When I was in college people often asked me, “What will you do with your degree…teach?” As an aspiring living historian/reenactor, the answer I always gave was “no,” because I did not plan to become a schoolteacher or professor. But looking back on it, I realized that the dissemination of historical knowledge to people through reenactment is teaching—though perhaps not in a traditional sense.

The terminology for people who impart historical knowledge through performance varies. The hobby (as it is often called) has many faces: soldier, trapper, tinsmith, laundress, or lady, to name a few. Most people involved in historical reenacting do so for a variety of reasons. They may like camping; they may like firing historic weapons; or they may like being with friends and family. Whatever the reason, you can be certain that most people dressed in period clothes do not do so for comfort.

6th Infantry re-enactors at the Yellowstone Lodge #88 Historic Masonic Site, adjacent to Fort Buford State Historic Site. Yellowstone Lodge #88 was on the Fort Buford Military Reservation.

Wearing a wool uniform or leather tunic is not comfortable. Women who portray officers’ wives wearing corsets and several petticoats or laundresses toiling over a hot fire are not comfortable. So why are they doing this? I know a former art teacher who makes pottery and sells it at events, but he also loves the camaraderie and history aspects of being a reenactor. Others do it because they enjoy the activities associated with it, like camping, shooting, acting, or modeling period clothing. If you talk to most living historians, however, you would find that the camaraderie of the historical reenactor world is the biggest draw—meeting and interacting with others who are deeply interested in all things historical.

The majority of historical reenactors are ordinary people who relive history for fun and to get away from a fast-paced, technological world. Like anything, though, this hobby has extreme participants.

At one end of the spectrum are the “Farbs” (a fabricated impression). This is a term given to some participants who continue with historical reenactment after being politely told that their impression contains inaccuracies, like, “they would have never worn polyester” or “tennis shoes were not invented yet.” Most people will learn from these comments, often with help from fellow reenactors. They try to improve their impressions, even going so far as to research details on their own.

At the other end of the spectrum are the hardcore “living historians.” These individuals go to great lengths to make sure every detail of their outward garb is accurate. One of the contracted background artists for Gettysburg went as far as urinating into a jar full of brass buttons to get the correct patina. Most living historians, however, are in the middle somewhere (myself included). They do their research and listen to other historians to hone their impressions.

The author wearing an 1872 pleated blouse while reenacting frontier military at Fort Buford State Historic Site.

I have been a Civil War reenactor for 35 years. My own reasons for participating in this activity are simply put: I enjoy the firearms, the people, the fresh air, and the questions asked by visitors about the weapons, trappings, and uniforms.

If you have ever held a Civil War musket and looked at the workmanship of the wood and metal, you will see the amazing skill it took to craft such a firearm. There are many variations of muskets, and most were used during the Civil War. Camping with just a blanket and a dog tent is exhilarating (well, it used to be). The enormous number of questions asked by visitors and audiences is stunning. There is always one about wearing a wool uniform on a hot day, “Aren’t you warm in that?”

As his name implies, Robert Lee Hodge is reenacting a Confederate soldier. He looks and acts the part of a underfed, clothes scavenging, hard core Confederate veteran soldier.

It is wonderful when the questions someone asks are about something I know very well, and about which I can provide a lot of information. For me, that would be any question about Fort Seward, strategy during Gettysburg, or any other major battle of the Civil War. “Do you think Robert E. Lee was off his game during Gettysburg?” (Yes.) “Could the South have won with Stonewall Jackson?” (Yes.) And if the answer to a question is not clear, it makes me curious. I then go read the relevant historical accounts to glean an answer, if there is one. With those questions, I usually answer like any teacher would: “That is a good question. I don’t know for sure, but will look deeper into it.” In this sense, living historians are also lifelong learners. The truly best questions come from young people. It thrills me to answer their questions. From these encounters, I always feel there is hope that the work that living historians do to preserve the past will continue.

Next time there is a living history demonstration going on near you, I recommend that you watch and ask questions of the participants. You will see the light in their eyes and the passion they carry in their hearts for what they do.

A museum preparator handles objects from storage to display, ensuring that they are safe and secure while allowing the public to have the optimal viewing experience.

If I do my job right, no one should notice. There is a great deal of planning and teamwork with all aspects of an exhibit installation or general maintenance of the museum galleries and state historic sites. I rely on the expertise of supremely qualified experts to help in all aspects of my daily work. This is part 1 of a two-part blog to share some of those efforts.

