George Washington--History Exhibit

The History Center has had a George Washington Exhibit since February. It was on the calendar a couple of times, but we never made it. So when I realized it was closing I knew exactly what we needed to do for Kiddo's birthday. It didn't take much persuading to get Kiddo on board; I'm pretty sure I had him at "History."

*

There are several halls at the history center. We only made it to one. We have been there a few times now and it seems we can only get to one or two exhibits in a visit. This time, Kiddo and I read every sign, watched every second of every video, did every interactive piece, and saw every inch of the George Washington exhibit. Kutey and Daddy went through much faster than we did, and they still saw everything.

It was a well done, comprehensive exhibit. The life size Washington's were nice, and sort of supposed to be one of the highlights and unique pieces of the exhibit. They were cool, but there were definitely other things kiddo enjoyed more.

All of the high points in Washington's life were touched on. They started at his birth, talked about his days as a surveyor, his early military career, his involvement in the revolution, his presidency, his return to Mount Vernon, and his death. They even had a video regarding Washington's slave ownership. It was quite interesting.



Kiddo was enthralled. He filled in gaps for me, because he has read a great deal about the Revolutionary War (Thanks Magic Tree House!). He did have to ask for a bit of timeline clarification, because Washington served in the military two separate times. When it said he left the military the first time, Kiddo was confused, because none of what he knew of Washington's military career had yet been covered! Once I stated the dates again, however, all was clarified.

There were a couple of things that piqued his curiosity for further study: the Freemasons and spies during the Revolution. There was a fantastic short video about the spies of the war. I admit, I am as interested in learning more as Kiddo is!

We also learned a bit about Mount Vernon. They had a scale model of the estate, which was fun to see given our previous virtual tour of the estate. It really is a massive estate! It was fun to see the model, even if the tidbits you could read were mostly the same as the tidbits on the website. It was good review, right?

They had one live person with early dental tools. Washington had terrible teeth, even though he was good about taking care of them using the practices of the day. The person at the table thought he would stump Kiddo, as he had stumped others before, by asking him what the tooth key was for. Kiddo knew. Not because he had heard what the person said before, but because that is one of the things they show regularly at Fort Snelling. It was also, incidentally, pictured in the display on Washington's false teeth (none of which were not made of wood!), probably 5 feet before you reached the table. All those people who had been previously stumped? Obviously they had not paid much attention to that portion of the display!



We left after 2+ hours of reading. While Kiddo could have read it all, I read quite a bit of it to him, in part to expedite the process and in part because I could start reading to him while there were still people in his way. There were a lot of people there, mostly adults, but a few kids mixed in.

Kiddo loved the whole thing, but I think his favorite parts were seeing how the grist mill worked (they had both a model and a video), the information on espionage during the revolution (a video), the Mount Vernon model, and the quiz at the end. We have now seen the Benjamin Franklin exhibit and the George Washington exhibit at the History Center. I wonder what they will bring in next!



*photos are not allowed inside the exhibit, hence the somewhat boring shots!

Titanic Study and LEGOS

Kiddo adores Magic Treehouse Research Guides. He likes the fiction books, but he LOVES the Research Guides. They are his current go to read. This week he read the American Revolution and The Titanic. Once he reads them, we go to the website, take the quiz, and he gets a stamp in his passport. He loves that.

I love how he reads these books and feels the need to share what he has learned, "Did you know...?" I hear this many, MANY times when he is reading. I love it!

On Thursday he finished Titanic. As he was announcing his progress (another one of the things that makes reading these fun), I started looking for things to further explore the Titanic. In my search I came across History Channel's Titanic information. So once he read the book, he took the quiz, and we perused the website. I was glad Kutey was upstairs resting, because the information might have been a little intense for her. Kiddo handled it all well, though. The Titanic Interactive section was my favorite. There are survivor stories in that area that added a more in depth touch. Did you know that there was a stewardess, Violet Jessop, who survived the Titanic sinking AND the sinking of the Britannic during World War I? The ships were both part of the White Star Line. Violet continued to work on ships through her life. I am not sure I would have ever wanted to get on another ship after Titanic.

Kiddo also built a mini-Titanic from LEGOS. This was all his idea. He started it on Tuesday, when he first picked up the book. He was intrigued by the double layer hull and the watertight compartments. Once he finished reading, he thought he should build a bigger version, a better version. It hasn't happened yet, but it likely will soon!







