The Adventures of a Novice Historian

This morning Veronica and I went to Norwich castle to see their new Viking exhibit. I was eager see it when we left UEA, but I came home extremely disappointed. Because of the experience I acquired while working at the Vance Birthplace last summer, I’m well aware that museum exhibits are written for an eighth-grade reading level, so I was excepting that from the information boards. What I was not expecting was that the whole exhibit would be aimed at elementary school age children. If your nine then this exhibit is amazing! The York Helmet Aside from the numerous artifacts on display, they had interactive stations that allowed you to row a long boat, spell words with runes, tie a knot in a piece of rope, or play a Norse board game called, “HNEFATAFL.” They even had a section where you could build Viking long boats out of Legos. They also had videos that you could watch that told you about the spread of the Norse language into Britain as the Vikings settled in the region, or...

Over the weekend,Veronica and I went on an exciting adventure to Cambridge. This was our first big trip, and boy did we learn a lot about the do's and don'ts about travel; from the planning stages to the actually going. For example, we booked a lovely Air b&b in the village of Willingham. Little did we know that it was 12 miles outside of Cambridge and a taxi ride would cost us 35 pounds, or that the bus from Willingham into Cambridge only runs every hour and a half to 2 hours. OR that the guided bus into Cambridge is in the neighboring village of Longstanton which is a 45 minute to an hour walk away. Live and learn! Despite these set backs, we enjoyed our trip. The Air B&B that we stayed in from Friday to Monday was called, "Willingham House." We were in the lodge, but the main house is part of Cambridge Melchior College which offers a a wide range of cultural exchange programs. Our room in the lodge was very nice: it was simple, nothing fancy, but I...

While this blog started out as an assignment for my internship course I've decided to continue it for my adventures in England next semester! Stay tuned to see what adventures await me! Jenna

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...