For example, at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum, I had to protect the mastodon while contractors worked on lighting fixtures above it. A protective tarp had to be deployed easily and quickly to protect the object while the contractors worked, but also had to be stowed above the mastodon when not in use so as to not affect the viewing of the artifact. We went with the tent method, which prompted many jokes, some of the best being: “He is the worst at hide and seek,” “He is cold,” or “He had fleas and we were fumigating.” So many jokers!

The video below shows the task of taking the mastodon off display in the old gallery, putting it in the Governors Gallery for storage while the State Museum expansion was completed, and then installing it in the current location. Needless to say, I didn’t want to take it completely apart to move it again. This video shows the solution. We built a gantry on wheels, attached the mastodon, and took him for a ride…easy-peasy!

I research small fossil teeth; VERY small fossil teeth. At times these fossil teeth can be submillimeter in size. While a benefit of this is that they do not take up much storage space, one downside is that they can be somewhat difficult to see and study. As I discussed in a previous blog post sometimes it is difficult to even find them in the first place. An obvious solution to the problem of studying these tiny teeth is the microscope. However, there are still problems with viewing teeth of this micro size. Often when looking at these teeth through the microscope, not all of the tooth will be in focus at once due to the narrow focal point. This makes studying these small teeth difficult, as a researcher can only view a small portion of the tooth’s surface at a time. Thankfully, there is a solution to this problem.

By taking a series of photos at different “elevations” along the surface of the tooth, it is possible to create an in-focus image. This is accomplished with a computer program that seamlessly blends or “stacks” these photos together. What you wind up with is an in-focus image that is the result of combining all the focused points of each photo together. In general, the more images you take of the tooth and stack together, the better your final photo. For demonstration purposes please see figures 1-4.

Figure 1: Level “A” is the lowest in-focus slice. Note that only the metal pin (lower left) and the bubbled glue and pin head (upper right) are in focus.

Figure 2: Level “B” is the middle in-focus slice. Note that only the in color sections of the tooth are in focus.

Figure 3: Level “C” is the top in-focus slice. Note that only the in color sections of the tooth are in focus.

Figure 4: This is the final “stacked” image and is the result of putting all the other images together. Essentially, A + B + C = D. Note that now the entire tooth is in focus.

It was a morning of total frustration. I couldn’t read the caption beneath the photo in a seventh-grade geography book.

In hindsight, the reason is clear. I was six years old, a first grader at Hiddenwood School #2, and l hadn't yet learned to read. The photograph I was puzzling over was of South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore. The “big kids” were reading the geography text; I was stuck with Fun with Dick and Jane.

Teacher and students in a one-room country school (SHSND 0032-BK-05-07)

I was reminded of this experience during a recent visit to the Inspiration Gallery: Yesterday and Today in the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. Next to the Nancy Hendrickson house is a photograph of a teacher and her nine students in a one-room country school. A date on the blackboard reads “October 20, 1910.”

One-room country schools were still prevalent in North Dakota in the mid-1950s. It is estimated 3,795 of these school buildings existed in 1955; 2,355 of those were actually in session.¹ I attended the one-room Hiddenwood School #2. Hiddenwood #1 was three miles north; #3 was three miles south.

Even though I attended a one-room school decades later, my memories of Hiddenwood #2 are exactly as pictured in the 1910 photograph: the chalkboard (ours was green); the wooden desks; the stern, no-nonsense teacher; the self-conscious students; and the stack of books.

Even the number of students is the same: two of us in first grade, two in seventh grade, and one each in the grades between. The ratio of boys to girls was different, though; we only had one girl, Sylvia, who was in fifth grade. The rest were boys from farms as far as 2.5 miles away.

Washington, Sir Galahad, and "Regulator" clock

Nine wooden desks faced the front of the room. On the wall over the chalkboard was the wooden Regulator clock that our teacher wound every morning. On either side of the clock were two pictures: Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington on the right, George Frederick Watts’ Sir Galahad on the left. The meaning of the Stuart picture was evident. We weren’t so sure about the Sir Galahad picture.