More LEGO Creations at My Blessings From Above!

Book Sharing Monday--The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus

This book is one recommended in Story of the World, Vol. 1. I requested it from the library but it took the slow train to get there, so we read it a little late. It is the book on which we based our Greek gods and goddess family tree. It is a good introduction to the Greek gods and goddesses, from Gaea and Uranus on to Zeus. There is a brief introduction and history, followed by the basic story of each god or goddess.



It turns out, Kutey LOVES this book. She has adopted it. She has carried it around the house with her. She has paged through it many, MANY times. It is so popular, I have added it to my list of books to consider purchasing. Kutey has a plan to make puppets of each of the gods and goddesses in the book, so she can do puppet shows with them. Sounds like a good plan to me!

Have you checked out Book Sharing Monday at Canadian Home Learning? You should!

New wall decor

Even though we read the Story of the World chapter on Greek Gods a bit ago, the library was a bit slow getting us a copy of The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki. We got it last week while Kutey was sick. I read it to Kiddo while Kutey was napping. We were planning to read part of the book because Kiddo wanted to play outside. Kiddo was enthralled, however, so we finished the whole thing.



After we read the book, we made a chart. It took the place of making a family tree, at least for the time being. I typed up blurbs about all of the gods and goddesses featured in the book--some of which we knew about, some of which we didn't. Once they were typed up, I cut them out. I did a lot of the preliminary work. Once that was done, however, it was all up to Kiddo. We started with two large sheets of construction paper, but it became apparent that would not be large enough. So I pulled out a piece of poster board my sister had found and donated to our school. Much better. I helped Kiddo lay everything out, but he decided where things were going to go. There were lines talked about, but he never drew any of them in. Instead, once it was laid out, he got out the glue stick and glued everything in place. When it was dry, we mounted it on the wall in the dining room, where it has been entertaining us during meals. It has been a great memory tool!

Odyseuss' Ship

We have been listening to Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey read by James Simmons. It is a fabulous listen. Kiddo loves it.

While he was listening the other day, while Kutey was napping (she has been doing that a lot since she was sick), and after he had finished his school work, he began building a ship. Odysseus's ship.



And what replica would be complete without the people!


One of them is Odysseus. I have no idea which one. The chains go to a raft, another part of the story.

I love how LEGOS allow Kiddo to process what he is learning. He is constantly building, often things like this that go along with what we are studying. And it absolutely helps him to retain the information better. I have a hard time believing he would retain half as much if he was sitting in a desk listening to this. Guess it is just one more reason to love homeschooling!

Carving like the Ancient Greeks...almost

When we read Chapter 24: The Wars of the Greeks in Story of the World, Vol. 1, one of the things we discussed was the peace time advances the Greeks made, particularly the advances they made in art and architecture. We talked about carvings that looked real: muscles in arms, folds in fabric, etc.

Then Kiddo tried his hand at carving. Using a bar of Ivory soap, a butter knife, a skewer, and a stick from those crazy silly scratch off craft things.



He made a robe, cauldron, and wand from Harry Potter. Obviously the scale is a bit off, but it was the process that mattered...

Mount Vernon--Friday History Field Trip #14

It's been a while since our last Friday History Field Trip. Winter isn't the greatest time for them, but we also have been focused on other things. With Kutey sick, the last two Fridays were out of the running for any outside activity.

Enter the virtual field trip. We had so much fun on our last virtual field trip, we decided to try another one! Since it was President's day on Monday, I looked for a George Washington themed trip. Mount Vernon was just the ticket. Kiddo did some reading about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Presidents' day earlier in the week (actually, ON Presidents' Day), but I saved the field trip for today.

The Mount Vernon website is great. In addition to a tour of the Mansion House (where Washington lived and died), there is a tour of the Mansion House Farm that includes many buildings. Each building included has a picture and a description of the building's purpose. We read each one, though I will admit that the kids tired about half way through. If we had stopped there, however, we would have missed out favorite building!

The Dung Repository.

Bet ya can't guess what this building was for! That's right, it was the poop building. Hysterics ensued at my household when I started calling it that. It is the first known structure in the United States* devoted to composting. Fun, right?

