Ansel Adams comes to Wikimedia

May noted the start of Wikimedian Dominic's Wikipedian-in-Residence at the National Archives and Records Administration. Within days of starting his internship, Dominic had declared to the GLAMWIKI community that NARA had agreed to donate a collection of Ansel Adams photographs; photographs taken by Adams on behalf of the National Park Service in the mid-20th century.

Adams work is known for being one of the most accessible to the public eye - pleasant and monumental images of the parks of the West, often making their ways into calendars and posters in gift shops, allowing purchasers to admire the majestic nature of America at home. This accessibility and availability allows for cultural organizations to milk what they can out of licensing; fearing to release their images into the public domain due, claiming they'll lose major income. Many of us within the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) world know that this is rarely a truth; it's like saying you make money off charging admission. Regardless, there are some institutions that can rake in the dough at licensing off images of the Mona Lisa and Van Gogh, despite being out of copyright - just like the Ansel Adams images created for the feds - these are public domain. We own them, the public, so let us have them, right?

Right! So NARA decided to release hi-res versions of a series taken between 1941-1942 featuring major National Parks and images of Indigenous peoples living in the Southwest. Aside from having great images of what he's known best for - nature - Adams also photographed peoples of the Southwest: Navajo and San Ildefonso Pueblo. Just a few images are in the collection, but, they are a refreshing and natural series of examples compared to the stiff pre-planned images of Edward Curtis which litter the cultural world due to their lack of copyright.

I'd love to see a content donation from an Indigenous community - specifically images of people today. While these images are historically beautiful and the people in them as well, the importance of contemporary image donations to free culture will allow for educators to inform the world that people in these communities are flourishing today - and are not stuck in the past of black and white images taken by a government employee. I hope my research and work will allow this to eventually happen, as trust is built and neither side (community and Wikimedia) comprise their belief systems.

View and use the newly donated images here.

Thanks NARA for the donation and Dominic for being the "fastest working Wikipedian-in-Residence" this far!

Wikimedia + Archives of American Art = #wikilove

This summer I have the pleasure and honor of being the first Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Smithsonian! More specifically, I'll be spending the next few months working at and with the Archives of American Art. The Archives of American Art holdings consist of the world's largest collection of primary resources related to American art - from letters to photos, sketches to oral histories - if you are an art historian, there will most likely be a time when you will seek to utilize the archives of AAA.

(To the right is Greek-American artist Jean Xceron from AAA's collection. This photo is in the public domain, as it was taken by the Works Progress Administration! And yes, it's in Commons already ;)

I will be working closely with Sara Snyder, webmaster, Karen Weiss, the Archives Information Systems Manager, and curatorial, collections and archival staff. Their passion for sharing and digitizing their collections are inspiring, and I can only hope that my own passion for sharing, educating and "freeing information" can be equally as inspiring - encouraging to other Smithsonian related organizations too.

One question I get frequently is "What the heck is a Wikipedian-in-Residence?" You can learn a bit more about the concept & origin from the first Wikipedian-in-Residence Liam Wyatt's blog.

There are a few things I hope to achieve there this summer, some of these plans include:

• Expand coverage on Wikipedia about topics relevant to the Archives of American Art's collection. This includes providing sources for existing pages and writing non-existent pages about notable topics.
  
• A content donation to Wikimedia Commons.
  
• Work on an e-volunteer program, inspired by the Indianapolis Museum of Art's program.
• Collaborate with art history related educational programs outside of the museum (university level) to work with students for article contributions.
  
• Brown bags and workshops with Smithsonian employee & volunteers.
• Examine statistical data related to traffic from Wikimedia websites to the AAA's website.
• A backstage pass tour for GLAMWIKI.
• Case study
• .....and so much more!

I've also been speaking with other GLAMs about their involvement with Wikimedia, including the National Building Museum and the Special Collections Resource Center at George Washington University. The National Archives will also have a Wikipedian-in-Residence this summer! This is already turning out to be a great year to be a Wikipedian, riding the wave of the free encyclopedia's 10th birthday and the search for affordable and unique ways for GLAMs to expand awareness about their collections.

A quick side note - if you haven't had a chance to read Lori Phillips's guest blog "Museums & Wikipedia: The Future of Collaboration and Accessibility" on the Center for the Future of Museum's website, then get on top of it, darnit. It really speaks for what we're hoping to achieve in GLAMWIKI, and as a fellow masters student (at different schools) and colleague of Lori's (the Wikipedian-in-Residence at The Children's Museum), I'm proud to be associated with her and her work, which has served as a cornerstone for GLAMWIKI work.

Thanks to all who have support my scholarly labors, and I can't wait to see what happens this summer!

