InterpNEWS Jan/Feb 2019 Issue

1

2 Volume 8, #1, Jan/Feb 2019

The International Heritage Interpretation e-Magazine.

Hi folks, and Happy New Year. This past year has been a challenging one for me, losing my wife in July – so a whole year of adjustments. Lots of changes for me for 2019, putting more time now into my consulting work and interpretive training courses. The Heritage Interpretation Training Center now offers 44 different introductory and advanced courses in heritage interpretation, and looking at expanding the reach of InterpNEWS. For 2018 we added over 500 new subscribers for InterpNEWS, and working more on advertising for IN now as well. We reach over 300K in 60 countries.

Mar/Apr 2019

Call for Articles – I am working on the start of the new March/April issue (see the cover photo on the left) so here is my first call for your articles for that issue, with a deadline of the 15th of February.

Articles on interpretive research, new technologies, innovative interpretive programs or services, and case studies from consultants are all welcomed. Also, articles on living history interpretation, archaeology projects and visitor studies too. Let me know what you think. jvainterp@aol.com

In this issue - Meet our Regional Editors.

- The wonderful paramecium. IN Editors - Verifying Success: Helping Small Interpretive Sites Evaluate their Exhibits Chris Brusatte, - Engaging Visitor Attention: The Role of Interest, Workload, And Value. Dr.Stephen Bitgood - Exploring Close to Home. Ron Kley - Interpreting Billy the Kid – IN Staff - FREEDOM PARK’S //HAPO MUSUEM: AN AFROCENTRIC INTERPRETATION OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN CONTINENT - Lauren Marx, - Image Tracking & Copyright. Patricia Grimshaw - “Dancing on the Table One Day in New York”. Dr. Martha Benn Macdonald - Interpreting and evaluating emotional and challenging subjects. Dan Boys - Urban Geology Field Tripping, Ron Kley - Three of my most memorable living history interpretive experiences. John A. Veverka - Willem's Passion (and the rest of the story). Paul Harvey - Interpretation on the Air -Historic Sites Install "History Stations". Bill Baker - Abilities Unlimited Pathways to Employment Students Partner with Corps of Engineers to Promote Water Safety - Brian C. Westfall - Westminster Abbey – Enhancing the visitor experience - Allyson McAlister - What Will You Remember of Christmastide?” - Dr. Martha Benn Macdonald, - InterpNEWS Market Place.

Page 3 8 10 13 18 20 22 28

33 35 38 40 43 45 48 50 55 57

InterpNEWS is published six times a year as a FREE John Veverka & Associates publication and published as a service to the interpretive profession. If you would like to be added to our mailing list just send an e-mail to jvainterp@aol.com and we’ll add you to our growing mailing list. Contributions of articles are welcomed. It you would like to have an article published in InterpNEWS let me know what you have in mind. Cover photo: The wonderful paramecium. www.heritageinterp.com – jvainterp@aol.com – SKYPE: jvainterp

3

Dan Boys BSc, MAHI (40 Strettea Lane, Higham, Derbyshire, DE55 6EJ, England (07800 799561) - "Dan Boys is Creative Director at AT Creative, a digital interpretation consultancy specializing in audio guides, location-aware (native and web) app software and formal and informal learning for heritage sites and cultural institutions.� You can contact Dan at: hello@at-creative.co.uk.

4

Amanda Sedlak-Hevener is a freelance writer and public historian. She has a B.A. in Journalism and English in Ashland University and an M.A. in History from the University of Akron. She is currently the Executive Director of the North Canton Heritage Society and believes in promoting local history through creative interpretation in museums, historic houses, and historical societies. You can contact her at: mandyhevener@gmail.com

This will be Chris’s last issue with InterpNEWS. He will be pursuing a job in secondary education, hopefully as a history teacher! So back to school for a couple of years, and if all goes well, a new career as a teacher here in my home state of Illinois. We wish Chris all the best – he’ll be a great teacher! JV

5

6

InterpNEWS

7

Our newest Regional IN Editor - Patricia Grimshaw. Having enjoyed museums and history for as long as I can remember, I am a self-professed museum nerd, with an equal interest in both medieval and military history. I received a BA (Hons) from Queen’s University in Medieval History, and an MA in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. Finally, I completed a Master of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto before beginning my museum career. I have lived and travelled all over Canada and Europe, and any chance I get to visit a local museum, I take, whether the institution is national or niche. I am always looking for new and interesting ways to interpret and display history. "I also run my own museum consulting business, museologik."You can contact Patricia at: grimshawp@msn.com.

Call for article for our March/April 2019 Issue.

Have you completed an interpretive research project or developed a new exhibit or new innovative interpretive program. Have you developed a new interpretive media technology or some visitor research? You can share your new ideas or research with over 300K InterpNEWS readers in 60 countries. The deadline for articles for our March/April issue is the 15th of February. If you’re interested in contributing an article for us send me an e-mail for our simple author guidelines. We are also looking for additional Regional InterpNEWS Editors – ask for details.

John A. Veverka – IN Editor: jvainterp@aol.com

Want to be one of our regional or specialist editors. This space is reserved for you. Your photo and bio will appear in every issue. Great way to advertise yourself if you’re a interpretive consultant too. Any questions, send me an e-mail. John Veverka, IN Editor/Publisher, jvainterp@aol.com.

8

InterpNEWS

The wonderful paramecium.

Cover article.

IN Editors

This 40x image of a protozoan paramecium (Parameciumsp.) shows the organism’s nucleus, mouth and water expulsion vacuoles. It won fourth place in the 2013 Nikon Small World Photomicrophotography Competition, and was taken by Mr. Rogelio Moreno Gill of Panama City, Panamá, using differential interference contrast.

Paramecia were among the first ciliates to be seen by microscopists, in the late 17th century. They were probably known to the Dutch pioneer of protozoology, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, and were clearly described by his contemporary Christiaan Huygens in a letter of 1678. In 1718, the French mathematics teacher and microscopist Louis Joblot published a description and illustration of a microscopic "poisson" (fish), which he discovered in an infusion of oak bark in water. Joblot gave this creature the name "Chausson," or "Slipper," and the phrase "slipper animalcule" remained in use as a colloquial epithet for Paramecium, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The name "Paramecium"—constructed from the Greek παραμήκης (paramēkēs, "oblong") -- was coined in 1752 by the English microscopist John Hill, who applied the name generally to "Animalcules which have no visible limbs or tails, and are of an irregularly oblong figure." In 1773, O. F. Müller, the first researcher to place the genus within the Linnaean system of taxonomy, adopted the name Paramecium, but changed the spelling to Paramœcium. C. G. Ehrenberg, in a major study of the infusoria published in 1838, restored Hill's original spelling for the genus name, and most researchers have followed his lead.

A Paramecium propels itself by whiplash movements of the cilia, which are arranged in tightly spaced rows around the outside of the body. The beat of each cilium has two phases: a fast "effective stroke," during which the cilium is relatively stiff, followed by a slow "recovery stroke," during which the cilium curls loosely to one side and sweeps forward in a counter-clockwise fashion. The densely arrayed cilia move in a coordinated fashion, with waves of activity moving across the "ciliary carpet," creating an effect sometimes likened to that of the wind blowing across a field of grain.

InterpNEWS

9

The Paramecium spirals through the water as it progresses. When it happens to encounter an obstacle, the "effective stroke" of its cilia is reversed and the organism swims backward for a brief time, before resuming its forward progress. This is called the avoidance reaction. If it runs into the solid object again, it repeats this process, until it can get past the object.

It has been calculated that a Paramecium expends more than half of its energy in propelling itself through the water. This ciliary method of locomotion has been found to be less than 1% efficient. This low percentage is nevertheless close to the maximum theoretical efficiency that can be achieved by an organism equipped with cilia as short as those of the members of Paramecium.

Paramecia feed on microorganisms like bacteria, algae, and yeasts. To gather food, the Paramecium makes movements with cilia to sweep prey organisms, along with some water, through the oral groove, and inside the mouth opening. The food passes through the cell mouth into the gullet. When enough food has accumulated at the gullet base, it forms a vacuole in the cytoplasm, which then begins circulating through the cell. As it moves along, enzymes from the cytoplasm enter the vacuole to digest the contents; digested nutrients then pass into the cytoplasm, and the vacuole shrinks. When the vacuole, with its fully digested contents, reaches the anal pore, it ruptures, expelling its waste contents to the environment.

10

InterpNEWS Verifying Success: Helping Small Interpretive Sites Evaluate their Exhibits Chris Brusatte, Interpretive Planner at Taylor Studios, Inc. Successful or not? If only we had a road sign to point our way!

Image courtesy of Chris Potter / Flickr / www.ccPixs.com

How does an interpretive site know that its exhibits are successful? It is a vital question—but one that, unfortunately, many sites never ask themselves. They have powerful missions, impressive facilities, and cutting-edge offerings. They have wonderful, energized, and talented staffs. But how do they actually know that their exhibits are succeeding? How does a museum, nature center, or other interpretive site verify that its visitors are enjoying, using, and truly engaging with its exhibits? Which exhibits are the most successful—and which, perhaps, are not working?

At Taylor Studios, a design-build firm that creates exhibits for interpretive sites around the world, we are realistic—we know that many of our clients are short on the staff, time, and resources needed to professionally evaluate their exhibits once we install them. They simply lack the personnel or the means to study whether the exhibits are a success, since they are small organizations allocating all of their time to the ever-important tasks of operating a site and running programs. Far too often, simply due to the realities of their situations, exhibits are built and then not evaluated. They might be successful—they might not be—and the organization can only guess anecdotally whether visitors are truly engaging with their exhibits.

Realizing this, Taylor Studios began an Exhibit Evaluation and Visitor Studies program, through which we began helping our clients accurately measure the success of their exhibits. We have created a unique program perfectly suited to interpretive sites that have small staffs and limited resources. Working with our clients, we guide them through simple evaluation techniques and help them analyze what it means. This has been our first time wading into this effort, and we kicked the program off in 2017 with very little fanfare. Year One results have just come in, and we are excited to share some of the most significant findings.

Our Partners For the first year, we kept the initiative small. We partnered with four sites: a small nature center on the West Coast, run by a county park; a medium-sized nature center in the Midwest, with a heavy focus on children; a relatively large nature center in the upper Midwest, part of a vast federal and state wildlife refuge; and a small history museum at a state park in the Upper South. Staff and volunteers at each site collected the data, which they sent to Taylor Studios every three months. At the end of the year, Taylor Studios analyzed both the quarter-by-quarter and yearly results, delivering a comprehensive report to each site. The findings in this article come from these reports.

InterpNEWS

11

Visitation by Quarter All four sites had one or two quarters where people visited in substantially higher numbers than during the rest of the year. Some witnessed spikes in the summer months, while others saw increases during the spring field trip season.

This left us wondering—how can exhibits entice more people to visit a site during the “off months”?

Student Visitors At only one site were students a high percentage of the overall visitors. Obviously, increasing the number of students who visit on field trips is primarily an outreach task performed by our clients.

But can we at Taylor Studios design and build exhibits that are, by nature, more appealing to students—enough to persuade more teachers to pick these sites for field trips, and enough to convince more students to come back and visit again on their own?

What proves that your exhibits are successful? Smiles, yes. But also hard data!

