Methods for Understanding the Past
The Grinding Room at Brown's Mill, New Hampshire. The shoe shows clearly
under the hopper in the lower right foreground right-hand hopper, but the
damsel is not in position. A corn cob crusher or corn sheller is at the
left center between the millstones. It removed the kernels of corn from
the corn cob or crushes the corn cob to be used in some animal feeds.
I have always disliked the term, "mill tour." People and individuals
did not historically tour flour and grist mills. Today they witness the
milling demonstrations, and if the mill is not operating, I prefer term:
"mill discovery" or "mill journey" into the past. This
is a shift from the time-honored manner of giving tours to a thematic approach
to looking at the past. Might we loose the intimate charm and the long standing
tradition of a personalized mill tour, and the repeated bits of information
that was repetitive year after year?
Thematic interpretation is a more intellectual method of rearranging the
past. I think the best method of mill interpretation is done by "station
interpretation." In this tour method the visitors become more like
time travelers, instead of the visitors are basically being escorted though
the mill from top to bottom. The visitors are allowed to move as they wish
though the mill, and move at their own pace. This method emphasizes the
topics of work done in a traditional mill at different important places
in the milling process. The mill perhaps served the local community or was
built for exporting flour abroad.
I prefer to start the group of visitors outside of the mill before then
enter. This is where the interpreter or miller is introduced to the visitors.
Then story of the mill's history is told, and its historical changes that
occurred in the structure which reflect the continuity of the stages in
American technological flour milling development. This is the point where
any errors that was told in previous interpretations of the mill should
be made to disappear. Correct stories and bits of information can be told,
to explain away any antiquarian folklore that over the years that is not
accurate history. Finally before the visitors enter the mill as safety message
should be mentioned.
The water wheel can be started and stopped for the visitors to see how the
water turns the water wheel. This can be done either outside or inside by
the miller according to the way the hydraulic engineering is laid out for
that particular mill. Visitors can see how much water (and its weight) has
to fill the buckets of the water wheel before it starts, and then once it
is shut off, how long it takes to stop turning until all of the water exits
the wheel. Then the water wheel's weight is once again equalized.
Once the visitors entire the mill by either the first floor, or basement
level of the mill, the program should be taken over by the operating mill
for the most part. If they entire the basement level they will directly
see the connection between the water wheel outside (of the mill), and where
the shaft enters the mill, and how the millstones driven on the level above.
If the visitors entire the mill by the first floor, they will entire the
mill by the path by which the grain would have entered the mill the milling
process. Because many mills that have been restored using the Oliver Evans
system, it is often difficult to conduct normal floor by floor tours because
the grain and flour may travel up and down through the mill a half a dozen
times or more.
If the interpreter who introduced the program to the visitors hands off
the group to another interpreter inside of the mill, this could be the miller,
and they take turns back and forth, this is commonly referred to as tag
team interpretation. At times the interpreter who introduces the program
to visitors outside of the mill may be stationed at that point while other
interpreters are located at key points inside of the mill building.
Many groups and organizations have different options as to the value of
volunteers. At times depending upon sources of money, they may run hot or
cold about the idea of using volunteers in regular interpretive programs.
Some may have the attitude that volunteers are taking over the programs,
and other times volunteers are made to feel that the site could not function
without them. Volunteers can become millers, miller's helpers, and also
provide other forms of related demonstrations to support the programs at
the mill. During special events you may have the luxury of having one or
more volunteers for each floor level in the mill. During special events
volunteers who have other skills and abilities can demonstration them to
support the program of the mill. An example would be a blacksmith and how
the smith worked with the miller to make, temper and draw out worn down
mill picks, along with other items in the mill that the blacksmith made.
The blacksmith can talk about his seasonal work for the miller and other
trades or craft persons in the community and how he got paid for his efforts.
One of the biggest concerns about an operating mill for historic living
history demonstrations is visitor safety. Station interpretation works best
because you have people covering areas for visitor safety as well as for
programs. Not every site has the luxury of having great numbers of bodies
to staff a site on the average day. This is one of the reasons why the old-standby
mill tour was a good idea, to keep everyone in a group to keep little fingers,
bodies, arms and heads out of the moving machinery. Another concern is the
visitors health. This may include being exposed to flour dust, walking on
wet surfaces or near the edges of mill races filled with water to consuming
the products of the mill.
When I worked at Peirce Mill, often on weekends I had a person outside the
mill carding and spinning wool. It was a drawing card to bring visitors
into the mill, the same way that when the water wheel was turning more people
stopped at the mill. Katherine Colby who volunteered also acted as a introduction
for the mill's programs that I was presenting inside of the mill. At times
of the year when the weather changed she would be inside of the mill next
to the pot belly stone, which also was a drawing card for visitors, smoke
coming out of the chimney. It is the basic idea, show movement or motion
and it will attract visitors to the site.
