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About > Year in Review > Education and Public Programs at the History Center in University Circle
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 An important accomplishment for the year is the completion of the second, and largest, phase of the Family Education Center, Kidzibits. The Time and Space Place for children 6 to 9 years old opened in mid-summer. Designed for families and school groups in first through third grades, the area encourages intergenerational interactions related to how daily life has changed over time. Completed with funding from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Abington Foundation, and Henri Pell Junod, Jr., the activity-centered exhibit has opened just when other parts of the History Center will be closed for renovations. A recent award from the Hershey Foundation will enable the research, development and construction of the third component, From There to Here, which will consist of stations of hands-on experiences about four time periods and four ethnic families whose coming to Cleveland has made a difference in our city.
The Time and Place Space in Kidzibits begins with the quote by historian Sam Wineburg, “Situating ourselves in time [and space] is a basic human need.” It is on this premise that the exhibit and its activities have been designed. Children experience what it looked like and felt like in the past and discover how things have changed to what they are today. These experiences offer the opportunity for sharing of stories between the adult parents/grandparents and the children. Conversation flows as children examine and play with items from the past that strike the memory of the adults.
The three basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are presented in three activities. “What We Wear” offers children and families the chance to touch and compare the feel of fabrics from various time periods. They can match the fabrics to the drawings and photos of clothing on the panels above by using the clues under the fabrics. To assist in imagining what it would have been like to wear them, there are five capes to try on, made in different fabrics from linen and wool to denim, polyester and nylon. Finally, there is a large magnetic board of paper dolls which are reproduced from the WRHS archives collections. With clothing options from the 1850s to the 1950s, children can dress the dolls with the appropriate outfits. In “How We Eat”, students are challenged to match their dramatic play to the way food has been prepared over time. From a campfire with sticks and rocks, to a cast iron stove and frying pans, to an electric stove with Revere Ware and a microwave with plastic casserole dishes, they cook recipes that match the times. Pretend food and place settings to put on a table with three time appropriate surfaces promotes serving the meal and eating with your family. In “How We Build”, a touch rail of building materials takes children from wigwams to smart houses. Plat maps from 1912 display how Cleveland was built of wood, brick and stone after the turn of the 20th century. Extra-large building blocks encourage them to build their own city.
Three additional areas help children understand how travel, lighting and city landscapes have changed over time. “How We Travel” asks the question, how far can you go in one hour by foot, horseback, carriage, bicycle, car and train. A giant floor map of the Western Reserve has cities, rivers and holes where children put tethered dowels that represent one inch per mile of distance for each mode of transportation. Can you get from Cleveland to Akron on horseback in an hour? Stretch the tether of a horseback rider between the two cities. Did it reach? Other activities teach map and measurement skills. The tethers are stored on the wall in a bar graph format that makes it easy to interpret how far you can go in an hour. “How We See” is a maze of four small rooms representing households and their lighting capabilities from pre 1800, to 1830, to 1880 to 1920. From firelight, to candlelight, to kerosene lamp, to the early electric light bulb, how well can you see a picture, read a document or find your way on a map? The difference is astonishing! Finally, “What Our Town Looks Like” contains a 3’ by 4’ table map of Cleveland in 1895. Buildings from four time periods are reproduced on plaques that have the map grip coordinates indicated. There are separate colors for 1800-1850; 1850-1900; 1900-1950; and 1950 to 2000. When all the buildings of one color are placed on the map grid, a view of Cleveland from that time period emerges. In the activities of the Time and Place Space, visitors of all ages find something intriguing and something to do. Early evaluations of the new Kidzibits space have been very positive—out of town visitors have stated they want to go home and tell their history centers about it and about how to make understanding the past so interactive.
Earlier in the year, the education staff created another, smaller exhibit. This is one based on our five-year project of urban archaeology with East High School. As the school closed down, the museum in it containing the results of the archaeological digs was closing too. WRHS came to the rescue and moved the items here for temporary display and use in the education collections. An exhibit displaying the work of the students, WRHS, CSU and Tri-C facilitators and the teachers and administration at the school was installed in our History Center. Other items from the East High Museum were transferred to the WRHS Library/Archives, so memories of East High will be preserved and available for the future.