Image courtesy of Purina Farms Visitor Center and Taylor Studios, Inc.

Families Dominate At all four sites, the highest percentage of people visited with families. Far fewer came with friends or by themselves. With most visitors coming with parents, grandparents, and siblings, are our exhibits providing enough intergenerational learning experiences? Do our exhibits reach all age levels, and do they create opportunities for shared learning among the different generations?

12

InterpNEWS Engaging with Interactives Combining the data of all four sites, visitors engaged with hands-on interactives 54% of the time. They simply passed by interactive exhibits—without engaging with them—46% of the time.

We know how hard it is to engage visitors, and we were actually surprised that visitors engaged with the interactives more than half of the time. But we must do better. How can our hands-on exhibits draw more people to them? Once visitors are drawn to them, how can they sustain people’s interest? Can we create interactives that are so captivating and effective that visitors tell others about them?

Dwell Time At one of the sites, visitors spent only 18 minutes in the exhibit space. This was heartbreaking for us, considering how much time was spent designing and building the experience.

How can our exhibits entice people to stay longer, think deeper, and learn more?

Success Stories But there was much in the data that lifted our spirits. Combining the numbers from all four sites:    

96% of those who went through the exhibits planned to visit that particular site again.

70% of visitors said that they planned to read or learn more—on their own—about the topics that were highlighted in the exhibits.

93% of those who went through the exhibits also visited—or planned to visit—other parts of the sites (e.g. outdoor trails, other exhibitions, etc.).

67% of those who visited the exhibits planned to take part in the sites’ future programs and events.

And perhaps most encouraging, visitors were asked how engaging the exhibits were on a scale of one through ten. The average rating at the four sites was 7.7, 9.0, 9.2, and 9.2.

Moving Forward Heading into Year Two, we are excited to see each quarter’s data come in. But even more than that, we are looking forward to two things: expanding the initiative to more interpretive sites throughout the country, and helping our initial four partners implement the many lessons we have already learned.

For exhibit designers, nothing is more important than creating the most powerful, engaging, and educational experiences for our clients and their visitors. As our Exhibit Evaluation and Visitor Studies program grows, we hope to use this wealth of information to create a world where interpretive exhibits are not only successful, but where this success is always verified and improved upon.

Do your exhibits pass the test?

InterpNEWS

13

ENGAGING VISITOR ATTENTION: THE ROLE OF INTEREST, WORKLOAD, AND VALUE Stephen Bitgood Jacksonville State University

Providing engaging visitor experiences should be a concern to everyone involved with interpretive centers. This article addresses the concern by: (1) describing a visitor model of the relationship among key concepts related to the visitor experience; (2) reporting a study of how interest, workload (time, effort), and value impact on two levels of visitor attention; and (3) concluding that deeper levels of engagement are strongly influenced by the value ratio (a ratio of interest rating/number of words per text passage) and, to a slightly lesser extent, by workload (number of words) alone, while casual levels of attention are more influenced by interest level. Interest by itself is not enough to facilitate deep engagement – the costs in terms of time and effort play a vital role.

THE ATTENTION-VALUE MODEL Attention and value are at the foundation of the visitor experience (Bitgood, 2010; 2011; 2013a; 2014a, b, c; 2015). Attention includes a continuum of cognitive and emotional processes that range from casual attraction of attention to deep and focused engaged attention. Over the years, visitor studies have repeatedly found that the deeper the level of engagement, the more visitors learn and the more likely visitors report satisfaction with their experience (e.g., Bitgood, 2000; 2011; 2013a).

Value is the engine that motivates visitor engagement – the greater the perceived value to visitors, the more likely they will deeply engage. The perceived value of engaging with interpretive material in terms of utility (or benefit) and cost is likely to be the major reason for choosing or not choosing to engage.

The Value Ratio.

The attention-value model adopts a behavioral economic approach to value. This approach defines value as a ratio of utility divided by costs and includes the economic, psychological, and biological theories of prospect theory (e.g., Kahneman and Tversky, 1979), discounting theory (e.g., Critchfield & Kollins, 2001; Green & Myerson, 2004), and foraging theory (Stephens & Krebs, 1986). Prospect theory argues that choice between or among alternatives is framed in terms of losses and gains, with loss aversion a significant motivation for choice. Temporal discounting theory predicts the value of a reward outcome (e.g., money), is dependent upon the amount of the reward divided by the delay in receiving it. Thus, because of the delay, receiving $200 next year is likely to have a lower value to an individual than $100 today. Foraging theory initially applied to predator choice of prey, calculates value as a ratio of the energy (benefits) obtained from consuming a prey divided by the cost of foraging which included search and handle time.

InterpNEWS

14

Information foraging (Perilli & Card, 1999) applied this theory to foraging for information searches. And, Rounds (2004) applied foraging theory to museum visitors arguing that although visitors are motivated by interest and curiosity, the effort required to view exhibits is a critical consideration in understanding visitor engagement. To summarize: defining value as a ratio of utility (benefit) to costs is the basis of behavioral economics (Wilkinson, 2008). And, behavioral economic theories have repeatedly demonstrated that differences in the ratios of utility (or benefit) divided by cost or losses is a powerful predictor of what choices people and other organisms make in a large variety of situations.

The value ratio concept from behavioral economics is also central to the attention-value model of visitors (Bitgood, 2010; 2011;1013). The attention-value model includes two basic principles: 

Attention is a continuum from initial capture to deep engagement. A glance at an exhibit object followed by an approach and reading a text-panel title is considered a casual level of attention. A long viewing time (more than a few seconds) along with reading an entire text passage would be defined as deeply engaged attention.



The value ratio (utility or benefits divided by costs) is assumed to be the primary motivator that predicts deep engagement with interpretive content.

The Value Ratio in Exhibition Centers Utility or Benefits. Satisfying interest or curiosity is perhaps one of the most important benefits of engaging. Other aspects of utility (benefits) include satisfaction, fun, enjoyment, relaxation, restoration, and positive social interactions.

Costs. While entrance fees can be an important consideration, the time and effort (workload) required to view and process interpretive information is an even greater factor in visitor assessment of costs. The visitor literature strongly supports the argument that costs in terms of time and effort are predictive of what people do in leisure settings (e.g., Bitgood, 2006; Bitgood & Dukes, 2006). For example, museum visitors minimize the number of steps when navigating exhibitions by avoiding backtracking to view exhibits, and/or by taking pathways involving the fewest steps [(e.g., turning right when walking on the right side of a pathway)(see Bitgood, 2006)]. In addition, visitors are also more likely to read text passages with fewer words or read only small sections of long passages (e.g., Bitgood, 2000; 2011; 2013a).

THE LABORATORY STUDY The study reported in this article is one of several we have conducted over the years that examined the impact of the value ratio (see Bitgood, 2011; 2013a; 2014b). To understand the rationale of the study, three points need to be made: First, it is important to distinguish between at least two levels of visitor attention. For purposes of this article, we make a distinction between: (1) casual attention (attraction with minimal engagement, short viewing time, minimal reading of text); (2) deeply engaged attention (deeper processing of information as indicated by extended viewing time and reading complete text passages in a label).

InterpNEWS

15

Second, Interest level related to the interpretive object and/or topic is considered one of the most important aspects of utility or benefits and is highly correlated with other types of benefit measures (Bitgood, 2013). Thus, interest ratings of each object were used in the following study as a measure of utility or benefit to calculate value.

Third, the total number of words in a text passage represent the major cost of engaging with exhibit text and, along with viewing time required to process exhibit content, provide the most valid measures of cost when calculating the value of engaging with interpretive material.

Participants, recruited from psychology classes at Jacksonville State University, were seated at a table, and shown art prints one at a time. Each print was accompanied by an interpretive text passage that was broken down into several short, bulleted statements. Participants were instructed to view the print for as long as they wished and then to read (out loud) as much of the text passage as they desired (i.e., all of it, some of it, or none of it). The total number of words per text passage varied from 49 to 230 words. Viewing time and total number of words actually read were carefully recorded. At the completion of the task, a survey was given that measured ratings of interest and several aspects of satisfaction.

Results. As expected, the proportion of the text passage read was highly correlated with the number of words in the passage. The data was divided into three levels of reading (Read all , Read any, Read None), and correlation coefficients were computed between interest, number of words per passage, the value ratio (interest/number of words) and whether all or only some of the text was read. Table 1 shows the findings.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Table 1: Correlations between Reading and Interest, Words, and Value: AMOUNT OF READING Read All Read Any Interest rating

0.150

0.694

Number words

0.829

0.143

Value Ratio 0.960 0.317 (Interest/# words) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interest rating was significantly correlated with reading any words in the text passages (r = 0.694), but not with reading all of the passage (r = 0.150). Thus, interest level by itself appeared to motivate only a moderate level of attention rather than a deep level.  Number of words was highly correlated with reading all of the passage (r = 0.829), but not with reading only part of the passage (r = 0.143). Interpretation: a large number of words (heavy workload) discourages deeply engaged reading.

InterpNEWS

16

 Value ratio: was even more strongly correlated with reading all of the passage (r = 0.960), and only moderately correlated with reading any of the words in the passage (r = 0.317). Thus, a measure combining utility (interest level) and workload (number of words) was an extremely high predictor of deeply engaged attention (reading all of a text passage).

CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study support the argument that a distinction can be made between deep engagement (indicated by reading most or all of a text passage) and casual attention (indicated by a minimum of reading): (1) Deep engagement (reading all of a text passage) is strongly impacted by both the workload (number of words per passage) and by the ratio of interest/number of words; but, not interest rating by itself. Heavy workloads discourage deep engagement (i.e., reading the entire text passage).

(2) Casual attention (reading any of the text) is associated with interest level. Interest level may help with the capture and focus of attention, but is not enough for facilitating deep engagement of the content.

The take-home message: Although interest is an important motivator for capturing attention, the motivation to deeply engage is substantially reduced when the visitor is confronted with a large workload (in terms of time and effort). The best predictor of visitor engagement from this and our other studies was the value ratio calculated as a combination of interest and workload. In addition, our research conducted over the years suggests that it is generally more effective to motivate deep engagement by decreasing the workload (time and effort) than by trying to increase interest level.

REFERENCES Bitgood, S. (2000). The role of attention in designing effective interpretive labels. Journal of Interpretation Research, 5(2), 31-45.

Bitgood, S. (2006). An analysis of visitor circulation: Movement patterns and the general value principle.

Curator, 49(4), 463-475 Bitgood, S. (2010). An attention-value model of museum visitors. The Center for the Advancement of Informal Science Education. http://caise.insci.org/uploads/docs/VSA_Bitgood.pdf Bitgood, S. (2011). Social design of museums: The psychology of visitor studies, Vol. 1 & 2. Edinburgh, UK: MuseumsEtc. Bitgood, S. (2013a). Attention and value: Keys to understanding museum visitors. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Bitgood, S. (2013b). How value influences choice of text. Chapter 7 n Attention and value: Keys to understanding museum visitors. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

InterpNEWS

17

Bitgood, S. (2013c). Predicting engaged attention to exhibit text. Chapter 8 in Attention and value: Keys to understanding museum visitors. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Bitgood, S. (2014a). Exhibition design that provides high value and engaged visitor attention. Exhibitionist, Spring Issue, 6-11.