After we read about each of the outbuildings, we FINALLY entered the house. I think the kids were a bit overwhelmed at this point, and I probably should have stopped and done the interior later. But on we went. Through all three floors of the house. It is amazing. Most of the rooms have points of interest you can click on to see more details about a painting or piece of furniture. All of the viewable rooms give a 360 degree view of the room. My one complaint was there seems to be a lack of ability to pan up and down, making it a bit less interesting. In Martin Luther King, Jr.'s house, we could spin around while looking at the ceiling if we wanted to. The feature was missed (not that we wanted to spin around while looking at the ceiling, but panning up to see the paintings might have been good.)

The descriptions are rich in history. I learned so much just from reading all the descriptions and connecting all the people of the time period. The kids learned something too, don't worry! This is a field trip we will definitely take again, maybe even in person someday!


*I find it hard to imagine that the Native Americans here prior to colonization didn't do some form of composting at some point in some area. So it is important to note that they do say, "In the United States" which rules out anything in colonial times or prior, at least in my mind!

The Greek Gods

In history this week we have been studying the Greek Gods. Kiddo has a fair amount of interest in this area, so it has been a fun week! After we read our chapter in Story of the World, Vol. 1, I asked Kiddo to read "Gods of Olympus."

I picked this book up at the T*rget Dollar Spot a bit ago, knowing that Kiddo was interested. It was a perfect fit for this chapter! It also worked well as the first test of a new system we are working on. I'll share it once we get a few more kinks worked out. I used it as "guided reading," where I get to pick what he reads. He reads a lot these days, but sometimes I need him to read something more specific to what we are studying. And it worked! Not only did he read it, but he liked it. Whew.

After he read the book, I asked him to draw a picture of the home of the gods. He set to work, and finished it in record time. Then he picked out LEGO mini-figurines to represent each to the gods in the book. Once you have picked out LEGO mini-figs for each god, what's left to do? Oh, right, build Mount Olympus out of LEGOS!

Paper mache failure

Last week when we were learning about the Minoans and Theseus and the Minotaur, we also learned about Thera, an island near Crete. Apparently a volcano erupted on the island then caved in on itself causing the island to sink into the ocean. One of the suggested activities for the chapter was to make an erupting volcano, you know, the baking soda and vinegar kind of volcano. I never did this project as a kid, so I thought why not?

I sent hubby to the store to get supplies, which might have been a mistake. He came home with paper mache mix. The box boasts: JUST ADD WATER! Sounded easy enough. I read the directions 1 part mix to 1/2 part water. I began to get skeptical after pouring the cup of water into the 2 cups of mix. It was still really, REALLY dry. I added a bit more water, but it didn't improve. Hubby is far more of an optimist than I am about these kinds of things. So we plunged ahead.



We built the crude structure and stuffed it with newspaper wads. Then we attempted to put the paper mache, um, goop?, onto the structure. I lost faith very quickly. It wasn't working. Hubby was more optimistic and kept going while I was wandering about trying to figure out what to do to make it better. I came up with nothing. The kids and Daddy finished the volcano and we set it aside to dry--it said it would need a day.



3 days later, it was still wet. And worse, it was cracking apart, leaving holes where the vinegar and baking soda mixture will likely seep in and cause the whole thing to collapse.



Paper mache volcano--failed. Next up? Homemade clay volcano. Maye that will work better?

The Minotaur's maze and Theseus--Version 2

After reading The Hero and the Minotaur, Kiddo determined that he needed to build a new maze for the story. The picture in the book had a maze on different levels; Kiddo's original model was only one level. The book is also much more detailed from the beginning, so Kiddo wanted to add more to the scene.

He started by making a ship, because Theseus sailed from Athens to Crete.


He also built the bronze statue that guards the entrance to the port.


Finally, he and Daddy built the maze.

Much more involved than the previous model.


He even included the princess in this model, if you look carefully, you might see her! That was, of course, Kutey's favorite part.

Book Sharing Monday

I am trying a new linky this week--Book Sharing Monday at Canadian Home Learning.

Last week when we were at the library for the Homeschool Science Series, I picked up a few books to go along with our study of Theseus and the Minotaur. This was one of the recommended books.



The Hero and the Minotaur by Robert Byrd.

