history in action volume i-issue i

Featured Student: Sally Meyer, Class of 2015

This edition of History in Action showcases the work of Sally Meyer, a history student who graduated from Christopher Newport in 2015. She created this virtual exhibition during her internship at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum at Colonial Williamsburg. Acting as a museum education assistant, Sally developed a family guide for the museum’s exhibits, collaborated in the creation of the online, onsite family program, RevQuest, wrote two blog entries on museum programming, and taught the family program “Drawing on George” to homeschooling groups and kindergarteners. In this journal, we highlight her work on the family guide, which is geared toward younger audiences as they learn about natural history.

While Sally was at Christopher Newport, she exemplified the mission of the Public History Center at CNU: inspiring and educating the public about history in meaningful ways. A native of Harrisonburg, Virginia, Sally developed an early appreciation for history from her grandmother, who was a docent at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Following the same path, Sally completed her volunteer work and internships around the Hampton Roads’ community, including at the Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown, the Virginia War Museum in Newport News, and the Trible Library Archives at CNU. Sally graduated from Christopher Newport last May and is now working on her master’s degree in history and museum studies at Tufts University. She also is serving as an editor to Tufts Historical Review and as an interpreter at the Concord Museum in Massachusetts. Upon graduating, Sally said, “I want to show people a different side of history—not just what students read in textbooks—through museums and the use of public history.” Christopher Newport students like Sally will have a lasting impact on how the public understands the course of human events and the significance of history.

From the Editor

Welcome to the inaugural issue of History in Action! Since 2007, I have directed the public history internship program at Christopher Newport University. Over the years, it has been a true privilege to be a part of a program that works closely with public history agencies in Hampton Roads. It allows student interns to engage in community service and to make a meaningful impact on the public’s understanding of history. Many nuanced and exciting projects originated from these internships that are worthy of attention. I am honored to introduce History in Action, an undergraduate public history journal that showcases students’ service-learning research exhibitions with local museums, archives, and the like. The impetus for creating this publication was to celebrate students’ hard work and creativity, as well as their dedication to making a difference in their community.

History in Action aims to distribute knowledge gained through traditional historical methods (by reviewing manuscripts, books, and artifacts) to the public using innovative approaches. For example, students use virtual exhibitions as a cutting-edge tool to communicate historical findings. Working directly with public history student interns every semester, I have the great pleasure of supervising these service-learning projects that flow naturally out of their internship. These exhibitions feature artifacts and/or archival collections that have been largely hidden from public view. Students shed new light on these collections with photos and detailed written descriptions, and most importantly, explain the historical significance based on primary documents and scholarly sources. Our public history interns now have the unique opportunity to use their research skills from the classroom and bring history to life for a broad audience, making a lasting contribution on the Hampton Roads community and beyond—a worthy pursuit as I am sure you will agree. I hope you enjoy Sally’s exhibition!

Sheri Shuck-Hall, Director of the Public History Center and Associate Professor of History at CNU, April 2016

BIRDS, BUGS, AND BLOOMS Volume I: Issue I

Birds, Bugs,

and Blooms

AT THE ART MUSEUMS OF COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG

FAST FACTS A naturalist is a person who studies plants and animals in their surroundings. Naturalists became very important in the American colonies in the 1700s. They traveled mainly to the southern colonies, and many of them ended up in Williamsburg at one time or another. These people came all the way from Europe to learn about the plants and animals that populated the “New World.” The naturalists then observed everything they could and documented their observations.

They would write descriptions of what they saw as well as paint, print, and sketch their observations. They were challenged by how to display natural objects on paper. Naturalists needed to show the plants and animals accurately. No two birds are exactly alike so they had

to generalize while still being accurate. They also were charged with naming the animals. Carolus Linneaus developed a system of naming that is still used today.

These men were as much artists as scientists, and their works can be studied for their artistic and historic value. Mark Catesby, Eleazar Albin, and George Edwards made their talents evident in their prints and watercolors. These naturalists attempted to take an objective view of nature. They wanted to show things as they really were without their own prejudice, but this was virtually impossible. Each artist-naturalist had their own style, evident in their work. The prints displayed in this exhibit are works of art and we can study them as such (Sue Ann Prince, Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants, Shaping Knowledge, 56).

