Looking At What Isn't There

In honor of last night's lecture, I am going to post a few pictures and ask you all to think about what"isn't in them."

Let me know what you think in the comments section!

So much potential...

So, last summer our Junior Docents worked long and hard on researching Laurel's history in order to put together a Junior Docent video.

They learned all about Laurel's history. Then they tried to figure out what was REALLY important and what they wanted to share. Then they worked on figuring out the best way to present the information. In the end, with the help of our volunteer videographer, they made a video of their work. After some editing, the video is finally ready to be shared.

I put it on youtube in preparation for sharing. I thought that would be the quickest and easiest way to share it.

But then the question arose of: How should we share it?

It made its debut, unexpectedly, at the LHS Gala on March 27 where it played on the TVs without sound the entire night.

But what's next?

I put it in the monthly email that goes to all contacts whose email address we have.

Then I tried to talk to someone about it at a program and realized I had never put it on facebook.

So I did that today.

I haven't put it on our website because I haven't figured out where I want it to go.

But our real goal, our major goal, was to use the video as a tool to engage kids in the Museum. But I'm not sure how many kids are on our facebook or are reading our monthly emails.

So how do we go about getting it to them? Should we make DVDs for all of the teachers in the area? Should we create a badge program to go along with the video for local scouts? How about home school groups?

What is the best way to go about marketing and presenting the video and using it to engage kids? What do you think?

Oh, and here's the video for those of you who haven't yet seen it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQeDMHnBYM

A Yummy Day With The LHS

This year for the second year in a row, the LHS hosted "The Taste of Laurel." This is a free event that we hold to showcase all of the wonderful food that Laurel has to offer. If you're sitting there thinking, "what wonderful food", read on!

This event is made possible because of the generous support of Main Street Pharmacy. Thank you Joan!

Beginning in the early summer, we start making the rounds to local restaurants and businesses inviting them to bring the best of what they have to offer to share with the community. Sometimes it is a hard sell, particularly if businesses have never heard of the Historical Society.

The point we try to explain to the businesses is: we are trying to provide a venue for them to show off their specialties. We want the Laurel community to know just how great our business community is and how much we have to offer. We want people to know what we already know about Laurel--There is a thriving small business community in Laurel, ready and willing to serve them!

What I find most difficult about convincing people of this is that we, a small historical society, would like to help them--a local business. I think it's hard for people who have never thought of a historical society taking on that role to conceive of why we would want to do that. They tend to think of us as the people who tell them whether or not they can hang a neon sign, but remember, that is not us!

The next step in the planning process is telling the community about theTaste of Laurel. We invite the Laurel community to attend this free event to sample local food and meet local business owners. As most people know, the idea of free food is an offer that will usually draw a good sized crowd, no matter the venue.

But as one of our vendors explained to me after the event, the people that attended really seemed to care about their community and care about the places they patronized. They are the type of people that quickly become regulars and support businesses because of how they are run, not just because of prices and quick deals. Which is great, because this is exactly the type of crowd we were hoping to attract!

And our crowd this year was big--we had over 100 people attend and 8 vendors participate. Aunt Susan's Kitchen, Fruit Flowers, Kafe Kabob, Main Street Sports Bar and Grill, Mango's Grill, Nuzback's, Toucan Taco, and Red Hot and Blue all brought their best food for visitors to taste.o t

Visitors had to visit the Museum first to collect tickets in order taste the free food. Tickets could be earned by walking through the door, completing a scavenger hunt of the current exhibit, entering a free raffle, and in several other ways.

Although we may have tricked them a little with the offer of free food, most visitors were happy to visit the Museum first. Many visitors who usually attend special programs and events at the Museum were happy to look through the exhibit closely. The West County Gazette has an article by Elizabeth Leight in which she quotes a visitor, Brennita Swan, who said "We come here all the time, but this scavenger hunt really helps us focus on certain things we may have missed."
Overall, I believe most people were happy to visit the Museum in order to get a taste of Laurel.

