History Burgoo

Confessions of a Costumed Interpreter

Historic Locust Grove is a Regency style home built around 1792 in Louisville, Kentucky. Home to the Croghan family, this National Historic Landmark welcomed three presidents, the famed members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and General George Rogers Clark. Owned by William Croghan (a surveyor and one of the wealthiest men in Kentucky) and his wife Lucy Clark Croghan (the sister of George
Rogers Clark and William Clark), Locust Grove was a major gathering place in Kentucky. Today, Historic Locust Grove hosts many events including: 18th Century Market Faire, Antique Fair, 18th Century Thunder Revolutionary War Encampment, patriotic picnics, lecture series, KJHS club, and an opportunity for visitors to tour the home and experience the magic of an 1800’s Christmas celebration.

On December 9-10, 2011 I participated in Candlelight Christmas at Locust Grove. Candlelight is a popular event at Locust Grove, during the second week of each December, where visitors connect with history through costumed interpreters (CI) like me! The house is decorated in Regency Style Christmas splendor while visitors participate through dancing, playing card games such as Whist, and conversing with the interpreters.

About three and a half years ago, my best friend introduced me to the world of costumed interpreting opportunities at Historic Locust Grove. To prepare for my CI role, I attend monthly meetings to learn from other interpreters and guest speakers. The group also learns current events of the early 1800’s, clothing styles, children’s activities, food preparation and presentation, day to day activities, and conversation points to use to engage visitors in enjoyable topics. Select members also participate in rehearsals of Regency period dances. Through the CI meetings I have made friends my age, and have met seasoned interpreters who have amazing storytelling talent and a passion for history.

When I began costumed interpreting I portrayed Eliza Croghan, the youngest daughter of William and Lucy Croghan of Locust Grove. However, she was only eight years old and I had recently turned 14 years old and grew six inches, which squashed the believability of me being a little girl. I was then given the character of Ann “Nany” Clark. Nany was the youngest daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Clark, the wealthiest family in Kentucky and the niece of George Rogers and William Clark.

To research my new character I discussed my “family” with the other interpreters, and researched and shared my new knowledge from the internet and meetings with local historians, on the CI blog. My favorite parts of the CI learning process are researching clothing styles and the dancing practices. Due to my recent growth spurt, a new dress was in order. I purchased authentic period fabric at the Jane Austen Festival (hosted annually at Locust Grove) and a friend sewed the dress for me in Regency style. To complete my transformation, my mom fixed my hair in “the latest Regency fashion,” and I wore my great-grandmother’s cameo necklace, which is almost a hundred years old, strung on a beautiful ribbon.

The final touches were placed around the grounds, the halls were “decked” with holly and greenery, the luminaries were lit, showing the way to the house, and the cold air urged the visitors toward the music and candlelight filled house. A large crowd of my family, friends, and members of my KJHS group arrived to enjoy an evening of history and treats from 1809. I spent most of the night dancing with short breaks to “introduce” myself to the guests. Both evenings went by so quickly and were full of music, dancing, and storytelling. Now, I can’t wait for next year!

Written by Clare Egan (KJHS Board Historian)

a.k.a. Nany Clark

For more information on Historic Locust Grove and costumed interpreting go to www.locustgrove.org or call (502)897-9845.

For more information on the Kentucky Junior Historical Society contact Cheryl Caskey at cheryl.caskey@ky.gov.

Winter Months - Won't Stop Oral History Outreach

(Library staff processing and rehousing the Alexander Family Papers - AKA the Woodburn Farm Collection)

In anticipation of our public reopening on Saturday (March 12th, yep – this one), we have been diligently finishing up microfilm inventory (600 records in Mercer county), cataloging records and re-housing collections in order to make the library ready for use by patrons again.

All of the fluttering around the library to complete the season has made me think about what I have accomplished in the oral history office over the winter months. Not to even get into the paper pushing, but between January and February I travelled to 11 sites outside of Frankfort – practically one trip a week. I delivered digital workstations and equipment to be used for oral history digitization (EKU and Lindsey Wilson College), I visited with groups of teachers, visited a few college classes (Transylvania and Georgetown), participated in a high school program for Black History Month with the KHS Museum Theatre Dept. (1,100 Woodford County students, yikes!), moderated an OH archival evaluation (WKU), did some actual interviews and most recently spoke with an arts group looking to document their home county through oral history (Mt. Sterling).  While I haven’t been that far Southeast or West this season (mostly because of the unpredictability of the weather and planning trips that far – in advance and distance), I have been lucky enough to get out and around.