We will travel out into the galleries to understand the power the naturalists had over pioneering this new subject. Natural beings appeared everywhere from wall decorations to dinner tables. (See "Birds, Bugs, and Blooms: Observing the Natural World in the 18th Century" at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg).

Brasilian Jacupema of Marggraue, George Edwards, 1740. Courtesy, The Colonial

Williamsburg Foundation

Naturalists in the Galleries by Sally Meyer

Before cameras were invented,

naturalists had to be artists, too. They had to describe and draw plants and animals for other scientists and curious people. Today in textbooks and studies of nature we use photography to show them accurately. What do you take pictures of?

BIRDS, BUGS, AND BLOOMS | Volume I: Issue I 2

Naturalists relied on their

senses. They had to know how the plants and animals survived by knowing what they ate, where they found shelter, and what ate them. Read on to learn more about the naturalists!

The History The Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in a new focus on human reasoning and science. The illustration below is the Fly Catching Macaroni; it is a satire of Sir Joseph Banks, a British naturalist who was fascinated by insects. This print pokes fun at the desire to travel the globe simply to catch bugs and collect seeds.

.

Throughout the 18th century this profession of “naturalist” became more accepted, and studying plants and animals became more popular. Naturalists flocked to the American colonies to learn about the unusual plants and animals that lived there.

DID YOU KNOW?

Europeans had never seen bugs like the monarch butterfly, blooms from the dogwood tree, or birds like the blue jay until they traveled to the New World. Many naturalists traveled by way of South Carolina, as they discussed not only the environment, but also the society and the

economy. They traveled up and down the colonies. The idea of studying nature spread to Williamsburg as well. Naturalists frequently requested samples and seeds from Williamsburg residents. Artists used the botanical images to sell their works. Naturalists had to find cost effective ways to produce printed images from their drawings of plants and animals. Mark Catesby, for example, learned to etch himself so he would no longer need to pay to have it done.

One of the first items at the entrance to the gallery is a list of subscribers for Robert Furber, a horticulturalist, to offset the costs of his seed catalogue. Subscribers would pay to receive his catalogue before it was completed. This became a common practice as naturalists sought more ways to make money from their works.

Americans also appreciated and studied the world around them with the help of the Enlightenment. Well-known Americans like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Willson Peale were extremely interested in the natural sciences. Thomas Jefferson in particular loved the natural sciences and the flora and fauna in Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, he decided to prove to the Europeans that American plants and animals were just as good as European ones. He even had a moose delivered to the esteemed French naturalist Count Buffon! (see Lee Alan Dugatkin, Jefferson and the Giant Moose, x).

Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, Gilbert Stuart, 1805. Courtesy, The Colonial


Jefferson also wrote his Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson’s book is an

impressive work where he analyzes everything from American slavery to common plants and animals. Perhaps John Banister, an earlier American naturalist, inspired Jefferson.

John Banister (1650-1692) was an early American naturalist. He wrote his Treatise on the Flora and Fauna of Virginia, a highly influential work. Copies have been found in the effects of the first governor of Virginia. Why do you think naturalists would find Virginia to be interesting?

Natural sciences were important in Williamsburg as well. The Bodelian Plate shows the importance of botanicals in Williamsburg.

Bodleian Plate, ca. 1740. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Not many sketches were done of rural cities like Williamsburg in the early days of the colonies. The buildings were so spread out it was difficult to get an accurate picture of the important ones. This plate was commissioned by William Byrd II, to show off the unique and beautiful architecture in Williamsburg. This copperplate would have been used to make ink prints of the College of William and Mary, the Capitol, and the Governor's Palace. It also contains pictures of important bugs and creatures. Do you see the little seahorse? Why do you think the person who designed this picked these plants and animals?

The Fly Catching Macaroni, 1772. Courtesy, The Colonial



Meet Mark Catesby

Bison, Mark Catesby, ca. 1750. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Mark Catesby is known predominantly as the English naturalist who completed the Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. He covered a wide span, and his work is predominantly visual. Catesby believed that “illustration is the most effective vehicle for conveying a meaningful conception of the natural world” (Amy Meyers, Mark Catesby’s Natural History of America, 11). Catesby did preparatory drawings and then did his own etchings for his tome on natural history. The project took him over twenty years, an impressive masterpiece, that has stood as one of the best works of its kind.