Bitgood, S. (2014b). Engaging the Visitor: Designing Exhibits That Work. Edinburgh, UK: MuseumsEtc. Bitgood, S. (2014c). The importance of attention and value for interpretation. In InterpNEWS, 3(2), July-Aug Issue. Pp. 6-9.

Bitgood, S. (2014d). Too much temptation, not enough value: Why visitors lack commitment. InterpNEWS, 3(4), 3-6 (Nov/Dec).

Bitgood, S. (2015). Providing high value by prompting visitor engagement. InterpNEWS, July-Aug. Bitgood, S., & Dukes, S. (2006). Not another step! Economy of movement and pedestrian choice point behavior in shopping malls. Environment & Behavior, 38, 394-405.

Bitgood, S., Dukes, S., & Abby, L. (2007). Interest and effort as predictors of reading: A test of the general value principle. Current trends in audience research and evaluation. Vol. 19/20. AAM Committee on Audience Research and Evaluation. Boston, MA. Pp. 5-10.

Critchfield, T., & Kollins, S. (2001). Temporal discounting: Basic research and the analysis of socially important behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 34(1), 101-122.

Davey, G. (2005). What is museum fatigue? Visitor Studies Today 8 (3): 17-21.

Dewey, J. (1913). Interest and effort in education. Boston, MA: Houghlin Mifflin Company.

Green, L., & Myers, J. (2004). A discounting framework for choice with delayed and probabilistic rewards.

Psychological Bulletin, 130(5), 769-792.

Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263292.

Koran, J., Koran, M., & Foster, J. (1988). Individual differences in learning in informal settings. In S. Bitgood, J. Roper, & A. Benefield (eds.), Visitor studies: Theory, research, and practice. Vol. 1, pp. 66-72.

Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Durik, A., Conley, A. Barron, K., Tauer, J., Karabenick, S., & Haracckiewicz, J. (2010).

Measuring situational interest in academic domains. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(10), 1-25.

Melton, A. (1935). Problems of installation in museums of art. New Series No. 14. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums.

Pirelli, P., & Card, S. (1999). Information foraging. Psychological Review, 106(4), 643-675.

Rounds, J. (2004). Strategies for the curiosity-driven museum visitor. Curator, 47(4), 389-410.

Stephens, D., & Krebs, J. (1986). Foraging Theory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Wilkinson, N. (2008). An introduction to behavioral economics. New York: Pagrave-McMillon.

18

InterpNEWS

Exploring Close to Home Ron Kley InterpNEWS Regional Editor

Mention exploring or exploration to people of almost any age and they’re likely to think in terms of exotic environments in far distant places. While very few people are likely to visit such distant places – let alone visit them in the context of true exploration – there’s another exotic and largely unknown territory close at hand. It’s a world as exotic in its own way as jungles, deserts, polar ice caps or ocean depths, where strange and almost prehistoric-looking creatures lurk and where treasures of many sorts await discovery – all within arm’s reach – if the arm ends with a hand and the hand is holding a small garden spade or mason’s trowel.

The world beneath our feet is terra incognita for most people young or old, and even those who may have poked into it for one reason or another have probably never had the experience of having their visits facilitated by an interpreter.

Whether the underground kingdom is explored from a geological, biological or archaeological perspective, a visit there is the most conveniently and inexpensively accessible venue for true exploration and discovery – even where there may be a veneer of asphalt or concrete guarding the entryway.

I’m going to assume for the sake of discussion that most InterpNEWS readers do what they do at a fixed institutional site, that visitors typically come to that site, and that the site includes at least some terrain that’s not paved over. (Where pavement rules there’s a need to be a bit more creative, but I’ll get to that.)

It may not be necessary to move more than a single shovelful of soil to expose a menagerie of living creatures, a hint of stratigraphy and/or some bit of buried “material culture” that is evidence of a human presence in “the past.” (Be sure to replace the divot and properly dispose of any trash when you’re done.)

Let’s take that scenario one step farther and consider subterranean exploration on a larger scale, which might require scheduling of an off-site field trip. Excavations, whether for public works projects or building construction happen all the time – especially in urban areas where pavement might otherwise prevent subsurface poking. It’s almost always possible to get a glimpse into these excavations from the perspective of a “sidewalk superintendent.” Try it to see what can be seen, and think about the potentials for interpretation.

With a little legwork (or finger work on a keyboard) you can be in touch with local public works officials, the municipal office that issues building permits and/or contracting firms that do local excavation work. Find out where and when “digs” will be happening, and ask permission for an up-close peek into the excavation of even a “come on down” invitation. (That may not always be possible due to safety concerns and liability issues, but it can’t hurt to ask.) Get as close as you can to see what can be seen and think about how it might be interpreted.

InterpNEWS

19

Just a few years ago the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, received the unwelcome news that access to their institution would soon be effectively blocked for an extended period of time by excavations required for a major reconstruction of the municipal water system. The museum responded by turning that “lemon-y” news into lemonade – transforming the very excavation process into an ongoing and ever-changing interpretive “exhibition.” In the process, they educated a broad spectrum of the public about what lay beneath the familiar surface of their community, and about the theory and practice of water distribution within a municipal system.

This year the community of Hallowell, Maine (just a short distance from my home) is experiencing a comparable upheaval, with its entire commercial district being impacted by street closing and reconstruction coupled with major replacement of water, sewer and underground electrical utility lines – some more than a century old. I’ve passed along information about the St. Johnsbury example, and am hopeful that Hallowell can reap some of the same rewards from what was initially viewed by many (especially by downtown business owners) as an unmitigated disaster. I plan to make frequent visits, looking for specific interpretive opportunities as they arise, and passing those along to Hallowell friends who are involved in local government and schools, as well as civic, business and historical organizations.

Ron Kley ronkley@juno.com,

20

InterpNEWS

Interpreting Billy the Kid An American Old West outlaw and gunfighter.

IN Editors Just for fun.

Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty September 17 or November 23, 1859 – July 14, 1881, also known as William H. Bonney) was an American Old West outlaw and gunfighter who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at age 21. He took part in New Mexico's Lincoln County War, during which he allegedly took part in three murders.

McCarty was orphaned at age 13. The owner of a boarding house gave him a room in exchange for work.

His first arrest was for stealing food at age 16 in late 1875. Ten days later, he robbed a Chinese laundry and was arrested, but he escaped only two days later. He tried to stay with his stepfather, and then fled from New Mexico Territory into neighboring Arizona Territory, making him both an outlaw and a federal fugitive.

After murdering a blacksmith during an altercation in August 1877, Bonney became a wanted man in Arizona Territory and returned to New Mexico, where he joined a group of cattle rustlers. He became a wellknown figure in the region when he joined the Regulators and took part in the Lincoln County War. In April 1878, the Regulators killed three men, including Lincoln County Sheriff William J. Brady and one of his deputies. Bonney and two other Regulators were later charged with killing all three men.

Bonney's notoriety grew in December 1880 when the Las Vegas Gazette in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and The Sun in New York City carried stories about his crimes.[4] Sheriff Pat Garrett captured Bonney later that month. In April 1881, Bonney was tried and convicted of the murder of Brady, and was sentenced to hang in May of that year. He escaped from jail on April 28, 1881, killing two sheriff's deputies in the process and evading capture for more than two months. Garrett shot and killed Bonney—aged 21—in Fort Sumner on July 14, 1881. During the following decades, legends that Bonney had survived that night grew, and a number of men claimed to be him.

Over time, legends claiming Bonney was not killed, and that Garrett staged the incident and death out of friendship so Bonney could evade the law, formed and grew. During the next fifty years, a number of men claimed they were Billy the Kid. Most of these claims were easily disproven but two have remained topics of discussion and debate.

InterpNEWS

21

In 1948, a central Texas man Ollie P. Roberts—nicknamed Brushy Bill—began claiming he was Billy the Kid and went before New Mexico Governor Thomas Mabry seeking a pardon. Mabry dismissed Roberts' claims, and Roberts died shortly afterwards. Nevertheless, Hico, Texas, Roberts' town of residence, capitalized on his claim by opening a Billy the Kid museum.

John Miller, an Arizona man, also claimed he was Bonney. This was unsupported by his family until 1938, sometime after his death. Miller's body was buried in the state-owned Arizona Pioneers' Home Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona; in May 2005, Miller's teeth and bones were exhumed and examined, without permission from the state.] DNA samples from the remains were sent to a laboratory in Dallas and tested to compare Miller's DNA with blood samples obtained from floorboards in the old Lincoln County courthouse and a bench where Bonney's body allegedly was placed after he was shot. According to a July 2015 article in the Washington Post, the lab results were "useless".

In 2004, researchers sought to exhume the remains of Catherine Antrim, Bonney's mother, whose DNA would be tested and compared with that of the body buried in William Bonney's grave. As of 2012, her body had not been exhumed.

In 2007, author and amateur historian Gale Cooper filed a lawsuit against the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office under the state Inspection of Public Records Act to produce records of the results of the 2006 DNA tests and other forensic evidence collected in the Billy the Kid investigations. In April 2012, 133 pages of documents were provided; they offered no conclusive evidence confirming or disproving the generally accepted story of Garret's killing of Bonney, but confirmed the records' existence, and that they could have been produced earlier. In 2014, Cooper was awarded $100,000 in punitive damages but the decision was later overturned by the New Mexico Court of Appeals.[110] The lawsuit ultimately cost Lincoln County nearly $300,000.

In February 2015, historian Robert Stahl petitioned a district court in Fort Sumner asking the state of New Mexico to issue a death certificate for Bonney. In July 2015, Stahl filed suit in the New Mexico Supreme Court. The suit asked the court to order the state's Office of the Medical Investigator to officially certify Bonney's death under New Mexico state law.

Marker noting the site where Deputy Olinger (spelled here as "Ollinger") was killed by Bonney.

InterpNEWS

22

FREEDOM PARK’S //HAPO MUSUEM: AN AFROCENTRIC INTERPRETATION OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN CONTINENT By Lauren Marx, Senior Researcher Freedom Park Introduction South Africa has been a country subject to colonial and apartheid rule which fundamentally altered the historical narrative in favour of the colonist or racist regime agenda and perspective. This narrative largely ignored the perspective of the majority of South Africans along racial lines. Freedom Park, a leading heritage destination in Pretoria, South Africa, has changed that past narrative by creating a visitors hub that relays the story of South Africa and the continent from a purely African perspective.

One of the main features of Freedom Park is an interpretative centre named //hapo (meaning "dream" in the Khoi language) and it relays the story of Africa, and of South Africa specifically. The interpretive centre unfolds to the visitor in a coherent and arresting African narrative through interactive displays, vivid audiovisual presentations, performances and storytelling. This story of the nation's rich and colourful history unfolds sequentially in seven eras or epochs and also relays the multifaceted tale of Africa across both time and space.

The first epoch is named ‘Earth’, which delves into the African perspective on the origins of the universe, life on earth and the interaction between humans and the environment and the roles humans have to play with protecting and respecting their environment. It is a highly interpretative space which has been populated with various objects which depict Africa as the centre of the Archean life on earth. For example, a chert rock containing fossilized bacteria roughly 3.6 billion years old, found in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, is displayed and the fossilized bacteria can be interpreted as the ancestors of all life on earth.

