ALL THAT WORK: A LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM

By John Steinle

Local History Notebook, May / June 1988

Since the early 1960s, Americans have developed what amounts to a national living history movement. Each person involved in the movement has chosen to recreate a tiny bit of the past that, for some reason, appeals to his or her spirit and imagination. These people have moved beyond the limitations of the classroom or museum to present their own very personal interpretations of the American heritage.

Ohio is especially rich in groups and individuals involved in living history. Nearly every community supporting a museum or historic site has a spinners' and weavers' guild, a traditional crafts group, an early music ensemble, a black powder shooters' club, or a military reenactment group.

The range of historical interpretation offered by Ohioans involved in living history is really amazing. I have met people offering splendid portrayals of such famous individual Ohioans as William Howard Taft and Lucy Webb Hayes, costumed groups performing historic dances ranging in time from the age of Henry VIII through the Jazz Age, and units recreating every period of military history from medieval Vikings through World War II. As Larry Tise, AASLH director, noted in a recent History News article, the study of history in America is declining only in terms of traditional classroom work. The active interest of genealogists, preservationists, collectors, and, yes, history buffs in history has never been greater.

The participation of living history groups - or the development of "home-grown" living history programs with a museum's own staff and volunteers - can add immeasurably to visitor enjoyment and participation. Living history can also help smaller museums successfully compete with larger institutions in terms of public programming.

Before I explain why living history can be so helpful to museums, let me attempt a definition of the phrase, "living history." To me, the term means an attempt to create an event, illustrate a process, or illuminate a personality from the past, thus giving the visitor a sense of actually experiencing the time period being recreated. Through costuming, music, lighting, and interpretation, a good living history program surrounds the activities going on with a subtle atmosphere, providing a historical context for the visitor. This is what separates a simple demonstration from true living history.

First, and most important, living history programs offer warm human contact with people enthusiastic about their own special topic of interest from the American past. It is an active, rather than passive, method of interpreting history--fulfilling a basic need very much felt by the American public. As wonderful as today's electronic museum displays are, I still believe that there is no substitute for simple personal contact and empathy. That is why I prefer a living volunteer interpreter with his or her quirks, prejudices and good or bad days--to a robot, audio-visual program, or taped message.

A second reason to employ living history is because it offers variety The addition of a living history element can bring a new and exciting flavor to your organization's programming. In a historic house, for example, costumed interpreters might be making simple seasonal changes in decor such as "disrobing" the home for summer by draping the furniture in dust covers, covering the mirrors and chandeliers with gauze, and replacing the carpets with straw matting.

Adding Variety

In recent years, historic house museums and villages have added militia musters, political rallies, revivals, chautauquas, weddings, and even funerals to their programming. All of these living history elements bring a tremendous variety to historic site interpretation--without a major overhaul of the site's buildings or furnishings.

A third attraction of living history is that it reinforces contact with the reality of nature and the environment, and involves all the senses. In a television-oriented society through which we travel in steel-and-glass boxes, many people have lost touch or never became acquainted with the natural world. Especially among children, there is wonder and fascination with the feel and smell of barnyard animals, with the delicious odor of stew cooking in an iron pot over an open fire, with the pungent sulphurous odor of black powder smoke hanging in the humid air, or even with the rather strong scent emanating from a Civil War re-enactor wearing a wool uniform on a 90-degree summer day (if he's authentic, he doesn't wear deodorant!).

As the countryside east of the Mississippi River disappears under a carpet of shopping malls, fast food restaurants, office complexes, and condos, historic sites bear an increasing responsibility in reminding the public of a time when America's people lived in much closer contact with animals and with their natural surroundings.

Another commendable attribute of a living history program is that it destroys cliches. As Jay Anderson has noted, most people involved in living history believe that "before you can study the forest, you must become totally familiar with the trees." They pursue a very thorough research concerning their particular field of interest, and delight in debunking misconceptions and old wives' tales.

Anyone seriously studying American history quickly learns that the world of the 18th and 19th centuries was not the quiet, peaceful haven of sturdy, God-fearing people that we often imagine. It was a world that, like our own, had its share of confusion, fear, economic uncertainty, vice, and dishonesty. Living history enthusiasts emphasize these realities of history and often have a knowledge of everyday artifacts, tools and minutiae that would put most academics to shame.

Any historical organization wishing to add a living history element to its interpretation must go the same route and be prepared to do as much research as necessary to present the program authentically.

One of the most attractive aspects of living history is that it usually illustrates some process not commonly seen in today's world. Whether that process involves a carpenter making a wooden chest, a skillful artist cutting Scherenschnitte, a group of Revolutionary War soldiers loading their muskets, or even a hapless porker being killed, boiled, scraped, and butchered, the public is always fascinated with the act of creating some final product. Used properly, and incorporated into an educationally oriented program, the demonstration of a process can be instructive as well as dramatic and appealing.

While advocating greater use of living history methods in our museums, I urge every organization wanting to bring in an outside group or to develop its own program to keep in mind that a good living history event has four major attributes: it is appropriate, entertaining, authentic and safe.

Make It Appropriate

Any good living history program must first of all be appropriate. I have seen re-enactments of the Battle of Gettysburg on an Ohio farm; I've seen Medieval and Renaissance fairs in Colorado and California; I've seen many local Ohio museums recreating the Colonial Williamsburg look in furnishings, costumes and gift shops.

All these events and activities are fun and even educational in their own way - but I wouldn't encourage any of them at an Ohio historic site.

