New at Old York
A closer look at Old York
By Scott Stevens
OYHS Executive Director
A record number of school children visited Jefferds' Tavern in 2006, making the need for the new visitor and education center more apparent than ever.
Photo courtesy of OYHS
Staff members will take turns writing brief pieces related to York's past and our organization's many activities. Topics will range widely - objects in our collections, stories of interesting characters and events, programs you can enjoy.
York is blessed with an extraordinary historical organization. This is not to tout the accomplishments of the current crew, but to recognize the work of generations. Starting in the 1890s, York residents have worked in voluntary efforts to preserve relics of the town's history and to enrich life in our community. Old York is the culmination and continuation of those efforts.
Old York cares for 12 historic structures on six sites, most of them open to the public as museums. We hold some 26,000 artifacts - furniture and other home furnishings, clothing, tools, weapons and much more - fascinating objects with wonderful stories, enough to support a hundred episodes of "Antiques Road Show," to put it one way. All of these objects have strong links to local history. Our library and archives house some 30,000 books, documents, photographs, pamphlets and newspapers - resources people use every week for genealogical research, find old pictures of their neighborhoods, or to pursue a favorite topic.
You have probably seen schoolchildren in 18th-century outfits playing and learning outside Jefferds' Tavern or the Old Gaol. You may not know that our programs served over 3,800 children last year. York fifth graders have experienced our Living History every year since 1978. Each child assumes the identity of an actual child in 1789 and spends two days immersed in life at that time - going to school, cooking at the hearth, turning wool into cloth and playing traditional games.
We talk with adults who still remember fondly their early York identity and their vivid experience of Living History. Parents of some children attending today took part years ago, and now volunteer to help the next generation enjoy the experience.
Children at other grade levels visit for a variety of programs that have become so highly-regarded among teachers that Old York does not have to advertise to fill every available slot for school tours from late September through early December and late March through mid June.
Old York's collections and programs received national recognition for their importance and quality when the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded our capital fundraising drive, the Heritage Campaign, a Challenge Grant of $500,000, and further designated it a "We the People" project. Volunteers are working to finish raising the three-to-one match necessary to receive the grant. Soon we hope to announce groundbreaking for a new facility that will enable us to share our collections and programs far more effectively with York's residents and visitors.
We hope this regular feature in our local newspaper will open some eyes and help draw more people into our town's great tradition of preserving, exploring and celebrating its heritage.
Please check Old York's web site at www.oldyork.org. If you have questions, particular interests to pursue, or the desire to get involved, email me at director@oldyork.org, call us at 363-4974 or stop in and say hello at 207 York St.
