Welcome!

Upcoming Appearance

Hands-on History will be presenting at the Orion Township Public Library on Saturday, May 3rd, at 10:30 am.

If you’re a teacher, scout leader, or member of a homeschool group, this would be a great time to see Hands-on History in action before you book us to visit your classroom or meeting.

Movie Review

I was with my son in the video store the other day and I noticed something intriguing on the shelves in the Family section. It was Felicity: an American Girl Story.

If you’re not familiar with the American Girl phenomenon, you’re probably not a librarian, teacher, or parent. The series of books (and expensive dolls, outfits and accessories for both doll and owner) examines notable eras in American history through the eyes of a fictional girl of the time. Felicity is set in Williamsburg, Virginia in the year 1775.

For whatever reason, most fiction set during the Revolutionary era is meant to be appealing to boys (think Johnny Tremain, The Patriot). This is the first film about the era with a female protagonist that I’d seen, and I thought, “Hey, this is wonderful! Something about the Revolution that might make the period interesting for the girls! I wonder if it’s any good?” So I added it to the stack of videos we were renting and brought it home in case any teachers out there might want the benefit of my opinion. Here’s what I think.
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Museum Program Cancelled!

Friends of Hands-on History and other interested parties,

I am sorry to tell you that the Holland Museum’s Revolutionary Kids program has been canceled due to low enrollment.

The museum staff sent me an email yesterday to let me know. I am of course disappointed by the cancellation, but there are plans for a similar program in the future, and we hope that Hands-on History will be a part of it.

Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

Revoultionary Kids at the Holland Museum

On December 15th, Hands-on History will be presenting at the Holland Museum, in Holland, Michigan as part of their Revolutionary Kids program. If you’re a teacher, youth group leader, or part of a home-school group, this would be a super time to check out Hands-on History in action before booking us. Here are the details, from the Calendar page of the Holland Museum’s website:

Dec 15
* REVOLUTIONARY KIDS, 10 am – 2 pm (Sat)
In connection with the Thomas Jefferson exhibit at the Holland Museum, this program for children aged 7 – 12 yrs. is designed to give a glimpse into the life and activities of a child during revolutionary war times. Participants meet up with a “redcoat” and a “continental” soldier and hear their stories. They will also listen to period music, learn crafts, dances and games from that time of history and sample foods during lunch that would have been served in the late 1700s. Space is limited and prior registration required. Call 616/392-9084 for information and registration. Cost: $30, includes lunch and craft materials. Holland Museum; 31 W 10th St, 616/392-9084 or toll free 888/200-9123

Great Lakes, Great Stories

On October 10th, Hands-on History gave a talk at the Macomb Cultural Center as part of their Great Lakes Great Stories program. If you haven’t visited the MCC, please do. They’ve got it all set up with exhibits on Great Lakes history, and every weekend they have a speaker or two coming in to share what they know about their particular era. Hands-on History, of course, presented on the life of a British Soldier in Colonial Detroit.

Doing the presentation for a group of mixed ages was an interesting experience. Usually our audience is made up of elementary school students, usually all fifth graders, all fourth graders, or a mix of the two. This audience had a few elementary-age kids and adults from their twenties into probably their seventies (just a guess) and from many different backgrounds. The main difference between talking to fifth graders and this group was that we’ve never had fifth graders ask questions with a political slant to them.

We had one audience member ask rather pointedly about the British breaking treaties with the Native Americans in Michigan. This question sparked a digression on Pontiac’s Rebellion, a native uprising in the Great Lakes that occurred between the French and Indian War and the American War for Independence.

Basically (and this is a gross oversimplification) after the F&I war, the British treated the natives as though they were a conquered people. But the natives didn’t really see it that way. The French had been conquered and driven away, but the native tribes were still here, and were still a force to be reckoned with. Certain British officers realized that they should be doing as the French had done in giving gifts to the native chiefs, but the government back in England didn’t want to spend the money and resources giving stuff away to a bunch of “savages” that they’d just “beaten” in a war.

Well, after a while of the British treating the natives with contempt, this fellow Pontiac decided that it was time to oust the British. He coordinated a revolt across the Great Lakes. Every British fort on the lakes was attacked by their native neighbors on or about the same day. This is in an age without long-distance communication, remember, and in an area that stretches from Chicago to the Straits of Mackinac to the mouth of the Niagara River. Get a map and you’ll see how impressive this was. Every British fort on the lakes fell to the natives, with the notable exceptions of Ft. Niagara, and Detroit.

After a long time besieging Detroit, eventually Pontiac’s men decided to go home and tend to their crops and their families, and the siege was lifted. But Pontiac’s effort did make the British government realize that the Native Americans were a force to be reckoned with, and funds for gifts to the native chiefs were soon approved. By the time the Revolutionary war rolled around, most of the Native population, especially those to the west of the Appalachian Mountains, sided with Great Britian.

Michilimackinac Photos

Here are a few of the photos I took in the early morning at the fort, before the modern world was able to intrude too much.

The dwellings are quite small by modern standards, with very little in the way of privacy. Three different families actually lived in the building labeled “Langlade House.” The family of merchant Charles Langlade occupied the middle section.

In the detail image, you can see how the walls were made: thin branches were woven between sapling-thick uprights held up by a timber frame, and the whole thing was covered over with mud. Imagine having to maintain such a home.

Most of the Europeans who lived in and around the fort only did so during the summer months, when trading was active. In the Fall, the civilians would leave to spend the winter in places like Detroit, Montreal, or Quebec, returning in the spring with trade goods to exchange for furs. The soldiers, however, were stuck at the fort all winter.

Living In the Past

I spent the weekend of September 14-16th with some friends volunteering at Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City, Michigan. It’s a very different experience from just visiting. One perk is that I had access to the fort before it opened to the public. In the morning, before the tourists come into the fort, there’s a quiet that’s hard to describe. The sun’s coming up, the wind off of the Straits of Mackinac drowns out the sound of traffic, the Red Ensign snaps in the breeze, and you can almost feel like you’re at the end of the Empire.
Joseph Conrad once had one of his characters say, as he sat in a boat on the Thames, “This too was one of the dark places of the earth.” Or something like that, anyway. Well, that’s what I’m talking about. This country where we live was once the end of the world (at least as far as Europeans were concerned). There were places that you could go and be the first non-native to see them. The world was a wonderful and sometimes terrifying place, and wild creatures lurked beyond the firelight.
In this lovely early-morning time, I managed to get some photos of the buildings in and around the fort. This is useful because some of them are close to what a typical dwelling in 1770s Detroit probably looked like.

I’ll post those photos very soon, I promise.

Announcement!

Hands-on History is pleased to announce that owner/presenter Jeff Berndt has been selected by the National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars as the winner of the Division I award for historic research, preservation, and restoration. Jeff is the first historian from Michigan to win the Division I award.

Jeff is both surprised and pleased to have been recognized once again, at the regional level, by the DCW. He is likewise grateful for the cash prize, which will be used to expand and enhance the presentations offered by Hands-on History.

So what’s up with that arrow in your logo, anyway?

The Hands-on History logo makes use of the English Broad Arrow Cipher. This symbol was first used during the reign of King Richard II, and is used to mark crown property. During the Revolutionary War, the Broad Arrow was often accompanied by the initials G.R. (Georgius Rex, Latin for King George). The Broad Arrow is still in use, but it is currently accompanied by the initials E.R. (Elizabeth Regina).

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