Catesby was raised in Essex and most likely studied Latin, based on his extensive knowledge of the language. Also judging by family connections, Catesby was more than likely associated with John Ray, the noted naturalist. Catesby became interested in flora and fauna and soon set his sights on North America. Catesby traveled to Williamsburg to utilize his sister Elizabeth’s home there. She was married to Dr. William Cocke, a doctor in the colonial capital. That means that Mark Catesby studied the same plants and animals that you do here in Virginia!

Catesby conducted his expedition to Virginia from 1712 to 1719. He traveled across the Virginia Tidewater, up the James River, and collected specimens along the way. He also drew as he went. He was prompted by Sir Hans Sloane’s (1660-1753) work to go to Jamaica to look into the West Indies. He would travel

again to the New World where he would begin his famous Natural History. He was able to use his drawings and work from his first expedition to impress well-known naturalists who helped him find a way to go on his next expedition. Several naturalists who sponsored his travels supported Catesby and encouraged him to return to the Americas. He briefly considered traveling to Africa but instead headed for the Carolinas in 1722.

Catesby associated himself with the most affluent families of the Carolinas and utilized these connections to be able to study on these families’ lands. He spent two years visiting the same locations in all four seasons in order to learn as much as he could about the region.

After he created his watercolors and wrote down his in-depth descriptions of the flora and fauna he observed, Catesby returned to London to work on his publication. He utilized the Royal Society of London and subscribers for support. He lacked the funds, however, to send his drawings to Amsterdam or Paris to be copied by professionals. He then had Joseph Goupy (1698-1782) teach him how to etch his own plates.

Catesby lived and worked before famous naturalist Carolus Linneaus’s binomial nomenclature (his brief biography is below). But Catesby’s work stayed relevant over the intervening years and has been reproduced in many volumes since his death. Catesby took a unique approach to his etchings. He showed his subjects interacting with their surroundings. They are not separated as a specimen would be, but placed in an element of their habitat. Examples of this can be seen in the works on this page.

Catesby also used other naturalist’s work and adapted them to his own needs. He used works by John White (1545-1606) and others to show his own observations of how plants and animals interacted with one another. Catesby believed his work to be “reliable disseminators of information about the natural world” taken directly from his observations. He wanted to contribute significantly to his field and he believed his volumes would do so. Catesby wrote, “however

accurately human art may be exercised in the representation of Animals, it falls far more short of that inimitable perfection so visible in nature itself” (Meyers, Mark Catesby’s Natural History, 25).

The Crested Jay, Mark Catesby, ca. 1731. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Catesby believed that birds were the “most numerous and beautiful of living creatures” (Meyers, Mark Catesby’s Natural History, 37). Birds remain popular motifs and decoration today. What kind of objects in your house look like birds or are decorated with birds?

Creeping and Crawling

Watercolor of Spiders, (page 49), Eleazar Albin, 1710-1720. Courtesy, The Colonial


Some naturalists found their greatest interest in things we tend to avoid today. The Fly Catching Macaroni on page 2 reveals how fascinated naturalists were with insects. They might look creepy to us, but the naturalists loved studying


insects and bugs. When they drew them in their books and painted them on their prints, they had to make sure they were symmetrical. Our friend Mark Catesby did a lot of these drawings; Eleazar Albin or a man named Urtipre did the rest. Many of these drawings were used to make books later on by Eleazar Albin.

Buggy Bowls? Artists also used bugs to decorate their vases, plates, bowls, and cups. We have a few here in the galleries!

Bowls, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, ca. 1755. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

These are called “high jarrs.” Do you see the butterflies decorating the surface? Butterflies are some of the prettier bugs. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Can you make a list of the different shapes and colors you see decorating the butterflies wings?

Embroidered Whitework Counterpane, Sarah Wisdom Fulcher, 1812-1818. Courtesy,

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

This scene above was stitched from a painting, but the creator added something. Do you see the bees and bugs flying around the heads of the two figures? Why do you think these were added? Write a story about these two people. What would they say to one another?

Learning from Carolus Linneaus

Linneaus in his Lapland Dress, engraved by Robert Dunkarton after Martin Hoffman, 1805. Courtesy,

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. He is holding a flower in his right hand, showing that he valued

his work with natural subjects.

Carolus Linneaus is best known for devising a system of binomial nomenclature. That means that he devised a system of naming plants and animals using a classifications system. He put animals and plants into a system of Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Genus, and Species. This allowed for names of

animals to be standardized to keep them separate from each other and to keep the same plant from having many different names.

