8 youngsters take part in Gloucester History Camp

The Gloucester Museum of History held a three-day History Camp over the holidays from Dec. 28 through 30 for fourth and fifth graders. Eight campers visited the Jamestown settlement, Machicomoco State Park and Yorktown.

Gloucester Museums Coordinator Robert Kelly said that on the first day of the camp, the youngsters traveled to the Jamestown Settlement. There they were given guided tours of the museum, the Powhatan village and the recreated colonial ships.

Following a trip to Jamestown, the campers visited the Fairfield Foundation’s Center for Archaeology, Preservation and Education. There Kelly said the campers washed and identified artifacts in the foundation’s collection.

At Machicomoco, the campers were given a tour of the park by the park rangers. They learned about how Virginia’s indigenous peoples lived off the land and water. This included learning how to tie knots in fishing nets and how the indigenous peoples burned out trees for canoes. The campers were then given a tour of the Timberneck House located at the park by Tom Karow.

TYLER BASS / GAZETTE-JOURNAL Hunter Young takes his turn scraping out the ash of a dugout canoe under the supervision of Park Ranger Courtney Kirberger. Each camper was given the opportunity to assist in the carving out of the canoe.

After visiting the park, Kelly said the campers were then given a tour of the Gloucester museum to learn what it is like to run a museum. He said the children were given gloves and handled some of the artifacts in the museum’s collection.

The final day of the camp saw the students given a tour of American Revolution Museum in Yorktown before walking the battlefields. Kelly said the children were able to grasp the significance of the battlefields and ask more questions after learning about the battles in the museum. They also visited the French Cemetery where they observed a moment of silence for the fallen allies.

Kelly said the decision to hold camp over winter break was a way to build on the success the Gloucester Museum of History had seen from the past living history events and camps. He said the timing was a way to provide a fun and educational experience over winter break.

The history camps and the living history events have been part of what Kelly said was an exciting time for the museum. He said he and those he works with know there is interest in the community for more history events which is allowing them to try new things. Kelly said he hopes the camp’s success will lead to more programs down the road.