I Went There: Plimoth Plantation
Plimoth Plantation, located in Plymouth, MA, is one of those museums everyone says, “oh yeah, I remember going there as a child.” In fact, it hasn’t changed much since you were a child, depending on when you were there, but this was my third visit in 4 years, and each experience was quite different. The museum is divided into four sections, although in their website, they consider a one-room changing exhibit, dining areas, and the nye barn, a three stall structure that held only three goats to also be distinct and noteworthy areas.
The first time I went to the museum was on a professional development trip with other interpreters from my museum. It was during the winter, and the museum opened just for us. Our group of fifteen individuals received wonderful attention, and there was much sharing of ideas about ships, roleplaying, research, and interpretation of history. Because this was a totally artificial experience, I am going to focus on the museum from my other two perspectives, a single mother with two children, and a middle school chaperone.
The recreation of the Mayflower is located in downtown Plymouth, right near the rock. This floating exhibit is staffed with costumed roleplayers and present-day interpreters. The boat itself is well presented – there are three decks for exploring, and visitors are allowed into most places. On our most recent visit as a fifth grade class, we saw fewer interpreters than we saw over the summer as a family, although we had not met costumed roleplayers on our previous visit to the Mayflower, and there were a man and a woman sitting on one of the hatch covers saying things like, “Oh I do wonder when the sailors will be back on board so we can leave.” It seemed quite anomalous to have them there; they were totally out of context with the rest of the Mayflower experience. The young woman also had many unflattering things to say about some of the children in our group, which seemed inappropriate. One does not go to a museum to be insulted or for behaviour modification. Of the three non-costumed interpreters, one was quite knowledgeable. Each of the other two got facts wrong (that I KNEW about), which is as disturbing to hear in another museum as it is in my own. You can’t beat the vessel as a cool place to visit, and the fact that it is as exact a recreation as possible really makes you think about the life, the number of people packed in such a tiny space, and how ship design evolved – it really is a narrow, little thing, and seems like even the most stoic of sailors would be hanging over the rail on a vessel like that. I would have liked the interpreters to guide some of the more distracted (but mostly very good) children and chaperones toward thinking about some of those things.
At the actual museum site, you have the 1627 Pilgrim Village which is staffed entirely with costumed roleplayers, who seem to be historians and actors in equal numbers. Their research is in-depth, presentation appears historically accurate, and are really the heart of this section of the museum, because there is a certain sameness to the dwellings. Depending on the time of day, you will find more or fewer of these interpreters. When we visited last summer, there were at least a dozen roleplayers, and my children and I sat and watched the blacksmith at work for quite a long time. With our school group, we were unable to do this. The blacksmith was closed. In fact, we only saw four interpreters. One was much more interested in telling his story, and don’t try to ask any questions. Another ONLY answered questions, and didn’t provide any information on her own. Mostly, she seemed annoyed that we were in her way. The other two were inaccessible because of crowds. I was really disappointed, because our last experience with this group had been pretty good.
In contrast, Hobbamock’s Homesite, a recreation of a Wampanoag village, was full of interpreters who were really good – interested in sharing their knowledge – and here it really is sharing, because they are not taking on the character of a 17th century person, they are 20th century tribe members (where the museum found so many Wampanoag who are willing to work at the lousy wage museum interpreters make is a bit of a quandary). They are dressed in period ethnic clothing, but talk to you from current experience. Now on our last visit, we had found this section of the museum to be the disappointing one. Many of the interpreters seemed somewhat surly. But this time, we had a much better experience here.
The craft center is a place where you have 20th century craftsmen (weavers, carvers, broom makers, potters) working in an open workshop area where they can do their job and interact with visitors at the same time. Each time I have been there, there has only been one craftsman at work, and a different one each time. They are knowledgeable and reasonably friendly, and you can stand and watch them work for as long as you like without them getting annoyed at your questions.
In all, it is a pleasant day at Plimouth. There is a nice shady nature walk, a scenic atmosphere, and sometimes, the feeling that you have stepped back in time. I would recommend going early or late in the day when it is apt to be a little less crowded, and you won’t be losing interpreters on lunch breaks, which may have been how we saw so few roleplayers in the village. If you have the time, it is absolutely worth doing the Mayflower II, which I would allot about 45 minutes for and two to three hours at the Plantation. It is not the sort of museum where there are so many artifacts that you could spend hours and hours looking, but you could get involved for some time talking with a roleplayer, if you happen upon a good one. Combination tickets for the Mayflower II and Plimoth Plantation are good for two consecutive days and are $24 for adults and $14 for children, making it more expensive than it’s other local living history cousins, Mystic Seaport and Old Sturbridge Village.
My only other comment is again about the roleplayers. Indeed they are portraying extremely pious, hardworking residents of a town that was founded on unusual principles. And yet, theoretically, as they are a group that escaped persecution, ultra-Christian, who nearly to a residence open their homes to boarders to whom they are not related you'd think they might be a little friendlier. Historic, first-person interpretation is always a challenge. There are competing demands of dealing with a 21st century audience in a different setting, like hooking up the wayback machine. But even if you want to PRETEND you are using the wayback machine to your museum visitors, you aren't. There is no such thing. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to have pilgrims who are rude or abrupt because we decided as modern people looking at their writings and artifacts that's how Puritans were. Any historian worth his or her salt knows that you can only learn so much from primary sources. Just because I write like I speak doesn't mean that everyone on Blogger does, and to make that assumption would be ridiculous. Any museum administrator worth their salt knows that by having the staff be discourteous in the name of “historical accuracy” they are going to give visitors an experience that is most likely contrary to their mission.