#IGNITESmithsonian

Yesterday I co-presented with Katie Filbert at Ignite Smithsonian, which was held at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

A group of 20 speakers came together to share Ignite talks - a fast paced, fun five minute presentation about something great - all from the cultural/tech sectors. A lot of fascinating, informative and well thought-out concepts and ideas being executed around the world about technology within museums - from augmented reality to concepts of a non-museum.

Katie and I talked about GLAM/SI and how people and museums can contribute to our goals related to Wikimedia and GLAM.

You can watch our presentation, which will soon be edited down by speaker. But, check it out for now, we start at 10:15.


You can also download and view the PowerPoint:

Be GLAMorous

Thank you Michael Edson, the Director of Web and New Media strategy at the Smithsonian for putting this all together and allowing us to co-present. He's working hard at the creation of Smithsonian Commons, which intends to change how we see institutions on the web and accessibility to information.

At lunch I was able to join great folks at the John Hopkins Museum Studies program; Director Phyllis Hect and Assistant Director Deborah Seid Howes. The program at John Hopkins revolves strongly around museums and technology. I'm hoping to possibly work with them on a GLAM related project in the future, or even doing some work with students about the wonders of Wiki.

I also spent my evening getting to know Cory Bernat, a food historian at the National Museum of American History's Food and Wine History Team. She created this super cool exhibition of war-era food posters from the National Agricultural Library, which was on site at the USDA and is now online. And wrapped up my evening with Erik van Tuijn, the Web & Media Coordinator at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag at The Hague, and Jasper Visser, the Project Manager of New Technology & Media at the National Historical Museum. Jasper presented on vending machines being used as cheap and quirky ways for visitor interaction and shopping. Let's just say these two are my favorite Dutchmen next to the Flying Dutchman.

Time to get back to work..lots of exciting announcements coming soon. I will be in Boston this weekend, New York in May, and speaking at the Indigenous Peoples & Museums conference in June. See you soon...

Top 10 Reasons to Encourage More Women Participation in Wikipedia

As an active female Wikipedian I'm quite aware of the gender differences in editors and contributors - as many Wikipedians are and this was before the studies and the front page of the New York Times. However, it took the study and the NYT to make the rest of the world aware and for Wikipedians to finally decide to take action. A Gendergap mailing list was started for Wikipedians to discuss these issues, led by Sue Gardner, the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Conversations on the list vary from the gender bias via Wikipedia that take place outside of the US to sexuality articles that are chock full of "pictures of hot chicks" but no men. It's been fascinating, and I'm waiting for the revolution to really heat up - the task forces, the next steps, the outreach. This morning I woke up to a Top 10 list about why more women should participate in Wikipedia by Sandra Ordonez.

Perhaps it will motivate you or someone you know..

1) Improve the quality of information. Information is shaped by perspective, regardless of how NPOV you aim to be, and perspective is shaped by experience. When you experience the world in a certain perspective, you see things that others don't see. A Chinese immigrant in the United States may notice things that a American born may not see, just like it is very likely that a female may notice things their male counterparts don't see.

2) Open doors to more groups. The inclusion of women might have a domino affect, and open doors for other groups, particularly those that are traditionally dis-empowered, such as people of color in the United States. (You can include whatever other group you want here..I can only speak to the US).

3) Improved processes and systems. Collaboration is improved by diversity - everyone in this group (sic: mailing list) knows this. More female participation may result in better collaborative brainstorming and problem solving.


4) Better organization. Studies reveal that women tend to be great multitaskers. IMHO, women are great multitaskers because they also plan their world to be more "efficient" for multitasking. I can totally see a group of women helping improve the organization of Wikipedia's rules, background knowledge, presentation, etc.

5) Stronger community. Reports are also showing that more women than men are on social media. This is because women tend to focus on creating community. A larger, more sophisticated Wikipedian community is so powerful, I'm not even sure how to describe its potential in words. However, it would have the ability to help the projects but bring change worldwide.

6) Better image. Organizations that are ethical are usually favored and respected by society, which increase's an org's success. I am not talking "left vs right," and this is not a philosophical question, it is a public relations one. Talk to any PR practitioner and they can share why this works, and examples of organizations taking this PR strategy. And, at a minimum, I can guarantee it will increase how many women worldwide see the project, which btw are 50% of the world's population.

7) Better parties and possibly more Wikilove! As corny as it sounds, I am quite positive that more women will improve the festivities in any wiki get together, and possibly result in more wikilove :) lolol Why not!! What a perfect place to meet someone that shares your interest, and better parties are usually always welcomed.

8) A better world society. Wikipedia has this ability to affect the world and start revolutions in what seems to be very silent but effective ways. I really believe that the inclusion of women will have amazing revolutionary affects on the world, and make it better. Channeling Jeff Bridges, "information is really power, man." And maybe we have come to take for granted that the world is informed/educated through Wikipedia on a daily basis. This has an effect.

