Revolutionary London Town
This past Sunday, July 8, was London Town's special summer event, Revolutionary London Town. Even though the original town was in rapid decline during the Revolution, it was still an important place in that documents were sent to the William Brown house for protection. So for the day, it was 1776, complete with reenactors, militia signups, hearth cooking, and cannon fire.
Of course, as the intern, I was partially on setup duty, mostly in bringing out and organizing the kids' costumes that were available for rental. Once that was finished, I started my work as the event's official photographer and videographer. I got to wander around all day, take in a little bit of everything, and take pictures to be used for next year's publicity materials. I was able to look at the pictures today, and I got a few pretty good ones. I also did some video taping, such as the 1770s dentist presentation, kids making cornmeal, and the artillerists firing the cannon. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep my hand steady during the firing...I definitely needed the tripod for that!
And then I got to do what every museum intern probably does at one point: I conducted visitor surveys to see how people enjoyed their day. It was great to hear people's reactions to the event, which were decidedly positive, and hear about what we could've done to make it better. Even though I'm not always good at approaching people, once I talked to a few people, it got a lot easier, and then I looked forward to hearing people's responses. Overall, it was a great day, and I will never grow tired of seeing kids in colonial costume :)
In terms of my other project, I am continuing to augment the colonial foodways research, and my new project will be to compile an illustrated colonial cooking implements glossary, based on probate inventories and other primary and secondary sources. That should be a fun task. I'm also going to have the chance to visit some other sites and observe their interpretive and educational programming. Not to mention my own weekly sidetrips, such as the one I took yesterday to Fort McHenry, the Baltimore Civil War Museum, and the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If you ever find yourself in the Baltimore area, and if you call yourself an American, and if you've ever stood up for the national anthem at a sporting or other event, you MUST go to Fort McHenry. It is a fantastic site.
And don't worry. I'll rest when I get back to Dayton :)
Of course, as the intern, I was partially on setup duty, mostly in bringing out and organizing the kids' costumes that were available for rental. Once that was finished, I started my work as the event's official photographer and videographer. I got to wander around all day, take in a little bit of everything, and take pictures to be used for next year's publicity materials. I was able to look at the pictures today, and I got a few pretty good ones. I also did some video taping, such as the 1770s dentist presentation, kids making cornmeal, and the artillerists firing the cannon. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep my hand steady during the firing...I definitely needed the tripod for that!
And then I got to do what every museum intern probably does at one point: I conducted visitor surveys to see how people enjoyed their day. It was great to hear people's reactions to the event, which were decidedly positive, and hear about what we could've done to make it better. Even though I'm not always good at approaching people, once I talked to a few people, it got a lot easier, and then I looked forward to hearing people's responses. Overall, it was a great day, and I will never grow tired of seeing kids in colonial costume :)
In terms of my other project, I am continuing to augment the colonial foodways research, and my new project will be to compile an illustrated colonial cooking implements glossary, based on probate inventories and other primary and secondary sources. That should be a fun task. I'm also going to have the chance to visit some other sites and observe their interpretive and educational programming. Not to mention my own weekly sidetrips, such as the one I took yesterday to Fort McHenry, the Baltimore Civil War Museum, and the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. If you ever find yourself in the Baltimore area, and if you call yourself an American, and if you've ever stood up for the national anthem at a sporting or other event, you MUST go to Fort McHenry. It is a fantastic site.
And don't worry. I'll rest when I get back to Dayton :)