Above: Chert rock containing Barberton Green Belt fossilized bacteria

InterpNEWS

23

The second epoch, ‘Ancestors’, deals with the notion and belief in ancestors and investigates how Africans deal with bereavement and the hereafter by explaining ancestors from the physical and spiritual perspectives. For example, Umsamo is featured, which is traditionally an African place of prayer, where incense is burned and pieces of a fired clay pot are covered with a white cloth and placed in a prayer area, indicating the preacceptance of ancestors. It is therefore effectively a designated shrine for interceding with ancestors and is regarded as a sacred space where access is reserved exclusively for male elders or nominated members of a household.

The third epoch named ‘Peopling’ showcases African innovations and the many vibrant civilizations and designs from the continent that are still being used in the modern world. An example thereof can be found in objects depicted in the museum such as an ancient African grinding stones dating back to 10,000 to 13,000 BC which have been found from excavated sites in Egypt and Ethiopia. Other object examples include a San bow and quiver, which represents the inventiveness of the indigenous people of southern Africa. The San used the bow and arrow for hunting, with the arrow dipped in poison, which killed the animal slowly and allowed the San to track the animals over a period of time, depending on the size of the animal.

Above: examples of San bow and quiver used for hunting.

The “Resistance and Colonization” epoch showcases the symbolic resistance of indigenous people to social, economic and political challenges of colonialism. An example of this in the museum is a leopard skin, which denotes warrior's regalia, as well as the symbolic power of a leopard to attack stealthily. Leopard skin is also symbolic, particularly to cultural and religious groups of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Swaziland, of courage and tenacity. The rational for its display in the museum is a symbolic interpretation of the determination and resolve of indigenous people of Africa to colonial rule and oppression which ultimately resulted in decolonization and independence for African countries.

InterpNEWS

24

The African perspective of colonialization is also depicted in this using a wide screen audio-visual clip depicting the indigenous people of the Cape located on the shore, as they view the arrival of colonial ships.

This clip is important in placing in context the Eurocentric justification for colonial settlement as Africa being an ‘empty land’ which propagates that South Africa in particular was underdeveloped and vacant of permanent indigenous settlements. This has been discredited by academics, particularly the work of Shula Marks who examines the abundant archaeological evidence for the widespread settlement of South Africa before 1488 when Portuguese sailors first reached the Cape. Apartheid education, in particular the Bantu Education Act of 1953, was established to racially separate and provide sub-par education and facilities for black school children with the end goal being to ensure a cheap, unskilled labour force in South Africa. Bantu education promoted race, class, gender and ethnic divisions with a strong emphasis Eurocentric perspective with complete disregard for an Afrocentric element or perspective.

The fifth epoch known as ‘Industrialisation and Urbanisation’ highlights how indigenous people opposed, but nevertheless modified their lives in accordance with the social and economic changes of colonial industrialisation – especially large-scale mineral exploitation. The discovery of diamonds and gold in the late 19th century fundamentally changed the South African political, social, and economic landscape dramatically with massive division of equality between races in South Africa. Black South Africans were seen by mining companies as a source of cheap labour with migrant workers often living in appalling conditions in compounds. This gave rise to the emergence of townships as a result of migrant labour to the cities. Alexandra Townships in Johannesburg which dates back as early as 1912 serves as an example. Township residents often found low-paying jobs in the cities and this is depicted by large ceiling-to-floor encased block structures that include mineworkers and domestic workers uniforms and illustrate their remuneration as opposed to that of the privileged white class in South Africa at the time.

InterpNEWS

25

Epoch six, ‘Nationalisms and Struggle’ covers the period of the anti-apartheid struggle for equal rights and democracy as a framework to the post-1994 democratic period. It charts the crusade of inclusive nationalism as the preferred model for a unified nation. This epoch showcases the oppressive and brutal apartheid system – for example, a large projector screen playing archival footage of the former apartheid presidents Henrik Verwoerd and PW Botha spreading their messages of racism and oppression. This epoch also represents the resistance to apartheid in the form of large-scale photographs of opposition political party meetings, rallies and marches.

When visitors look up, they will see a giant suspended net, which contains the relics from the apartheid regime such as the former national and homeland flags. The Natives (Urban Areas) Act of 1923 were a form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanisation, and allocate migrant labour. It was replaced in 1945 by the Natives (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act, which imposed "influx control" on black men and was amended by the Black (Natives) Laws Amendment Act of 1952 which made it compulsory for all black people over the age of sixteen to carry passes, and that no black person could stay in an urban area more than seventy-two hours. The pass laws severely limited the movements of not only black African citizens, but other people as well by requiring them to carry pass books when outside their homelands or designated areas.

Apartheid homelands were geographic territories set aside for specific ethnic groups of particular areas and included ten ‘bantustans’ as outlined by the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act of 1970.

This epoch also represents the four pillars of the liberation struggle for freedom, namely the underground struggle, mass struggle, armed struggle and international solidarity. By interpreting the struggle for liberation in this way, it highlights a collected unity and prolonged struggle in the attainment of freedom for all.

Above: Depiction of apartheid symbols in net suspension found in “Nationalism and Struggle” epoch

26

InterpNEWS

The seventh and final epoch, entitled ‘Nation and Continent Building’, commences in the last decade of the 20th century and explores South Africa's transition from the tyranny of apartheid to a constitutional democracy.

It showcases the dawn of democracy with photographs of thousands of people standing in exceptionally long lines to vote in the 1994 first democratic elections, as well as Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech played on a large format projector screen. It showcases the new South African flag and national symbols, as well as the Bill of Rights sandblasted-on-glass. It depicts and interprets social cohesion and nation building through the December 16 Reconciliation Day holiday, as well as the resurgence of African solutions to African problems through the concept of African Renaissance and the African Union’s role on the continent.

Above: exhibition display found with the epoch of “Nation and Continent Building” Freedom Park’s //hapo museum is therefore a highly interpretive space, which showcases the struggles of the African people from their perspective and lived experiences through space and time. It is a highly unique and novel approach to memorialisation within the South African and African heritage landscape.

References Beinart, W. & Dubow, S. 2013. Segregation and apartheid in twentieth century South Africa. London: Routledge.

Chidester, D. 2002. Patterns of transcendence: religion, death, and dying. Belmont; California: Wadsworth.

Garbarino, M.S. & Sady, R.R. 1975. People & cultures. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Gerhart, G.M. & Karis, T. 1997. From protest to challenge: a documentary history of African politics in South Africa, 1882-1990. Nadir and resurgence, 1964-1979, Volume 5. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press.

Marks, S. 2012. “SA ignorant about its land struggles”. Mail https://mg.co.za/article/2012-03-02-sa-ignorant-about-its-land-struggle.

and

Guardian

(2

March).

InterpNEWS

27

References continued:

Matthews, Z.K. & Wilson, M. 1983. Freedom for my people: the autobiography of Z.K. Matthews, southern Africa 1901 to 1968. Cape Town: David Philip.

Pheko, S.E.M. 1990. South Africa: betrayal of a colonised people: issues of international human rights law.

London: ISAL Publications.

South African Democracy Education Trust. 2014. The road to democracy in South Africa, Volume 4. Pretoria: Unisa Press.

Seckbach, J. & Walsh, M. 2008. From fossils to astrobiology: records of life on earth and the search for extraterrestrial biosignatures. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.

Shillington, K. 2005. Encyclopedia of African History: A - G.. 1. London: Taylor and Francis.

Villa-Vicencio, C. & Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. 2000. Transcending a century of injustice.

Rondebosch, South Africa: Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.

InterpNEWS

28

Image Tracking & Copyright Patricia Grimshaw Museum Consultant (museologik) & IN Regional Editor Image Tracking & Copyright Ok, the title of this article is not exactly exciting. Copyright – woo hoo! But it is important to consider nonetheless. Whether you’re using images as stills on a graphic panel, in a program or brochure, or as part of an AV presentation (which may also include video footage), it is critical that you ensure you have the correct permissions. Otherwise you may end up with unnecessary, and unfortunate, legal issues with regard to the rights to publish and/or exhibit original images. For the purposes of this article, video and stills are treated essentially equally, although I will go into some extra details with regard to moving images.

First Steps My first assignment as a project manager was image tracking for an enormous project. There were several thousand images, and each one had to be sourced, permission requested, tracked, acquired at the correct resolution, paid for, and sent to the designer for production.

In order to facilitate this, I made a template in MS Excel, and I’ve used essentially the same template on every subsequent project since, modifying it as required.

My spreadsheet includes everything I need to know about each image:  Thumbnail of the image in question;  Image description (i.e.: dog on a boat, First World War);  Original source, if known. If not, source where image was found (book, website, etc.);  Contact information for original source (name, phone number, email);  Where it will go in the exhibition. This usually involves a code specific to the section of the exhibition, for example 1.1-GR01 would mean that the image is in the first subsection of the first part, and it’s the first image;  Citation requirements;  Resolution required for production. This is key, and I’ll go into more detail shortly;  Cost;  Order status (image requested, payment pending, image pending, image received, etc.);  Production status (whether or not the image has been sent to design/production);  Overall status. This is a colour-coded column for which I simply use red, yellow and green to indicate at a glance if there is a problem with an image anywhere in the process.

Where to find the original source Often, especially in planning our exhibitions, we may come across an image or footage that is just perfect! It conveys the message we want to send, makes an impact, and is memorable. But where did it come from?

Who owns it?

InterpNEWS

29

If found in a publication, often (but not always), there will be list of image credits at the back. This may simply say “Library of Congress” or may go into greater detail such as “Queen’s University Archives, ABC-12345.”

But publications are not always correct, or the legal ownership of the image may have changed hands since it was published, such as if it was donated to an archive as part of an estate, so it is always necessary to double check.

National and museum archives often have very good image descriptions, and may even have a thumbnail to accompany the description, making it easy to match an image and its source. But tools like Google Images are also extremely handy.

For example, let’s say you found an image of a dog on a boat online, but there is no citation for the image. You can enter the description into Google Images and scroll through until you find something similar. Admittedly, this can take a long time, unless your description is quite specific (i.e.: Canadian PPCLI soldiers near Vimy, 5 April 1917).

But thankfully you can also do a Google reverse image search. You upload your image, and the Google will find others that are the same or similar almost instantly.

Why you need to secure copyright Once you’ve found the original source, you need to make sure that you can get permission to use the image as desired, and for the required period of time. Copyright regulations vary greatly, so it’s really important to make sure that you’re using the image properly.

How an image is defined is also important. The US Copyright Act defines images as not only pictorial works, but also graphic and sculptural: “two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans.”

Things to consider when seeking copyright permission to use an image are:  The duration of the exhibition;  How many people are expected to see it (is this a national exhibition? A travelling show? A small local, but permanent exhibition?)  How the image will be used (as part of a main graphic panel? As part of programming, so not in view all the time? As part of an AV? In marketing?);  What size do you require? (Will it be life size? A mural? A small thumbnail?)

Each of these factors may affect whether or not permission is readily acquired. Fortunately, museums are generally considered education institutions, and many copyright holders allow their images to be exhibited without any problems.

