The States Historical Society Of Wisconsin Document & Demonstrating

Archive

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Waupun Historical Society

The State Historical society Documenting

The State Historical society Documenting

Name/Title

The States Historical Society Of Wisconsin Document & Demonstrating

Scope and Content

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN 816 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 608, 262-3266 H. Nicholas Muller III, Director DOCUMENTING & DEMONSTRATING EVERYDAY SKILLS OF THE PAST I. Why Document Everyday Skills? a. Fields of Historical Study are Expanding b. Agricultural Skills Were Important in Wisconsin c. Manual Skills Affected Everyday Life d. Practitioners of Manual Skills are Rapidly Decreasing e. Understanding Manual Skills is Essential to Choosing and Interpreting Artifacts at Historic Sites II. How Are Everyday Skills Documented? a. Generating a List of Informants b. Making the Initial Contact c. Conducting the Preliminary Interview d. Narrowing the Field of Informants e. Taping the Interview f. Photographing the Demonstrations g. Processing the Tapes and Photographs III. Presenting Everyday Skills a. Analyzing the Tapes and Photographs b. Using the Information at Old World Wisconsin IV. Discussion With Project Participants a. Introduction of Project Participants b. Discussion of Everyday Skills with Participants c. Demonstration of Skills by Participants V. Documenting And Presenting Everyday Skills At Historical Societies a. Discussion of Processes to be Documented b. Plans for Documenting and Presenting the Processes SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR PROCESS DOCUMENTATION I. LOCATION How did you know it was time to do QUESTIONS How often was it done? Where did you do it? What did that place look like, sound like, smell like? Did you do anything to prepare the place for What other things, if any, were done there? II. ARTIFACT What tools and/or equipment were used? QUESTIONS Where did you get them? Did you wear special clothing? How did you learn to do ? Was it difficult to learn? Did the form of the tool ever change? Did the function of the tool ever change? Did the materials used ever change? Did any of these changes affect the process? How? III. SCHEDULING On a day when you would do how did you begin? QUESTIONS At what time of day would you start? Did you arrange your day or week around Could you talk or otherwise relax while you worked? Were there breaks for meals? Were meals handled any differently than usual? Did you work Sundays? Holidays? How many people were needed to do ? Did this vary? Did men and women work together? IV. PROCESS What's the first thing to do? Next? Next? QUESTIONS How did each step look, sound, smell, feel? Did others do it differently? What happened to when you were finished? What could go wrong? What distinguished good from mediocre or bad? Did you do anything to make the end product look nice? V. COMMUNITY Did many people do in your area? QUESTIONS Was/is there someone who's really good at it? Was/is there a formal way to decide who's good at it (such as a county fair or other competition)? Does anyone still do it this way? If so, why has this method continued? If not, how has it changed? When and why do you think it changed?

Acquisition

Accession

2015.0500

Source or Donor

Waupun Heritage Museum

Acquisition Method

Donation