National Parks—Research Treasure Troves for Writers
National Parks are a great resource for writers, particularly those writers interested in history, like me. My family and I have spent many a vacation touring a variety of national park battlefields—Vicksburg , Gettysburg (my daughter lasted one hour into the audio tour before meltdown occurred), Chalmette, Yorktown and King’s Mountain—and visiting sites registered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. http://www.preservationnation.org/ Not only do most national parks offer short films that provide perspective on the historical significance of the park, some also have re-enactments, walking trails or maps with audio tapes or CDs, exhibits that include period clothing, armaments, and information on what the soldiers ate and what daily life entailed. One of the best national battlefield parks we visited was Yorktown. Visitors there can see how the soldiers cooked, how doctors treated their ailments, what tools they used, and how they fired cannons.
While you’re visiting a national park, don’t skirt around the gift shop. The gift shops carry maps that might prove useful, money samples, paperdolls (source for clothing) and a huge selection of non-fiction books, including published diaries of the people who lived nearby, cookbooks, and pamphlets that you might not find elsewhere. Some even carry books or pamphlets that share local legends and ghost stories—a personal favorite.
Diaries, in particular, are a great resource for how people of a certain time thought, what was important to them and what sort of language they used. Here’s a sample of journals I’ve picked up at national parks: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballad Based on Her Diary 1785-1812, Frances Anne Kemble Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-39, Richard N. Coté Mary’s World: Love, War, and Family Ties in 19th Century Charleston. Pamphlets I’ve purchased: Patricia B. Mitchell Civil War Plants and Herbs, Leonard V. Huber The Battle of New Orleans As It Was in 1814-1815, The Life of Jean Lafitte, the Famous Pirate of the Gulf of Mexico (The Nora Anglia Press), and Kay Moss A Backcountry Herbal of Plants Both Wild and Cultivated Likely to Be Found in Dooryards and Kitchen Gardens in Frontier Communities of the 18th Century.Additional Suggestions:
While on vacation, look for small museums. They tend to have publications you might not find elsewhere like Nanette M. Bahlinger’s It Is a Wonderfully Lovely Place: Jekyll Island as Seen Through Kate Brown’s Fresh Eyes. The Letters of Kate Brown, February-March 1917 at the Jekyll Island Museum and Sister Xavier’s “Value of Herbs” at the Old Ursuline Convent in New Orleans.
Also, take the time to visit places with live history exhibits like Williamsburg or the Rural Heritage Museum in Somerset, PA, where you can get a more realistic feel of what life was like in the time period and how people made things from bricks to wigs, shoed horses, and what the people planted in their gardens. The advantage to live history is that the people who work there are steeped in the history. I spent forty-five minutes asking the tailor in Williamsburg questions that would have taken me days to research.Share any additional tips you might have! I'd love to hear some of yours.
Labels: national parks, Research
posted by Mo H @ 11:48 AM
8 comments