Securing permission to use an image is often as simple as contacting the source. When an image is ordered from an archive or online database, such as Getty Images or Shutterstock, details with regard to how an image is to be used are required, and will affect how much you are charged, if anything.

InterpNEWS

30

It is also important to keep all communications and invoices you receive with regard to the images. These often contain specific information as to how long you can use the image for, as well as what to do with it when you’re finished. For example, if you receive a digital file, the permission may come with the caveat that the file is to be deleted after a certain date. Notes like this can go in your Excel tracking sheet as well.

Public domain & free use images There are many images that are in the “public domain”, and are free to use. These are not protected by individual property laws; anyone can use an image from the public domain, and no one can claim ownership.

Items are in the public domain if:  Their original copyright has expired;  The original owner did not renew copyright;  The original owner knowingly places the work in the public domain;  Copyright laws do not apply to a particular type of work.

One great source for images in the public domain is Wikicommons. Images are clearly marked with restrictions, if any, and permissions required.

For example, a search for “dog on a boat” pulled up this image:

Full details are also available with regard to the image and it’s source:

InterpNEWS

31

The information pertaining to the image is clear: it is originally from Sevastopol, it is held by SMU Central University Libraries, but it has no known copyright. However, a citation request is noted, and a higher resolution version may be obtained for a fee.

Resolution Resolution is critical when considering how you’ll be using your images. In my experience, the very best way to ensure you have the optimal resolution is to obtain an 8”x10” hard copy of the image, and have it professionally scanned at the size required bby y the designer. That way, if you change your minds, or it needs to be bigger, you have copy to easily scan again. This may cost a bit more, but if you are producing mural-sized mural images, it is worth it.

InterpNEWS

32

In general, it is best to confirm with your designer what the required size will be for each image before ordering, as the size is also often a factor in the cost.

Credit lines Image credits are vital – they helped you find the original image source after all! As noted in the image used above, while copyright has expired, any use of the image comes with a requirement to cite “Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library.” Other sources may have shorter citation requirements (i.e.: “Getty images”) or none at all. As a general rule, however, it is best to include one, even if not required by the source. This can also be tracked in your spreadsheet.

AVs With regard to video, there is an added component that does not pertain to images: sound. When I wanted to use footage from a CBC television show many years go, I needed to obtain permission not only from CBC TV, but the production company as well. Then I had to contact the artist who owned the rights to the music that was playing during the clip. Thankfully, all three sources gave me permission without any issues.

What if you can’t find the original source, or don’t get a reply?

My first instinct, if the original source cannot be found, or the source does not get back to me with permission, is to say that we cannot use the image, and that another must be found to replace it. I always prefer to have everything accounted for, rather than just hope that it’s ok and no one minds. That is simply not good enough.

Copyright may not be exciting, but it is important. We spend a great deal of time and effort on our exhibitions and interpretive programs to make sure that they’re relevant, clear, and enjoyable. It is also necessary to make sure that all aspects of our presentations are above board, and that we have sought and obtained the necessary permissions for all of our display materials.

Patricia Grimshaw Museum Consultant (museologik) grimshaw@msn.com

33

InterpNEWS “Dancing on the Table One Day in New York” By Dr. Martha Benn Macdonald InterpNEWS Regional Editor

Over thirty years ago, a dear friend, Dr. J. Paul Hudson, Curator for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, gave me a book entitled A Book of Days for the Literary Year (edited Neal T. Jones) which I continue to cherish. The book includes descriptions and definitions, pictures, allusions, and much, much more. I review it each day. Why? It is fun, and I learn.

A picture of the luncheon “given by Carson McCullers for Isak Dinesen” in Nyack, New York, caught my eye for February 5, 1959 (above photo). According to the notes, “after a luncheon of soufflé, oysters, grapes, and champagne, Carson McCullers puts music on the phonograph and invites Marilyn Monroe (the use of the present tense for puts and invites bothered me a bit here***), then married to Arthur Miller, and Isak Dinesen to join her in dancing on the marble-topped dining room table.”

Scholars have argued that Carson McCullers, her health declining, could not have danced, much less on a table top. Who knows? Arthur Miller, referring to the frail condition and age of Isak Dinesen (74) from Denmark, asked the author if she could eat the meal served by the cook. Ms. Dinesen quipped that she could do whatever she wanted at 74. Maybe Carson did dance.

Pretending to be there at this gorgeous home in Nyack, New York, nineteen miles north of Manhattan, I find myself intrigued with why those particular members of the artist community (writers and a beautiful actress) had gathered. We know who was present, but why exactly? The authors had “the Gothic” in common.

Supposedly, Carson McCullers who had moved to Nyack, New York, from Georgia had invited Ms. Dinesen (Karen Blixen) and wanted to include Marilyn Monroe. Arthur Miller, Marilyn’s husband, joined them. Did he tag along?

We wonder what they discussed. Although we were not there, I would imagine that Carson McCullers with her Southern Gothic material and psychological issues would have enjoyed talking to the Danish writer about Babette’s Feast, Out of Africa, Several Gothic Tales, and more, about loneliness, sacrifice, misfits in society, and such. Both women probably engaged with Arthur Miller about The Crucible and its haunting themes of guilt and loneliness, if not some of his other dramas. Even though he may have come simply because he was Marilyn’s husband, the playwright was probably an important conversationalist at the dinner. Deeply troubled, Marilyn Monroe may have listened, hoping for solace. Who knows? We can only imagine. What do you think?

InterpNEWS

34

If we were there in South Nyack, New York, on February 5, 1959, what might we say about the architecture of the gorgeous house (built in 1880)? Which writer would you like to know better and perhaps interpret? Why? Why do you think Carson McCullers served soufflé, white grapes, oysters, and champagne (“receipts” included)?

Although I do not know exactly what kind of soufflé was served and how the oysters were prepared, I am using “receipts” from my aunt, Martha Benn Oliver Smith, from the Carolina Low-Country Cookbook of South Carolina (1947, first edition).

CHEESE SOUFFLE One cup white sauce, well-seasoned, one cup grated cheese, three egg yolks and whites To hot white sauce, add cheese and egg yolks. Fold in stiffly beaten whites. Bake in greased casserole (set in a pan of hot water) at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until set and brown. Serves 4.

I should think this could be doubled. Season sauce as you wish. Note: some directions for soufflés are complicated. I chose this one because the directions were clear, at least to me.

MRS. JETER’S OYSTERS One pint oysters, one half cup bread crumbs, one stick butter, and one cup cracker crumbs Melt butter, and blend into the crumbs. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and a generous tablespoon brandy or sherry. Add partially drained oysters and two tablespoons cream, if desired.

Place in a shallow pan or dish, and bake in 350 degree oven for thirty minutes. This serves four.

Although preparation for these oysters is not named (fried, raw, escalloped, or whatever, I used this “receipt.” I imagine Mrs. Jeter was a “grand lady” from Georgetown, S.C.). Perhaps not.

Purchase your favorite light grapes and the finest champagne, and enjoy the meal.

Would you have enjoyed being there? Why? Why not? I would have been fascinated. I have questions for everyone there, having grown up in the haunted South of ghosts, guilt, Puritanism (disguised), and so much more, which lends itself to Southern Gothic and to which all of my own writing and stories invariably turn. I can’t escape it. Think about the architecture, the dance music, the conversation, the people present, and make an interpretation for February the fifth, wherever you are. Have fun.

InterpNEWS

35

Interpreting nterpreting and evaluating emotional and challenging subjects Dan Boys, AT Creative By the time you read this Christmas will almost be upon us, but as I sit down to write this my focus is firmly on the Armistice, and how those events one hundred years ago and the way we have commemorated them will be remembered.

In 2014 my family and I spent a week explor exploring the Western Front, the scene of horrific and bloody frontline conflicts during World War One. We were keen to see first hand the sites we had learnt a little about at school, and also pay our respects to the fallen. I was also keen to learn how such an emotional subject had been tackled from an interpretive perspective.

Our first port of call was Verdun. The village of Fleury, or at least its pockmarked remains, were very poignant. During the war it was completely destroyed and the land was made uninhabitable to such an extent that a decision was made not to rebuild it. The area was so contaminated by corpses, explosives and poisonous gas that no farmer could work the land.

Today only stones, with simple plaques revealing the names and occupations of the inhabitants mark the location of each building

.

The destroyed village of Fluery

La Boiselle (courtesy of Georges Vandenbulke Š 2011)

Heading west to the Somme I was moved by the massive crater we found at La Boiselle. In 1916 a mine had been dug beneath German trenches and two chambers had been filled with tens of thousands of pounds explosives. The resulting explosion on the 1st July (in tandem with 13 other simultaneous detonations) constituted what was then the loudest manmade sound in history, and killed thousands of German troops.

InterpNEWS

36

On site I found a small QR code attached to a post. Intrigued I scanned it with my phone. It revealed that Cecil Lewis, then an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, witnessed the explosion from his aircraft high above La Boisselle. He was quoted as saying: The whole earth heaved and flared, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up into the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar, drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet.

Which, as I explained to my son, rose 4 times the height of the Eiffel Tower!

We visited many cemeteries during our visit but none were more moving than Mont-Bernanchon British Cemetery. Here, my wife read out the last letter that her relative, Oliver Middleton, wrote to his mother 10 days before he was killed in action. His grave is pictured above.

Later in Belgium we visited the grave of medic Captain Noel Chavasse. His headstone is the only one in the world engraved with two Victoria Crosses – both awarded for the courage and self-sacrifice he displayed when saving scores of his fellow soldiers. No interpretation was required.

The pick of the museums was In Flanders Field. After collecting a poppy bracelet with our tickets and entering the museum we scanned our poppies at a computer hub and entered a few personal details including age and gender. By scanning the bracelet at additional hubs around the museum you can follow the story of a relevant character i.e. a person of your similar age, or from your part of the world. We shared the stories of the character we each followed as we explored the museum.

All of these sites we visited had personalised the experience, made it real, and brought home just how many lives were affected, and in so many ways. Time has made it easier to tell this story. We are far enough removed from this awful chapter in history to learn how individuals were affected, physically and mentally. The places we visited weren’t gratuitous. They were real and stand as a monument to those who fell. At each location it was the stories of people that made the hairs on our arms stand up. How they were delivered in each instance worked really well. So whilst time is a healer it is vital that these sites get it right, as the Great War means so much to so many people.

InterpNEWS

37

Peace & Legacy: Burton recovers On Saturday 10th November 2018 I attended a guided walk around Burton-in-Trent, Derbyshire. It focussed on the men from the local brewing industry that the town is famous for. We visited many buildings linked with this heritage and heard the stories of those who perished. As Project Manager for this project I was keen to gather feedback from participants, not just those who booked onto the event, but those who were involved in running it too.

The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. Everyone enjoyed visiting buildings that are usually closed to the public and seeing the small exhibitions on display at each location. However, most praise was saved for the way the guide delivered the walk and the performances of the young drama students from the local college who ‘appeared’ at set points along the trail to provide a perspective of those who lived to tell the tale after the end of the Great War. The students in particular brought tears to the eyes of the participants. Interviewing them straight after the final guided walk it was clear they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and loved the intimacy of playing out a role to a group of 25 people (six times during the day). They said the roles would make them think differently on Remembrance Sunday as we commemorated 100 years. They were positively elated as they left me with a spring in their step to get a well earned drink of locally brewed beer. I’m glad I captured this moment, and the thoughts of many participants, on my audio recorder. In this instance, audio evaluation better captured people’s emotions than the words on an evaluation form (which we also asked people to complete), and a microphone held down is much less intrusive than a video camera in your face.