It deserves its reputation. It tells the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, but it does more than that. It starts when Theseus is born, it continues through his life up to and beyond his defeat of the Minotaur and his crowning as king. It also covers the story of Daedalus and Icarus, which we hadn't read about in our history book. The pictures are well done, too. The picture of the Minotaur's maze inspired kiddo to create a whole new maze out of LEGOS (pictures and post to come!)

The best test of this book, though, was the fact that Kutey recited the story (with great detail and accuracy) to Daddy after hearing it read only once. That is a great book!

Theseus and the Minotaur

This week in history we studied the Minoans. I say we, because I am not sure my history study prior to homeschooling included study of the Minoans.

Part of this study was the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. One suggested activity for this was to build a labyrinth with the Minotaur at the center, a model of the maze the minotaur lived in. I chose to skip the clay and cardboard, and kiddo made one out of LEGOS. You should have seen his excitement when I gave him the assignment. LEGOS + History=excitement.

I gave no direction. He went upstairs and happily built, I stayed away until he brought me the finished product.



He was limited by the size of base we have in this particular set of LEGOS. If we are going to continue building things like this, I think I should get a larger base, or at least a few bases that can be combined into one larger base.



I love how Theseus is standing in the entrance, holding his sword and a "torch". There is a grey piece near his feet that represents the ball of wool. The Minotaur is actually D*rth Maul. You go with what you've got!

The Birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr.--Friday History Field Trip #13

It was -25 F (-31 C) when we got up. Yeah. That is over 50 degrees F below freezing. If I can avoid it, I don't go out when it is this cold. That, combined with the fact that we were already out of the house twice this week, meant we were not going out for a Friday History Field Trip today. So I scheduled a virtual one instead!

We visited the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is a National Historic Site, in a Historic District that includes the Ebenezer Baptist Church as well as the fire station on the corner. The grave of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, are also in the area. On Monday, we read about Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked about who he was and why he was important to our history. I also got an email from clickschooling.com with a link to the virtual tour of the birthplace. We didn't have time for it on Monday, so I saved it for our Friday History Field Trip.



We started by looking at Google maps to find where Atlanta was in relation to us. We mapped the location, then got directions so we could see how far away it was from us. We viewed the aerial image of the area of the house, trying to determine what the buildings might be from the look of their roofs. Then we zoomed to street level and "walked" up and down the street to see what else was in the neighborhood. I particularly enjoyed the "double shot-gun" houses across the street. We discussed similarities and differences to our area.

Then we looked at the house. I had the kids guess how old it was. Both were surprised it was built in 1895. We went through the house, beginning on the the front and side porches. There are a few neat things staged in the house, so make sure if you go on the tour, that you look all around. The kids loved the little touches life, things that made the house look like people lived there. They loved all of the audio tidbits, too! I think their favorite was the reaction of Martin Luther King, Sr., upon learning he had a son. We had to define and discuss a few things, such as "multi-generational" and "chifforobe," which means we got an added bonus vocabulary lesson!



After our trip, I had Kiddo fill out a Friday History Field Trip Record sheet. He doesn't like to write very much, so I took dictation for a few questions, but I had him write as many answers as he could. Oddly enough, he loved this activity. I think this was an excellent time to introduce the record sheet. I hope to have him fill one out for every Friday History Field Trip going forward, so I am glad he found the exercise enjoyable.

This was a great field trip, even though I never had to leave the couch! We were able to take the time we needed to listen to the descriptions, to listen again, to look around the rooms (Kutey loved looking at the ceiling). We had the internet available to us, so we could look up anything we had questions about.

Books for Ashurbanipal's Library

I loved the idea of making books for Ashurbanipal's Library to go along with Chapter 16 in Story of the World, Vol. 1. We have talked about libraries before, when we studied Ben Franklin last spring we learned about the invention of the lending library. Learning about how libraries in general came to be was another piece to the puzzle.



We made our books on Monday when I had extra kids, so I put together five books. If it had been just my kids, I likely would have made kiddo do more of the folding and punching. In the interest of flow, however, I did that part first, while I was sitting at the table with the older two doing their math and writing.



Because the other 3 aren't there when we read the chapter (usually), I summarized who Ashurbanipal was and why we were making books. We also explained that he was the first to pull writings together into one place, or to compile a library.



