NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/823575
28 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2017 Atkinson has brought history to life for the park's visitors the past 22 years. Many historical sites with a robust living history program have a paid staff to research and interpret the site. Fort Atkinson's living history interpreters are unpaid. In addition to living history interpreters, the Friends' 60-some members include donors, docents and others who interact with the public on the park's behalf. Fort Atkinson State Historical Park offers six living history events each year, in addition to the annual candlelight tour, which is by reservation only and sells out quickly. "It takes a tremendous amount of dedication from the people involved to put on six events each year, and then the candlelight tour on top of that," said living history interpreter Dean Slader, who's participated in living history activities for more than 30 years. "Most parks I'm aware of put on just one event a year." On a typical weekend, visitors wander freely throughout the fort, watching living history interpreters portray the roles of spinners, weavers, blacksmiths, enlisted men, laundresses and others. All of the interpreters wear meticulously researched, handmade attire, including period-correct shoes and eyewear. The goal is to transport guests back in time, to educate them about a period in Nebraska's history that is rarely taught in school. Many activities are hands-on: You can sample homemade butter and bread from the outdoor bake oven, grind apples at a cider press, churn butter, sing hymns during a church service and feel the ground shake from cannon fire. Periodically, the interpreters also reenact what would have been common scenes at the time. At an October event, the militia marched, with the sergeant scolding unruly young privates to stay in line. The paymaster handed soldiers their wages, chiding a few of them about how they'd likely fritter away their earnings at the gambling table. Backed by hours of research into the fort's logs and records, the scenes are endless in their variety. One year, the group portrayed an amputation. Living history interpreter Wade Davis remembers it well: Raising a racket to attract as many eyeballs as possible, the soldiers shouted for others to make way as they carried the "victim" of an accidental musket firing into the surgeon's A common sight during Fort Atkinson living history events is the marching soldiers. Fort Atkinson's soldiers comprised about one- sixth of the standing U.S. Army at the time. They were also farmers, tending more than 500 acres of land. For volunteers Kristy Ericson and her daughter, Taylor, living history at Fort Atkinson is a family affair. PHOTO BY JENNY NGUYEN