This simple evaluation process illustrates that everyone taking part in heritage projects benefits from the experience. My role now is to digitise the guided walks into an online self-guided trail so that people in the future can follow in our footsteps and get a feel for the evocative heritage interpretive experience we had the pleasure of participating in.

Dan Boys is owner of AT Creative at-creative.co.uk

InterpNEWS

38

Urban Geology Field Tripping,

by Ron Kley In the third quarter of the last century I was confronted with a pedagogical challenge. As a lab instructor for an introductory course in geology, I wanted to familiarize students with rocks on a scale larger than laboratory hand specimens – in a context that approximated the scale of outcrops in the field. But there was no budget for field-tripping. So…what to do.?

I wasn’t about to surrender without a fight, so I began looking around, and soon discovered a nearby assortment of accessible “outcrops” that could serve my purposes and hel[ to shape the geo-understandings of students in my lab sections.

Within walking distance of the university there were examples of brick buildings with window and doorway lintels or entry stairways of granite or, in a few instances, of marble or sandstone (also known locally as “brownstone”). There were government buildings (municipal, county, state and federal) built of solid masonry – mostly granite and related plutonic rocks, but some gneisses, marbles, brownstones and limestones (even some fossiliferous limestones). Sidewalks were mostly concrete or asphalt, but a few slabs of slate or sandstone were also to be found.

Newer buildings erected with skeletons of structural steel and sheathed with natural stone veneer offered an even greater variety of lithological “eye candy” including intrusive veins, phenocrysts, pegmatitic structures, schlieren, drag folds and more. Curbstones, often cut from inferior grades of stone not considered suitable for architectural use, further extended the “vocabulary” of structures, textures, and lithologies to which I could direct student “field trippers” -- although I had to caution some of the more enthusiastic ones to be careful of busses, taxis and other vehicles that might compete with them for curbside access.

One of the most gratifying aspects of this whole experiment was the fact that students (some of them, at least) were not just visiting and examining “outcrops” that I had identified. They were finding others, telling me and asking me about them and comparing one another’s interpretations of what they were seeing. They were no longer merely students going through a requisite lab exercise; they had become active participants in field research.

All of this, of course, was decades before the time when granite countertops became fashionable and widely available from worldwide sources, and before “big box” home improvement stores became commonplace even in communities of modest size. Today it would be possible to send or bring students to one of these stores, or to a granite fabricating facility, and expose them to a library of samples (dozens at least, or hundreds in some cases) that illustrate rock types, textures, structures and variants that might not be seen in a lifetime of field trekking.

A few caveats – 1. While a study of cut and/or polished rock specimens can reveal subtle features not obvious in natural outcrops, it should be regarded as a supplement and not a substitute for the study and interpretation of rocks as they occur in nature.

InterpNEWS

39

2. As a matter of common courtesy, permission should be sought before bringing or sending students to examine samples at any commercial establishment. Even with permission, care should be exercised to be sure that the student activity does not interfere with legitimate activities of business personnel or customers.

3. Urban environments are not without hazards, and hazards can multiply for individuals whose focus detracts from their situational awareness. Accordingly, I suggest that field tripping in search of urban “outcrops” be done as a small group or “team” activity rather than individually.

With those cautionary notes in mind, Look around and have fun!

40

InterpNEWS Three of my most memorable living history interpretive experiences.

John A. Veverka Heritage Interpreter Planner/Trainer InterpNEWS Editor

I have been involved with interpretation for over 40 years now and the range of interpretive experiences I have seen or helped plan have run the gamete from outstanding to “what were they thinking when they came up with this presentation”? As I wanted this issue of InterpNEWS to have some focus on historic/living history interpretation I thought I would share some of my more memorable living history programs/experiences to help illustrate that when the program/character presentation is indeed “interpretive” some magical things can happen. Here are three memorable “rest of the stories” I would like to share.

Hot girl by the fireplace! A number of years ago I had the opportunity to do some contract work for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Land Between the Lakes (which is now a US Forest Service National Recreation Area). One of their main interpretive attractions was The Homeplace. The Homeplace was a working historic farm. The farm produced corn, tobacco, sheep and hogs. If this really were the mid-19th century, they would probably market their goods in town, at the river boats, or upriver in big cities like Nashville and Memphis.

When you visit us in person, you might see the men folk working oxen, harvesting and curing tobacco, shucking corn or repairing a farm building. They'll even let you lend a hand at the walking plow or help repair a fence.

So as a visitor you see/watch “life going on” from cooking and eating daily meals, to the men folk tending crops and animals. So let’s get to the “hot girl”.

The day I was visiting it was approaching lunch time and the women were in the main cabin preparing lunch for the extended family… chicken and dumplings. There were about 20 of us visitors behind a barrier watching the meal being prepared while chatting with the women cast members. The smell of the chicken and dumplings filled the room and we were all getting hungry. Now this is Kentucky, in the hot-steamy summer. That cabin had to have been 90 degrees, and there’s a cooking fire in the fireplace – get the picture? So we’re watching a young girl cooking biscuits by the fireplace – you could see rivers of sweat pouring from her face – cooking in a hot room, by a hot fire, in a long sleeved period dress. You could hear her sweat hitting the fireplace with a “pzzz – pzzz for each drop. So one of the audience members watching this – and sweating himself, asks her “honey, aren’t you hot?” Now I am just waiting for her answer, which could have been replied in many different ways, but her answer is one that I will always remember. She replied “no sir – I just splash water on my face from time to time so I will look authentic!”

The “hot girl by the fireplace” cooking lunch for the reinactors.

InterpNEWS

41

Now I don’t know how the cast/interpreters were trained, but I liked the answer and remember it still. It was a full living history experience where we could relate to life on a farm in the mid 1800’s – the work, heat and all the challenges of daily life. Living history interpretation that created great, relatable, memories. Now you know the “rest of the story” about the hot girl by the fireplace. You can visit the Homeplace at: http://www.lbl.org/HPGate.html.

Ghost Rider. Back in the late 70’s I was working as a interpretive planning consultant for Alberta Provincial Parks, Canada. Alberta Parks interpretive division was creating some of the best living history interpretive programs I had seen, and the “visitor from the past” program, given at night for visitors by campfire were outstanding. So here is the scenario. A group of visitors are sitting around a campfire with an interpreter talking about the cultural history of Alberta and some of the historic sites the Provincial parks was charged with managing, and just general chatter in general. So we are sitting around the campfire when we hear horse hoofs along the dirt road leading to the campfire amphitheater. We listen, the hoof sounds come closer, the, out of the darkness, the campfire glow lights up the face and uniform and horse of a Canadian Mountie. He gets off his horse, ties it up and comes to the campfire where he is greeted by the interpreter who asks him to join us.

He tells us he has about a 100 square mile territory to patrol, that he is the only law in that area. He has been out on patrol for over a month and has one more stop in Yellow Knife before he can return home to his wife. He is 19 years old and loves his job, even with the hardships that come with it.

He asks if anyone is going back to Calgary and if they were if they would post a letter from him to his wife. He reads it to us to ask us if we think it is OK. In it he talks about missing her, his job, and their future. Then he says that he has to be going, needs to be in Yellow Knife by tomorrow evening, hands the letter to the interpreter, mounts his horse and rides off into the blanket of darkness that surrounds the campfire.

After he leaves, the interpreter says that his name sounds familiar and looks up something in one of the history books he brought with him. Acting surprised, he finds the young Mounties name in the book. He shows it to us. According to historic accounts, he’s murdered on his way to Yellow Knife – he will never make it home!

You could hear a pin drop from the audience around the campfire. They met a ghost rider, connected with him, related to him, and feel terrible about his fate. After a pause, the interpreter continues the interpretation of the experience – one that everyone will remember. Now you know the rest of the story about the Ghost Rider experience.

What impressed me most about this living history experience was the following.

- The amount of research required.

- The cost to create the historic uniform the Mounties wore.

- The authenticity of the uniform and the kit for his horse.

- The quality of the “theater” in making the presentation/interpretation so powerful.

- How the total presentation involved the visitors creating the connection between them and the presenter.

Living history interpretation at its professional best!

InterpNEWS

42

Hobo Hopes – Lakeshore Museum, Muskingum, Michigan.

During the Great Depression thousands of men who had lost their homes, jobs, even families, took to the road leaving the big cities moving town to town looking for work. The Lakeshore Museum in Muskingum, Michigan has as part of its management, several historic homes that date to the depression era, and which they have developed living history programs around. A few years ago I had the change to work with the museum staff and do training for its interpretive staff.

One of the programs was interpreting the life of a hobo.

As a tour group approaches a home, they meet Matt, a hobo from the east who came to Michigan looking for work. He talks with the group about losing his job and home due to the stock market crash. His family is staying with relatives – hasn’t seen them for months, while he moving from town to town looking for work. He tells us of life on the road, being homeless, and his hopes that he can get his life back, and his family, and start over. The analogies he presented relate to today – with the housing bubble burst, people losing their jobs, homes, and struggling too. His story of his experiences (in the 1920’s) could be today’s stories. A super relate.

He also told us about the hobo codes and symbols that they would leave by a house as to the kind of reception they might get, such as the symbol that the lady of the house will feed you a meal in return for chores.

Now I’m sure that we all have our favorite interpretive program or experience. Why don’t you tell us yours?

I’d be happy to publish your favorite interpretive experience in InterpNEWS to share with others. Just send your article, with a photo or two, to me at jvainterp@aol.com. Be sure to include your contact information as well. Looking forward to hearing from you and learning about your favorite interpretive experience.

InterpNEWS

43

Willem's Passion (and the rest of the story)

More than anything, Willem wanted to be an evangelist. He was only twenty-five, a century ago, but already he's been an art dealer, language teacher, bookseller... and unsuccessful in love.

But more than all the paintings and all the words and all the books and all the women, Willem wanted to devote himself to his fellow man, and the Word of God. It was this passion that brought young Willem, in the spring of 1879, to the coal fields of southern Belgium. It was there, in a little mining town, that Willem outlined "the rest of the story" on the back of a faded envelope.

Perhaps it was the young minister's total selflessness that first captured the respect of the miners in that tiny Borinage community. In a mine disaster sores of the villagers were injured and no one fought harder to save them than he.

Every Sunday they overflowed Willem's services to hear this unassuming man preach the literal Word of God. And then lightning struck.

A visiting church official discovered Willem living in a simple hut, dressed in an old soldier's oat and trousers made of sacking. When he asked Willem what he had done with his salary, Willem answered simply that he'd given it to the miners.

The church official told Willem that he looked more miserable than the people he taught. Willem was dismissed from the service of the church that day. He was devastated. The career that had meant everything was suddenly gone. There followed weeks of despair.

Then one afternoon, Willem noticed an old miner. He was beneath the enormous weight of a full sack of coal.

In that instant, Willem again felt the desperation of these people - and recognized that it would always be his own.

Fumbling through his pockets, the Dutchman pulled out a tattered envelope... and then a pencil... and began to sketch crude ones, but he tried over and over again.

