Purpose of the Learning From London Town Grant

Purpose of the London Town Grant

Learning From London Town In Colonial Maryland

A Humanities Focus Grant

awarded by The National Endowment for the Humanities

Since August of 1997, a team of teachers from The Key School has worked with a variety of scholars to learn from a study of the lost colonial town of London, Maryland how to address the following three questions:

What fresh perspectives on colonial society will be opened by collaborative scholarship based on archaeology, records, and museum collections?
How can teachers incorporate this new scholarship to enrich their teaching?
How can student activities best be designed to incorporate this integrated scholarship in the study of colonial society to enhance learning and to serve as a model for other topics in history?

Overview of Sessions with Scholars Funded by the Grant :

Key School teachers Jane Hicks, Marilyn Meyerson, Stewart Moss, Jayne Karsten and John Shaifer clean artifacts at the Anne Arundel County Archaeology laboratory. In addition to addressing the three questions, study under this grant was divided into three general categories of activity: work with scholars, collaborative design of student activities, and the construction of a web site to disseminate these student activities. The first four sessions of the grant held- August 5 and 6; 12 and 13 - at London Town and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology lab, engaged the teachers in a hands-on experience of methods archaeologists use in the ongoing dig at London Town which was led by the museum's Education Director, Elizabeth A. Seidel During these sessions, archaeologist, Dr. Al Luckenbach explained how he and the Maryland's Lost Towns Team have unearthed the lost towns of Providence and London and contributed new insight into the study of colonial life. The participants put what they had learned from these presentations into practice in follow-up field and lab work. Key School teacher Charlie Flanagan uses ground penetrating radar equipment at London Town.

In addition to addressing the three questions, study under this grant was divided into three general categories of activity: work with scholars, collaborative design of student activities, and the construction of a web site to disseminate these student activities. The first four sessions of the grant held- August 5 and 6; 12 and 13 - at London Town and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology lab, engaged the teachers in a hands-on experience of methods archaeologists use in the ongoing dig at London Town which was led by the museum's Education Director, Elizabeth A. Seidel During these sessions, archaeologist, Dr. Al Luckenbach explained how he and the Maryland's Lost Towns Team have unearthed the lost towns of Providence and London and contributed new insight into the study of colonial life. The participants put what they had learned from these presentations into practice in follow-up field and lab work.

Sessions held in September at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis explored the insights that archival records provide on colonial life and how computers can be used to use bring these documents into the classroom. Led by State Archivist, Edward C. Papenfuse, and Archives Education Director, Dr. R.J. Rockefeller, these sessions introduced the teachers to the types of records which historians use to investigate the past, beginning with a discussion of the property and probate records which have been central to guiding the work of the Lost Town's Team. These sessions introduced a second scholarly methodology to the group, but also underscored the complementary relationship of artifactual evidence and documents. Drawing Archaeologist Liz West and Key School teacher Jane Hicks use global positioning equipment at London Town. from ongoing research by contemporary historians, the archivists led a discussion of documents - presented in web page formatted lessons - to situate London Town in the context of Maryland's eighteenth-century political, economic and cultural change. The final session at the Archives featured an examination of town plans, architecture and works of art, in a discussion of a how material culture reflects the emergence of a new stratification in colonial society. These sessions were valuable in demonstrating the variety of documents and revealing how they can augment artifact-based study. The archivists' educational and computer expertise were invaluable in providing practical examples of web page-based lessons through which archival material can be integrated in classroom work.

The work with the staff of the State Archives was complemented by a session with historian, Lois Green Carr, on October 7. Dr. Carr addressed the challenge of investigating the everyday life in the colonial times by "walking" the participants through the thought process and record types she used in researching the life of seventeenth-century Marylander, Daniel Clocker. Her rule of thumb that evidence is preserved when individuals come in contact with the government gave new insight into how to read probate and court records. Conversation with her also provided an opportunity to learn about the methods and sources contemporary social historians use to address life in colonial towns. Of particular value to the teachers was Dr. Carr's demonstration that inventories hold every bit of the allure the August sessions had lent to artifacts; each invites detective work.

In November, the Learning From London Town team conducted a session with material culture expert Barbara Carson which examined, on-site, the Smithsonian exhibit, After the Revolution, with two goals: teaching educators how to use museum collections in lessons and teaching them to read households by organizing objects into "kits" of equipment for domestic life.