One of these visits has been recently renewed in my mind this week, so I thought I would share. My visit (turning into an annual one) to the Transylvania University Community Engagement Through the Arts class was unique in the fact that I spent as much time learning from the students there than trying to convey the knowledge I was asked to present. I am continually impressed by the nature of this class – not only is the purpose to get the college students interacting with the North Limestone community, the campus’ neighbor (and not one where students were traditionally encouraged to wander in), but to actively engage with the residents in that community, whether through storytelling, community crafting or just participating in neighborhood events. (this would be through the arts part). The students are really setting the class direction based on the framework set by the professors, Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova, a model that astounds me every time I experience it. I really enjoy watching the class move as a small swarm walking down North Limestone Ave from the manicured lawns of Transy to the back of whatever space they are meeting in this week (restaurants, furniture stores, graphic design studios etc…) In the spirit of self reflection – and part of the grading system, I am sure - the students all write a series of “This I Believe” essays, based on the resurged radio series on NPR and they are encouraged to reflect on what it is they believe and how that may or may not shift as the semester wears on.

This adventure has popped back up in my mind since I was recently contacted by the class to write my own “This I Believe” essay to add to the annual Community Engagements class publication of essays and projects - they continue to "engage". This year, I talked with (not so much at) the class about sense-of-place, tangible and intangible culture and meeting a community through listening to what people who live there value or dismiss. I really had to think about the question for myself long and hard….since I DO believe in this class, I would like to share.

In the mean time, you should see what the class is doing, you can visit their own blog – check out their photos of projects, read their essays, visit their sites – get inspired or at least maybe get some ideas for how this might work for something in your own community.

So, it is a bit self-gratifying to get to visit these sort of places – I tend to get as much out of it as my institution or the place I am visiting (or maybe more, who knows), especially on a non-existant travel budget. Anyone interested on details of any of my other outreach adventures? Let me know...

 

--Sarah Milligan

 

images: above right: photo from Greg Hardison, Sarah Milligan at the Woodford County High School

above left: Community Engagement Class, photo from Community Engagement blog

“Mining the Museum for Relevance”

As an actor, I struggle to keep performances fresh and exciting.  I have performed some plays hundreds of times, but it may be the first time the audience has seen it.  I must deliver lines, discover thoughts and experience feelings as if they are just happening.  If my performance is believable, I can connect with the audience on a deep and personal level.  If they see themselves in the story, it becomes relevant to them.

 

Sometimes it isn’t easy.  Life gets in the way, and while one side of my brain speaks the lines of an injured Italian coal miner, the other side makes a grocery list.  The mind is an amazing thing, but if my pot roast becomes more important than the show, I will forget myself and as actors say “go up” on my lines.  It is a horrible feeling to be lost and alone on stage.  Wondering, “Where am I?”  “What did I just say?”  “What is the next line?”  Perhaps that’s what a trapped miner feels like.  Alone and scared.  Helpless.

 

Face of the "A" coal on Riley Fork of Long's Creek, Breathitt County.

URL: http://205.204.134.47:2005/u?/Jillson,104

 

For several weeks now, thirty three miners have been buried deep underground, in a copper mine in Chile.  It will take several more weeks to dig the tunnel that will allow them to escape.  They must feel helpless.  Luckily they are not alone.   They have each other down below and they have family and friends above ground scrambling to rescue them; sending food and supplies down a long line of pipes.  A line that reaches out to the miners deep underground.

 

A good script should be that kind of connection for an actor:  a long line (or a series of lines in this case), that reach out and connect the actor to the audience.  The script must be clear, and speak to a number of different people on a number of different levels.  It must have relevance.

