Immersion into the Past: Amazing American Museums of 'Live' History

Imagine 1898 a year in rural Nebraska: a horse-drawn carriage rides along the main street of the village, an arithmetic teacher teaches children to count in a school where there is only one class, and the smell of fresh chocolate comes from a trading shop.

In museums of “living” history, visitors do not need to imagine anything. They can simply "plunge" into the past, writes Share America.

Our story is about three such museums in different regions of the United States. They are dedicated to different historical events and different periods of the country's history.

Steer Prairie Museum

The Stera Museum, buried in the tall meadow grasses of central Nebraska, keeps a memory of the pioneers who settled in this area of ​​the Midwest many years ago.

“We talk about the history of this part of the country, about what pioneers succeeded and what failed, about the clash of different cultures ... and how this region grew with the whole country,” says museum director Joe Black.

In the railway town of the museum, real historians, experts in ancient traditions work. Visitors can independently make a tool in a tinsmith’s workshop, buy sweets in a trading shop and watch how coals burn in the forge.

According to Black, “living history” is very popular, because visitors get a real opportunity to see the past, inhale its smells and hear its sounds, as well as take part in some events that happened in the past.

The museum celebrates Christmas, the eve of All Saints Day and the Fourth of July in the old style, attracting many visitors, both residents of the state and from all over the country. In the summer months, various classes are held here, they teach the ancient methods of fishing, horse riding, baking pies and even painting with watercolors.

“Sometimes we manage to get visitors to forget at least for a moment that they are in a museum, so deeply immersed in the realities of Zheleznodorozhny town,” says Black. “We really can make them feel that way.”

Plymouth Plantation

At the Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts, founded in 1947, you can get acquainted with the history of 17th-century English colonists who settled in the area, as well as the history of the indigenous people, the vampanoagi Indians.

More than 300 of thousands of visitors to the museum annually stroll through the streets of the English village of 1624 of the year, buy cornmeal in a water mill and chat with modern vampanoagi.

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According to the museum employee Kate Sheehan, “immersion” in the past due to “living history” can fundamentally change the worldview of visitors.

She explains: some exhibits, such as the Mayflower II, which is an exact replica of a ship that once arrived from England in Plymouth, can only be seen here. Mayflower II, a gift from the people of Great Britain, appeared in the museum’s collection in 1957.

“This is a real classroom on the water,” says Kate Sheehan. - Thanks to the Mayflower II, you can find out a lot of interesting things about the 1620 journey of the year. This is part of the story. ” Currently, Mayflower II is being reconstructed, it will return to its home harbor in 2020, on the 400 anniversary of the arrival of the pilgrims in Plymouth.

Maritime Museum of San Diego

At the Maritime Museum of San Diego, visitors can board both copies and real ships, witnesses of historical events that have taken place over the past five hundred years.

Educational programs allow guests to inspect ships, learn a lot from instructors and crew, and even go sailing on copies of the 1542 Spanish galleon of the year. You can board the Stars of India, the oldest sailing ship in the world, still afloat.

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Children learn the skills of working in a team, perform ship tasks, and adults are happy to go on historical cruises or get acquainted with the history of the navy in the museum itself.

“This is not just a museum that visitors walk around,” assures guide Teresa Smallen. “You can be poisoned on a real sea voyage, imbued with the spirit of the West Coast, get acquainted with our rich maritime heritage and the history of our ties with the Pacific region.”

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