Recent research in the State Archives revealed the reason for Sir Galahad’s placement next to the clock:

In any event the teacher should decree that nothing but beautiful things shall be hung upon the walls. Better bare walls than debased or debasing art; better nothing in the way of decoration than decoration which is worse than nothing. The following list may prove useful to the country teacher who wishes to be able to name one desirable work of art…²

The list included Watts’ Sir Galahad.

As I wrote in my last blog post, I grew up in a slower, simpler time. I described my boyhood as one that could have taken place in the mythical community of Andy Griffith’s Mayberry. This simple country school was a big part of the mystique, and there was no “debasing” art in it.

I remember the smell of the green sweeping compound scattered and then swept up before leaving for the weekend, the long walk to school every day (460 feet, door to door), and the house flies we imprisoned in the ink wells on our desks.

My most vivid memory is of the McLean County bookmobile that stopped at our school once a month. We were each limited to borrowing 10 books per visit. We had read and reread the books in our country school library, many of them missing covers and pages. The traveling bookmobile opened up a world that satisfied my curiosity about Mount Rushmore and introduced me to many other wonders.

Hiddenwood #2

I was frustrated to read the 2014 news story of the burning of the old schoolhouse. The building was beyond repair and was becoming an eyesore. I was content, though, to be able to read the story of its end, an ability I owe to my five formative years at Hiddenwood #2. While we can’t go back in time, I’m delighted to be able to use the State Archives to research information, find photos, and learn more about my childhood school.

---

¹ Warren A. Henke and Everett C. Albers, The Legacy of North Dakota’s Country Schools (North Dakota Humanities Council, 1998), v.
² O.J. Kern, Among Country Schools (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1906), 102.

Sometimes amazing things come in old boxes. Unfortunately, those old boxes are not usually archival to best preserve the items inside. As I have been re-housing some of our older collections, I have come across so many amazing things and want to share them with you!

This summer our volunteers in the archaeology lab helped the staff process artifacts owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This involved repackaging artifacts in archival materials, cataloging and labeling artifacts, and archiving paper records and photos. These collections are from sites in North Dakota located on federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife lands.

Some of the pottery sherds in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife collection from Sargent County are net impressed. This means that the potter used a net to finish the outer surface of the vessel. If you look closely, you can see impressions of the knots and diamond-shape pattern made by cords on the sherds. This is not something we see every day, so it was very exciting when Fern Swenson, our division director (and a ceramicist) confirmed that these were indeed impressed with a net!

Net impressed sherds from site 32SA211 (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Collection, 2015A.30.1370, 2015A.30.1210, 2015A.30.1207, 2015A.30.1206, 2015A.30.1191)

We also cataloged two barbed fishing spears from the Irvin Nelson site (32BE208) near Devils Lake in Benson County. These are likely made out of bison bone and are the first that I have seen. But as I would find out a few weeks later, these aren’t the only fishing spear tips in North Dakota’s archaeology collections.

While going through a box that was part of an older, privately donated collection, I was excited to find another bone fishing spear tip! This tip is from a site in Burleigh County.

Bone barbed fishing spear tips from 32BE208--left and center (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Collection, 2015A.19.21, 2015A.30.20) and 32BL4--far right (SHSND A&HP, 1739)

Another item in the same box worth mentioning is a tchung-kee stone made out of a rock that has been pecked and ground into a smooth doughnut shape. It was broken in half at some point in the past, but the pieces still refit together.

Tchung-kee stone (SHSND A&HP 1736)

These stones were used to play a competitive game of skill. You can see artist George Catlin’s 1832 painting of Mandan people playing tchung-kee at americanart.si.edu/artwork/tchung-kee-mandan-game-played-ring-and-pole-4407. The next time you visit the North Dakota Heritage Center & Museum, take a look at a scene based on Catlin’s painting in the cyclorama of Double Ditch village in the Innovation: Early Peoples Gallery.

Illustration of people playing tchung-kee at Double Ditch Village (SHSND, original art by Rob Evans)

Speaking of Double Ditch, I also came across two unique artifacts from that site. This projectile point with notched edges is very thin and skillfully made.

Projectile point with notched edges from Double Ditch Village (32BL8) (SHSND A&HP, 4607)

Another artifact is this ceramic effigy node—an animal-shaped piece of clay that was part of a pottery rim. The rim sherd is also cord-impressed--a cord or thin rope was pressed into the wet clay to make a pattern or design.