 

 

 

I’ve been performing “In the Veins:  Conversations from a Coal Town” for almost ten years now.  It is fun for an actor.  In only twenty minutes I must become a young boy who has just moved into town, an injured Italian coal miner, and a union supporter.  The characters are composites of real stories from the collections of the Kentucky Historical Society.  Dozens of oral histories and primary sources were researched to create the characters in the play.  Stories of people like Frances Turner.

 

When the play is over I stop pretending and talk to the audience as myself.  Sometimes I answer questions, but I always listen.  I listen to the audience share stories of their youth in a coal mining town and we connect through the lines of the script.  It isn’t just a play to them, it is their life.  I don’t want to forget their stories so I keep a journal beside my computer.  After one performance many years ago, I wrote:

 

“A woman told me, ‘You brought tears to my eyes.’  She removed her necklace and showed me the “scrip” she wore around her neck to remind her from where she came.” – July 20^th, 2002

 

I can’t help but recognize the significance here.  Scrip is a type of money paid to miners, that could only be spent in the company store.  Her "scrip" necklace connected her to the place that she was from, while my "script" connected our collections to her. 

 

Did you grow up in a coal town, or do you remember stories of a relative who did?  Share your story by posting a comment below.  You never know who you might connect with.

 

Visit the Kentucky Historical Society on Thursdays in September to experience “In the Veins:  Conversations from a Coal Town”.  Connect to the new and improved Museum Theatre webpage to download playbills, view the online calendar for more performance dates and times, and plan a tour.

 

- Gregory Hardison, Director of Museum Theatre

 

P.S.  Please, keep the chilean coal miners in your thoughts, until they return home to their families.

“It isn’t the heat, it’s the humidity.”

Anybody experiencing Kentucky’s summers can attest to this adage.  The weather during the month of August in 1855 wasn’t any different.  However, it wasn’t just the heat and the humidity that caused the residents of Louisville to sweat.  The political climate had caused many to get hot under the collar and get a bit overheated as well.  The American Party, also known as the “Know Nothings” had been touting (particularly German and Irish) anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments through the weeks leading up to election day on August 6^th.  Many believe a particularly strong worded editorial by Louisville Journal Editor George Prentice stirred the angry masses. 

 

“Let the foreigners keep their elbows to themselves today at the polls. Americans are you all ready? We think we hear you shout ‘ready.’ Well fire, and may heaven have mercy on the foe.” - George Prentice, 1855

    Riots erupted which lasted until after midnight, leaving twenty-two people dead, hundreds homeless, and caused thousands of dollars in property damage.  “Bloody Monday” as it is to be forever known, was certainly a dark day in Louisville’s history. 

 

“Necessity Knows No Law: The Lives and Liberties of Bloody Monday” which details some of the events of that day, was created by the Museum Theatre program for the “Our New Kentucky Home: Immigrant Experiences” exhibition in 2006 and is performed regularly as part of our rotating schedule of plays.

 

Over the years, the Museum Theatre program has also had the honor of performing this play at the German American Club in Louisville and most recently at Lincoln Elementary, the site of the new performing arts school in Louisville, in conjunction with the University of Louisville’s College of Arts and Sciences and the department of International Programs.  State Representative Reginald Meeks (District 42) hosted this event which included a performance of “Necessity Knows No Law”, preceding a lively discussion of current immigration issues with many voices from the diverse immigrant community of Jefferson County.  With representatives from the Latino, African, German, Austrian, Polish, and British communities in attendance, as well as members of the Human Relations Commission and the Muhammad Ali Center in attendance, the two hour program was an engaging evening of performance and dialogue. 

 

Five years ago, during the 150^th anniversary of the little known “Bloody Monday” event, the story was remembered through a series of special events, and the dedication of a new historical marker.  The Kentucky Historical Marker Program is administered by the Kentucky Historical Society in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and commemorates historical sites, events, and personalities throughout the commonwealth.  Visit the online searchable marker database and enter “Bloody Monday” in the search engine to learn more.

 

The message and meaning of our play continues to find relevance to modern immigrants and to modern immigration issues.  Even though the events of Bloody Monday occurred a little over 155 years ago, some of the sentiments and attitudes still resonate today.  Visit the Kentucky Historical Society on Saturdays in September to see “Necessity Knows No Law: The Lives and Liberties of Bloody Monday” and relive one of the dark days of Kentucky’s history.  Visit our online calendar to see more performance dates and times for September.

- Adam Luckey, Museum Theatre Specialist

 

O’ Ye Authors and Books, O’ Ye Actors and Rehearsals!

“[My teacher] Mrs. Harris said, ‘Education gives you satisfaction,’ but I had rather be ignorant and have fun, than be educated and have satisfaction."  Thus quotes the young Virginia Cary Hudson, in the year 1904, at the precocious age of 10.  But you know, that sounds like something my daughter Bella might say today, over 100 years later.  Times change, fashions change, but children will always say what they think.

 

Virginia Cary Hudson wrote her comment, and a host of many more in a series of essays for her Episcopal boarding school.  Many years later they were discovered by her daughter and printed in the book, “O’ Ye Jigs and Juleps” published in 1962.  The book quickly became a Top National Bookseller with over one million sold to date.  The small coffee table book includes Virginia’s honest and hilarious thoughts about everything from education and marriage, to dead cats and the sacraments. Many critics believe the book was creatively edited with an adult sense of humor and insight.  You’ll have to decide that for yourself, but I thought that was an interesting angle that needed to be explored.

 

So, last month a young actor named Emma Bryan worked with the Museum Theatre program to bring the words of Virginia Cary Hudson kicking and screaming into the 21^st century.  Ms. Bryan is a bright and beautiful girl of fourteen, and not at all as precocious as the troublesome Ms. Hudson.  And I am a man of …well …let’s just say I’m not 14, and I am very precocious. (I guess that is where my daughter gets it from.)  Together, during a series of rehearsals, we reinterpreted several selections from the book.  Emma's young perspective provided a playful connection, while my …well…older perspective discovered hidden meaning and layers in the writing.

 

The performance takes place in the recreated State Law Library of the Old State Capitol, and is the first in a new series for the Museum Theatre program called Novel Readings:  New Interpretations of Old Literature.  The concept is simple; select historically popular books from the collections of the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library, work with an actor to present selections from the text before an audience of museum visitors, and engage them in a discussion that connects the text to current issues or modern thought.  In this case, we wanted our guests to compare modern children with children from the past.  What differences or similarities are there?  How have things changed?  What caused these changes?  Our audiences made lots of interesting observations and indeed discovered new interpretations of old literature.

 

The next time you visit our beautiful building, climb up the long curved stairway that leads to the library and read from an original printing of O Ye Jigs and Juleps.  I visited with my daughter and she loved the book, especially the part about sliding down the long stair rail.  But I convinced her that would not be a good idea to try on these stairs.

“Like” it or not, kids have a mind all their own. Always did, and always will!

 

- Gregory Hardison, Director of Museum Theatre

  

No it can’t be! The museum is fun?

As Coordinator of Children’s and Family Programs I work with some of the world’s toughest critics - children. Children have the ability to tell it like it is.  Curious, energetic, playful, and vocal, young children haven’t been stifled by the pressure to follow common social behaviors. Children’s willingness to do and say just about anything can sometimes result in embarrassing situations (like the time a child jumped onto a chair so that she could better project her voice as she screamed “Miss Erica!  Miss Erica!”, as I stood at a casket during a wake). For the most part, I find children’s tell-all attitude refreshing. It’s children’s lack of “filter” that helps lead our educational programs in the right direction.

 
Designing a program can feel a little like walking a tightrope when children are involved. Will the kids lose focus? Will fun end in utter chaos? What if they would rather get a shot at the doctor’s office than be at the museum? These things go through my head every time I begin designing a program, but luckily I have found that most kids would agree the museum is actually fun. Just ask the recent Camp Artyfact students who collectively groaned at the announcement that the class was not going into the gallery. Or the pre-school children from a local daycare that could barely control their laughter as Adam Luckey and Greg Hardison acted like goofy little boys during a Museum Theatre performance of “Jack and the Robbers”.