But this successful day, like so much of what goes on at the Museum, is only the tip of the iceberg for all of the planning and hardwork that went into putting the Taste of Laurel together. Thank you to all of LHS' wonderful volunteers for their hard work.

And if you own a local business and you'd like to take part in next year's Taste of Laurel, contact me soon!

A Friendly Ghost Story

This past Sunday at the Laurel Museum we had our Kids Fall Fun Day. Featuring the wonderful world of Pumpkins, this 2 hour event brought about 30 children and their families. We had some fun crafts like pumpkin weaving and pumpkin seed mosaics. We also had a pumpkin patch for children to pick their own pumpkins that they then decorated. We had lots of tasty pumpkin related food--pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin whip, pumpkin butter, etc.

We also told the public that we would be having an age appropriate ghost story. I took up the charge to be the person to tell the age appropriate ghost story. I spoke to one of our wonderful volunteers who is also the vice principal at a local school for some rules on what I could and could not talk about.

Here were my parameters:
It can not be scary.
No one can die.
You can not talk about dead people.
Try to make it related to the history of Laurel and the house.

Hmm. Sounds easy, right?

The ghost story was to begin at 2:15 and right around that time people started trekking to the spot we picked for our ghost story.

As I watched the little ones trickle in, I realize how much of a challenge this will be.

We had kids ranging in age from those who could barely walk to those who were already putting on makeup. It might be a little difficult to reach all of them with the same story.

But that's fine. Who doesn't love a great challenge? Certainly not small museum directors--we live for the challenge!

So I begin telling them the story.

I start by talking about the Museum building and how 4 families would have lived in the house.

I asked them where the people would have worked (The Mill), how old they had to be to start working (8yrs), etc.

I tell them about a little girl who was only 5 yrs old named Samantha who was left alone in the house to do chores while all of her family went to work. Her mean older sister liked to play tricks on her and hide things from her so that she couldn't finish her chores.

My story was interrupted by one boy who insisted Samantha could not have told us this. I asked him why, and he said "Because she's dead". I realized at that point I had never given a date for the story and asked him how he knew she was dead. And he said because this happened like a long time ago. GREAT!

I responded, "Yes, this all happened over 100 years ago." Whew! I almost didn't tell them the date. And I thought, yes, she is dead, but you brought it up so I didn't technically go outside my set parameters.

Now back to the story...

Luckily, the little girl had a friendly ghost named Rebecca who would help her with her chores. Rebecca helped Samantha find the bucket to get water from the river for doing laundry that her mean sister would hide from her before she went to work. Rebecca also helped Samantha find the soap and other things her sister would hide.

All of this concluded with the children coming up one by one to plunge the washer plunger into the clothes bucket three times.

Throughout the experience I tried to keep their attention by asking questions. I asked them things like if any of them ever hid things from their brothers and sisters. I also kept asking them how old the little girl was and how long she had to wait before she could work at the mill.

Some of the kids were really annoyed that the story wasn't scarier. According to our evaluations, others seemed to really enjoy the story.

In the end, it was an interesting experience of us all. I learned that maybe I should plan out the ghost story a little better next time so the kids don't end up doing laundry. But I'm not sure. I think some people liked the "hands-on appropriate for all ages ghost story." We'll see. Maybe Samantha and Rebeccawill make another appearance sometime soon.

How do you measure success?

Yesterday we hosted our Second Annual Laurel Historical Society Educator's Open House.

Last year for our Educator's Open House we had about 25 people visit the Museum. This year we had 15.

The decrease in attendees made me think: How do we measure success?


Is our goal to have 60 local educators visit the Laurel Museum?
If so, then we certainly are moving in the wrong directions. But here at the Laurel Museum we tend to value quality over quantity, so perhaps raising the number to 60 is not our goal.

Is our goal to have the administrators of local schools visit the Museum?
Perhaps. We had the principal of St. Mary's and the new vice principal of Laurel Elementary School visit. So I was quite excited to meet both of them.