Then I gave the kids each a book and they had at it. The younger kids were done quickly. The older kids spent a bit more time. S wanted to leave a few pages blank so she could add to it later. L folded his book into a tiny square because it was a secret book with a page for you to sign each time you read the book. Kiddo made a dragon manual*. Kutey's book was about machines.



I LOVE that this activity had Kiddo actually writing something. Yes, his writing needs work. Yes his spelling needs work. But he actually wrote it without being asked. Everyone else just drew pictures. He wrote in his. I made sure to compliment him on it, to tell him how much I loved it, especially the first page where he took his time and wrote a lot.





I also LOVE that Kutey was excited about this activity! She really put some thought into what she was drawing. She can tell me all about the 2 machines in the book, but I especially like her drawing of a person reaching for the machine.



*We recently watched How to Train Your Dragon. Hence the interest in dragons. A nice break from Star Wars! It was a fun movie.

American Swedish Institute--Friday History Field Trip #11, on Thursday

(This post is part of the back log I am working on. If you are getting it in a reader, I apologize, things will be out of order!)



We have a play on the schedule for tomorrow, and though we were at the planetarium this morning, I wanted to squeeze in a Friday History Field Trip this week, so we went this afternoon. Part of the reason I wanted to squeeze in a field trip was that I love going to the Swedish Institute at Christmas time. It is such a beautiful house! When it is decorated for Christmas it is that much more lovely.

This time we went at lunch time and hit the cafe first. They have only a small selection of options, but we managed to find something to eat. Then we sat with our A to Z scavenger hunt and selected a few items we wanted to look for as we went through the house. The A to Z scavenger hunt is great, but a bit long. I read through the items and made some suggestions. Having been to the Institute before really helped, too, since many of the things I could remember, making it easier to give hints to the kids.



The one thing Kiddo really wanted to find this time? All 11 kakelugn, the Swedish tile stoves imported for the home. If you follow the link you will see one of the kakelugn. Photographs are not allowed in the institute, so I can't show any more, but the one shown is a favorite anyway. They are really ornate and so much fun to see. We had previously found 9 of them, but the last 2 were elusive. We managed to find all 11 this time! There is a second one in the basement that we did not know about, as well as one in the gift shop that would have been overlooked.

Kutey was very excited when I mentioned there was a picture of a real princess somewhere in the house. For Christmas they set the tables in the tradition of the various scandinavian cultures and this year for Sweden they set the table to look like the wedding table of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, who married in June. They had pictures of the royals posted in the room. Kutey was in awe. Pictures of an actual princess. In the new year I hope to pull more information about royalty out for her, especially as Prince William gets married. Maybe we can transition from the love of fairytale princesses to knowledge of real princesses. We shall see.

We spent some time playing in the kids area, which has a small play house complete with clothes to dress-up as Sankta Lucia and toy lussekatt and pepparkakor. Kutey loves to dress up as Lucia when we are here. She was looking for the crown from the moment we got there.



There were two interesting special exhibits going on, one on the history of Sankta Lucia, the other "Santa Claus, Coca-Cola, and Swedish Design." Both were interesting...to an adult. They had lots of Coca-Cola artifacts on display, which the kids enjoyed, but the exhibits are reading intensive and my kids lost interest. As much as they love history, this was just a bit much for them.



As we were leaving, we paused to find the turret on the house, and noted just how deep the snow was along the path. The weekend storm
has made it difficult to get about in the city, even in well-prepared Minnesota. I can't imagine what a storm would do to places less well-equipped to handle it.

Alexander Ramsey House--Friday History Field Trip #10

(This post is part of the back log I am working on. If you are getting it in a reader, I apologize, things will be out of order!)

After three weeks off for illness and holidays, we were ready for another Friday History Field Trip! I was really excited about this one. We were headed to Alexander Ramsey House in St. Paul for a Victorian Christmas.

This was another new to me site. Though it was a beautiful house and we should go back when it is not decorated for Christmas, I think it will be a while. An incident there left me a bit less than comfortable with the site in general. Nothing serious, mind you, just something handled poorly.

On to the site.



The house was built from 1868 to 1872 by Alexander Ramsey. Ramsey was appointed Territorial Governor of Minnesota in 1849 and brought his family family here to MN. The house was built much later and occupied largely by Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey. Though they had 3 children, only 1 survived to adulthood. When she married, she moved out of the area. She did return, with her children, later when her husband fell ill and was institutionalized. Her daughters never married and lived in the house until they passed away and donated the house to the Minnesota Historical Society. Because they knew it would one day be a museum, they kept everything. When they took out the original bathtub, they kept it so it could be returned. Most items in the house, therefore, actually belonged to the Ramsey family. In fact, there are over 13,000 artifacts!