9) It's the right thing to do. Wikipedia has always gone against the grain, even though at times it ruffled society's feathers b/c transparency in knowledge sharing is more important than the agenda of any group. Its part of the free culture movement, dedicated to empowering people worldwide, and has done much in that area. Why wouldn't it come together now to improve on this systematic problem that affects not only the project, but humans at large.

10) Who else is going to do it? No one has the ability to look and tackle this complex issue like Wikipedian community. No other community has the strength in numbers, intellect, and structure to address an issue like this. I guarantee that other groups will embrace any solutions the community finds, b/c its not Wikipedia is not only a pioneer, but its a "best-in-breed" virtual project that comes up with "best-in-breed" solutions.

---

So there you go! I think it's simply put and rather empowering. But, I've been contributing for years - if I can get a few more women to contribute, I'd be happy.

What are your interests? What do you want to edit in Wikipedia? Have you edited? Do you still?

I look forward to hearing from you.

How to anger a Wikipedian

As many of you know, I'm an avid Wikipedian. I've been editing since 2006 and contributing well researched and educated articles for quite sometime. I'm almost about to hit my 100th article, and the majority of those have involved the Wikiproject: Public Art.

While watching Super Bowl pre-game and editing an article about a winery in Sonoma (taking a break from public art!) a colleague of mine shared this article with me:

The Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely on Wikipedia by Mark E. Moran

She found this article via the professional organization the American Association for State and Local History, who posted it on their Twitter account.

Alright, maybe five or ten years ago this had some validity. Educators historically freaked out when Wikipedia came to light, claiming it was a poor source to cite. But, as many people know, that's not the point of Wikipedia. NO student should "CITE" Wikipedia in any project - Wikipedia is a starting point.

I tried to post to the articles comment section multiple times and kept getting pop up windows to share the article on Facebook every time I hit the submit button. So here is my brief and opinionated idea behind this poorly thought out article:

This article is hilarious. As an active female Wikipedian who is also a student obtaining my Masters in Museum Studies, I'm insulted by this.

Yes, there are jerks who abuse the power that Wikipedia has allowed them, but a large amount of articles are well sourced and are well maintained by good passionate well-educated people.

In my research I often use Wikipedia as a starting place. It is a requirement for articles (if they wish to not be deleted) to have well cited sources in the article page, which provides a great resource for researchers of all backgrounds and levels. The goal is to provide verified information. Wikipedia was never meant to be the number one cited source for anything, it's just a starting place, a place for you to be inspired, to explore more, and to share with the world what you've learned.

I'm also active in task forces that are seeking to expand women's contributions and studies on Wikipedia. Perhaps if you "researched" more on what Wikimedia Foundation is doing to better Wikipedia and the mission you'd think differently. There are also groups dedicated to museum coverage - why would the British Museum or the Children's Museum of Indianapolis entrust a Wikipedian-In-Residence to train their staff about how to use the website, and allow that Wikipedian to share information on selected objects with the world via the website? Obviously these well respected institutions must find something valid about what Wikipedia's doing.

Then there is the Campus Ambassadors program, which has Wikipedia working with universities such as Duke, Georgetown, George Washington University, Indiana University, and many others, to teach students and professors how to edit and utilize the website. I guess it's not trustworthy if GWU and IU are supporting it?

This way of thinking may have had some validity years ago when Wikipedia (now ten years!) first made it's appearance, but, I believe you'll be eating your words, if you aren't already.

It's equally insulting that AASLH would share this with the public. In a time when Wikipedia is celebrating it's 10th anniversary and celebrating its efforts and challenges, people still insult us with outdated articles like this.

I'm really loving the tweets from educators stating that they dock students 10% if they "cite" Wikipedia. I would too! It's like using the Encyclopedia Britannica as your source, you just don't do that. Perhaps you can educate your students on how to utilize the internet better for research, and you wouldn't be having to dock students for their research attempts.

Another colleague just stated that perhaps a clever soul should write a Top 10 on why AASLH folks should contribute to Wikipeida. In a female dominated industry you'd figure it'd be of interest - all that research, why not share it with the world?

What are your thoughts?

I owe you an update

HI! Wow, I owe you an update Internets, I apologize for letting you go for so long.

So yes, if you didn't know by now, I live in Washington, DC. My neighborhood is the historic Logan Circle, full of history, gentrification and lots of cute dogs. I live an insanely busy life, little time for social outings, a lot of time and work put into school, and my three jobs.

I am still working on Wikipedia Saves Public Art, devoting more of my time to working on Wiki stubs and the Flickr images, and not so much on photographing DC. I've been very busy, so devoting the time I did in Indy to travel around is tough, and many of the areas I need to get too are hard without a car. A lot has been going on with WSPA - including a new project in Milwaukee which has brought a lot of awareness to the project. I've been a bit overwhelmed by all they have been doing, but also feeling like I'm not doing enough.

