Last Full Weekend

Mount Airy 1842 - Snow Hill 1871 - Chinsegut Hill 1904

So...coming up on my last full weekend at Chinsegut, but not my last weekend. It has been a fun and informative summer on the inner workings of a historical site dealing with everything from parking logistics during major events to public relations and small-town politics let along the actual process of historical presentation to the public at large. In all of that, the internship has turned out to be completely different than what I had expected and in most respects, much better from a learning-knowledge standpoint. The summer has been another learning experience in human behavior while watching people on tours of the site. Tours are always a mixed bag, and you never know who will be on your tour or how interested they may be. The guest may be very engaged and asking all kinds of questions, to a guest looking at their watch and board because they were dragged there by someone. Which makes every tour different. As the presenter you have to access and reassess the interest and engagement of each tour's guests. Not always easy to do. The historic site is the family origin home to many families that still live in the surrounding area. They have a vested interest in how the manor house and its occupants are portrayed, which presents a fine line to be walked when dealing with the antebellum and post reconstruction South. The period of the manor house can also be difficult for some guests. In both cases, the site attempts to present its history from a period perspective while being respectful to all guests' thoughts and concerns. That process has been an invaluable education and can prove to be a difficult line to walk. An unexpected project that I was given was creating graphic-posters for self-guided tours which will be implemented sometime this fall as the winter season picks up. I have completed a handful at this point focusing on the Robins family and after that I will continue to work on the original families that lived at the manor house. That writing process has been one of the most satisfying of the projects that I have worked on this summer. I have a long way to go in my writing, but that experience has been very beneficial.       

I am still going to be a docent at the history site after this class is over for as long as I am in the area. We have Girl Scout troops coming in August for badge events and shortly after that the winter season will start to pick up. The site will be expanding tours to include the self-guided tours and they are adding evening tours that will focus on specific families and events. There will be plenty to do and be involved in. More importantly for me the people that I worked with have been in every way fantastic. They are all experts and students of stories that they love to share. It has been an honor to be a part of a very special group of obsessive-compulsive history geeks.  

PS always check spelling...argh!