The house was built with all the modern conveniences of the time. It had both hot and cold running water, impressive at the time. The furnishings were purchased in New York. It is said that Anna Ramsey (Alexander Ramsey's wife) went on a shopping spree and bought enough to fill 2 box cars! Crazy! But the house is 3 stories. The third story is the servants quarters, where there is no heat, no light, and no running water, as there was in the rest of the house. Still, the average stay of a servant was 10 years! The third floor is also home to the nursery, where the grandchildren played. In it there is a replica doll house built for Laura Furness, Alexander Ramsey's granddaughter. It was built by the same master carpenter as the house, and is built to resemble the house in some ways.



Ramsey was not only territorial governor, he was also the second governor of the state, mayor of St. Paul, U.S. Senator, and secretary of war under President Hayes. He was a very prominent citizen of the state in his time. He is a contemporary of William LeDuc, so it was fun to visit the house for that comparison! I stumped one of the guides when I asked if President Hayes visited the Ramseys and the LeDucs on the same trip. Another guide who overheard chuckled a bit as she said yes, that she believed the President had lunch at the LeDuc House and dinner at the Ramsey House.

In the sense of Minnesota History this was a great place to visit, but it is probably not one of my favorite sites. The kids enjoyed it, though I think we had more fun in the carriage house looking at the books and toys!

Northfield Historical Society--Friday History Field Trip #9

(This post is part of the back log I am working on. If you are getting it in a reader, I apologize, things will be out of order!)

This week our Friday History Field Trip took us back to the scene of the crime!



Actually, there was no crime here. This is where the James-Younger Gang was defeated. It is the proud moment in the city of Northfield's history that is celebrated every year the weekend after Labor Day. Every year, we go to the festivities, watch the reenactment, and generally have fun. But we had never taken the time (or braved the crowds) to go to the museum.

The museum is housed in what was the First National Bank in Northfield. Interestingly enough, most everything inside is original. The floors and counters are the same, the vault is the same, they have the original ledger on display, it is truly stepping back to the 1870's. The bank was only housed here for a short time, moving a few years after the thwarted robbery to it's present location across the street on the opposite corner. I don't know how they managed to keep this particular space so well preserved, given the timeline. Still, it is always so much fun to go into a building that is as it was.

The museum itself is small, but mostly well done. There is a brief video to watch that takes you through the events of September 7, 1876, the day of the attempted robbery, along with some of the events leading up to it. There are wall boards to read about the gang, the town, and the events of the day.



From there you proceed into the actual bank, where you can see the vault that was actually open on the day of the robbery. The robbers never got inside, however, largely due to the valiant efforts of bank employees who insisted it was on a timer. We spent a lot of time talking about why a robbery would have been so destructive to the town. Now, when money is largely electronic and we rarely see large amounts of it in one place, it is difficult to imagine that there would have been vast sums of money in the bank. We also live in a time when our deposits are insured, which was not the case then. I could see Kiddo wrapping his head around this as we stood there. It was here, in the actual bank, that I most wished for a guide for our tour. Here, where Kiddo had questions to which I could not remember the answers. We were fortunate, however, that the director wandered through while we stood there. Kiddo got to ask him a few questions, he showed us a seal which he stamped into play money for each of the kids, and verified some of the things I thought I remembered.

From there, you head into the artifact room. Kutey was lost at this point--tired and bored. Kiddo, however, insisted on viewing every single thing in the room and reading (or having me read) every description. My favorite display was of two inlaid wooden boxes made by the Younger brothers while they were in prison in Stillwater. My one complaint? On two description cards regarding weapons (they have quite a few on display), they used the word "witch" where they meant "which." Small, I know, but it is not helpful to young readers!



The staff at the museum was great. We tend to take a long time when we go to this kind of place, where there is no tour. On more than one occasion, a staff person wandered through and commented that we must be looking at every detail! We were; the other people who watched the video at the same time as us were long gone. You could tell they were also pleased to see the kids enjoying themselves in this setting. On the way out, they kids were even given a piece of candy by the woman at the counter. She seemed genuinely impressed with their behavior and attention to the exhibits.

