Swancey's Travels

Visiting Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island. A curated experience telling of original history of the island.

We took every possible current and modern mode of transportation from the subway, ferry, and bus to step back in time to learn the history of Staten Island. However, the fastest way to move around the actual village was by foot and a bit of mental historical time travel. Historic Richmond Town has some feel of the traditional style of a historical living history of a specific time period, but in talking with Luke Boyd, Director of Education and Public Programs, and Amanda Schroeder, Manager of Educational Programs; we learn how Historic Richmond Town attempts to not portray one specific time period but includes information from the past and present. We learned about the history of the island, from Native groups, settlement, slavery, and expansion to today’s island. Luke Boyd went on to describe the ways in which they collected their collection and buildings. Who knew that going door to door throughout the neighborhood, years ago, would procure such a massive and interesting collection?

Throughout our time there it felt like a truly curated presentation, history lesson, walking tour, and interactive experience. Seeing and learning ways to curate and tell a historic story without just looking and reading an exhibition panel was a different approach than what we have interacted with this week. Boyd’s presentation of Talk of the Tavern was an innovative approach to providing a hands-on history lesson that would be important to experience for someone of any age and I’m positive that even adults learn or perform something they have never done before from holding a black ball to vote, using a quill pen or even writing in their own vote. I never did. The memorial parts from the trip were seeing the physical items in the collection as shown to us by Carli DeFillo the Collections Manager. The voting trinkets of the little barrel, Lincoln’s pre-beard banner, and the little coffin with Grant in it were something the newer audience may never see and showed the variety of time periods that Historic Richmond Town attempts to show. Having a memorable and welcoming experience to museums enthusiast and museum professionals showed the care and thought that Historic Richmond Town and its employees put into sharing a hands-on historical approach.