Carolus Linneaus was born in a modest village in Sweden. His father loved flowers and would frequently decorate his crib with flowers. Linneaus’s father taught him the names of plants when he was a child and he became fascinated with learning their titles. Naming plants soon became his lifelong passion.

Linneaus did not take well to study. His mother wanted him to be a pastor like his father and grandfather. But he did not enjoy it and struggled being far away from his family while in school. He would sneak away to look at plants and received the nickname “the little botanist” (Anderson, Carl Linneaus: Father of Classification, 18). Linneaus then learned botany from a local teacher after it became clear that traditional schooling was not benefitting him.

Linneaus then went on to Lund University. He rented a room from the town’s leading doctor who was interested in botany as well and had his own museum of birds, plants, rocks, and shells. The doctor supported Linneaus in his work and gave him free reign of his library and free room and board. Linneaus then transferred to Uppsala University, the oldest school in Sweden. He made friends and attempted to classify the entire animal and plant kingdoms. Linneaus then received a teaching position from one of the professors who was impressed with his work in classification.

He came up with names for plants and animals using a logical and common system. For instance, there are many different kinds of books, including textbooks, fiction and nonfiction books, and picture books. Linneaus utilized a similar system. For example, there are many different types of trees and each have different names. The Linden Tree is known in England as the Lime Tree even though they are the same. However, the Latin genus name Tilia is the same everywhere for the tree (Wilifrid Blunt, Linneaus the Compleat Naturalist, 12). This is Linneaus’s greatest contribution to the

Vase, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, ca. 1755. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation


natural world. If a plant did not have a Latin name, he would add a Latin ending to keep consistency.

Englishman John Ray and Joseph Tournefort, a French Botanist, founded the field of taxonomy. Taxonomy is the naming and classifying of plants. Linneaus built upon this foundation. He worked to create a universal classification. He was not immediately accepted however, as some naturalists resisted using his system of classification. In 1735, Linneaus invented the system now used worldwide in his Systema Naturae. He was an essential part of the Enlightenment focus on the Natural World. He also developed the Species Plantarum that he named and described all known plants.

Linneaus worked extremely hard. He had to take a year off in 1748 because he was making himself ill. At this point he had still not developed a method of binomial nomenclature.

In 1753, he published Species Plantarum, which outlined 5,900 different plant species. He divided animals into different classes and developed the Latin name for humans. He developed the subdivisions of the mammals including primates, seals, dogs, wolves, horses, donkeys, zebras, as well as birds, amphibians, insects, and many others. This work was an amazing and impressive feat that fully established him as a national hero and a leader of modern science.

Blooming Near You! There are hundreds of flowers in this exhibit! Flowers are certainly beautiful and have been popular decoration for objects for centuries. Do you have any flowers growing in your backyard? If so, you would be considered an elite person prior to the Enlightenment and the growth of gardening as a pastime. Before this, flowers and gardens were considered a luxury.

Naturalists documented many different types of flowers. They did their best to depict them accurately in shape, color, and form. This shows how important it was to be skilled as an artist as well as a scientist. Naturalists were truly interdisciplinary.

Dr. Robert John Thornton published large prints of The Temple of Flora (1799) as a tribute to Carolus Linneaus, the botanist discussed earlier. He placed life-sized flowers in front of dramatic and sometimes startling landscapes. They were decidedly unusual. Naturalists had never before included so much of the landscape in their creations.

The Superb Lily, engraved by Richard Earlom after Philip Reinagle, 1799. Courtesy, The Colonial


The dogwood tree is both the Virginia State flower and tree. It seems natural that it would be a popular subject to paint for those studying Virginia. This

Dogwood was painted by English horticulturalist, Georg Dionysius Ehret. A notation on the back states: “This plant is found in all the Northern parts of America, being a Native of the Woods in Virginia, New England, Maryland, and Carolina. It is a very hardy plant and endures our [English] Climate very well…painted on the 18th of that month [May] in the year of 1761 by G.D. Ehret from the plant in my Gardens at South Lodge. F.W.S.” Ehret was well known, and his work is a beautiful representation of the dogwood branch.

CORNUS arborea involucro maximo, Georg Dionysius Ehret, 1761. Courtesy, The Colonial


The natural sciences became important in the arts. Parents began to hire naturalists to teach their daughters to draw and paint flowers and natural subjects.

