First Person Perspectives [Guest Post!]

This month I did something different. I decided to reach out to my community of friends who also blog about things historical and try to tap into resources that are not always available to me. Besides, it is always neighborly to ask friends to mutually enhance our respective audiences and appeal. Classic win-win. This post is about First Person Interpretation and will go into detail about what that is. As a matter of styling, I decided on a Question and Answer format. I included my friend's link to her blog and other relevant links in her introduction. I also recently wrote a post on her blog, and simply must encourage you to look through her other posts and get to know more about what she thinks...

Q:Tell us about yourself.

A: Hi everyone, I am the writer of Historic Stitches LostTraditions blog, and the owner of Grandma’s Tools on Etsy. My main job is First Person Interpretation at the re-creation of the 1620s Plimoth Plantation. I work in the Craft Center baking bread and talking about textiles, the grist mill as a third person interpreter, and now third person in the Village talking about food and so much more. At home I make modern and recreated pieces of knitted and sewn garments and accessories. I sew, knit, tat lace, spin, bake, cook and whatever else comes my way. I guess you could say I am a Jane-of-all-trades. My blog talks about the history and tools of those trades, the how-to's and my adventures at trying out these things. I think historic arts such as textiles, food, woodwork, and animals [animal husbandry] are something that we need to preserve and protect not only to remember our past but to better our future.

Hard at work in Plimoth Plantation

Q: How do you define First Person Interpretation?

A: First Person Interpretation is when you tell a story from the point of view of either an actual person or made up person based on a couple of people from a specific time and place to help tell a larger story. At Plimoth Plantation, one of the most well-known museums for its interpretation program, the stories are of the actual people who settled there between 1620 and 1624. First person not only allows you to look into their history but also the people themselves. We bring to life people who have long since passed by telling their story through stories, food, activities and interaction. We hope to allow visitors to be immersed into the world of these early settlers. It brings a human element to history that is often looked over in traditional museums.  

Paintings like this tell us about everything from our look to our food. Nathaniel Bacon - Cookmaid with Still Life of Vegetables and Fruit (1620s) - Google Search

Q: What are the visitor benefits and problems they have with visiting first person interpretation sites?

A: Well, one of the major benefits is that you get a person by person view of a story. One person may tell you about religion, while another may tell you about cooking. As well as that you get to totally immerse yourself into a culture. One of the things we strive for is real human interaction. You get glimpses into our day-to-day lives you don’t really see in third person interpretation. For example, last year I was in my house when my “neighbor” came in. She had come into borrow something out of my house. I had a room full of people and without stepping away from what I was talking to them about, I asked “How is your father doing?” and she responded. I told her I had made an extra loaf of bread the day before, and had just finished making some oil of rose and to please tell him I would bring them by for him later. She responded, “Thank you, that is kind of you and I will let him know.” Now the truth is I had done none of those things but it sparked questions with visitors such as, who is her father, why are you bringing him bread and oil of rose, what is oil of rose, etc., and it gave me a chance to interpret something that they may not have asked otherwise.

The problem is, on the other side, we don’t leave character. Once I am in costume I am in character in front of the visitors. This means when they ask me a third person question like “What is a TV?” or “Is this the original site?” they can’t get a straight answer. We will answer to the best of our ability but it still frustrates some visitors. To the TV question I like to respond, “Master, I think you are missing a letter in there, it is t-u-v,” which usually gets a laugh. When asked “Is this the original site?” I get around it by saying “You know where the ship is,” Some will nod their heads knowing Mayflower 2 is docked down the way. “Well, that is what you see from the fort and our fields stretch two English miles down to the Eel River south of us and One English Mile to the north towards Strawberry Hill." Once they look at a map, it makes sense that the village today is at the end of the south fields at the Eel River and Plimoth then is now downtown Plymoth.

Q:What are the benefits and challenges in giving first person interpretation?

A: Well, first in mind is I get to wear really cool clothes (ok, they are warm clothes since it is wool and lots of layers). Our costuming department works very hard to give us accurate clothing based off of originals and paintings. Also, I get to talk in a 17th century accent and say fun words. Last year I was from Somerset, England, so for me 'ants' were 'emants' but the year before I was from London so 'ants' were 'pissants'; this year I am from Lancashire so they are just 'ants'. On the plus side, this year I will pronounce the word ewe (a female sheep) as 'yo'; something my other dialects haven't allowed. Getting to play a real person, and it is a different kind of challenge. I not only need to think about the story but how my person related to that. This year I am the wife of a magistrate, last year the Governor, and the year before a carpenter. What I know this year is different than what I knew last year or the year before. Not just because my husband is different either, I have to think about what my family background is. Last year, I was one of 7, this year they know about her Uncle, that she has a brother and sisters and about her father. Last year all of my sisters had names and so did my father, this year none of them do so I will have to take some liberties if someone asks me. I also need to think about where have I been; last year I was from Somerset and moved to Leiden, Holland, when I was about 14 and then moved to London before 1617 and then came to New England a widow in 1623. This year I was (as far as they know) in none of those places, so the stories I tell will be very different from last year.

