Fourth and fifth grade students from Demopolis and surrounding school districts learned how people lived in the 19th Century as they took part in Heritage Days at Gaineswood Wednesday and Thursday.
Thanks to a grant from the Alabama Humanities Alliance and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Demopolis historic home museum set up six areas of interest to demonstrate skills and the way of life for settlers, soldiers, Native Americans and pioneers.
Brian Mast of Livingston, portraying a French Marine, shows the utensils he would use at an encampment.Kristin Law, arts programs and marketing director with Black Belt Treasures in Camden, throws a bowl on a potter’s wheel.James Vaughan of Jasper used a hot fire and anvil to shows how important a blacksmith was to early settlers,Gen. Nathan Bryan Whitfield, portrayed by Elias Smith of Livingston, tells students the history of Gaineswood.The arts and craftsmanship of the Choctaw Indians are explained by Monica Moore of Livingston.Kathy Patterson of Demopolis explains the difference between what settlers had to pack in their wagon and the luxuries that had to be left behind for lack of room.
