History Around Us Program at Reynolds Homestead-Critz, VA-Oct. 7
October 6, 2009
CRITZ, VA (October 6, 2009)— October’s program in “The History Around Us� series at the Reynolds Homestead will feature the Frontier Culture Museum from Staunton on Wednesday, October 7 from 12:00 noon until 1:00 p.m.
The program, co-sponsored by the Patrick County Historical Society, is a “bring your own lunch� event so those interested can take a break from work and come down to the Continuing Education Center and learn more about the historical sites of Virginia and surrounding states.
The Frontier Culture Museum tells the story of the thousands of people who migrated to colonial America, and of the life they created here for themselves and their descendents. These first pioneers came to America during the 1600s and 1700s from communities in the hinterlands of England, Germany, Ireland, and West Africa. Many were farmers and rural craftsmen set in motion by changing conditions in their homelands, and drawn to the American colonies by opportunities for a better life. Others came as unwilling captives to work on farms and plantations. Regardless of how they arrived, all became Americans, and all contributed to the success of the colonies, and of the United States.
To tell the story of these early immigrants and their American descendents, the Museum has moved or reproduced examples of traditional rural buildings from England, Germany, Ireland, West Africa, and America. The Museum engages the public at these exhibits with a combination of interpretive signage and living history demonstrations. The outdoor exhibits are located in two separate areas: the Old World and America. The Old World exhibits show rural life and culture in four homelands of early migrants to the American colonies. The American exhibits show the life these colonists and their descendents created in the colonial backcountry, how this life changed over more than a century, and how life in the United States today is shaped by its frontier past.
Groups are welcome. The program lasts one hour and is free and open to the general public. “The History Around Us� will be hosted by the Reynolds Homestead and the Historical Society on the first Wednesday of each month. The November program will feature a program entitled “Reynolda in Winter� presented by Reynolda House of Winston Salem. The programs begin at noon.