I am still working on expanding the Washington DC public art on Wikipedia, you can take a look here, and get involved if you'd like. The image above is one of my favorites in DC, "Gwenfritz" by Alexander Calder, at the National Museum of American History.

Speaking of the Smithsonian, I got a gig with the National Museum of African American History & Culture. I'm the research assistant to the head curator, Jacquelyn Serwer. A true honor, especially with her esteemed career at the Corcoran! I'll be doing research for their fine arts collection.

I'm also the Studio Director of a commercial/fashion photography studio in Old Town called Union 206. I assist the studio owner, Charles, and I handle all member needs, event planning, and the like. It's a great experience, and is my home away from home.

On Fridays, I lend a hand at a local vintage store in the heart of the U-Street district, peddling fine vintage wears to the cool folks of the District. It's quite fun.

And of course there is school! Three masters classes and my butt is getting kicked. Museum Administration, Non-Profit Admin and Green Museums - all dramatically different. Lots of projects in the works and lots of team work (something I do struggle with) to be had. My main goal - work hard and meet the right people.

Ok, so, there is your short update. DC has been pretty great so far. I'm car-less, which has been surprisingly tough to deal with, and I don't go out much - it's too expensive, and well, I have more important things to do.

More soon....PROMISE!

Welcome to the world of Copyright Chaos

So after some epic speedbumps and a two day banning, I've started uploading select photographs from my collection onto Wikimedia Commons. Commons features millions of bits of media - photos, film, music - all available for public use for free. It's like the ultimate Creative Commons repository. What has led to this minor obsession?

Over the past 48 hours I have learned a ton about copyright - what to do and what not to do in regards to free media and what can be shared and what can't. Just when you think you know...you don't. (It's taking me a bit of time to post this, I chose to do it while watching the Stanley Cup finals...)

I don't want to get into the gory details about my copyright chaos. Let's just say it's added a bit of unneeded stress into my Wiki world, but I have learned from my mistakes. I also realized that our project, Wikipedia Saves Public Art, has a lot of friends in the Wiki world that support us. If you have visited our page in the past 24 hours (oh and I know you have!!) you will see that our project has been nominated for deletion by a very bored/irritable Wikipedian. I encourage you to check out the discussion taking place, and if you're a Wikipedian, please take part. It's rather entertaining, and this isn't the first time I've stirred the pot with my innocent mistakes.

Here is a picture of me giving thumbs down to copyright fails with a Panda in Woodley Park that I am not allowed to upload to Commons. However, if I chose to write an article about these pandas, I can upload it to Wikipedia. I do not think Wikipedians will appreciate me in the photo though.

There's a lot to the story, but, you can follow the Wikipedia page for WSPA if you really want in on the drama known as Copyright Chaos.

So, to help with the "epic project" known as Commons, I've start

ed uploading photos. No, not the panda photo. But, images from my trips and travels that fall within the scope (my favorite word right now) of Commons. Want to use some of my photos? Give me credit. You can even manipulate them all you want, just let me know. Here is your chance to pillage my photos, enjoy!

In other news, I have completed the most epic of all Wikipedia public art projects. It's not even complete, and of course you can help me complete it, if you want. I still need to write a nice blurb for the opening page, but, I think you'll be impressed. Or you'll be ashamed if you know me, thinking I have no life.

List of public art in Washington, D.C.

Read it and weep. Prepare to have your mind blown with art work you probably did not even know existed. Prepare to go "Hmm, I think I drive by that statue, every single day."

It's been my main project since getting my undergrad and waiting to move to DC. I can't wait to leave Indianapolis, and I've completely immersed myself in Wikipedia and educating myself about public art and re-educating myself about old D.C. punk rock. My heart, mind and soul are in the District already, it's just my body, my belongings and my cat that are still here. Oh, and some of my friends and family of course.

But, this isn't for all that personal mumbo jumbo. In one month I'll be posting about my new life in D.C., from my studio in Logan Circle, overlooking the city. Breathing in the heat of summer and enjoying what life has in store for me.

The new collection management system?

Center for the Future of Museums twittered this today: Barcodes help objects tell their stories.

Here is the direct website for Tales of Things.

I got a bit excited. Is this the step that the internet needs to form into a collection management system? Is there a way that small museums can incorporate this into their systems, as a way to share objects with larger audiences? Can this be used in our project Wikipedia Saves Public Art?

So many questions. I'm looking forward to trying out my first barcode!

A photo of the Ten O'Clock Line Sculpture taken in Gosport, Indiana this past week:

Next phases..