Each historical organization has--or should have–-a statement of purpose that includes a description of a geographical area the group studies and serves. Every project the society puts together should have some relationship to the basic purpose; otherwise, the group will have no real goals and will lose its way. In staging a living history program, the organization should choose to work with those elements most appropriate to its own place and time period. Every activity should be evaluated in these terms.

Are candle dipping and fabric spinning appropriate programs for a high Victorian home built when candles had long been replaced by lamps and cloth was readily and cheaply available at the corner store? Do decorations combining the Colonial Williamsburg touch with elaborate early 20th-century ornaments, ribbons and bows really reflect how the fancily that lived in your historic house celebrated Christmas? Is the emphasis on "pioneer" crafts and events in general too prevalent in Ohio, where most historic sites and structures were built long after the frontier had bypassed the region?

Whatever the answers, these questions concerning appropriateness should be seriously asked by any organization wishing to add living history to its methods of interpretation.

It almost goes without saying that a living history event should be entertaining. The added entertainment value is one of the major reasons to add living history programming in the first place. There is nothing that is necessarily cheap or demeaning about combining history and entertainment. Indeed, many historic sites have found that the entertainment of yesterday is equally diverting today--and educational as well!

Traditional dancing, with its swirling, complex motions, provides an opportunity for audience participation as well as a glimpse at the social conventions of a past era. Small-scale concerts, dramatic readings, and amateur theatrical performances among a fancily and its friends were quite common in the 1800s--indeed, some of America's most famous theatrical personalities such as the Barrymores and Lunts made their debuts in these family theatricals. Historic house museums, especially those in urban settings, can use theatrical events to imaginatively supplement their normal programming and stimulate public interest. Local amateur theater groups usually jump at the chance to participate in such events.

Keep It Authentic

Another necessary factor, authenticity, is perhaps the most difficult of all elements. The exact costume worn at a particular time, and the introduction of a specific tool, weapon, musical instrument, or slang phrase is often subject to interpretation. But, for instance, only a minimum amount of research would prove Ohio pioneers dressed in linen hunting frocks and not in fringed buckskin like the Colorado mountain men.

Historical organizations must also face the fact that there is no limit to the capacity for human self-delusion. The person who wears polyester clothing adapted from modern patterns is just as convinced he is totally authentic as is the person who wears costuming of natural fabrics faithfully based on original garments. The perpetuation of "fakelore" and myth is also quite prevalent in local history circles, especially among the self-appointed "experts" which every region seems to boast.

The only way to ensure authenticity is to have in order your own documentation concerning the historical period represented. This may mean a long period of research before an event is actually staged. One example of this is the work of the George Rogers Clark Park Heritage Association, where members spent a full two years in research before staging "The Fair at New Boston," a popular and historically accurate recreation of a late 1700s country fair.

Another factor that you must investigate very thoroughly is safety. Battle reenactments, militia musters, or black powder target shoots are the most obvious types of events to be concerned about. Although the vast majority of re-enactment groups are extremely safety-conscious, there are always the exceptions who load and fire weapons without taking the necessary precautions. Horrendous instances of eyes, fingers, and limbs being lost through the accidental discharge or bursting of a weapon have occurred, even to responsible and sober people. Needless to say, your organization could be held liable if spectators are injured at your site during a living history event.

While you are investigating the groups participating in such events, make sure that you ask about their safety reputation. Be certain the group has its own adequate insurance coverage, and take out a special event insurance rider of your own before staging any kind of black powder event.

You should also be concerned about safety even during programs in which no firing will take place. If you are tempted to ignore such potential hazards as candles without hurricane chimneys, open fires outdoors, or the cheerful blaze crackling on the hearth, remember what Mrs. O’Leary's cow did to Chicago! The very things that create the atmosphere we want at our historic sites--candles, oil lamps, and firelight--are the things we probably take most for granted as safety hazards and that we should be the most careful with.

I might also add a word of caution regarding first-person interpretation (role-playing). In my opinion, the public must be prepared thoroughly before meeting first person interpreters. If they are not prepared beforehand, they tend to become confused or threatened by the role players and will not participate in the educational experience. Interpreters must be more than good actors. They must also be indefatigable researchers, able to interact well with the public.

When planning a living history program, remember it needs to be authentic and to make it authentic--i.e. that the event actually occurred in the area or was typical of the era- takes time and preliminary research. A truly successful living history program does more than draw people to a particular site. It tells a story relevant to the area. It helps visitors understand a moment in time by offering them opportunities to step back in time and participate. And because people remember things which they experience first hand, be it a scent, a taste, a sound or an activity, a well-done living history program educates people while preserving history in a most unique way.

John Steinle, director of the Maumee Valley Historical Society, has worked in the living history field for 14 years, including coordinating the Toledo War Militia Muster, a re-enactment of the Toledo War of 1835.

Further Reading

Anderson, Jay. The Living History Sourcebook, AASLH, Nashville, 1984.

Anderson, Jay. Time Machines: The World of Living History, AASLH, Nashville, 1985.

Alderson, William T. & Shirley Payne Low. Interpretation of Historic Sites. Second Edition. AASLH, Nashville, 1985.

Tilden, Freeman. Interpreting Our Heritage. Revised Edition. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1977.

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selection of subjects and authors is based on inquiries to the Local History Office and on the editor's determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reference inserts are copyrighted 1988 the Ohio Historical Society. Reprints are available; please specify volume and number. For further information, contact: