The Adventures of a Novice Historian

Prior to going back to school in 2014 I was kind of lost, I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I developed a love for history, when I was about twelve. It began when I watched a National Geographic documentary about Egyptian history, and it just snowballed from there. When I was 13, my mother pulled me out of public school and began to home-school me which is when my passion was allowed to flourish. Every time I went somewhere historic with my family, I had to know everything I could before our visit and when people came to see us I had to play tour guide. At the time it never occurred to me that I could apply both my passion for history and my need to tell people what I knew together.  When I started at UNCA, I could not have imagined I would have had an opportunity to put those two things together. So, when I began my internship at Vance over the summer, I didn't know what to expect. Which is understandable given that I had never done anything like it before.  ...

This weeks post is a little different from my usual post. This week in class Dr. Pearson asked us to sit down with our internship supervisors and discuss the following three questions and reflect on them. 1. What was the most contentious interaction/issue you have had at this site with regard to diversity and inclusion?  For this question, Lauren said that the biggest interactions she has had with people, since starting at Vance, have been through the sites Social Media accounts. People have often had a preconceived notion of what the site is and get upset when it doesn't match their ideas. She gave me three examples of the most recent interactions she's had. The first being from a man who didn't agree with a post on Facebook about the reasons for the start of the Civil War. He had a stereotypical reaction of it not being about Slavery and more about Northern aggression. He also felt that being inclusive was not a good thing. The second was from a woman who thought...

This weekend at Vance was their annual Militia Muster. The Militia Muster is a living history and reenactment event that simulates what life would have been like during an 18th century encampment. According to reenactor Cody Fox, "a Militia Muster was a gathering of small community minute men who were required by law to gather six times a year to practice their skills and get up to date on Militia law. Two time a year they would get together with other militias to form a regiment then once a year they would gather with all the militias in the region to form a brigade." These bigger, once a year, events would include the minute men's families, Similar to the old clan gatherings in Scotland. Things that would go on during these muster events were the forming of the Militia company and reading of the Militia law. Mustering, Inspection of the men and their weapons, payment for service, and drills and fire practice.  For my part of the event, on Saturday, I was stationed ...

For the past couple weeks at Vance, Lauren and I have embarked on epic project. INVENTORY!!! It has been our job to go through the cabinets, dressers, desks, and trunks in the main cabin. We are making a list of what items in the collection will be staying in the house, what will be moved to off site storage, what will be offered to other sites in the state, and lastly, what will be deaccessioned* from the collection. The days that we have worked on this have been so much fun for me. I feel like a giddy school girl who gets to go through peoples things without worrying about getting caught! It's thrilling! Getting to discover amazing objects from the past. While exploring the dresser in the guest bedroom I found photographs from the Victorian era, a pair of spectacles from Marshall Field & Co. Chicago, a beautiful lace christening bonnet, and much more. Last week, I went through the drawer in the desk in the sitting room and found a treasure trove of artifacts. I discov...

Young Woman Cleaning the Floor; Willem Joseph Laquy (1778) Tuesday at Vance was a relatively slow day for me. I spent the day working on homework and greeting any guests that came in. Upon getting there, I was informed that a representative from Friends of the Vance birthplace was coming to rearrange our gift shop and that I should be aware that she wasn't the nicest of people. I didn't get to meet her though, she came after I'd left for the day. Thursday on the other hand was a flurry of activity because it was Cleaning Day!!! The boss of Kimberly's boss was coming on Friday to do an inspection of the site, so upon arriving I was put to work. My  first task was to dust and sweep the main cabin. Dusting was not pleasant, it sent me into a sneezing fit. But it was fascinating to watch all the little spiders scurry across the kitchen floor as I removed their webs. I also hadn't realized just how big the first floor of that house was until I had to sweep it with ...

Photo Credit: Lauren May This was an exciting week at Vance! Leading tours and PUPPIES!!! On Thursday, I lead my first guided tour site!!! My first tour was the 11 o'clock tour which is the first of the day and I took out Lauren and a young family of three who have just moved to the area. The couple had an adorable daughter of about five. She was very interested in the artifacts in the house, so I played to that. I got down on her level, and directed that section of the tour at her. I was very nervous leading the tour, but Lauren said in our chat afterwords that I had done well. Because of nerves there were a few things I left out, like the Buncombe Turnpike, but Lauren said that not a big deal and that with every tour I would remember the information I had forgotten in the last one. She was right. She also thought that nervousness could have been because she was there watching, so she let me take the next one out by myself, and again she was right. The second tour went ev...

Photo Credit: https://www.vimbly.com/ This week was my first week back at Vance after being on vacation. Wednesday, like most Wednesdays, was a slow day. All I did was water the garden and pick up green walnuts for Kimberly and Lauren to use during the Folk Festival. It was so dead that Lauren sent me home 30 minutes early. Thursday on the other hand was busy. We had a group of 22 kindergartners, from the Verner Center for Early Learning, visit the site. They began their day with us by going on a tour of the main house, tool shed, loom house, and slave cabin. After the tour, they were taken to the class room for the History Mysteries lesson. This is were the kids get to handle some of the artifacts. During a normal lesson the kids are divided in to groups and each group is given an artifact, but the adults with them went "off script", as Lauren called it, and started passing the artifacts between groups. Following the lesson, they broke for a 30 minute lunch. After lunc...