Following these sessions, the teachers collaborated in designing student activities which would draw upon the collections of the Maryland State Archives and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology Lab for the purpose of enabling students at The Key School and others visiting this site to "learn from London Town"

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		Purpose of the London Town Grant

		Learning From London Town In Colonial Maryland A Humanities Focus Grant awarded by The National Endowment for the Humanities
		Since August of 1997, a team of teachers from The Key School has worked with a variety of scholars to learn from a study of the lost colonial town of London, Maryland how to address the following three questions: What fresh perspectives on colonial society will be opened by collaborative scholarship based on archaeology, records, and museum collections? How can teachers incorporate this new scholarship to enrich their teaching? How can student activities best be designed to incorporate this integrated scholarship in the study of colonial society to enhance learning and to serve as a model for other topics in history? Overview of Sessions with Scholars Funded by the Grant : In addition to addressing the three questions, study under this grant was divided into three general categories of activity: work with scholars, collaborative design of student activities, and the construction of a web site to disseminate these student activities. The first four sessions of the grant held- August 5 and 6; 12 and 13 - at London Town and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology lab, engaged the teachers in a hands-on experience of methods archaeologists use in the ongoing dig at London Town which was led by the museum's Education Director, Elizabeth A. Seidel During these sessions, archaeologist, Dr. Al Luckenbach explained how he and the Maryland's Lost Towns Team have unearthed the lost towns of Providence and London and contributed new insight into the study of colonial life. The participants put what they had learned from these presentations into practice in follow-up field and lab work. In addition to addressing the three questions, study under this grant was divided into three general categories of activity: work with scholars, collaborative design of student activities, and the construction of a web site to disseminate these student activities. The first four sessions of the grant held- August 5 and 6; 12 and 13 - at London Town and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology lab, engaged the teachers in a hands-on experience of methods archaeologists use in the ongoing dig at London Town which was led by the museum's Education Director, Elizabeth A. Seidel During these sessions, archaeologist, Dr. Al Luckenbach explained how he and the Maryland's Lost Towns Team have unearthed the lost towns of Providence and London and contributed new insight into the study of colonial life. The participants put what they had learned from these presentations into practice in follow-up field and lab work. Sessions held in September at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis explored the insights that archival records provide on colonial life and how computers can be used to use bring these documents into the classroom. Led by State Archivist, Edward C. Papenfuse, and Archives Education Director, Dr. R.J. Rockefeller, these sessions introduced the teachers to the types of records which historians use to investigate the past, beginning with a discussion of the property and probate records which have been central to guiding the work of the Lost Town's Team. These sessions introduced a second scholarly methodology to the group, but also underscored the complementary relationship of artifactual evidence and documents. Drawing from ongoing research by contemporary historians, the archivists led a discussion of documents - presented in web page formatted lessons - to situate London Town in the context of Maryland's eighteenth-century political, economic and cultural change. The final session at the Archives featured an examination of town plans, architecture and works of art, in a discussion of a how material culture reflects the emergence of a new stratification in colonial society. These sessions were valuable in demonstrating the variety of documents and revealing how they can augment artifact-based study. The archivists' educational and computer expertise were invaluable in providing practical examples of web page-based lessons through which archival material can be integrated in classroom work. The work with the staff of the State Archives was complemented by a session with historian, Lois Green Carr, on October 7. Dr. Carr addressed the challenge of investigating the everyday life in the colonial times by "walking" the participants through the thought process and record types she used in researching the life of seventeenth-century Marylander, Daniel Clocker. Her rule of thumb that evidence is preserved when individuals come in contact with the government gave new insight into how to read probate and court records. Conversation with her also provided an opportunity to learn about the methods and sources contemporary social historians use to address life in colonial towns. Of particular value to the teachers was Dr. Carr's demonstration that inventories hold every bit of the allure the August sessions had lent to artifacts; each invites detective work. In November, the Learning From London Town team conducted a session with material culture expert Barbara Carson which examined, on-site, the Smithsonian exhibit, After the Revolution, with two goals: teaching educators how to use museum collections in lessons and teaching them to read households by organizing objects into "kits" of equipment for domestic life. Following these sessions, the teachers collaborated in designing student activities which would draw upon the collections of the Maryland State Archives and the Anne Arundel County Archaeology Lab for the purpose of enabling students at The Key School and others visiting this site to "learn from London Town"
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