The first time I went to the museum was on a professional development trip with other interpreters from my museum. It was during the winter, and the museum opened just for us. Our group of fifteen individuals received wonderful attention, and there was much sharing of ideas about ships, roleplaying, research, and interpretation of history. Because this was a totally artificial experience, I am going to focus on the museum from my other two perspectives, a single mother with two children, and a middle school chaperone.
The recreation of the Mayflower is located in downtown Plymouth, right near the rock. This floating exhibit is staffed with costumed roleplayers and present-day interpreters. The boat itself is well presented – there are three decks for exploring, and visitors are allowed into most places. On our most recent visit as a fifth grade class, we saw fewer interpreters than we saw over the summer as a family, although we had not met costumed roleplayers on our previous visit to the Mayflower, and there were a man and a woman sitting on one of the hatch covers saying things like, “Oh I do wonder when the sailors will be back on board so we can leave.” It seemed quite anomalous to have them there; they were totally out of context with the rest of the Mayflower experience. The young woman also had many unflattering things to say about some of the children in our group, which seemed inappropriate. One does not go to a museum to be insulted or for behaviour modification. Of the three non-costumed interpreters, one was quite knowledgeable. Each of the other two got facts wrong (that I KNEW about), which is as disturbing to hear in another museum as it is in my own. You can’t beat the vessel as a cool place to visit, and the fact that it is as exact a recreation as possible really makes you think about the life, the number of people packed in such a tiny space, and how ship design evolved – it really is a narrow, little thing, and seems like even the most stoic of sailors would be hanging over the rail on a vessel like that. I would have liked the interpreters to guide some of the more distracted (but mostly very good) children and chaperones toward thinking about some of those things.
At the actual museum site, you have the 1627 Pilgrim Village which is staffed entirely with costumed roleplayers, who seem to be historians and actors in equal numbers. Their research is in-depth, presentation appears historically accurate, and are really the heart of this section of the museum, because there is a certain sameness to the dwellings. Depending on the time of day, you will find more or fewer of these interpreters. When we visited last summer, there were at least a dozen roleplayers, and my children and I sat and watched the blacksmith at work for quite a long time. With our school group, we were unable to do this. The blacksmith was closed. In fact, we only saw four interpreters. One was much more interested in telling his story, and don’t try to ask any questions. Another ONLY answered questions, and didn’t provide any information on her own. Mostly, she seemed annoyed that we were in her way. The other two were inaccessible because of crowds. I was really disappointed, because our last experience with this group had been pretty good.
In contrast, Hobbamock’s Homesite, a recreation of a Wampanoag village, was full of interpreters who were really good – interested in sharing their knowledge – and here it really is sharing, because they are not taking on the character of a 17th century person, they are 20th century tribe members (where the museum found so many Wampanoag who are willing to work at the lousy wage museum interpreters make is a bit of a quandary). They are dressed in period ethnic clothing, but talk to you from current experience. Now on our last visit, we had found this section of the museum to be the disappointing one. Many of the interpreters seemed somewhat surly. But this time, we had a much better experience here.
The craft center is a place where you have 20th century craftsmen (weavers, carvers, broom makers, potters) working in an open workshop area where they can do their job and interact with visitors at the same time. Each time I have been there, there has only been one craftsman at work, and a different one each time. They are knowledgeable and reasonably friendly, and you can stand and watch them work for as long as you like without them getting annoyed at your questions.
In all, it is a pleasant day at Plimouth. There is a nice shady nature walk, a scenic atmosphere, and sometimes, the feeling that you have stepped back in time. I would recommend going early or late in the day when it is apt to be a little less crowded, and you won’t be losing interpreters on lunch breaks, which may have been how we saw so few roleplayers in the village. If you have the time, it is absolutely worth doing the Mayflower II, which I would allot about 45 minutes for and two to three hours at the Plantation. It is not the sort of museum where there are so many artifacts that you could spend hours and hours looking, but you could get involved for some time talking with a roleplayer, if you happen upon a good one. Combination tickets for the Mayflower II and Plimoth Plantation are good for two consecutive days and are $24 for adults and $14 for children, making it more expensive than it’s other local living history cousins, Mystic Seaport and Old Sturbridge Village.
My only other comment is again about the roleplayers. Indeed they are portraying extremely pious, hardworking residents of a town that was founded on unusual principles. And yet, theoretically, as they are a group that escaped persecution, ultra-Christian, who nearly to a residence open their homes to boarders to whom they are not related you'd think they might be a little friendlier. Historic, first-person interpretation is always a challenge. There are competing demands of dealing with a 21st century audience in a different setting, like hooking up the wayback machine. But even if you want to PRETEND you are using the wayback machine to your museum visitors, you aren't. There is no such thing. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to have pilgrims who are rude or abrupt because we decided as modern people looking at their writings and artifacts that's how Puritans were. Any historian worth his or her salt knows that you can only learn so much from primary sources. Just because I write like I speak doesn't mean that everyone on Blogger does, and to make that assumption would be ridiculous. Any museum administrator worth their salt knows that by having the staff be discourteous in the name of “historical accuracy” they are going to give visitors an experience that is most likely contrary to their mission.
posted by kingoftherabbits at
10:09 AM
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