Haversack presentation.

[major bill]

About five years ago the Michigan History Museum purchased a Civil War uniform for me to wear and three small size Union sack coats, three overcoats, three blankets, three pack, and three haversacks with various thing to go into the pack and haversack. The idea was for me wear the uniform and to have the visiting grade school students try out the uniforms and equipment. The school children loved it and every child in the class wanted to try on the uniforms and equipment. This proved too time consuming so we no longer really do this. Now the Museum is reusing the some of the items, a single haversack for the school children to look at and see what items are inside the haversack. This is still a bit time consuming.

So bottom line. Next week I am expected to do a 15 minute presentation to the other docents and the Museum staff on the subject of "Civil War haversacks and how to use them with visitors'. "This is a haversack and these are the items we have in the haversack." So now I need another 14 minutes of talk. I am trying to decide how good of a job to do.

If I do a great job, then I will be expected to write up a 3 or 4 minute long script for other docents to use. The down side of this is that 6 or 7 Museum "experts" will have to approve the script. So with about 7 "experts" looking at the script, I expect to re write the 3 minute script no less than a dozen times. The Museum will also want me to give the 3 minute talk to all the visiting school classes. Because Civil War history is not current high priority for grade school children, over half the 4th and 5th grade classes skip the Civil War gallery entirely as they go through the museum. So I am going to stand there in front of the Civil War Gallery in a reproduction uniform holding a reproduction haversack, as class after class walk right past the Civil War Gallery?

I guess I have to give a good presentation to the docents and staff, but I think it will cause me extra work. I will not dare to look at my emails because I will get emails asking if I am busy on a certain day and if I would come in and if I will wear the uniform. Why did I ever let the Museum purchase a re production Civil War uniform for me to wear?

 

[zburkett]

Because you are a good guy and think it is important for people to know about one of the major events that formed our nation?

 

[captaindrew]

I'm out of town and just have my phone so I'm link posting challenged but if you go to YouTube look up Civil War Digital Digest what's in a haversack. There's a few excellent videos on the subject. I've posted them on here a few times before so you might be able to find them in the food forum I think.

 

[major bill]

I am restricted to the items the Museum has in a plastic crate. I can not bring in my own items. I will probably go with hardtack, a cloth bag of corn, a cloth bag of coffee, a plate and silverware, a comb and mirror. Perhaps a couple fake apples.

I have to use items that a child can injure themselves with.

 

[captaindrew]

Have to sneak in some salt pork

 

[byron ed]

...I will probably go with hardtack, a cloth bag of corn, a cloth bag of coffee, a plate and silverware, a comb and mirror. Perhaps a couple fake apples...

Did your haversack repro come with its authentic button-in removeable pocket for foodstuffs?

Throw in a plain wooden pencil and some sheets of off-white paper, and a straight razor from the collection. You can have a reproduction "housewife" (sewing kit) made up or purchased ahead for next time, perhaps obtain a box of repro. matches ("lucifers").

Reenactors will tell you to carry the haversack on the left, but that's not gospel historically. Oh, btw, a small travel bible or new testament reader for next time, along with a pack of repro playing cards, and a clay or wood smoking pipe (easy to find repros).

 

[major bill]

Did your haversack repro come with its authentic button-in removeable pocket for foodstuffs?

Throw in a plain wooden pencil and some sheets of off-white paper, and a straight razor from the collection. You'd can have a reproduction "housewife" (sewing kit) made up or purchased ahead for next time, also a box of repro. matches (lucifers).

Reenactors will tell you to carry the haversack on the left, but that's not gospel historically. Oh, btw, a small travel bible or new testament selections for next time, along with a pack of repro playing cards, and a clay or wood smoking pipe are easy to find repros of.

Tomorrow I plan on doing an inventory of the approved items so I can discuss the use of each item. Docents should be able to fill their own haversack with any approved item.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

Haversacks were used mainly to carry food. I say "mainly" because there are exceptions to what was in the haversack, from time to time and from the choices of the individual soldier....
Greasy meat (either pre-cooked or uncooked) tended to ruin paper, books and clothing that some think were the only things in a haversack.
What would a soldier use his pockets for (including coat pockets, which soldiers might sew themselves, if not already in the coat)?.....A comb, pocket-Bible, razor, extra clothing (if they had it), etc....things he didn't want greased up....

