Lessons In History, Hidden Within A Lot Of Fun

By Shannon Hicks

What did kids do for fun and as chores during the 18th Century?

Nine children recently spent five days learning just that. The children, who ranged from age 9 to 11, spent three hours each day immersed in Summer History Camp, an applied experience geared to young minds interested in a little bit of time travel.

The week opened with the children making their costumes for the week. Boys sewed vests and works on hats, while the girls made their aprons.

“We’ve had a very Colonial, hands-on approach in teaching the campers what life was like in Colonial times,” Greg Garner, a Danbury resident who served as the lead teacher, said on July 25 during the final session of camp. “We did it as a general ‘what life was like’ for most people during this time, not just what life was like for the family who lived in this particular home.”

History Camp was held at The Matthew Curtiss House, the circa 1750 residence that was purchased by its namesake in 1781. The house museum, a Connecticut saltbox with plaster walls, fireplaces, stone chimneys and everything a family needed to live, work, play and survive, was the natural setting for the five-day event hosted by Newtown Historical Society.

The full property was utilized, indoors and out. One modern amenity the campers were treated to was a tent that had been assembled in the backyard that provided a shaded workspace for many of the week’s activities.

Participants this year were Claire Beiter, Maren Brady, Andrew Drap, Taylor Koonz, Marina Renzi, Sarah Schechter, Bryan Silk, Samantha Strocchia, and Ian Wilson.

Early in the week the campers also tried some cooking, creating apple crisp and blueberry crisp pie in the Curtiss House’s large kitchen fireplace; they learned about medicine of the era, including potato brine, which Mr Garner explained as “a local form of aloe vera”; they did some tinsmithing, made lemonade and learned why lemons were important to the Colonists; they wove baskets, and they made marbles. Free time was also occasionally filled with games like hoop rolling.

On Thursday the group even went on a field trip, taking a walk across the street and down the block to Newtown Meeting House. There they learned what it was like to attend church during the mid-18th Century, how long services could last, and what would happen if they did not show up at church — in some cases, the stockade. Newtown resident Alan Graves constructed a stock that was child-size earlier this year especially with history camp in mind.

That same day the campers also made bricks and churned some butter.

On Friday they made ice cream and tried their hand at folk painting, with help from volunteers Lorraine van der Wende and Gordon Williams. Volunteers helped Mr Garner each day, and included Barbara Gorham, Patty Graves, Nanette Maturi, Shari Rowe, and Nancy Bocian, who was the lead teacher last year. Mr Garner also had help all week from assistant Brooks Frey.

While lunch was taken care of by each camper after sessions ended, there were snacks each day — from the Colonial era, of course.

“We drank a lot of apple juice and we had cookies,” said Mr Garner. Oatmeal and sugar cookies were the traditional choices, and the kids had gingersnaps available as well, although Mr Garner pointed out that the latter were unusual for most people at that time.

“I believe those were cookies that, because of the ginger, were more for the wealthy class,” he said.

While the nine campers, who will be entering third, fourth, or fifth grade in the fall, probably knew of each other through school before camp started last Monday, Mr Garner said he was pleased at how well everyone got along last week.

“They didn’t know each other before they started, and I believe one of the girls was from Danbury so she came in here not knowing anyone, but they all worked and played very well together,” he said. “The kids have really enjoyed themselves. They’ve responded well to the activities, and I overheard a few of them talking about how much fun they were having.”