The past year really was a year of transition with the difficulties in the economy directly affecting the budgets of schools. Teachers were in a stringent operating system as far as having funds for field trips. Our attendance in on-site trips was down by 21%.  One program not affected was the Early Learning Initiative organized by the Community Education Department of UCI. In this program there was an increase in preschool students with new children from Lorain funded by the Stocker Foundation. In collaboration with other institutions, specialized programs for 3-4 year old students are combined with classroom docent led pre- and post- visit activities. The LEAD program through UCI was organized with a new format concentrating on science and math in multiple programs at several museums in the Circle. WRHS took a leadership role in forming this new plan and we were delighted to have our LEAD programs increase by 57%. One school district, East Cleveland, increased their programs with WRHS, arranging for several entire grade levels to come for our science and math programs.
While school attendance in general was in decline, there was new interest in the education offerings of WRHS by the Shaker Heights school district for interdisciplinary programs to fit their transition to the International Baccalaureate curriculum. Programs crossing over science and social studies were designed for them. As other districts also move to the IB curriculum, we will be in contact to see how partnerships can benefit both the schools and WRHS.
At the same time that school programs have been decreasing, we have continued our collaboration with the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging and the Northeast Ohio Center for Creative Aging for development of more extensive programming in the Magic of Memories series for senior audiences. Over the past year program reservations increased by 31%. Responding to requests for more topics, we have nearly doubled our program offerings in the series for the coming year. With seniors now reaching over 100 years in age in many of our audiences, we realize there will be a continued growing demand in this area. A grant received from the McGregor Foundation supports the development of 8 new Magic of Memories programs and delivery of programs to Cleveland's Golden Age Centers in multiple visits. Over the summer, we mentored five college interns who helped research and write programs for seniors on topics such as the Golden Age of Shopping in Downtown Cleveland, the Hough neighborhood, and the Cleveland Indians. Our steady senior volunteer, Dennis Sutcliff, continues to assist in writing and presenting senior programs—he is just finishing one on Euclid Beach. The distance learning component of our programs is also becoming more important in reaching senior audiences as we collaborate with UCI’s initiative in this area. Adaptations of all Magic of Memories programs have been made for the distance learning format.
The other area of senior programs is through Tri-C’s Encore Program. In this collaboration WRHS provides behind-the-scenes “Coffee with a Curator” programs in conjunction with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Another Neighborhood Scholars program is the Treasure Trove of Cleveland History, a four-part series which has featured the manuscript and photograph collections of the Library/Archives.
Another area of new endeavor for the education division concerns the development and production of programming about Cleveland's entrepreneurs. With funding from the Ohio Credit Union Foundation, through the local Community United Credit Union in Strongsville, hands-on material kits are under production that will not only tell the history of some of Cleveland's most successful businessmen and women, but will also teach the new financial literacy standards in the Ohio curriculum. The kits will not only be available to schools, but will also be used in public library programs.
 While distance learning video conferencing has remained consistent as far as number of programs presented, WRHS has been recognized once again for the quality of its programs. Receiving a Pinnacle award means that we can advertise our programs with the award logo and those teachers seeking this form of programming will know that our quality is high.
Teacher workshops were held to meet various needs for professional development: The George Washington in Ohio Teacher Ambassador Program brought in teachers from many Ohio cities and helped us to tell them about the exhibit coming next year, Discovering the Real George Washington. The final workshop in the series will be held here as the exhibit opens in Fall 2012. For the exhibit Soul Soldiers, Cleveland middle schools teachers were taught about the Vietnam War and the experiences of African American soldiers in other wars of the U.S.
Several National History Day preparation workshops helped social studies teachers learn how to aid their students build projects for the district competition. Additional workshops taught using primary documents in the classroom. The third year of programming continued for the Teaching American History grant with Cleveland State University. Its topics Construction, Consuming and Conserving America taught teachers content as well as how to use today’s technology for building classroom lessons and projects. Teachers used the resources of the WRHS Library/Archives to build online exhibits, online posters, and mobile apps on various local history topics. These are available through the Omeka platform and also through the Center for Public History & Digital Humanities at CSU.
During the year, the education staff worked with interns from seven different colleges and universities, some for college credit and others as volunteers. We hosted two Future Connections students, one from Shaw High School in the East Cleveland School District, and one from Brush High School in the South Euclid/Lyndhurst School District. Future Connections is a summer mentorship program in collaboration with other cultural institutions and UCI. We were once again one of ten institutions in the four-week Circle Sampler Camp program for children in 1st to 6th grades.