The Duchess of Beaufort is credited with hiring Ehret to teach her daughter, Lady Henrietta Somerset. She would have enjoyed painting the botanical specimens in her home gardens as Ehret instructed her in watercolor painting at her home. Pick a flower in the collection and do your own sketch of it!

Painting and watercolors were not the only methods of documenting plants and flowers. In 1729, Johann Hieronymus Kniphof, a doctor and professor,

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775


developed a new way to create botanical images. He would press and dry the plant. He would then apply ink directly on it and run it through the printing press. This solved the problems associated with the cost of copper plate prints.

Shipping plants and animals across the ocean in ships presented quite a few challenges. In a letter dated April 1, 1768, the antiquarian John Frere describes to John Norton, a resident of Yorktown, Virginia, the best method to stuff small birds. Suggestions for shipping seeds and plants were equally as important. These methods of preservation were important to those studying the plants and animals to know what they looked like.

Botanical Gardens Gardening quickly became a popular pastime amongst affluent men and women, but it was more than just a fad for the rich. Previously only monarchs and religious orders were able to have gardens to awe and amaze their guests, but this changed quickly throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Broader interest in plants and animals soon became focused on their importation and care.

Royal Hospital at Chelsea, Thomas Bowles and Robert Sayer, ca. 1760. Courtesy, The Colonial


Botanical Gardens were developed in England. Examples include the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea and the Ranelagh Gardens, which were open to the public. These gardens were used for medicinal as well as for personal enjoyment. This trend continues today! Gardens, parks, and arboretums are popular places for scientists, naturalists, and the public to enjoy.

Johann Kniphof was the keeper of the botanic gardens in Erfurt, Germany. Botanical gardens were essential to Europeans’ understanding and learning about plants from America. European gardeners did have one problem however. They would often experience confusion over ordering plants from a nursery and not getting what they expected. Another item in the collection is A Catalogue of Trees, Shrubs, Plants, and Flowers done by the Society of Gardeners from 1730. This is similar to catalogues you might get in the mail today so you know what to buy.

There were also many tools associated with gardening, some that you may have never seen before. The image below shows a personification of the month of June, printed in 1780 by Robert Dighton. Do you see the tool by the woman’s feet? This was used to roll the grass to make it flat. That is very different from lawn-keeping today!

June, Carington Bowles after Robert Dighton, ca. 1780. Courtesy, The Colonial Williamsburg

Foundation

This print also shows several features of gardens and a relatively wealthy woman enjoying the early summer. Draw yourself in a scene like this one participating in your favorite summer activity!

The Historia Plantarum Rariorum, or History of Rare Plants, was published in 1728 to document and illustrate the plants grown in the Chelsea Gardens. The printer, John Martyn, engraved the plates using mezzotint to give the prints dimension. They are particularly important because it represents the first book to be printed in color, rather than being printed in black and white and then painted by hand.

Images of these gardens were printed many different times and were used to design other gardens. They were considered to be very impressive feats of human creativity. Look at the image of the Chelsea Gardens. This survey was done in 1751 by John Haynes. It is on display in the gallery. He has put in pathways, a maze, terraces, and even a pond. It is even beautifully decorated with a floral border that discusses the different plants that grow there.

An Accurate Survey of the Botanic Gardens at Chelsea, John Haynes, 1751. Courtesy, The Colonial


Did you know?

American Indians would not sleep under a magnolia tree when in bloom. They believed that the strong scent caused death.

The Southern magnolia was growing when the dinosaurs roamed the earth.


Explore Colonial Williamsburg’s

Gardens Williamsburg has a reputation for its gardens. The landmark Governor’s Palace and the College of William and Mary employed professional gardeners, shops sold seeds and gardening books, and gardening and botany were an essential part of a gentlemen’s education in the colonial capital. John Custis IV in Colonial Williamsburg was known for his magnificent garden. He was one of Williamsburg’s most affluent residents.

Now that you have learned so much about naturalists, gardens, birds, bugs, and blooms you can take this knowledge out into the historic area of Colonial Williamsburg! There are several gardens in Colonial Williamsburg. They have a few different purposes, but they are all great places to enjoy and learn about how gardens were kept in colonial America.

