THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 13, 1995 TAG: 9505130248
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
It was nearly three hours past their normal lunchtime Friday, and the seventh-graders' attention was drifting from the early 19th-century life on display inside historic Fort Norfolk to their stomachs.
But a few hunger pangs may have heightened their appreciation for the hardships faced by Americans in earlier times. They got a taste of that life from ``living history'' characters, including a sharp-dressed U.S. infantryman stationed at the fort during the War of 1812, and hard-working women in bonnets and long dresses.
``After a while it would have gotten tiring,'' said Sarah Thomas, 12, a student at Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach. ``You wouldn't have the luxury of the high-tech stuff we have. You'd have to work out in the fields and make your own clothes and bread - you couldn't just have gone out to the store to buy something.''
Bringing history to life for Virginia's school students is emerging as a valuable new attraction here at Fort Norfolk, a white-washed brick structure built in 1810 on the shore of the Elizabeth River to protect the port city from British attack.
The Princess Anne students got a bonus Friday: They got a sneak preview of some of the exhibits and costumed characters in town for the Norfolk Historical Society's annual War of 1812 Weekend. The event is open to the public and kicks off at 10 a.m. today in the fort.
``I think it's really neat,'' said Jessica Weller, 12, after getting the chance to make her own candle - out of paraffin, not the beeswax or animal fat used in the early 1800s. ``They make it more visual than what you'd get in class, and it helps us understand more.''
The fort, a little-known link to Norfolk's rich seafaring past, remains one of the most pristine in the nation dating to the War of 1812.
The historical society has embarked on a campaign to promote the fort as a drawing card for tourism and economic development. This year, working with the Chrysler Museum of Art and its historic houses tours, the society began offering the ``living history'' program for school students.
``We want to teach kids not only to enjoy history but to learn from it,'' said Rick Salzberg, the society's director. ``When you look at the word history, `story' is the root, and that's how you have to teach it.''
While Virginia ponders overhauling its standards for teaching social studies, Willie Balderson, who regaled students Friday about U.S. military life in 1812, weighed in with his own thoughts.
``It's not names and dates and places - or if it is, it's identifying them with a tangible person,'' said Balderson of Richmond who had stepped into the role of recruiting Sgt. Jeremiah Dawson, stationed at Fort Norfolk in 1812 with the 35th U.S. Infantry.
``I'm a firm believer in time lines, that everything has a cause and effect,'' Balderson said. ``We are contributors to history, we have a history - you and I - and I think students lose sight of that sometime.''
Lady Jay of Norfolk portrayed a soldier's wife for the students. She stitched a ``sampler,'' explaining the needlework was used to teach kids their ABCs and often contained religious messages.
``When you wanted clothes, you made them,'' she said.
The Princess Anne students belong to a class called the ``Nomads,'' an experimental cluster of about 100 youngsters working with a team of teachers that merge history with language arts. In 90-minute classes, twice as long as a typical class, students study historic documents and read literature of the time under discussion.
``We call ourselves history travelers,'' said Connie Solheim, a language arts teacher. ``This gives them a connection, a hands-on and visual reinforcement.''
In their studies on the War of 1812, student Sarah Thomas said she prepared a 3-minute oral presentation, a 2 1/2-page report and a poster.
``Even though we had to do all that, I've learned even more,'' she said after the fort tour. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by PAUL AIKEN
Brian Howard - dressed as a U.S. soldier from the 19th century -
leads Princess Anne Middle School students around Fort Norfolk.
``Living history'' characters showed students what life was like
during the War of 1812.
Sgt. Jeremiah Dawson (Willie Balderson) berates one of his recruits
(Princess Anne Middle School student Bryan Harvey) for the 35th U.S.
Infantry at Fort Norfolk.
NAUTICUS EVENT
British conscription of Americans in the years leading up to the
War of 1812 is the subject of a one-man historic re-enactment today
at Nauticus in Norfolk.
Mark Greenough will portray an American merchant sea captain
outraged at the encounter between the British ship Leopard and the
U.S. frigate Chesapeake. The performance, presented by the Hampton
Roads Naval Museum at Nauticus, is 2 p.m. at the Nauticus Changing
Gallery. Admission is free.
by CNB