event" such as this? Not to detract from anyone’s ideas of hosting such an event in the future, but could this possibly be an academic setting? Just some curious thoughts?

Regards,

[CJDaley]

Originally Posted by Cfarrell

Question? Does something like this really require the need to be a in "period" setting? Do we really have to show up wearing our gear to take something away from an "event" such as this? Not to detract from anyone’s ideas of hosting such an event in the future, but could this possibly be an academic setting? Just some curious thoughts?

Regards,

Agreed, an academic setting is the only way to do this. Once you start combing the educational classes with a living history event schedule, priorities start to shift.

Wearing modern clothing in a classroom setting with modern technology to aid the presentations is the only way to go.

The civilian end of our hobby puts on a great conference every year. 18th and 17th century conferences are hosted every year. For some reason, the 19th century military hobby has never taken up the idea of an academic conference.

[SparksBird]

I agree that this would be best presented in a formal classroom setting. That way, first person is the focus and you are in a controlled environment. That's not to say that you couldn't also do some practical hands-on first person workshops as well. For example, you could do a day of classroom sessions and some practical first person, in a historic setting, to apply what you have learned. I have always said that one of the best ways to work on first person is to actually "do" first person in the right setting.


Rick Musselman
President, MOMCC
Director of Education, Carriage Hill Farm

[jchristiansen]

On a related note, Historic Eastfield village in New York offers a number of hands on historic trades and material culture courses each year. See website at http://www.greatamericancraftsmen.org/. I just recently heard about them and am considering taking a course this year.

There was a good article on Historic Eastfield in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Preservation magazine, the magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.