LETTER TO EDUCATORS
The Museum of Early Trades & Crafts is a non-profit educational institution that
explores and presents the history and life ways of ordinary 18th and 19th century
Americans through its collection, presentations, and exhibitions of hand tools and
artifacts. School programs comprise an important part of our educational mission and
are in full alignment with current Core Curriculum Standards.
We are confident that you and your students will enjoy the
Museum’s presentation of DECODING THE PAST. We have assembled this educational
packet to help you integrate our presentation with learning activities in your
classroom. The packet is not intended to be a set of sequential tasks; rather, it
presents additional possibilities. Mix and match, use what interests you, and come up
with your own ideas. You may make copies of the pages of this document for
classroom use.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about these materials
or any ideas about how to improve the packet or the Museum presentation.
Meg Wastie
Curator of Education
973-377-2982, x12
[email protected]
OVERVIEW & PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: DECODING THE PAST
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Much of the work that historians do resembles the work of detectives. Historians strive to unearth
evidence from the past in order to understand the ways in which people lived, the tools they used in their
daily lives, the choices they made about their work and their families, and the challenges they faced.
To uncover hidden clues from the past, historians draw on a variety of resources and artifacts from the
time periods that they study. Through examining these primary sources, historians can formulate many
ideas about the diverse lives that American men, women and children led close to 200 years ago. In many
instances, historians may look at similar sources, but come up with very different interpretations of what
they mean.
DECODING THE PAST gives students the opportunity to experience the work of “history detectives” by
interacting with the Museum’s collection of historical artifacts from the 18th and 19th centuries. The
program consists of two parts:
1. Students work in teams to handle and examine Early American documents and artifacts.
2. The students also learn about book construction and make a “code book” to take home.
These activities are designed to show students how historians try to make sense of the past and give the
students an opportunity to use their own skills at deciphering and interpreting primary historical
documents and artifacts.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
Students will demonstrate ability to:
1. Examine and identify a series of artifacts from the early United States by looking at objects from the
Museum’s permanent collection.
2. Compare the types of tools and household objects commonly used in the 18th and 19th centuries with
those used today.
3. Develop brainstorming skills and group work skills by working in teams and participating in group
discussions.
4. Discuss the various uses of 18th & 19th century tools and household objects as well as who used them.
5. Speculate about what future generations will think about the objects we currently use in our daily
lives.
DECODING THE PAST
Suggested Pre-Visit Activity
TAKING INVENTORY
Objective: Students will demonstrate an ability to read and analyze an inventory in order to learn about
the details of a person’s life.
Probate inventories were taken after the death of an individual in order to assess his/her wealth for the
benefit of the heirs. Historians use probate inventories to learn more about an individual’s daily life.
Architectural historians use probate inventories to determine how certain rooms of an historic house
might have been used.
Below are partial listings of room contents from a probate inventory taken in 1834. Look over this list
with your students and brainstorm a list of adjectives that could describe the family who lived in this
house. Who might have lived in the house? What type of work might they have done for a living? What
clues from the inventory lead you to these conclusions?
After brainstorming about the inventory below, have students make an inventory of their rooms and
think about the things that their inventory would tell future generations about them.
HOME OF ISAAC SUTLIFFE, 1834
SITTING ROOM:
3 Sitting Chairs
1 Bible
1 Looking Glass
1 Table with punch bowl
BEDROOM:
3 Cloth Dolls
Bedding and Bedstead
Carpet and Chair
YARD:
1 Brindled Heifer
A Red Cow
8 Hogs
DECODING THE PAST
Suggested Post-Visit Activity
MUSEUM OF EVERYDAY CITIZENS
Objective: Students will demonstrate an ability to create a time capsule of objects that would tell the story
of their lives to people who will be alive hundreds or thousands of years from now.
The Museum of Early Trades & Crafts is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of objects that
tell the story of the lives of ordinary people who lived in Early America. Many years from now, it is
possible that a museum will be dedicated to the lives of people like us—students, teachers, employees,
family members—who never achieved wealth, fame, or notoriety.
Have your class imagine that they are putting together a time capsule of objects for the MUSEUM OF
EVERYDAY 21ST CENTURY CITIZENS (to be established in the year 3001). Discuss with your
students what specific objects they would choose to represent their lives, incorporating the areas of their
families, neighborhoods, school, ethnic groups and/or religions. Discuss why each object is important and
what story it would tell. Create a brainstorming list and then have your class illustrate and bring in
objects or images that could be part of this future museum’s exhibit. Use the brainstorming notes to
create museum labels that will accompany the objects. Invite other classes to visit your museum and have
your students serve as tour guides to their exhibit.
MUSEUM OF EARLY TRADES & CRAFTS, MADISON, NJ
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS
DECODING THE PAST – GRADES 5-8
CORE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Use
evidence
from
inventories
to defend
opinions
about
owners
Use
observation
skills to
decode
artifacts
Create a
personal
inventory of
your
possessions
for someone
to “decode” to
learn things
about you
Small group
discussions of
inventories/decoding of
inventories & museum
artifacts
Sources:
Probate
inventories
Artifacts
Other
primary
sources
STANDARD
What do
artifacts tell us
about life &
habits in the
18th & 19th
centuries?
N/A
N/A
Partial list:
Artifact
Primary
source
Curator
Inventory
Informative
non-fiction:
Probate
inventories
Hugh
Nesbitt II
1830
Probate
Inventory
Luke
Miller
1851
Probate
Inventory
“Decode”
Nesbitt
&/or Miller
through
careful &
close
analysis of
their
possessions
Defend
opinions on
people/artifacts
based on
observation
Explain
reasons &
defense
based on
observation
What do
artifacts tell us
about life &
habits in the
18th & 19th
centuries?
Handle &
examine
museum
artifacts to
determine
their uses
& what
they tell
about 18th
/19th
century life
Consider
audience
for artifact
analysis
sheets
[Follow-up]
Write fictional diary
entries of 18th/19th
century figures using
specific information
from inventories &
artifacts
Listen to group
presentations on their
artifacts & the
discoveries/observations
each group makes
In small
groups,
present to
the rest of
the class
findings &
observations
about the
artifact
assigned
Informative
non-fiction:
Probate
inventories
Museum
artifacts
Use precise &
meaningful terminology
in explaining artifacts
to class
Learn
specialized
terminology
for
presented
artifacts
Learn Early
American
origins of
common
words/phrases
still in use
READING
WRITING
SPEAKING &
LISTENING
LANGUAGE
What
words/phrases
might one use
to describe an
artifact that is
unfamiliar?