Education

Truro resident and history buff Jay Vivian leading a Corn Hill History Walk. He began his presentation at the plaque that describes the infamous theft of corn that helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in New England. He led the group on a 2-mile walk through the area.

Local historian Dan Sanders has made many models of Cape Cod shipwrecks and knows the stories behind all of them. Here he points to a display case containing some of the models that he has made. Both children and adults were captivated by his storytelling.

After touring the Shipwreck Room at the museum, the group gathered at the North Truro Cemetery, where a crew from a local shipwreck is buried. Showing the tombstones was a powerful way to explain the impact of the tragedy.

As director of the Highland House Museum, I met with school children to talk to them about the museum. The kids shared their experiences at other museums, and we discussed what they liked about going to museums.

After talking about museums and history, school children had a chance to try on white museum gloves and handle an object from our collection!

Dedham Storytellers was a collaboration between Dedham High School and Dedham Historical Society and Museum (DHSM), where I worked as an educator from 2015-2018. The project brought together senior citizens and high school students as a way to exchange memories, life stories, and experiences. As the senior citizens shared anecdotes and scrapbooks from their teenage years, the students listened and took notes. The students wrote essays based on their partners’ experiences. DHSM archived the students’ essays so that future generations can read them and learn from the project.