Is our goal to have several different schools represented?
We had a more diverse representation of schools this year and that made me happy. I'd rather see a total of 10 teachers from 4 different schools than 25 teachers from 2 schools. Each school has different needs and different visiting capabilities, so the more I hear from the better.

Is our goal to have schools, home school groups, and scout groups represented equally?
I believe so. I would like to see all the groups well represented. Whether that works out to a teacher for every scout leader or 4 teachers for every scout leader, I am not sure. But I will say I would love to meet as many educators from each group as possible.

But mainly our goal for the Educator's Open House (and for all of the activities we do for educators) is to remind them of one thing: We're here for you.

We want them to remember that we fulfill our mission by serving them. So did our Educator's Open House fulfill that goal? Yes. I think it did.

Now is the time to evaluate what we did, why we did it, and how we can do it better next year. Suggestions and comments are VERY welcome.

One Maryland, One Book and the Laurel Historical Society Book Club

This summer I began thinking a about ways to get an in-depth conversation about history and culture (2 important things at the LHS) going with our members and visitors.

One idea I began to play with was to create a book club. Enlisting the help of a friend, I played with the idea for a couple of months and thought about how feasible it really was.

One thing my friend made clear was that we couldn't just read boring history books. (Now I know what she thinks of my personal reading choices.)

We had to make it interesting.

Of course, I made it clear that our readings and discussions had to tie into our mission. (By the way, The mission of the Laurel Historical Society, Incorporated is to encourage the understanding and preservation of the history and cultural heritage of Laurel.) I'm big on doing things that follow our mission and strategic plan--what else is an Executive Director here for if not that??

So she and I worked on thinking of some books that were both interesting and fit out mission.

The first book we read was a series of essays collected by the NPR Series "This I Believe". This series of essays features essays from the 1950s and today in which famous and ordinary people alike discuss what makes them tick--what they really believe. It was a great book and an even better discussion. In the context of our current exhibit (Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll: Laurel in the 1950s) it was quite exciting to be thinking of the differences and similarities between our beliefs then and now.

The book we read this month was "America’s Women:400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines" by Gail Collins. This book was an interesting overview of the ebb and flow of our rights throughout America's history. The discussion we had allowed us to put into context our own lives and where we fall within that ebb and flow. One participant asked an excellent question: "If we had to pick a hero of our time, someone who would make it into this book, who would it be?" That had us all thinking...

Our next book is actually part of a bigger program within the state. We will be reading James McBride's "Song Yet Sung" which is part of the One Maryland, One Book Campaign. Sponsored by the Maryland Humanities Council, this campaign is meant to get everyone in the state reading the same book. Here is what the Maryland Humanities Council Website has to say about it:

Imagine if everyone in Maryland read the same book at the same time...

Reading is often a solitary pursuit. But imagine if everyone in Maryland read the same great book at the same time. What kind of conversations could you have and with whom could you connect or reconnect in your community?

The Maryland Center for the Book, a program of the Maryland Humanities Council, invites you to be a part of Maryland's only statewide community reading program--One Maryland One Book. (http://www.mdhc.org/programs/one-maryland-one-book/)

Amazon.com describes James McBride's novel: Escaped slaves, free blacks, slave-catchers and plantation owners weave a tangled web of intrigue and adventure in bestselling memoirist (The Color of Water) McBride's intricately constructed and impressive second novel, set in pre–Civil War Maryland. Liz Spocott, a beautiful young runaway slave, suffers a nasty head wound just before being nabbed by a posse of slave catchers. She falls into a coma, and, when she awakes, she can see the future—from the near-future to Martin Luther King to hip-hop—in her dreams. Liz's visions help her and her fellow slaves escape, but soon there are new dangers on her trail: Patty Cannon and her brutal gang of slave catchers, and a competing slave catcher, nicknamed The Gimp, who has a surprising streak of morality. Liz has some friends, including an older woman who teaches her The Code that guides runaways; a handsome young slave; and a wild inhabitant of the woods and swamps. Kidnappings, gunfights and chases ensue as Liz drifts in and out of her visions, which serve as a thoughtful meditation on the nature of freedom and offer sharp social commentary on contemporary America. McBride hasn't lost his touch: he nails the horrors of slavery as well as he does the power of hope and redemption.(http://www.amazon.com/Song-Yet-Sung-James-McBride/dp/1594489726)

I am excited about next month's book club meeting (Oct 21) for several reasons:

1) We've had GREAT discussions so far at the other book club meetings.

