Yesterday we went with our homeschooling cousins to The Atlanta History Center for homeschool day, with special activities and demonstrations of how things were done in the "old days." One day each month is set aside for homeschoolers, and each month has a different focus; this time the focus was on 19th-century skills. We learned about woodworking, blacksmithing, wool-spinning, wool-dying, cooking, pottery-making, candle-dipping, and more! After a lesson on pottery-making, the kids all made their own small bowls. They also made their own candle, although ours were made of wax, rather than pig fat as they would have been back then. Here the kids are watching a wood-carving demonstration, which also turned into an interesting lesson about shoes worn in the 1850's; I think Kathryn remembers more about the shoes than the wood-carving! Be sure to read her perspective of our day, too.
A main part of the history center is the Tullie Smith Farm. Although moved from their original locations in other areas in Georgia, all of the building are authentically old. The Smith House survived Sherman's march to Atlanta in the Civil War, and was moved to it's current location in 1969; the barn was moved from Bartow County (northwest of Atlanta). I'm not sure where the others were originally. A few sheep and chickens live here, but since it is within the city limits of Atlanta, the farm obviously is not as large as a real farm. As I was standing in the midst of this 1840's farm, I was amused by the odd juxtaposition of skyscrapers looming over the (small) corn and cotton fields. 
I knew that yards in those days were swept clean (no grass), but I had never really thought about why. We learned that it was so snakes didn't have a place to hide, and to make room for all the work they had to do in their yards, like laundry and hog-butchering. I enjoyed the old-fashioned flower and herb gardens surrounding the home. The kids get pretty silly when they're together, but I did get one mostly non-silly photo of the three of them. They are staggered in age and grade: Walker is exactly nine months older than Kathryn, and is in 3rd grade; Cullen, who just turned six last month, is in 1st grade. Kathryn will celebrate her 8th birthday this month, and is in 2nd grade. Those little blue things are the tags we wore in lieu of carrying around a ticket.
The inside of the museum was fascinating as well. The horse-drawn fire wagon (below) was one of the first used in Atlanta. Somehow in living here all my life, I missed the fact that Atlanta had a major fire in 1917 that burned more than 50 blocks of the city! After that, more emphasis was given to the fire department, and laws were passed against the use of wooded roof shingles. I found this link to the original "Report on the Atlanta Conflagration". The museum also had a copy of a telegram sent from Atlanta to other cities requesting help after the devastating fire, as well as an aerial photo of the Great Fire. I just love old photos. Unbelievably, only one person died as a result of that conflagration. ("Conflagration" is one of my favorite words, but I seldom have the opportunity to use it! I know, I know--only "quirky" folks like me actually have favorite words.) 
We enjoyed the old clothes and furnishings, and a model of a "shotgun" style house. There were so many neat things to see; we'll have to go back again to try to catch some of what we missed. It was a bit overwhelming to take in all at once! Kathryn wanted to know how to dial the number on this old phone, so I had to explain about operators. Behind her is an example of how old plaster walls were made. 
You know, when we made the decision to become a one-car family, we knew it would be inconvenient. One of the sacrifices I expected to make was in field trips... but we already have more field trips planned this year than we did last year, even when we did have two cars. Thank you to Windee for driving yesterday, and to Jonnia for orchestrating this field trip! Another sacrifice I thought we'd be making was in participating in group classes; but class schedules worked out so that Kathryn will be able to take the class she most wanted to do: drama class, beginning this week! God is so faithful, even in the small things like field trips and drama classes.
A main part of the history center is the Tullie Smith Farm. Although moved from their original locations in other areas in Georgia, all of the building are authentically old. The Smith House survived Sherman's march to Atlanta in the Civil War, and was moved to it's current location in 1969; the barn was moved from Bartow County (northwest of Atlanta). I'm not sure where the others were originally. A few sheep and chickens live here, but since it is within the city limits of Atlanta, the farm obviously is not as large as a real farm. As I was standing in the midst of this 1840's farm, I was amused by the odd juxtaposition of skyscrapers looming over the (small) corn and cotton fields. I knew that yards in those days were swept clean (no grass), but I had never really thought about why. We learned that it was so snakes didn't have a place to hide, and to make room for all the work they had to do in their yards, like laundry and hog-butchering. I enjoyed the old-fashioned flower and herb gardens surrounding the home. The kids get pretty silly when they're together, but I did get one mostly non-silly photo of the three of them. They are staggered in age and grade: Walker is exactly nine months older than Kathryn, and is in 3rd grade; Cullen, who just turned six last month, is in 1st grade. Kathryn will celebrate her 8th birthday this month, and is in 2nd grade. Those little blue things are the tags we wore in lieu of carrying around a ticket.The inside of the museum was fascinating as well. The horse-drawn fire wagon (below) was one of the first used in Atlanta. Somehow in living here all my life, I missed the fact that Atlanta had a major fire in 1917 that burned more than 50 blocks of the city! After that, more emphasis was given to the fire department, and laws were passed against the use of wooded roof shingles. I found this link to the original "Report on the Atlanta Conflagration". The museum also had a copy of a telegram sent from Atlanta to other cities requesting help after the devastating fire, as well as an aerial photo of the Great Fire. I just love old photos. Unbelievably, only one person died as a result of that conflagration. ("Conflagration" is one of my favorite words, but I seldom have the opportunity to use it! I know, I know--only "quirky" folks like me actually have favorite words.) We enjoyed the old clothes and furnishings, and a model of a "shotgun" style house. There were so many neat things to see; we'll have to go back again to try to catch some of what we missed. It was a bit overwhelming to take in all at once! Kathryn wanted to know how to dial the number on this old phone, so I had to explain about operators. Behind her is an example of how old plaster walls were made. You know, when we made the decision to become a one-car family, we knew it would be inconvenient. One of the sacrifices I expected to make was in field trips... but we already have more field trips planned this year than we did last year, even when we did have two cars. Thank you to Windee for driving yesterday, and to Jonnia for orchestrating this field trip! Another sacrifice I thought we'd be making was in participating in group classes; but class schedules worked out so that Kathryn will be able to take the class she most wanted to do: drama class, beginning this week! God is so faithful, even in the small things like field trips and drama classes. 