Our beloved Wikipedia Saves Public Art is growing in notability (how Wiki!)! It's delightful to meet people in the museum world who know about the project - I'm so proud to be involved! Soon Richard and Jennifer will fly off (no bird pun intended) to Denver for Wikimedia@MW2010 to share our hard work with fellow professionals, public art and birds throughout the region. We've still got some work to do - I'm working on D.C. and we're trying to wrap up the final aspects of SOS! in Indianapolis. It's going well though, and once others jump on board it can only get better. Read the blog entry written by Richard McCoy at the Indianapolis Museum of Arts blog: "The Bird Flies in Denver."

I've had a lot going through my head after a lecture last night about how Wikipedia can help document performance art that isn't "allowed" to be documented by museums and institutions that purchase concepts/performances. Who says I cannot document a concept as a non-institutional person on Wiki? Perhaps there is something or someone, if so, please let me know. I'll get my thoughts together more on this and hopefully write more shortly. (And this also brings up ethics questions?)

I've made the decision to head off to The George Washington University to get my masters in Museum Studies. Should be a great experience. I love DC, and it will be a great place to show off my WSPA skills, continue to meet others who are passionate about museums and culture, and to finally settle into a new place (at least for two years). Heading out for a short trip and looking forward to a symposium featuring keynote speaker Richard Kurin...very cool - only in D.C.!

Ok, gotta fill out exciting financial aid paperwork. On that note, I'll leave you with an image of Frances Slocum's memorial marker in northern Indiana. More details on the road trip I took seeking out Native heritage in the region soon!

The future is calling + WSPA

Right now I am in the process of deciding where I am going to go to grad school. I'm close to making my decision, and I'll post as soon as I do. I'll be getting my masters in Museum Studies, more info coming soon!

In other news, I'm actively involved in Wikipedia Saves Public Art. What is WSPA? Well, we aim to "encourage the creation of accurate, informative and up-to-date articles about public art." You can learn more about WSPA here. The project is spear-headed by Jennifer Geigel Mikulay, public scholar of visual culture and a professor at IUPUI, and Richard McCoy, conservator of objects at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. What started as a project involving bringing public art to Wikipedia via an IUPUI museums studies course (you can read more about that on the WSPA Wiki page) has blossomed into a passion and obsession involving Web 2.0 in many forms.

How did I get involved? Ever since I got an iPhone, I've been fanatical about it. I love it. While browsing applications, I found something called FourSquare, an application that allows you to politely stalk your friends - the program uses the phone's GPS capabilities to locate you and you "check in" at locations that are listed (and you can create). By exploring and going to various locations, you can unlock badges and become "mayors" of locations. I thought this was great, but, FourSquare still needed to be tweaked a bit. Regardless, the majority of locations on FourSquare consist of bars, restaurants, shops, etc.

Then, while using the Genius option on the iPhone application store, Genius recommended Gowalla. I loved the layout of the program - it was like FourSquare, but sexier. And instead of becoming the "mayor" of locations, you find virtual objects - everything from prairie dogs and pints of beer, to holiday objects like Mardi Gras beads and Olympic torches. I fell in love with Gowalla - the format, the look and the energy behind those who created the program. I had a few friends who used it, mainly fellow Twitter folks. One day, I got an email from Richard asking me to get involved with WSPA, explaining what the project was, and how he had interest in incorporating Gowalla into the project. How can we use geolocation programs to bring awareness to public art?

I became obsessed. Richard, myself, and friends of mine (who I forced onto the Gowalla bandwagon) started fanatically adding public art locations. See an example here. We hope that with Gowalla we are able to not only validate locations, but, bring awareness to public art in peoples environments. With the Gowalla interface we are able to describe the object or talk about the history of the location and take photographs and upload them for friends and users to see. Perhaps we are the only one's that care, but, we like to think otherwise.

We've also started creating Google maps documenting public sculpture in Indy. This features all of the original Save Outdoor Sculptures! entries from the 1993 survey. Eventually we'll have a map of SOS and non-SOS sculptures, but, our priority is to physically document (and use Gowalla!) and verify locations of the original SOS! sculptures. We're getting there, and it's great that Spring is here - makes stomping through graveyards more enjoyable (since the majority of the one's we need to document still are in graveyards).

Alright, I'm sick, so I'm going to zone out here on the couch to bad TV and Love & Hate in Jamestown by David Price.

Ok well..let's move along

So I've been back for quite sometime. The summer was a learning experience, that's all I'll say for now :)

In other news, I've started a flickr group for the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art (where I am back interning full time) so please add any photos you might have lying around for all experiences at the museum (or related to the museum!):

Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art.

I hope you'll submit images if you've got them!

