So two months in, I’m sure you’re all wondering what exactly I’ve been doing with my time (aside from hiding from mannequins and avoiding the Mourning Room – a story for another time!). The short answer is that much of it thus far has been spent connecting with literally anyone and everyone I can!
Mission 1 was our local schools. This has been tough with some, and while we’ve been fortunate enough to be given a lot of time from a few districts, we’re still struggling to reach the right folks in others. However, we have been contacted directly by many individuals, a few homeschool groups, and even a young man who wants to hold a Revolutionary War Birthday Party with us, the planning of which has been an absolute riot! Keep your eyes peeled for a future feature on that!
Mission 2 was to work on lesson planning options for our school groups. Unfortunately, most schools had already planned their year-end lessons and booked all of their field trips for the 2025-26 school year. However, it was requested by both school administrators and teachers that we host continuing education opportunities for educators. This was a new challenge for me, as my own experience in lesson planning and teaching has been more for youths than adults, but it was a challenge I was ready to accept!
The result? A program I call “Unboxing the Past: Investigating Lives Through Genealogy and Primary Sources.” This Professional Development Day is intended to introduce area teachers to Fenton-provided materials on local historical figures and individuals, worksheets, and rubrics that can be directly applied to their classroom settings, in addition to a tour of the Mansion and Hall House Research Library, scavenger hunt, and more. These workshops will be held on 3 separate days this summer – July 16th, July 30th, and August 13th. Registration is required 60 days prior to the chosen date. Registration forms have been mailed to area schools, and can also be requested via email to education@fentonhistorycenter.org.
And since all of this wasn’t quite enough to keep me busy, Mission 3 was to make sure my name and reactivated role were out in the community. Every week, I’ve had at least one meeting with neighboring businesses and programs geared towards supporting local business and tourism. Additionally, we’ve been so fortunate that area publications beyond our monthly newsletter have helped to spread the word on my behalf, including an article in the Chautauqua Gazette, and a front page article in the Post-Journal. Furthermore, I’ve tried to make connections to a few other area Historical Societies, as we all have so much to share with everyone across Chautauqua County, and I believe that the more we share with each other about what we have and do, the better we can create well-rounded experiences for all of our guests. Add to all of that our two in-house volunteer meetings in April, our presence on social media, countless calls and emails back and forth to folks interested in visits or having us bring materials to their events, and so much more, I’ve met so many new community and history friends in just a few short weeks!
And, of course, I’m continuing to learn something new every single day. My work with the New York State Education Standards has me discovering what we have in our archives and artifacts that would best represent our local historical connections at every grade level. The staff and volunteers in both the Mansion and Hall House have been so helpful in sharing with me all they do and the exciting things they’re working on. I’m so enjoying everything about my position and I can’t wait to see what comes in month 3.