The education department is the administrative home for District 3 of National History Day in Ohio. Volunteer Coordinator John Vacha, with the help of the education staff, facilitates the local history day competition in the five categories of exhibits, papers, dramatic presentations, documentaries and web sites.  While Case Western Reserve University continued as the host site for four of the categories, this year WRHS was the venue for the exhibit competition on March 19. Students and parents brought in nearly 100 exhibits which were set in the Crawford Rotunda and the Norton Gallery for judging. The change to WRHS was extremely successful with a more spacious presentation area and better conditions for the judges. Overall, 394 students participated in the district competition with 236 projects. Winners went on to state competition in Columbus where 42 of our District 3 entries placed as Honorable Mention, National Alternates, or National Finalists. Eighteen of the 36 projects that went on from Ohio to the National Competition in Maryland were from District 3. Of these, 7 placed in the top fifteen in the country. A first place winner in the category of Senior Individual Website was Lukun Zhang from Shaker Heights High School. Another student from Shaker Heights High School won the very special award, of a scholarship to the University of Maryland for his dramatic performance titled, “ The Paternalistic Problem: Great Britain’s New Imperialism Debate.”
The Teacher Advisory Board now in its 16th year, and the Senior Advisory Board now in its 3rd year, remained active with monthly and bimonthly meetings that inform staff of programming needs in the student and senior communities. These volunteer consultants also help critique program brochures, program concepts and hands-on materials. In sharing the latest from their sites, they enable our program staff to keep abreast of the latest trends and needs in both communities.
Individual members of the education department have been working with other areas of the society and partner institutions to accomplish various projects:
• Workshops on research and use of primary documents with Ann Sindelar in the library
• The Young Professionals group with Institutional Advancement
• The UCI wayside historic sign research and label writing with John Grabowski
• Planning for the interpretation of the Hay-McKinney Mansion with Dean Zimmerman
Following is a summary of the Public Programs at the History Center above the student and senior programs delineated above. Added together there were 101 programs, which is an average of one every 3 1/2 days. This does not include fundraising events mounted in conjunction with Institutional Advancement.
Workshops: 41
These were for teachers, seniors, and other adult groups. The average is a little over one every two weeks. These workshops include the family history workshops by the Genealogy Committee, teacher workshops through the Teaching American History Grant, and teacher workshops on our exhibits, primary documents, and for National History Day preparation, plus Elderhostel. Two weeks of National Endowment for the Humanities grant workshops provided Community College teachers with content on our ethnic communities.
Public Programs: 46
This averages one program every 7.9 days. These programs include lectures, book presentations and signings, openings of exhibits, antiques appraisal day, programs for boy and girl scouts, curator-led behind the scenes programs, and family programs. Of special note was the WRHS participation in The Severance Saga, a four part lecture series by Diana Tittle. The beginning lecture of the series at WRHS was “Evangelist for the Arts: The Calvinist Foundation of the Severances’ Cultural Philanthropy”.
Community Events: 14
These events ranged from Parade the Circle to the reception for the Association of Midwest Museums Conference, held in Cleveland. They averaged more than one per month. Others include teacher open houses, Fashion Week Cleveland, the Mt. Zion/VA Hospital Salute to Veterans, University Circle’s Holiday Circle Fest, and the District 3 Competition for National History Day.
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Education and Student Programming By Level
Location Hale Farm & Village History Center
Year 2010 2011 2010 2011
Pre K 130 149 1,064 1,096
Grades K-6 20,977 17,867 14,549 8,133
Grades 7-8 1,944 1,988 4,887 1,790
Grades 9-12 129 165 5,486 921
College 132 52 289 30
Adult/ Senior 48 0 869 1,404
Total 23,360 20,221 27,144* 13,374
*Includes 10,112 students who attended programming though the Choosing to Participate exhibit under separate funding
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Education and Student Programming By County Participation
Location Hale Farm & Village History Center
Year 2010 2011 2010 2011
Ashland 189 100 0 0
Belmont 0 0 0 113
Carroll 0 30 0 0
Columbiana 0 42 0 0
Coshocton 0 38 0 0
Cuyahoga 8,052 6,623 21,111 10,390
Erie 91 88 200 278
Franklin 52 0 0 0
Geauga 180 80 337 179
Guernsey 54 21 0 0
Holmes 44 172 0 0
Huron 0 117 0 0
Lake 324 102 265 143
Lorain 1,154 1,155 2,062 704
Mahoning 345 194 0 0
Medina 1,230 1,162 499 20
Montgomery 10 0 0 0
Navarre 0 0 0 4
Portage 1,085 1,392 650 254
Richland 56 88 318 96
Sandusky 0 0 0 0
Stark 1,078 743 0 0
Summit 7,655 6,468 1,085 676
Trumbull 717 406 0 0
Tuscarawas 26 165 0 0
Wayne 978 999 0 23
Out of State 40 36 617 494
Totals 23,360 20,221 27,144* 13,374
Janice Ziegler
Vice President for Education & Public Programs
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