Two views of the animal effigy node on a pottery sherd from Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site (32BL8) (SHSND A&HP, 4488)

The last old box that I inventoried contained a shell pendant. North Dakota’s Chief Archaeologist Paul Picha identified it as a “money cowrie” shell (Monetaria moneta), which likely came from Africa. These were used as trade goods during the 18th century fur trade.

A “money cowrie” shell pendant from 32MO29 (SHSND A&HP 13629.X)

This week has been the week of atlatl weights (and that is not something most archaeologists get to say). In the same collection as the shell pendant, I found an atlatl weight. These are beautifully made, but not very common– they usually trump anything else on our “Find of the Day” board in the lab. Yesterday, a volunteer who is helping re-house a privately donated collection found the second atlatl weight of that week.

The “Find of the Day” board in the archaeology lab is a fun way to find outwhat interesting things have been seen in the lab recently. If you ever are on a tour of the archaeology lab, be sure to notice what is listed on the board.I If the artifact is still in the lab, we will be happy to show it to you! (SHSND)

Atlatl weights, the bottom weight is from 32MO29 (SHSND A&HP 13629.Z), the top weight is from 32MO37 (SHSND A&HP 1986.226.7595)

Atlatls were used to launch darts in North Dakota before the bow and arrow--from Paleoindian times through the Woodland Period. Weights were attached to atlatls to provide additional stability and balance.

This hunter is preparing to throw his dart by fitting it to his atlatl. A stone weight is attached to this atlatl with a sinew cord (SHSND, illustration by Meagan Schoenfelder)

We have hundreds of boxes to re-house over the next few years, so I will share more with you from my expeditions to our collections storage rooms!

We all have things we hold onto for far too long. Clean-up projects hit the trifecta of misery.

Redesigning a website is a series of time-consuming chores that are psychologically, emotionally, and financially overwhelming. And it doesn’t help that most of us hardly know where to start-it’s much easier to convince yourself that technically, the site still functions, right? With our dedicated education team, we had the difficult conversation about our North Dakota Studies website and made the call to redesign it.

Website redesign is not a small task, but let’s face it. You probably need it. Why?

1. To create a better user experience.
User or customer experience (UX or CX) are industry jargon for what gets down to the question of who is your customer? When we began the revamp of the ndstudies.gov website, we took a hard look at our numbers. How many students does ND serve? How are our users finding us?

2. Your website isn’t working.
Think of how many screens you encounter in a day. Phones, smart tvs, tablets, smart watches, laptops or notebooks, desktops, smartboards if you’re in a classroom. If you haven’t looked at your website across multiple devices, you have work to do. There might also be places where you want to reorganize or change terms that make sense to your industry, but aren’t that common outside of the silo to better serve your users. And keep an eye on the horizon. Have you thought about how smart speakers might affect your site traffic?

Have you thought about it? Be honest.

3. Haul stuff away to make room for what’s important
When you’ve covered what you can handle (internal resources) and what the audience wants, it’s time for action.

We decided to prioritize our newest online educational content:
Grade 4
Grade 8
Energy

And we made sure we still had room for growth.

How do you decide what to keep on your site? Here is a quick cheat sheet of strategic questions to ask when dealing with content on your website that maybe doesn’t fit into the new structure-

Browser support
If a project is done in a program like flash, it’s no longer supported in browsers. End it.

Usage
There is a difference between a low use area and dying area. Low use might be worth keeping or redoing in the future. The dying track is just that. It is OK to remove content that is at the end of its lifespan.

Analysis and Audit
This will save your team from “But it’s so good” syndrome. What your team thinks is fantastic material isn’t always what the customer values. If material doesn’t help your users, it isn’t fantastic. Each area has to be reviewed and taken on its own merits.

Some decisions are easier than others.  At the end of the day, it all comes down to serving the  people of North Dakota. And with our new ndstudies.gov website we can do that better. Which comes with the side effect of increased web traffic. Win win!

That's an increase of 312%

When you visit ndstudies.gov, you probably don’t think about the people behind the screens in the museum producing all of the online learning options for North Dakota. You are probably thinking about the information you need to find to tackle the job you need to do. You want accurate information that you can find in a flash. Great websites mean continual improvement so that users have a great website experience.

Wow. You guys really like venn diagrams.

And great website experiences have people coming back for more. Thanks North Dakota!

Here's a venn diagram just for you.