This does present a challenge though, learning not only a new life story but how they talk. Language is not one of my strong suits, so learning a 17^th century English dialect is very difficult for me. I spend every week focusing on one part of my dialect with visitors until it is where I want it. So for the first week we are open I will be concentrating on dropping my H’s from words like hill, house and hope. The following week I will work on how I should pronounce my R’s. I will slip up, sometimes saying a word like a Londoner or someone from Somerset.

One of the other challenges I find is to know where to draw the line between 1^st and 3^rd Person Interpretation. You begin to think of yourself as that person, so I will say when I am in 3^rd, “I came on the Mayflower” when I should say, “Susanna came on the Mayflower.” Then when I am in the village people ask. “Where is the bathroom?” I have to determine are they asking me where I use the bathroom, or do they need the bathroom. Then also knowing when to drop 1^st Person. When there is an emergency, it is obvious; but when they are frantic because they just don’t get that we are role players and fear for our sanities we have to ask ourselves,”Do I wink at them to help them understand” or I say, “You know it isn't real; we are acting.”

Q: Why should we do first person interpretation?

A: I think 1st is extremely important because you get a look into a life with both the goods and bads that you don’t in other kinds of museums. You get to see plants growing, and people mending clothing and houses. You get to interact in a way not possible otherwise. In 3^rd I can talk a persons’ ear off about how hard life was but seeing me wearing the clothing and hoeing the soil or hauling water up a hill really helps put it in prospective. Of course, it is also a great picture opportunity so you get really strong because you have to stop every second as you haul 10 pounds of water, wood, or manure up the hill. You can really grasp fear and hope in this style that doesn't always read in artifacts and display cases. I have had people cry after finding out “I” left my children behind. I have had visitors who finally understood why these people came here. I think the most memorable though are the visitors who say it was more memorable for them because they got to smell the food, they got to see me mend, pat the animals and listen to me tell my story.  

Books like good news from New England and William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation tell us about the people, who came to New England.

Q: How do your experiences as a Historical Interpreter influence what you write about in your blog?

A: I write about life. I talk about sewing, cooking, and life experiences. I have found through Historical Interpretation that most people want you to throw dates, names, and events at them, but if you can get them past that notion that such things are all that history is about, then you can help them dive into a wonderful world of experience. I don’t care when “Alice” or “James” came but what was their experience? What drove them to move, did they have children, what did they do? Why do we do the things we do? It is because I think most of all it is about tradition and passion. I sew because my mom taught me, and I found a passion in it. I tat because my grandma did and it was a way to connect to her after she died. I teach because history has shown me that when we stop teaching we stop moving forward. Yes, I know I can buy socks at Wal-Mart but knowing I made them and that I am carrying on not only an ancient art but also a beautiful one makes them so much more than a pair of socks.

Q: How has your blog helped you connect your experiences as an interpreter to people in real life or through the internet?

A: In real life I have noticed it has helped me create a broader range of what I can talk about when I am in 3^rd and sometimes 1^st person. Through research I have done for my blog, I can talk more about how things move and interact. I once had a conversation about bread. As a historical baker that isn't shocking, but what was is shocking is the fact I was able to connect it to religion, milling, and textiles. After some research for a blog about bread I had a conversation with a visitor about how bread is something that stretches across cultures and time. The 1^st Testament in the Bible mentions bread on more than one occasion. It is something the poor and the rich alike eat, and today, although it is rather cheap and sometimes looked at negatively, there was a time when bread was on every table at every meal, and after you put down your table linens, the next thing was your salt, drink and bread. If I hadn't done the research for the blog, our conversation wouldn't have been so varied.  

Ovens like this give us an idea of how ours should look Post-Medieval Iron bread oven; 1501-1600 Unknown © Museum of London

Q: What would you say to a person who is looking into getting into first person interpretation and they are not sure if they should? What advice can you give them?

A: Well, it fell in my lap. Plimoth Plantation wasn't hiring but I sent in my resume anyways, thinking maybe I could help in the textiles department or education. I was sent an email from the village supervisor asking for an interview. I was so happy to be back in New England I jumped at the chance for a museum job not thinking it through. I am so glad I didn't. It is a wonderful challenge, and gives me a chance to do something I wouldn't otherwise get to do. I get to do what I love. I get to garden, sew, and cook and all in funny clothes. If you are thinking about it and debating if it is for you, here is what I would ask you to think about: would it frustrate me that I can’t give them a straight answer or get out of character, am I comfortable with wearing sometimes warm clothing, am I comfortable working in sometimes unsanitary conditions and getting dirty, and most of all, do I want to have fun? If any of them are no, stick with 3^rd or your day job. If any are maybe, then trust me, you either get over it or used to it, and if any are yes, well then, maybe you've found your calling.