2) The book looks really interesting. A slave having visions of the future which include hip-hop?

3) We'll be taking part in a larger community reading program. I love thinking that I could be reading the same thing as thousands of other people in the state whom I've never met.

4)And we'll do all of this for about 2 hours while munching on cookies and cider. I can't wait.

Summer Fever

When I arrived last June, I was told that the volunteers and
membership at LHS expect a break over the summer.

I like that idea!

But apparently, it is harder to take a break around here than I thought.

This summer we're slowing down our programming. In June we only had 1 program--a very successful 1950s style fair. July is free of programs. In August we're doing 2 low key programs, none of which take the planning effort on our part that other programs like the Taste of Laurel require.

But some how we're still very busy!

Every Wednesday we will have Junior Docents at the Museum. Our Junior Docents are a group of several girls and now one boy who have helped us with programming in the past. Whether helping show visitors how to complete a paint by number or explaining 19th century games, these JD's are enthusiastic and engaged. This summer they will be working on a video project. They will learn more about Laurel History and write script for a series of short videos that they will then star in. Last Wednesday was their first day learning, but it won't be too long before we're shooting video.

But that's not it for our Wednesdays at the Museum. We now will have Laurel Parks and Recreation Camps coming to the Museum every Wednesday at 1 pm. For an hour the campers will enjoy learning about Laurel history. We're going to have to steer away from the 1950s (since many of them already saw that exhibit with Laurel Elementary School). But I'm pretty sure they'll have a lot of fun learning about Laurel History and what life would have been like in the nineteenth century.

We also have an intern, a high school volunteer, docents, and volunteers completing specific projects (like photographing the collection). And that is just on our average week.

So in the end, we don't seem to have taken the summer off. Oops!

Volunteers at the LHS

When I tell people I am the only full-time staff member at the Laurel Historical Society, I get a pretty predictable reaction.

Eye brows are raised and there is a quick intake of breath. Followed by a sarcastic "That must be a lot of fun."

I reassure these concerned people that I have a part time assistant, a very active board, and a critical mass of dedicated volunteers.

But I know that even though I say these things, people imagine me running around the Museum like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything done.

In reality, some days I do look a little like a flailing chicken. But that is because of my own craziness and does not reflect on the work of my wonderful volunteers.

Monica, the part-time assistant to the Director, and I are joined daily by dedicated volunteers.


Some days it is our resident grumpy registrar, Charlie. He comes in and makes fun of me for being loud, but constantly works hard to make sure our collection is in order. Without his hard work and the hard work of his cohort, Marlene, our collection would be a mess.

Other days, the volunteers that join us are the Docents that keep the Museum open for visitors. They sit patiently waiting for visitors chatting about this or that, but as soon as that visitor comes through the door they are ready to impart knowledge on them. It's amazing how quickly they can go from debating the best way to cook eggplant to telling the history of the Mill.

For special events, I call upon our Public Programming Committee. This committee works hard to provide quality program for all of our audiences--young and old alike. We have junior docents on this committee that like to wear period dress for our kids events.


We have 2 mother-daughter teams that are essential to our success. We have teachers (both active and retired), a principal, a human resources specialist, a public relations specialist, and more. This committee is willing to get dirty with the kids or set up a laptop for a lecture. Without them, there would be no programming at the LHS.


We have volunteers who are in charge of the Museum Shop, the Research Library, the Landscaping of the Museum, and more.

We have so many volunteers doing so much that sometimes I wonder what is left for me to do.

I guess it leaves me time to brag about them.

But instead I just spend my time coming up with more work for everyone to do!