Bringing History to Life

Living History Display at the Library

 

Living History Project

 This joint project was undertaken to offer the opportunity for Whitewood School Fourth Grade Students to participate in a "Living History Day."  Whitewood and Crook City are intertwined historically, it seemed natural to spend the day learning about both cities.  

In the morning of May 13 2019, the students examined the Whitewood Library Historical Collection: Crook City Artifacts and wrote short stories about some artifacts.  In the afternoon hours, the students walked around the town taking photographs  of the 125 year old buildings still existing , buildings greatly modified, and spaces where historical buildings have been torn down.  A book was created for both the morning and afternoon sessions.  This activity was an overwhelming success at accomplishing the goal at providing the students with "living history" lesson.  The students, each with their own learning style, found a way to fully participate in each undertaking.

A Special Thank You to our Volunteers and Supporters

Mr Jones, 4th grade teacher for preparing his students.

Rea Weyrich, Library Director, sorting historical photos & artifacts collections for appropriate material

Mary Livingston, Whitewood Friends of the Library & Historical Society, compiling the book pages

Barb Termes for providing the period costumes and dressing the students

Steve Ellis, metal detector operator, for donating found artifacts to the library 

Vaughn Boyd, Deadwood Tobacco Co., for her donation of cigar boxes

 Whitewood City Council for declaring the day"Living History Day."

The day started at 10:00 am with the students watching a PBS video about how South Dakota became a state.  The next step was to introduce the artifacts so the students could handle unknown items while using vocab words such as 'artifacts,' 'historical,' and 'archaeology'.'  This was followed by giving each child a box with a single artifact and picture that they wrote an essay about.                                                                     When the essays were finished, students went to 6 different map reading learning centers where vocab words were reinforced.  The morning exercise ended with a South Dakota Puzzle question and answer time.  Mr Jones cooked hamburgers for lunch on a BBQ in the park.

  The afternoon session, called "Whitewood --- Past and Present" started with a short lesson about the link between Crook City and Whitewood.   The fact that the Elkhorn-Fremont rail line was built and ended at Whitewood meant a death to Crook City.  Buildings were moved the short distance to establish the beginning of growth for Whitewood.  Next the children dressed in period costumes and walked to 16 sites to take 'Past and Present' pictures of Whitewood buildings.

This display was taken to the Catherine Thybo Daughters of the American Revolution meeting in September at the Diamond E Ranch west of Belle Fourche in Wyoming.

Director, Rea Weyrich, with the help of Barb Termes presented the Living History Display at the SD Library Association.
Call the Whitewood Library for bookings.  605-269-2616