I'll post more later about what I've been doing! Ok, back to work :)

Bacon's Castle and Smithfield, VA - Short and Sweet

Back in May I visited Bacon's Castle and Smithfield, VA while I was working at Colonial Williamsburg. On an early Saturday I took the Jamestown-Scotland ferry over the James River to, well, Scotland, located in Surry County. Sadly, I rode on the Surry Ferry, not ferry named Pocahontas.

I followed Rolfe Highway (named after John Rolfe, of course) into Surry, then cut over on Highway 10 to Bacon's Castle (a town name and historic site). Surry is a classic small town - main street, a few shops, diner, etc. I stopped by the courthouse for a shot of this:

This figure is of a young Confederate soldier, a bronze statue dedicated by the county to the young soldiers of the South. Unveiled in 1910 the inscription on the side states "Our Heroes -1861-65" This is the south, after all. You can read a bit more here.

Alright, back on track. So, after a brief stop by to see our young Southern friend I headed about 15 minutes through beautiful lush green views of the James River and farmland to Bacon's Castle. The "Castle" was built in 1665 and is the country's oldest brick home. With a nice large plot of land surrounding it, gardens and some original buildings, the Castle certainly isn't a castle when you first arrive at it, but, it's history is that of the tales of the great mansions of Europe.

Owned by Preservation Virginia, an amazing non-profit that goes to great lengths to preserve, protect and celebrate Virginian properties and historic sites, it is well maintained and provided me with the best home tour I have ever been on. If you live in Virginia, APVA is well worth supporting, and affordable for many budgets!

Bacon's Castle is one of the few Jacobean architecture marvels in America. It's age is a marvel in itself, and the preservation work has been quite an achievement. The house was built in the 17th century by a planter named Arthur Allen, and despite being technically Allen's Castle the name Bacon's Castle stuck due to rebels from Bacon's Rebellion kicking him out and taking over the home for a time period in 1676. I was not allowed to take photographs inside the home so sadly it's hard to comprehend the home tour itself, but it is worth experiencing.

This is not your typical home tour - "Ooh, look at the beautiful paint job, furniture, novelty, fancyness," this is a history tour. Two rooms, the parlor and Allen's bedroom, do feature furniture, many beautiful period pieces and some original to the Allen family, but, the rest of the rooms of the house have no furniture or decorations aside from what are original to the house.

My favorite area was the basement which served as an extremely large kitchen and storehouse. The cellar was there too, where Mr. Allen kept his vast wine collection. It was noted in his diaries that when he returned to live back at his home, after Bacon's rebels took it over, the largest amount of damage was in the cellar and that no wine was left drinkable. Archeologists from AVPA have found wine bottles broken in fireplaces and areas around the backyard where bonfires took place. They have amazing examples of these bottles reconstructed that are made by the fine people at the Jamestown Glasshouse.

Our docent was a brilliant 17 year old homeschooler. He had a strong passion for history and showed it through his tour of the house. He was honest - he didn't shy away from any topics (including slavery/women's roles in the house) or questions and got everyone excited (I was the youngest person, everyone was 60+) about the history of the site.

Another fascinating aspect of the property featured the gardens, which were believed by oral history and light documentation to be at one place, but, after APVA had the grounds scanned from the sky with radar/satellite photography they came to find the remnants of a garden hundreds of yards from where they believed they were. The gardens flourish today raising crops and flowers similar to what Mr. Allen would have grown himself (he was quite the gardener).

I'm not giving Bacon's Castle the credit it deserves, but, it delivered an honest, passionate and strong history of an amazing home in early America and breaths fresh air into plantation tours and a region that relies on Colonial Williamsburg and historic Jamestown. Don't forget to check out the home's website too.

The smokehouse at Bacon's Castle is one of the original buildings on the property (it has been moved from its original spot and I believe it dates to the 18th century).

The smokehouse exterior.

Bacon's Castle Exterior

After the delight known as Bacon's Castle I headed to Smithfield, home of the famous Smithfield Ham. It's sort of like champagne - it's a law that no other place in the world can call its ham Smithfield Ham, it can only be made in one county, and that's Isle of Wight County. This wasn't my main agenda though, and sadly I didn't eat any ham while there. My main agenda, however, was to check out the town of Smithfield, a historic town surrounded by amazing waterways and then drive up through Norfolk, Hampton Roads, and back to Williamsburg. Well, I did just that. Sadly, I didn't document enough through photographs, but the trip was "okay," it wasn't as exciting as websites and travel documents made it out to seem, but perhaps I'm too demanding on small town attractions.

Heading to Smithfield proper, I passed by Poole's Funeral Home which, according to historic signage sponsored by the state, is the oldest black owned business in the county of Surry dating back to 1890.