The sights and sounds of the exhibitions are part of an exciting adventure that draws visitors through time and past things they have never seen before. And if they are lucky they might even run into a few silly characters from the Museum Theatre program telling stories, singing songs, and make history come to life. So come and see for yourself the fun that waits- and please don’t forget to bring your inner child!

Click here to see our Preschool Flyer

Erica Harvey, Coordinator of Children's and Family Programs

Skit-Daddle! A Play on Words

Students appearing in a Shakespearian play at Pine Mountain Settlement School, ca. 1919-21.

URL: http://205.204.134.47:2005/u?/Pmt2,75

When I was a precocious little boy (and there are LOTS of stories there) I said many things that I ‘ought not to.  Things that I didn’t understand at the time that made my Momma wash my mouth out with soap.  I promise not to use any of those words here, but I do want to share with you a word that turns my stomach every time I hear it. "Skit!"

What exactly is a skit?  What is this strange little word?  It sounds like something I yell at my dog when she tries to eat a cookie out of my daughter’s hand.  “Skit you crazy dog!”  When I think of a skit, it is a quirky little something that a bunch of people tossed together to make others laugh.  I think of a skit as unrehearsed, and unfinished.

Merriam-Webster however describes a skit as a jeering or satirical remark or a satirical or humorous story or sketch, a brief burlesque or comic sketch included in a dramatic performance (as a revue), a short serious dramatic piece; especially one done by amateurs.  Amateurs?  That hurts.  Let me elaborate.

I am the Director of the Museum Theatre program.  I have an awesome job!  I get to pretend everyday.  I work with some really professional actors, directors and playwrights and if we do our jobs correctly, we get applause just for “playing on the job.”  I believe if everyone got a round of applause for doing their jobs, they would be as happy as I am.

 

Imagine you’ve just finished that big budget review and made 20 copies for the board members, when suddenly everyone stands up in their cubicles and awards you with thunderous ovation.  If the world were more like that, I bet we would have less people looking for their missing stapler.

 

The Kentucky Historical Society Museum Theatre program began over 11 years ago.  The idea was simple: present short plays in the exhibitions that entertain and inform guests.  The idea was not new, the International Museum Theatre Alliance (IMTAL) had been experimenting, discussing and presenting theatre in cultural institutions around the world for many years.  But the concept was new to our institution.  Luckily for me, the right people were brought in to conceive of and begin the program, and I was hired to help them.

 

The director of the new Museum Theatre program, Mike Thomas, hired me as an actor and together we set out to create challenging and quality theatre.  Some things worked and some didn’t, but the biggest thing that I learned was how much work went into these short 15-minute plays: often months of research, rehearsal, and costume construction.  On top of that we had to learn to work within the confinements of a museum.  Neither of us knew anything about museums. Did you know that lights can damage paper documents?  Did you also know that without lighting, the audience can not see the actor?  When Mike left several years ago, I worried that I would not be able to live up to the standards he had set.

 

Over the years, the Museum Theatre program continued to grow and experimented with different performance styles.  I have worked with some of the most talented performers in the Bluegrass, most importantly Adam Luckey.  I hired him a few years ago, and together we hope to continue to grow the KHS Museum Theatre Program.

 

We put a lot of time and thought into our productions, much more than I did as a kid performing a “skit” at church, or in college with my buddies.  Time and thought are the biggest difference here.  We create short plays...not skits.  Yes, most of them are only 15 minutes, but we try to make them feel more like a full production with lights, sounds, skilled performers, playbills, layers of meaning, and emotional and entertaining scripts.  And I believe our institution has benefited from the positive feedback we receive from visitors, and not just through their applause.

 

If you haven’t had a chance to see any of our live productions, please plan a visit.  Our calendar is available online.  I’ve also included a little video, that just gives you a taste of what Museum Theatre looks like.  But in order to feel the power of our productions, you have to be here, in our exhibits watching “theatre” happen live.

Ah yes, THEATRE, another contentious word, just because I choose to spell it with and “re” instead of an “er.”  What is the difference anyway?  Well, I’ll have to address that in the next “continuing story of MUSEUM THEATRE.”

 

-Gregory Hardison, Director of Museum Theatre

 

C. O. Christophel's Co.

URL: http://205.204.134.47:2005/u?/ORP,496