Beginning that day Willem was to capture for the world the torment, triumph, and dignity of the people he loved.

If Willem had failed as a minister, there was now a new passion...a new purpose.

And the people he was not allowed to teach, he was able to reach through art. In the process he immortalized them...and they him.

For the end of Willem's career as a clergyman motivated a ministry more monumental than he had ever dreamed.

InterpNEWS

44

Because the preacher, who wasn't to be, became the artist the world would know... as Vincent Willem van Gogh.

So now you know the "rest of the story" about this amazing artist.

(Example of artist interpretation from Paul Harvey's Rest of the Story).

InterpNEWS

45

Interpretation on the Air Historic Sites Install "History Stations" to Invite Visitation, Participation & Donations.

Bill Baker Information Station Specialist

At Historic Fort Wayne (left), soldier reenactors render a salute at the raising of the colors. At right, a reenactor explains the details of his work to two attentive visitors.

Historic Sites Install "History Stations" to Invite Visitation, Participation & Donations FORT WAYNE, IN: There is an old fort in Indiana that’s trying some new tricks when it comes to promotion and community engagement. Built in 1976 and located in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne, the Old Fort is a replica of the final fort to stand in Fort Wayne, originally constructed in 1816. Operated by Historic Fort Wayne, Inc., the Old Fort is reaching out to locals and out-of-town visitors using a special radio broadcast. No, they are not buying time on local radio stations. The group recently took it a step further and bought its own “History Station.”

InterpNEWS

46

Drive through downtown Fort Wayne now and you can tune into “Old Fort Radio – AM 1640” (sample broadcast). The new service provides an interpretive thumbnail detailing the Fort’s beginnings, updates on coming events and details on where to park when you get there. The broadcast even instructs listeners how they can volunteer during historic events and how they can donate to keep the Fort's programs vital and functioning.

Because the Old Fort is situated in a city park and its broadcast license is in the name of the city’s parks and recreation department, one plan is to promote the broadcast to park visitors within 2-3 miles to encourage them to tune in, get engaged and plan a visit. Street signs with a unique logo have been created (pictured above). A more rustic version, above left, has been designed to be installed at the Old Fort itself.

Left, Woodwright reenactor Kip Lytle tends to one of his many projects while conversing with curious visitors.

Right, reenactor Malinda Pagel chats with visitors about the role of women and the intricacies of midwifery.

Public information liaison Malinda Pagel says that a History Station functions like a “point of purchase” display at a retail store. “A large number of people drive by our site daily in their cars. We're not open every day and our large events occur over random weekends throughout the year. So, we’ve struggled to let people on the ground know who we are, what we're about and when we're open. This History Station on 1640 is a great way to communicate with potential visitors on the spot rather than sending them to a website address that they may have to recall later.”

Volunteer Jim Firestone installs the History Station antenna to put Old Fort Radio - 1640 AM on the air.

InterpNEWS

47

Since most every destination has a website, a History Radio Station adds an element of uniqueness to a site’s communication mix that can set it apart. It tells the site’s story using human voices to add character and vitality to the presentation. An oral delivery can be especially valuable for the very young, seniors and the visually impaired – groups who may not be able to take full advantage of traditional text-based communications such as brochures, on-site displays or the web pages.

Left - Herbert Hoover listens to an early radio broadcast. His historic site in Iowa operates a “History Station” that describes his life and presidency.

History Stations are in use around the US at well-known national historic sites such as Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, along the Natchez Trace Parkway and to interpret structures such as the Zane Grey home in New York.. State and local groups use the technology to interpret at historic homes such as Rippavilla Plantation, south of Nashville, Tennessee, at lighthouses like Big Sable Point in Michigan and at the San Jacinto and Palmito Ranch Battlefields in Texas. (View case studies and hear examples at links provided below).

Some History Stations, like the Old Fort’s, are FCC licensed Travelers Information Stations (TIS) and have a range suitable to cover a city. Unlicensed versions with a shorter range are utilized to tell the story of historic homes and historic districts. They typically consist of a small antenna system with transmitter and a high quality audio repetition system. Both types of stations are available through Information Station Specialists, Inc in Zeeland, Michigan.

Malinda Pagel continues, “Historic Fort Wayne, Inc., is a donation-only organization, and it takes a lot to maintain our Fort in a way that is period-correct and historically accurate. Increasing our number of visitors may also result in an increase in our donations, which in turn allows us to stay open and keep the Fort in good shape for generations to come.”

Listen to History Stations On the Air  Natchez Trace Parkway, TN, AL, MS.  Rippavilla Plantation, TN.  Fort Leavenworth, KS.  San Jacinto Battlefield, TX.  Old Fort, Fort Wayne, IN.  Hoover National Historic Site, IA. Case Studies  Palmito Ranch Battlefield, TX - Big Sable Lighthouse, MI - Zane Grey House, NY  Andersonville National Historic Site  Crazy Horse Monument  Great Platte River Road Archway Monument Contacts 

Author, Bill Baker, founder of Information Station Specialists (theRADIOsource.com) and the American Association of Information Radio Operators (AAIRO.org).



For more info on the History Station at Historic Fort Wayne: Email Bob Jones. Visit website and Facebook pages: (http://www.oldfortwayne.org/) and (https://www.facebook.com/HistoricFortWayne).

InterpNEWS

48

Abilities Unlimited Pathways to Employment Students Partner with Corps of Engineers to Promote Water Safety Brian C. Westfall, CHI/CIT Natural Resources Specialist U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The Abilities Unlimited Pathways to Employment class assists the Corps of Engineers at Lake Ouachita by building water safety education kits for Garland County area school students

Pictured from left to right are: Tammey Noles, Transition Instructor, Abilities Unlimited, Abbey Mahan, Student, Brian Westfall, Ranger, Corps of Engineers, Lily Smith, Student, Abby Sheets, Student, Ryan Ragan, Student, Austin Crow, Student, TY Coffman, Student, Daniele Soto, Student and Yvonne Westfall, Transition Program Developer, Abilities Unlimited. Photos by Amy Shultz, Water Safety Program Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Ouachita Field Office

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every day, about ten people die from unintentional drowning. Of these, two are children aged 14 and younger. Drowning ranks fifth among leading causes of unintentional injury death in the United States. For every child who dies from drowning, another five receive emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.

The CDC went on to report that the main factors that affect drowning risk (especially in children) are lack of swimming ability, lack of close supervision while swimming and failure to wear life jackets. Research has shown that participation in formal swimming lessons reduces the chances of drowning by 88%. Drowning can happen very quickly (20 to 60 seconds) and very quietly. In 2010, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that 672 water recreationalists died, 72% of those deaths were caused by drowning, with 88% of the victims not wearing life jackets.

InterpNEWS

49

As the nation’s leading provider of water based recreation, the Corps of Engineers has designed our water safety program with the CDC risk factors in mind. This drowning prevention approach is centered on swimming well by promoting swimming lessons, encouraging parents and care givers to watch their children closely while near the water and wearing life jackets as the best defenses against drowning.

The Corps reaches out to all age groups in drowning prevention, yet the foundation of the program is school based outreach. For the past 30-years, Lake Ouachita Rangers, have partnered with Garland County area school districts to promote water safety education. Annually, approximately 7,000 elementary school students kindergarten through sixth grade learn the importance of being safe around the water. This approached is bolstered by water safety promotional items. A large portion of the outreach items are targeted to elementary school children.

Beginning in 2018, the Abilities Unlimited Pathways to Employment class joined forces with the Corps to promote water safety in area schools. Abilities Students have built over 2,000 water safety education kits for area school children. Amy Shultz, Water Safety Program Manager, Corps of Engineers, Lake Ouachita said, “The partnership with Abilities Unlimited saved countless hours of labor for Lake Ouachita personnel, and the area school students loved the water safety goodie bags given out during programs and events “.

Abilities Unlimited Students packing water safety bags

“We greatly appreciate all the hard work done by students and staff at Abilities Unlimited in putting together the water safety bags and helping us spread the water safety message!”

The Abilities Unlimited Pathways to Employment program also known as P2E, provides special needs students the opportunity to transition from High School to the work force. The program strives to offer employment transitional learning opportunities for student’s ages 14-21 years. “Our Pathways to Employment program, a transitional class for High School students, enjoyed assisting the Corps of Engineers with filling the water safety goodie bags” stated, Tammey Blake, Transition Instructor.

Yvonne Westfall, Transition Program Developer, proclaimed, “The Corps of Engineers water safety partnership has been an outstanding opportunity for our students to get firsthand experience in assembly line work. Our students have packed over 2,000 water safety bags to date!”

The Corps of Engineers, Lake Ouachita, is dedicated to providing quality water based recreational experiences with the safety of our visitors held at the highest concern. Partnering drives our water safety program. Professional relationships are the essential ingredients to saving lives on the water. In 2019, the Abilities Unlimited water safety partnership will continue with the goal of increasing the number of kits produced for water safety outreach. “We look forward to continuing the partnership next year and for years to come!” said, Amy Shultz, Water Safety Program Manager, Corps of Engineers, Lake Ouachita.

Brian C. Westfall Ouachita Project Management Office U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

InterpNEWS

50

Westminster Abbey – Enhancing the visitor experience Allyson McAlister Marketing Manager, ATS ATS Heritage (ATS) has established itself as a leading provider of creative audio and multimedia guide solutions in the UK, with thousands of multimedia guide devices in operation entertaining millions of people.

ATS is at the forefront of multimedia guide development, pushing the boundaries of both creativity and technology. The start of any project is their clients’ visitor outcomes, but from that point they develop content that is not only bespoke and fit for purpose, but often innovative and exciting.

Multimedia tour design has to strike a subtle balance. The experienced team at ATS design produce tours that achieve just the right amount of on-screen content and a heads-up engaging experience.

A church at the heart of the nation

Interpreting the rich heritage of London’s iconic Westminster Abbey.

InterpNEWS

51

ATS is delighted to have collaborated on a multimedia tour with Westminster Abbey, a rich heritage site, famous around the world. It’s Britain’s national church and, with over 3000 great Britons buried there, requires respectful interpretation.

Walking into the building, you can feel the history around you with countless reminders of a nation’s past. The Abbey is a working church, with a range of services taking place each day and it has hosted every coronation since 1066. Over the centuries it has seen royal weddings, funerals and major national events. The building is rich in national symbolism – the Coronation Chair and the Grave of the Unknown Warrior sit alongside the graves of former Monarchs and Poets’ Corner, a celebration of British linguistic creativity.

Yet the building is also a hugely popular visitor attraction. Working with the Abbey, ATS created a multimedia-led experience that not only understands the time-honoured traditions of this special place, but also anticipates the needs of a 21st-century international tourist. Modern visitors are highly tech-savvy and expect a certain level of multimedia production in a guide. ATS never wants the tech to get in the way of the heritage itself as the story is the most important part.

Explore and discover the cathedral through engaging audio and multimedia content.

InterpNEWS

52

The in-house team of creative interpretation specialists, scriptwriters, multimedia content producers and developers worked alongside the hardware and technical support team to create a guide that provides a seamless visitor experience, merging into the architecture and grandeur of the Abbey, without allowing the technology to take over or become too dominant.