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

"In one of my haversacks he has stowed a lot of crackers Bologna sausage a cube of boiled ham a small bag of coffee and sugar mixed and two boxes of sardines."-"John Shaw Billings: A Memoir"

"Of course, on the march, commanders usually ordered their men to prepare up to eleven days' rations for the trek, but a soldiers' haversack would only hold three days' worth safely, and the rest of the rations issued to or cooked by them usually went bad"-William C. Davis, "A Taste For War", page 57....
Do you want to put your comb, Bible, writing paper in a haversack, or is your food a priority?

 

[byron ed]

...What would a soldier use his pockets for (including coat pockets, which soldiers might sew themselves, if not already in the coat)?.....A comb, pocket-Bible, razor, extra clothing (if they had it), etc....things he didn't want greased up....

Uh, the pocket in the haversack, not a coat pocket. It's not a case of what we'd want to do, it's a case of what the actual soldiers did.

We're talking about the removable pocket that buttons on the inside of a Union issue tarred haversack. It was removable so that it could be washed (or at least rinsed) occasionally then buttoned back in place. The pocket kept the foodstuffs (the crackers, rice, apples, dried beef or whatever) separate from the permanent contents carried in the haversack: the plate, implements, straight razor, comb, housewife, pencil, paper, stamps, matches, smoking pipes, jaw harp etc. etc.

Haversacks were used mainly to carry food. I say "mainly" because there are exceptions ... meat (either pre-cooked or uncooked) tended to ruin paper, books and clothing that some think were the only things in a haversack.

Well that's wrong. Without backpacks, the exception was that haversacks only carried food. With or without the buttoned-in pocket intended for food, the soldier would tie-up rations in cloth or paper (rations were issued in loose piles), so that the paraphernalia in the haversack were not so readily contaminated. Dried meat, not so incredibly greasy after all, could be wrapped in layers of cloth or paper if there was no internal pocket, and wax paper was in use by then. But yes, you'd want to rinse or wash the internal pocket in the haversack occasionally.

 

[Old Breck]

It sounds to me like you have a pretty defeatist attitude. Why would children be interested in the Civil War when the very ones expected to interpret it to them are not even interested?

You'd actually be surprised at just how interested in history younger people can be if they are taught it in a dynamic and inclusive way. You have to opportunity to spark someone's interest in something you actually care about.

Rather than just say "this is a haversack and this is what goes in it", try to put things in context. Ask them what they carry their lunch in, or their school supplies. Ask them if they've ever been camping before and the things they may bring with them. Instead of spouting off the same blase monologue, see what they know about the period and build on that.


I'm a former historical and natural interpreter. I've seen that kids want to learn. It's often times the parents that tell kids how lame things are and discourage kids from participating in things. Contrary to what most older people think, kids today are not just interested in vidya games.

And this was one of the smaller groups we had

 

[major bill]

The kids might like the Civil War Galley, but the teachers often have them skip the Civil War Galley. About half the classes end up skipping the Civil War Galley. The visiting schools have a limited time at the museum and often the teachers want to concentrate on certain Michigan history subjects.

 

[Iowa Miss]

If you do have a housewife in the haversack, you could tell that children made housewives to send to
fathers, brothers, etc. This gives youngsters a chance to identify what tasks they may have participated
in during the war.

 

[major bill]

I do have a housewife I can use. If the museum does want a two or three minute script for school children about haversacks, I will probably say something about the housewife. Two to three minutes is not a long time to show children a haversack and the items in it. However, two to three minutes does limit the time children have to look at other items in the Civil War Galley. I suggest about 4 to 6 minutes in the Civil War/ Underground Railroad Gallery, but only if the teachers want to let the kids see the Civil War Gallery. Student only have so much time and teachers often want to concentrate on other Michigan history subjects.

 

[byron ed]

The kids might like the Civil War Galley, but the teachers often have them skip the Civil War Galley. About half the classes end up skipping the Civil War Galley. The visiting schools have a limited time at the museum and often the teachers want to concentrate on certain Michigan history subjects.

I would hope you mean the Civil War Gallery (not Galley, a place of forced labor).