We enjoyed our visit immensely. It was nice to get a more in depth picture of the events that transpired that day in 1876, an event we revisit each year. We are already making plans to return when the weather is nicer to do their podcast walking tour of Northfield! Sounds like great fun!

W.W. Mayo House--Friday History Field Trip #8

Today's field trip almost wasn't.

I made plans to go to the W.W. Mayo House in Le Sueur, checked the website, made sure they were open, and we went! When we arrived, however, they weren't open. Curious, since the website actually says through November, and it is the first week of November. The kind woman who was in the entrance building (working at the florist that shares the space), allowed us to wait for the museum person. She arrived, and apologized, and explained. The W.W. Mayo house is a cooperative site, meaning the Minnesota Historical Society works with the Mayo House Interpretive Society(MHIS). Truthfully, the site is managed by the MHIS. The information on the Minnesota Historical Society website is not entirely accurate, and MHIS has no control over what goes there. Communication seems to be an issue. OK, but I had driven an hour with my kids to go to the W.W. Mayo house. This is where I renewed my faith in people. She gave us the tour anyway! She opened the house just for us. Thank you, Becky!



W.W. Mayo house was built in 1859 by Dr. W.W. Mayo (of Mayo Clinic fame). This is where he had his first medical practice, and where his first son was born. The house itself is small. Very small. Apparently Mayo was known as "The Little Doctor." He was short. He was my height, and I am not tall! The house shows this. A trip upstairs is tricky for me; the kids were fine, I had to duck. The ceilings are also slanted at the doorways, making it even more complicated. The doors on the main floor have been heightened, the family that lived in the house after the Mayo's left for Rochester were taller. They also added on many rooms, rooms which have since been removed to allow the house to depict the time of the Mayos.

W.W. Mayo came to Minnesota from Indiana in search of relief from malaria. Given our climate, malaria was not as prevalent here as it was in some southern states. he first settled in St. Paul, but didn't open a medical practice there, finding that there were already too many doctors in the small city. Instead, his wife opened a milliners shop, as she had in Indiana. It is likely this shop was the main source of income for the family at the time. Eventually they moved to Le Sueur. They only lived here until 1863, when they moved to Rochester where in 1889 W.W. Mayo was asked to be the medical director of St. Mary's Hospital which would become the center of the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic--the first private medical clinic in the United States--was opened in 1903. More about that history can be found here.

My favorite tidbit of information from the tour was that the medical course Dr. Mayo took was--get this--16 WEEKS long. It took longer to become a baker! Mayo did, however, have 2 medical degrees, and had studied science prior to medical school. He also worked as a tailor, a census taker, and newspaper publisher, just to name a few! I think the world is glad he finally settled into medicine, I know we here in Minnesota are.



Outside the house there is a small park with a statue entitled "The Mothers," honoring the two Louises (Mayo and Cosgrove) of the W.W. Mayo house. The statue begs for children to run around it, and so mine did!



When the Mayo's left, the house was occupied by the Cosgrove family for 3 generations. The Cosgrove family started Green Giant, a canned vegetable company currently owned by General Mills. Even though there is no Green Giant presence in Le Sueur any more, the historical connection is still celebrated and a large green giant sign is visible from the road. The house was added onto for the three generations of Cosgroves who loved there. It has been returned to the way it was when the Mayo's lived there, but the interpretive building has information on the Cosgroves as well.

Due to the tour guide needing to get to a meeting, we agreed to watch the introductory video after our tour rather than before. I was grateful for her accommodation. As we left, I grabbed a brochure on Ottawa Township. Never heard of it. The Florist assured me it was just a few miles down the road, and though nothing would be open, it was still interesting to drive through. She also mentioned that she had been homeschooled a few years herself, love it when people feel compelled to mention that! It makes what we do feel less out of the ordinary.



The town was plotted and never really became much. It does, however, have MANY old buildings. We love old buildings. The brochure I picked up had a few sentences about the buildings that we read as we stopped in front of the buildings. My favorite was the school house from 1915.



I love buildings like this. I wish there was an infinite amount money for their preservation. It would be fun to have historic programming in this building, instead of seeing it fenced in and boarded up. Maybe someday.