Challenges to overcome       

A visitor led solution which delivers the right balance of a working church and a busy visitor attraction Improve wayfinding, supporting visitors to explore the Abbey independently Present layered creative storytelling across a number of themes, to a number of audiences Language and access barriers, providing high quality experience to non-English speaking visitors and visitors with sensory disabilities Engage family visitors, through a tailored tour for younger audiences Service Design, support the WA team to manage dwell time, provide dynamic routing options that deliver effective visitor flow during peak and off-peak periods Operations and staffing, manage the transition from an audio, to multimedia guide service

The Lion leads family visitors on a trail of the abbey.

InterpNEWS

53

Scott Craddock, Head of Visitor Experience, Westminster Abbey said, 'our new multimedia guide has proved very popular with our visitors. The tour content resulted from a strong collaboration between Abbey staff and the ATS creative team and we are very pleased with the overall results.

The Focus device is easy to use and is available in 14 languages, plus family tour and BSL options. The guide helps visitors easily navigate their way around the Abbey and provides a great deal of detail on the history, the people and the daily life of the Abbey, with expansive content and features such as videos, a royal time line and Rubaways, in some cases revealing areas that are hidden from the main visitor route. It also features an interactive map which has helped us substantially reduce the amount of printed material we distribute to visitors.

We also worked closely with ATS and VocalEyes to produce a bespoke audio-descriptive tour for visitors with visual impairments. ATS has worked well with us on creating an app version of the tour plus a highlights version that has proved popular with visitors who have a limited amount of time to visit.’

All-inclusive offer: a multimedia guide for every visitor delivers layers of storytelling through adult, family, multilanguage & access tours.

InterpNEWS

54

ATS has become one of the UK’s most popular audio/multimedia guide partners with clients across the arts, culture and heritage sectors including museums, cathedrals and major tourist and sporting sites. They are now exploring opportunities to develop relationships with potential clients and partners internationally.

Company details Tel: +44 (0) 2392 595000 Email: info@ats-heritage.co.uk Website: www.ats-heritage.co.uk Twitter/Instagram: @ATS_Heritage Case Study Fact File Client: Westminster Abbey, London County: UK Contract value: ÂŁ1.1+ million.

InterpNEWS

55

“Glory be to God for Dappled Sk (Gerard Manley Hopkins)”“On into January, February, and March--What Will You Remember of Christmastide?”

By Dr. Martha Benn Macdonald, A Special Toast for John, my good friend, mentor, confidant, and guide in Interpretation and History! Dr. V. is also marvelous about keeping us abreast of games between the Ohio State University and other teams, snowstorms in Michigan, and much, much more. He’s very special to all.

“Do You Hear What I Hear?” Perhaps not. Through the year, I hear carolers, their familiar melodies with words of the Crèche. They’re singing under a lantern in the cold, their faces happy and joyful, or they’re singing in a nursing home, in a hospital, or in the choir. “Angels, We Have Heard on High,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Once in Royal David’s City,” and so many others commemorate the birthday of Jesus in the manager.

The crèche may linger in our minds long after Christmas. My mother purchased a crèche from Germany many years ago, and when my identical twin, Mary, and I were three years old, that crèche became special. We enjoyed imagining conversations between the shepherds and the mother, Mary; between Joseph and Mary; and between the Wise Men and other characters. Through the years, we added figures to replace the broken lambs or glued on (that’s Southern, isn’t it?) a camel’s leg. We decorated the crèche with cedar and adorned the scene with an angel or two.

Certain carols linger in my mind because I can dance to them. For example, to the carols mentioned above, I do “The Charleston,” “The Fox Trot,” “The Shag,” steps from “The Highland Fling” and English and/or Scottish country dancing. I hear the organ playing the melodies, or I sing them as I dance.

Christmas memories do not include parades, inflatable snow men, and endless lights strung across every bush, flower, or tree; around every door frame and window; or over a fence (oh, those electric bills in January! And I am no Scrooge (far from it).

My memories include angels, our first teddy bears on the cedar tree, and nutcrackers. A glass of wine in one hand on a cold winter’s eve, a pencil in the other, I sometimes find myself writing stories about these archetypes and my experiences through the years.

Have you ever played the role of an angel, perhaps in a school play or church pageant or on a float in the parade? How did the wings make you feel? Have you ever made an angel? That’s easy, creative, and fun.

Whenever you build something, you’re creating. You’re making art, and art begets art. I’ll never forget portraying an angel and designing my own angel on the wrap-around porch of my historic home. I’m not into the sometime “tacky” angel of the “Angel Movement,” but into the traditional ones from Scripture which we see in famous paintings, hear in traditional music, and observe in sculpture. I suppose there was one marvelous exception. When I was five or six, someone hid an angel made of emerald-colored straws deep within our cedar tree. I found her and claimed her as my own. I cherished her sapphire eyes, made from sequins, and I called her my green angel. I imagined her life, where she was from, what she would do. I put her with my dolls and stuffed animals. I’ve never forgotten her though I know someone long ago tossed her in the trash can.

Maybe I’ll replicate her.

InterpNEWS

56

Nor will I ever forget the little Stieff teddy bears which our beloved grandmother (we called her Gangie) hung on our cedar tree when we were three and the tree was in the back hall (Mamma always “changed things up,” as they say). These little bears were high in the tree. Mary seemed indifferent to her teddy bear, but I wasn’t.

Shy, that teddy bear became one of my closest friends. And through the years, Santa brought other bears. There was a huge bear with some sort of padded feet and big glassy gray eyes that arrived when I was in the fifth grade (later named him for a beloved professor in graduate school----yes, I’m an incredible romantic, but also a terrible cynic). It’s “okay.” Through the years, I have adored teddy bears. My daughter has as well. My son, Wynne, inherited the name of “Winnie the Pooh” when he was a child, but he has grown way beyond that name, as children often do. I loved reading the stories of A.A. Milne to Sara and Wynne and, in recent months, to my granddaughter, Frankie.

My children always said, “Mom, if we weren’t in the Christmas pageant at the Episcopal Church, we went to see The Nutcracker.” Indeed, we did. I love nutcrackers. I spent Thanksgiving last week with a longtime friend from Rock Hill, Jeanie Dickinson. She had a collection of nutcrackers which fascinated me. They gazed at me as I ate my version of gluten-free dressing (“receipt below), cranberries, and green beans with balsamic vinegar, and I smiled at them, remembering the wonderful story of the Nutcracker and all the ballets I’ve seen through the years. I imagine some of you share memories of dancing in that lovely ballet or going to see it. What is it, in particular, that we enjoy? The magic, the music, Clara’s hope, and so much more.

These memories last for me through the winter, in fact, through the year, for when we hold to them and cherish them, our lives become enriched. Christmas should not be reduced to once a year. Christmas is with us always. Remember the beloved stories through the years: A Christmas Carol, “Dick Whittington and His Cat,” “The Little Match-girl,” and so many others, some overlapping with candles, music, bells, angels, and much, much more. What Christmas memories do you have which endure through the winter and on into the warmer months?

Thank you for indulging me in whimsy and dreams, for it is “such stuff as dreams are made of, and our lives are rounded (or however it goes) with a deep sleep.”

Gluten-free Dressing First, make your own turkey-free broth (simply boil some water, seasoned with salt, pepper, sprigs of fresh sage and thyme, and a little bit of pumpkin-pie spice. Set that aside. Now, follow the directions on a box of gluten-free cornbread mix (dairy and soy-free). When the “receipt” calls for milk, I use almond milk (you’ll know). Mix, and spoon into a lightly buttered casserole. Bake until golden. Cool, and chunk this up. Pour on the turkey-free broth, and blend well. Bake a little longer. Delicious! I do put eggs in the cornbread mix. This is marvelously moist. With a glass of sherry and a few veggies of your choice, you have a delightful meal.

Martha Macdonald

College English instructor, published author, and performer. doctorbenn@gmail.com

57

InterpNEWS

InterpNEWS Marketplace.

Interpretive Planning and Training – worldwide. www.heritageinterp.com

InterpNEWS now offers advertising for interpretive services and media. If you'd like to advertise with InterpNEWS you too can reach our 300,000 IN recipients in 60 countries. http://heritageinterp.com/interpnews_advertising_details.html

Advertisers in this issue: Save the Manatee Foundation International Crane Foundation Museum Study Guide (Formally Studio Graphique) AT Creative LTD. UK Kaser Design John Veverka & Associates Interpretive Planning Heritage Interpretation Training Center Do Interpretation – Will Travel

InterpNEWS

58

InterpNEWS

59

January 7, 2019 The Interpretive Exhibit Planners Toolbox February 4, 2019 Grants for Museums and Historic Sites February 4, 2019 for the 4 week course Managing Previously Unmanaged Collections.

April 1, 2019 four week course Moving Museum Collections.

June 3, 2019, 4 week course Policies for Managing Collections.

For more information on these and other courses visit the Course Schedule on MuseumStudy.com

InterpNEWS

60

InterpNEWS

61

62

63

InterpNEWS

The Heritage Interpretation Training Center The Heritage Interpretation Training Center offers 44 college level courses in heritage interpretation, from introductory courses for new interpretive staff, docents and volunteers, to advanced courses for seasoned interpretive professionals. Courses can be offered/presented on site at your facility or location, or through our e-LIVE on-line self-paced interpretive courses.

Some of our on-line courses are listed below. You can start the course at any time and complete the course at your own pace: Introduction to Heritage Interpretation Course. 14 Units - 2 CEU credits. $150.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/introduction_to_heritage_interpretation_cou rse.html Planning/Designing Interpretive Panels e-LIVE Course - 10 Units awarding 1.5 CEU Credits $125.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_panels_course.html Planning Interpretive Trails e-LIVE Course - 13 Units - 2.5 CEU Credits $200.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_trails_course.html Interpretive Writing e-LIVE Course - 8 Units and 2 CEU Credits $200.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_writing_course.html Training for Interpretive Trainers e-LIVE Course - 11 Units and 2 CEU Credits. $200.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/training_for_interp_trainers.html The Interpretive Exhibit Planners Tool Box e-LIVE course - 11 Units and 2 CEU Credits. $200.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_exhibits_course.html Interpretive Master Planning - e-LIVE. 13 Units, 3 CEU Credits. $275.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_master_planning_course.html A supervisors guide to Critiquing and Coaching Your Interpretive Staff, Eleven Units, 1.6 CEU Credits. $175.00 http://www.heritageinterp.com/critiquing_and_coaching_interpretive_staff.h tml

The Heritage Interpretation Training Center/John Veverka & Associates. jvainterp@aol.com – www.twitter.com/jvainterp - Skype: jvainterp Our course catalog: http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpretive_training_center_course_catalogue_.html

InterpNEWS

64

InterpNEWS – what’s coming for the rest of the year (our 2019/Mar/April, May/June and July/Aug issues. We have a call for articles, a call for advertisers, and a call for anyone who would like to be one of our regional editors. Reach over 300K in 60 countries. For advertising details and costs visit our advertising web site page at: http://www.heritageinterp.com/interpnews_advertising_details.html Our upcoming Mar/April 2019, May/June 2019 and July/Aug 2019 issues..

Contact me for any questions: jvainterp@aol.com, www.heritageinterp.com