Can you just set up the visit so that skipping the Civil War Gallery is not an option for teachers? Or otherwise influence your staff Coordinator to do that? One simple and polite way is to send an itinerary to the school ahead of the visit, with assigned duration times for each gallery including the Civil War Gallery, and with a worksheet master with check boxes for artifacts that require the students to at least pass through the Civil War Gallery (the school runs them off for the students).

And generally speaking, if you've been projecting that you're merely "the hired staffer" or "just the volunteer" it's no wonder the teachers are inclined to take their classes around as they deem fit. I would say step up and assume the stance with the teachers that you are partnering with them as fellow professional educators, whereby you're enlisting their cooperation in including the Civil War Gallery as a vital part of the Michigan story.

btw I'm a heritage Michigander myself. If you don't mind saying, what town and museum are you referring to?

 

[major bill]

I would hope you mean the Civil War Gallery (not Galley, a place of forced labor).

Can you just set up the visit so that skipping the Civil War Gallery is not an option for teachers? Or otherwise influence your staff Coordinator to do that? One simple and polite way is to send an itinerary to the school ahead of the visit, with assigned duration times for each gallery including the Civil War Gallery, and with a worksheet master with check boxes for artifacts that require the students to at least pass through the Civil War Gallery (the school runs them off for the students).

And generally speaking, if you've been projecting that you're merely "the hired staffer" or "just the volunteer" it's no wonder the teachers are inclined to take their classes around as they deem fit. I would say step up and assume the stance with the teachers that you are partnering with them as fellow professional educators, whereby you're enlisting their cooperation in including the Civil War Gallery as a vital part of the Michigan story.

btw I'm a heritage Michigander myself. If you don't mind saying, what town and museum are you referring to?

I am a decent at the Michigan History Museum in Lansing. The problem is most classes have an hour to an hour and a half to do the entire museum. Most teachers want to concentrate of the galleries showing the First People, the fur trade, statehood, mining, and logging. Doing so just for the first people, fur trade, and statehood, alone take up about 15 to 30 minutes. This leaves 30 to 80 minutes for the rest of the museum. Most classes run out of time and skip most of the second floor. If the class spent an additional 10 minutes on the Civil War, this would mean that over half their time wound be spent on the first four galleries. Doing this would usually involve walking through almost 80% of the museum without any time to stop and look at any displays. This is the reason I ask the teachers what they want to concentrate on. If they want a talk on First People, a talk about fur trade, a talk about statehood, and a talk about lumbering, they probable have 30 to 60 minutes remaining to see everything else. Many classes do not have much time to spend on the Civil War and Underground Railroad, especally if they want a talk on either mining or lumbering. If I take 5 of their last 30 to 60 minutes to discuss the Civil War, they almost have to run through the rest of the galleries. Even if the have 40 minutes or longer, they still have limited time to hear about the Civil War. If I bring up three sack coats and three over coats, most students want to try them on, march about and such. This usually take almost 10 minutes. The kids love it, but run out of time and so miss the last half of the museum.

I fear if I bring up three haversacks, the children will want to empty them, put them on and such. Trying to limit this to 2 or 3 minuets will be difficult. If I put on a Civil War uniform I will spend most of my time in other galleries. One day while wearing a Civil War uniform in the World War Two Gallery, a child asked if I was a bus driver. Being away from the cart holding the three haversacks for a half hour to an hour, while I am on the other floor doing World War Two talks, will probably mean the I will have to retrieve hardtack and such from all over the museum. What fourth grader could resist chasing their buddy about while throwing hardtack at them? Can a thrown piece of plaster hardtack cause an eye injury? If s,o I better take the cart with the haversacks with me up to the second floor while I give a talk about World War Two and not leave the cart with nobody watching it.

 

[Mrs. V]

@major bill you do have a quandry. I don't understand why the students aren't spending more time at the museum. Be that as it may, If you limity yourself to showing them what is in the haversack, then while you stroll around the WW2 exhibit, maybe you could talk about rations from the Civil War verses the subsequent wars, as well as what they would have been carried in? Sort of moving food through history.

 

[Albert Sailhorst]

Uh, the pocket in the haversack, not a coat pocket. It's not a case of what we'd want to do, it's a case of what the actual soldiers did.



I did not mention the pocket in the haversack.....I was bringing up the subject of other pockets....
Sorry for the confusion.