Sneak Peak of Member Post: Women’s History Lesson Plan, A Closer Look at My Capstone Project

April 22, 2021

       In 2013, I was getting ready to prepare for graduation from Central Connecticut State University’s Public History graduate program. In order to graduate from the program, I had to work on a capstone project which took the entire last semester to complete; I completed all of my required courses so I could dedicate my time to this capstone project.  Since I was working at the Stanley-Whitman House, a National Historic Landmark, as a museum educator while I was attending classes, I decided to develop a lesson plan designed to educate students about women’s history by focusing on the women who lived in the house. I also knew that I wanted to be a museum educator after I earned my masters degree, and designing a lesson plan would be the appropriate capstone project to complete. In case you are not familiar with the National Historic Landmark, the following information is background history of the museum and the families that lived there.

      Stanley-Whitman House is a museum and living history center that collects, preserves, and interprets the history and culture of 17th to 19th-Century Farmington, Connecticut. It has operated under the auspices of the Farmington Village Green and Library Association, which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization, since 1935. This house is a Post Medieval-style house with a center chimney flanked by a parlor and a hall with two chambers (bedrooms) above which provided both living and storage space. The colonists built their homes from wood, and used post and beam construction for the frame. The second floor extends beyond the first on the front façade, creating an overhang. While the original purpose of the overhang is unknown, it did provide more space in the upper chambers. The lean-to addition that extends across the width of the back of the house was added some time in the mid-18th-century, giving the house its distinctive saltbox shape.  According to their website, the records indicate that the house was constructed sometime between 1709 and 1720.

The above sample is from the membership post in which I discuss previous projects I worked on, the thought process behind them, and my thoughts on them years later. I discuss my the capstone project I worked on for the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, Connecticut. I included a link below to learn more about this museum.

I developed a lesson plan that not only focuses on educating students about the women who lived in the house but also encourages students to learn more about the women in their communities. Also, I shared the process I went through to develop the lesson plan and what I would do if I were developing the lesson plan now.

If you are interested in reading this post, consider becoming a member of this website. More information on membership benefits and how to join is available on the website’s Buy Me a Coffee Page.

Link:

https://www.stanleywhitman.org/

Published by lindseystewardgoldberg

I am a passionate and dedicated individual who is determined to provide local and national history for future generations to appreciate their roots and teach the next generation. My love for museums began from a very young age. When I was a child, my family encouraged myself and my sisters to visit various historic sites and museums including Plimoth Plantation and Salem Witch Museum, and continued as I grew up when I saw places such as the Birthplace of Abigail Adams. My lifelong passion for history led me to earn my Bachelors degree in History from Western New England University and my Masters degree in Public History from Central Connecticut State University. While I was in the Central Connecticut State University Public History graduate program, I worked on the Connecticut Historical Society’s “Cooking by the Book” exhibit that my group came up with the original proposal for. I also helped set up art exhibits at CCSU’s art galleries, and wrote a lesson plan on women contributions to society in the eighteenth century as a final project in the program for the Stanley-Whitman House museum. Along the way, I gained various experiences within school activities and museums. My experiences include working with students in school programs at the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, Connecticut, Connecticut’s Old State House, and Connecticut Landmarks Hartford properties. I also volunteered at the Franklin Historical Museum in Franklin, Massachusetts where I provided tours for visitors, helped organize public programs connected with town events, and kept an inventory of the museum’s collections. I became a full time Museum Educator with the Long Island Museum where I teach programs, and take on administrative roles such as schedule programs. Today, I am an independent museum professional working on various projects for museums and historical societies. For instance, I joined the Three Village Historical Society working on various projects, both in person and virtually, in the education department. I continue to look for opportunities in which I educate school groups and the public on the significance of the arts, history, and sciences in our society through the museum education field.

Leave a Comment

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s