Poole's Funeral Home

Lovely old home in Smithfield. (Not the funeral home)

I went to the Isle of Wight Historical Society which had a young woman who for sure had to be a museum studies major working there. (She was young, smart, friendly, and almost seemed hiply out of place for this small town....) It was in a historic building (a bank) in downtown Smithfield and featured exhibits on the oldest cured ham (Smithfield!), the oldest peanut (on display from the 1800s!), some archeological objects from Native people in the region, and an exhibit about the world's largest ham biscuit that was constructed in Smithfield a few years ago. They also have a collection of duck decoys. My attention span catered primarily to the Ripley's Believe it or Not style exhibits and this bizarre general store room featuring two creepy mannequins:

They had a great little gift shop that featured stuffed animal pigs made with Smithfield Ham cloth bags (I bought one for a gift) and awesome postcards, books and other crafts from the county. This historical society was one of the better county societies I had been in. Decent exhibits, hands on activities, and topics that can appeal to all types of people (from war to peanuts).

I walked a block down the street to the old courthouse which was built to reflect the courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg. A delightfully manicured main street featuring quaint shops, homes, restaurants and galleries. However, no time to spend money - I headed straight for the history. No 18th century courthouse is complete without these, of course:


Another APVA owned property they had an informative Elder docent who talked about the dramas that erupted, the final use of the courthouse and how the courthouse provided the soap opera for towns people when it was in session.

Isle of Wight historic courthouse

A really crappy photo of the interior, it looks 95% identical to CW's.

After that, I headed out of town and to the shore area to the military mania part of this daytrip, which will be covered in the next blog.

• Bacon's Castle provided one of the best home tour's I've ever experienced. A passionate docent staff and a focus on history, not just interior design, is what made this stand out from the rest.
  
• A unique history on beautiful grounds, Bacon's Castle is worth visiting for lovers of history, architecture, and gardens.
  
• Smithfield and Isle of Wight County features a fascinating little Historical Society with strange facts that we hold dear in these small non-profits. A delightful visit, and free!
  
• A nice little quick afternoon that could be topped off with some good southern cooking at one of the well reviewed restaurants in the area.

Awesome tree in Colonial Williamsburg:

Jamestown Settlement

Alright, let's conclude this trip to Jamestown Settlement. I also had been to Yorktown Victory Center with my mother, which had a decent museum and a very disappointing (but others were impressed) living history area. So, my hopes were in the middle for Jamestown. With the anniversary of the 400th year since settling Jamestown, I knew they had upped the ante (the Queen visited after all...) in design and renovations...

As previously mentioned, I had made it as far as the Powhatan Village at the Settlement. After passing the totem circle and learning about Native interpreters at the site (or lack there of) I headed into the heart of the village, where their reed covered homes were dispersed in a similar style seen in White's drawings and in John Smith's journals.

"This watercolor by John White depicts the village of Pomeiooc in the North Carolina coastal plain. It was this image that was used to create the computer-rendered village. The structures in the village are also similar in design to those that are reconstructed at Jamestown as a Powhatan village. It is very likely that the Indians of eastern North Carolina had contact with the Powhatans." (From Disappearing Indians?)

The structures, as mentioned in the caption, were reconstructed at the Village at Jamestown Settlement, not necessarily in a circle. The were beautifully constructed and reflected a theory based on John Smith's writings, Powhatan oral history, and anthro/archeo work done on Southern Woodlands communities.

I was disappointed that grouse weren'tt represented and mainly Anglo style chickens seen on Old MacDonald's Farm were, I'm not sure about chicken ancestry in America though. (How nerdy is that?)

The homes were quite nice, and well put together - I was curious how frequently they replaced the materials, they were in great condition and seemed to lack any type of deterioration. The object to the right of the home in the chicken photo is an infamous corn pounder. It seems to be the children and birds favorite hang out - any chance to violently smash corn into bits appeals to the children and the treat it provides appealed to woodpeckers, blue jays and common little scavenger birds alike.

The interior of the homes featured plenty of birds and furs alike, as well as space for fires.

Sorry for the slightly blurry interior shots. I like the gull that's been pulled in two. The interior descriptions are primarily based on anthro/archeo research and Capt. John Smith's infamous journals about his experiences at Powhatan's village. There were no interpreters inside the buildings and there were more deerskin to choke a horse. The shots above are from the main meetinghouse.

Well, that was that. There was a small area, which featured a non-Native third person interpreter cooking fish and they had stations of tightened deerskin for children to try their hand at "skinning." I meandered through a beautiful wooded area towards where I could see the ship's masts - I'm sure that pirate films and the overall coolness of big glorious ships made this a hot spot, and it sure did (for young boys especially! Seems young girls liked the Indian village and young boys preferred the glamour of ships..)

I learned from some of the signage and from individuals at other museums that the ships were made in Maine and made the trip down the coast to the docks of the Settlement. These ships were also used in the film The New World. I even felt myself getting giddy as I headed towards the dock, the boats were beautiful.