The Benjamin Powell House has a variety of fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are accurate to the colonial period. Other gardens contain orchards, heirloom flowers, evergreen trees, wells as a focal point, and original brickbat paths. They are an enjoyable place for anyone to visit.

The Bodleian Plate, discussed earlier, helped gardeners to reconstruct the gardens of the Governor’s Palace. The Governor’s Palace had the most famous gardens in Colonial Williamsburg. Look at the images to better understand the complexities of the gardens, then travel there yourself (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg: The Official Guide)!

The Colonial world utilized Enlightenment concepts to begin explaining the world around them with science. They studied plants and animals in order to better understand what kinds of living things populated their world and how best to care for them. Colonial America provided a unique insight into previously unexplored areas. Come explore Colonial Williamsburg and use your naturalist knowledge to learn more!

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Margaret Jean Anderson, Carl Linneaus: Father of Classification (Enslow Publishers, 2009).

Wilfrid Blunt, Linneaus The Compleat Naturalist (Princeton: Princeton University Press,2001).

Lee Alan Dugatkin, Jefferson and the Giant Moose (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009).

Allen Fedducia (ed.), Catesby’s Birds of Colonial America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985).

Amy Meyers, Mark Catesby’s Natural History of America (Houston: Musuem of Fine Arts, 1997).

Sue Ann Prince (ed.), Stuffing Birds, Pressing Plants, Shaping Knowledge (Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 2003).

"Birds, Bugs and Blooms: Observing the Natural World in the 18th Century." The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Colonial Williamsburg: The Official Guide (The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2014).

This photograph is of the back exit of the Governor’s Palace. You can see

the coat of arms over top of the door.

The pathways and boxwoods crisscross the first layer of the terraced gardens.

This archway stretches alongside the gardens. It is an excellent example of the

garden’s creativity and ingenuity. The gardens also contain a maze and decorative sculptures amongst other features. They are

an excellent place to explore on a visit to Colonial Williamsburg!

About the Public History CenterThe Public History Center (PHC) at CNU promotes innovative approaches to communicating history to the public. Its mission is not only to foster a broader understanding of the importance of history, but also to forge closer relationships between CNU and world-class museums, archives, and public history agencies located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. The PHC also matches CNU students with internships in which they obtain real-world professional training and develop outside-the-classroom skills while serving the community—a true service-learning experience.

In August 2014 we launched CNU’s Public History Center with Dr. Sheri Shuck-Hall, Associate Professor of History, serving as Director. In our first months, the PHC helped design programs associated with the arrival of the French ship L’Hermione to Hampton Roads, including organizing a team of history student volunteers that ushered over 8,000 members of the public onboard that spectacular frigate. The PHC’s Associate Director, Dr. Thomas Hall (Associate Professor of Economics and Finance) designed and managed the implementation of a survey to over 1,650 members of the public during the ship’s visit to Yorktown. Soon we will announce the release of an economic impact report based on the survey data that we collected at that once-in-a-lifetime event.

In our first year we developed a career workshop series, Piece of Public History, which introduces CNU students to professionals working at first-rate public history agencies, including the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Mariners’ Museum, Fort Eustis Cultural Resources Management, Fort Monroe, the National Park Service, and more to come. The PHC also organizes public forums under our series, Why History Matters, covering such topics as the history of Scotland’s recent independence referendum, the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, and the Yorktown victory of Franco-American forces in 1781. We are excited about our event coming up on April 13 that will re-examine Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion. Given the buzz surrounding Hampton Roads’ native Nate Parker and his new film treatment of the same subject, The Birth of a Nation (2016), we expect a very thought-provoking evening. If you would like more information, or would be willing to support student internships, History in Action, and PHC public events and programs, please visit our website, http://cnu.edu/publichistorycenter/support/ and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/CNUPublicHistoryCenter/)!

The PHC would like to thank: Patricia Balderson, Manager of Museum Education at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, for providing outstanding opportunities to our student interns; Shannon Combs, whose extraordinary efforts helped launch this maiden issue; Nancy Wilson for her expert ability on all fronts; Dyllan Cecil (PHC Fellow, Class of 2017) for her constant dedication and service to the PHC; Courtney Michel for her amazing designs; Bruce Bronstein and his exceptional PR team; and CNU’s Department of History, the College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Office, and the Office of the Provost for their continued support.

CNUPublicHistoryCenter @CNUPublHistCntr CNUPublicHist

history in action volume i-issue i

Documents