Well, my weekend, at least. (I get Mondays and Tuesdays off, since the actual weekend is when my department is busiest.) I trekked into Frederick, MD yesterday to take part in the very un-historical activity of seeing Star Trek (note: turns out nothing is open there on Mondays), and headed into Charlestown, WV earlier today.*
Not my picture. [x] But I was standing right here this afternoon!
Downtown Charlestown was small, but interesting. I saw the courthouse where John Brown was tried, and then popped over to the Jefferson County museum, where they had (among many other things) the wagon that carried him to his execution. Harpers Ferry doesn't have the monopoly on all the Brown history around here!
In the evening, I trekked over to Virginius Island, which is about a three minute walk from the house. It was the site of a bustling industrial town in the mid-19th Century, but the 1870 flood of the Shenandoah all but wiped it out. Today, it's back to nature, with only the stone ruins of the town testifying to its very different past.
One of the current residents of Virginius Island, whom
I came across earlier.
*I normally don't find it necessary to specify what state I'm in, but being right on the border, it's always switching. I get groceries in WV, put gas in the car in VA, go for walks in MD...
Today was quite a bit different from yesterday... I worked on making a pair of suspenders, learned to use an 1830s sewing machine, and was issued the bulk of my period clothes for the summer. I also continued my park tours/orientation, took a group test on John Brown's Raid, and briefly headed out to Virginius Island. Good times!
And now, I have the next two days off. As much as I enjoy my LH activities, it will be nice to have some time to myself. Tomorrow, I plan to head to Frederick for some shopping and a movie. The next day will probably be spent exploring the lower town, which I haven't properly done yet. It shouldn't take too long--it's not very large! I'll check in again as soon as there's something to report. Kirk out!
I've been here at Harpers Ferry (or HaFe, as the NPS shorthand goes) for a few days now, so I'm all settled in. I just unpacked my last box this afternoon! I'm living upstairs in the Master Armorer's house, which is right down by where the rivers converge. My room is situated quite scenically... I can see Maryland out two windows, and Virginia out the other! The house itself has quite the history, as it was the Union headquarters during the Federal occupation of the town. Both Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee stayed here (not at the same time). I agree with the choice in lodgings... it's quite the nice house.
There she is! The downstairs is also the Visitor Information Center.
(Disclaimer: Not my picture. I am too lazy to go outside and take one right
now, besides which it's getting dark. Maybe tomorrow. The original is here.)
Did I mention the view from my second story porch? (Basically the same view as the east-facing window)
This doesn't quite do it justice... you miss the other half of the scene. Here you
can see the edge of town with Maryland Heights across the Potomac, as well
as John Brown's fort and the foundations of armory buildings that were blown
up to prevent them from falling into enemy hands early in the Civil War.
After three days of orientation, I finally got to start with the Living History (LH) branch earlier. We did artillery drills for almost the whole day, right by the banks of the Shenandoah. I've never been on a gun crew before, so it was very exciting! We were working with a rifled 3-inch ordnance piece. I really enjoyed learning the responsibilities of all the different positions, and am looking forward to doing it again.
This is basically what I looked like. Minus the beards.
At the request of my mom (who finds this hilarious), here is a story from my artillery training:
I was stationed at the #3 post, which is at the right rear of the cannon. Because we were doing a simulation of a gun under enemy fire, the procedure was quite rushed. As I stepped in with the intention of sticking the brass pick into the vent to open the cartridge, my implement caught on the wheel. Turns out haste does make waste. It flew out of my hand, spiraled through the air, and almost impaled my comrade at #4, who was holding the lanyard and primer and staring in shock. I braced myself to get reprimanded. Instead, I heard my supervisor/commander say completely seriously, "Shot right out of her hands by small arms fire. Proceed!" That was good enough explanation for me. And there's no laughing allowed on the gun crew, so that was that!
Here's other guys demonstrating the loading procedure
at a slower speed. Around 0:42 is where the incident
would have occurred, to the guy in the back right.
In other news, I've all but lost my voice. Hopefully it comes back before Wednesday, when I have to start giving demonstrations. Not being able to talk would dramatically complicate my job...
With finals barely over, the summer is starting off pretty crazy--tomorrow, it's off to Europe for three weeks, and from there, (almost) straight to West Virginia!
As you probably already know if you're reading this blog, I've been accepted as a Living History intern at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. For those of you who are unfamiliar with that particular line of work, this means that my chief responsibility will be dressing up and demonstrating 19th Century life in town, helping visitors to connect to Harpers Ferry's past. This blog will be a place for me to record and share my various adventures over the summer. If you're interested in checking in to see what I'm up to, here's your best shot!