The masts of the larger ship the Susan Constant.

Two were available to explore, Susan Constant and I believe Discovery. There was some nearby signage discussing the journey from England to Jamestown and a costumed interpreter did first person acting discussing his travels on the ships much to the enjoyment of adults while their children went wild on the ships.

Costumed interpreters were on both ships, three total, working in third person. One was from England, which provided "authenticity" to the experience of crawling around on a big meaty ship. I was able to take the ladder below (I don't know ship lingo...even with that trip to the Maritime Museum!) to see storage units, sleeping quarters, and the very fancy captain's quarters (the only private sleeping space on the ship it seemed!). Some areas were blocked off, which featured movable objects to add authenticity to the ship, bust most areas were open to the visitor, allowing one to stick your head out the windows, pose for photo ops, imagine what it'd be like to shoot a cannon and to pull that whole Leonardo DiCaprio stunt from Titanic.

The Discovery from the deck of the Susan Constant.

Giant wooden bust which sat on top of pulleys for the ropes.

Captains quarters.

The interpreters seemed impatient and anxious. It was lunch time in Jamestown Settlement, so staff members were coming and going, relieving one another of his ship duty to go eat. They'd stop working with visitors to declare lunch time and ignore any questions as they scurried off the ship. I wasn't impressed with the information provided and was left rather clueless on how some of the ship's tools and tracking devices worked, the men seemed more interested in the specials in the dining hall. But, the ships were beautiful objects, well put together and well curated. It is quite a lovely experience to overlook the James River from these boats on a beautiful sunny day. I could only imagine the first site of the land when the original settlers arrived..

Conservation work was being done on the boats - lacquering, paint detailing and general duties to help maintain the quality appearance of the ships. The nicest staff members I encountered were the ship conservators (they travel all over the coast).

After exploring the dock, I headed to the fort of Jamestown on the property. This was a space I remembered as a child, where my mother took a photo of me wearing giant pieces of period armor (And I saw other parents doing the same to their children). Interpreters were more active here, discussing in third person the experiences and hardships of the settlers. The buildings were beautifully put together, and despite being in such a small area it was easy to explore and not feel to confined, it was quite crowded though. I visited a storehouse, a kitchen, the guard house, school house/church and some other random generic buildings. There was one female interpreter, cooking, and the rest (two-three) were men discussing the art of warfare. The blacksmith was no where to be found much to the disappointment of the youngins.



As you can see, the buildings were great. The colors, the techniques used to get the textures and the craftsmanship was wonderful. This was the busiest area on the grounds, which did cause problems due to the space constraints and the layout. But, it was well maintained - gritty and worn, and beautiful at the same time.

Costumed interpreter (3rd person) discusses the art of warfare in 17th century Virginia. He had the most impress costuming out of any interpreter on the grounds.

Lunchtime at the Blacksmith shop. It's not a living history museum without a blacksmith.

After spending about 20 minutes in this area I had to start heading back to Colonial Williamsburg to finish my day doing some research on treaties. I decided to head back to the visitor center/museum and check out the gift shop on my way out. It was appalling.

The majority of the objects for sale were cheap, made in China toys of "Indian princesses" and "little braves." You could buy costumes to dress your daughter up like a princess, bows, arrows, cheaply made dream catchers and more t-shirts then you can shake a stick at with tacky one-liners like "The original - Jamestown." I bought a few postcards and watched the children rampage the cheap toy section. Oh, I also scored a sweet Pocahontas crossstitching design which I'm making my stepmother stitch for me.

They had two gift shops, both were filled with crap made of stereotypical truck stop Indian wetdreams.

Smaller gift shop, I've seen my fair share of "Indian" themed dream catcher's at truck stops across the US, as seen here.

The main gift shops plethora of cheap "Indian" dolls and toys.

After that whirlwind, I headed back to work. Another fascinating museum experience in Virginia. A few things to summarize my experience...

• Visitors were more interested in the living history aspects of the museum.
• The African experience area of the museum was impressive and offensive at the same time and was largely ignored by non-black visitors. There were no African American intepreters on the grounds.
  
• The Native exhibit was also impressive yet offensive. I really wish we could move beyond tacky mannequins.
  
• A really impressive building and center with more information than an average museum goer can handle.
  
• The cafe wasn't bad and the prices and taste wasn't too shabby.
  
• Beautiful surroundings.
  
• Fun experience for kids, as long as parental units are willing to educate their children about the difference between a white person dressed up like an Indian and a real Native person and how life wasn't all ships and blacksmiths.
  
• Worth visiting the National Park site about a mile away especially if you're in a party of only adults.
  

Alright, time to go enjoy the last Saturday I have in DC, and perhaps another entry tonight!