The old "Mill-Wright's and Miller's Guide," is a common and plausible
tale of perhaps fiction told about any mill built after the time of Oliver
Evans, that this mill was modeled after. It may explain were the certain
design came from that is in the mill, but was it in reality modeled after
the book, or other examples of his application found in existing mills of
the time. It is almost a "milling legend," that every mill was
modeled from Oliver Evans book. This is even found in mills that have no
milling devices of Oliver Evans. Perhaps only a handful of mills that are
still with us today, do we know for sure paid Oliver Evans the license fee
to use his improvements in their mill.
Information previously presented on mill tours may be simply curious errors
that are prone to be told by mill museum staff rather than any thing that
is the historical truth. For example, we don't know for sure if the millers
of the past dressed their own millstones, or if they were done by itinerant
millstones dressers who traveled the countryside. At Peirce Mill we know
the last names of a handful of millers employed by the Peirce family but
know nothing about their job duties. Another example that is commonly told
to visitors is that millers only operated the mill during daylight hours.
We have various historical records that talk about some mills having to
operate late into the night. In technical milling text books of the mid-1800's,
it sometimes discusses about merchant mills having been operated three shifts
around the clock, and the duties of the miller. This is why I have printed
these lists of miller's duties from different time periods as an insight
into the miller's work. In Oliver Evans' book, "The Young Mill-Wright
and Miller's Guide," it talks about the dangers of forgotten candles
that burn down, and catch the mill ablaze.
What is mill interpretation after all? It is either the explanation of milling
technology, the process of milling, the credulous telling of history, and
the telling of tales to illustrate social history which related to the mill.
Thematic interpretation of the mill does not mean that information should
be aimed over everyone's head. Themes are a way of presenting organized
information so that tours are not repeated in the same format year after
year until an interpreter leaves and is replaced some one else giving their
interpretation of known facts. It is nice to include isolated facts, and
anecdotes to keep people awake but this should not be the basis for education
programs. For example, if the mill is broken down, or the water wheel is
locked in ice, then the thematic and education programs should reflect the
duties of the miller on events such as these, and not resort back to the
factory processed identical tours that are cranked out year after year.
The reason that old myths were invented and flourished was that they made
the "dry as dust" tours interesting and engaging to visitors.
Any story that is told should be verifiable, and contribute to the understanding
of site themes. Having a theme allows the visitor to make better sense of
the information presented, and gives them a better understanding of the
mill. If the mill's water wheel is locked in ice during the winter months,
then work that the miller, and his helpers would have done during this time
should be presented. Dressing the millstones; replacing torn sifter screens;
repairing the leather belting; replacing torn and damage elevator cups;
etc. Don't fill the visitors heads with a lot of indistinct details, and
anecdotes about the mill which may, or may not be true, or apply to this
mill, but to mills in general. Using films and videos as part of regular
programs give the visitors and interpreters each a break, but should not
be use in place of regular day-to-day interpretive programs.
Challenges of Interpretation:
When I worked for the National Park Service, it was estimated that we could
spent no more than 5 minutes talking to each visitor. Visitors who came
in groups that that would be spread out to average about 15 minutes for
the basic mill program. Education programs or school groups we would spend
a total of 30 to 34 minutes for each group. This was divided in to a number
of various different forms of programs. It included lectures, demonstrations,
hands-on activities, and often a short film for reinforcement of the learning
experience. Educators have estimated that on average the typical visitor
has an attention span that limits the number of pieces of information or
facts presented on a tour. Any more simply gets lost or forgotten as soon
as new bits of information is presented.
If visitors are presented with random series of facts loosely tied together,
then they will only remember a random few amount. If these facts are organized
by themes, such as presenting only information about millstone dressing
and millstones, or millstone grinding and millstones, or the type of grain
being ground at the time, then there is a continuity of themes, as a means
where more details are retained though having a common related topics to
associate the facts with.
In the average mill, there may be only three basic themes: milling, maintenance
and power. These are used to illustrate and explain work. Each theme is
interrelated and connected with the other, and each has sub-themes that
overlap. At Peirce Mill when I worked there, our main theme was "milling
along Rock Creek." Just because I had developed a folder that was titled,
"Milling along Rock Creek," did not means I could hand it out
and never discuss the mills of Rock Creek and of the Washington-Georgetown
Most museums and historical homes focus on one person or generation, but
historical mill museums should focus on the methods of milling that have
changed over the history of the mill's operating lifetime. This allows the
interpreters to address topics, and how the millers and miller's helpers
achieved a livelihood. The miller's worked changed over the years because
the technology changed, and was reflected by that technology, and commercialization.
When I worked at Peirce Mill in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C., one of
the most common myths that had to be explained away was that, Isaac Peirce
did not run and operate the mill. Isaac Pearce was a millwright who build
mills in the area, and owned this mill. He employed millers, and their helpers
to run and operate the mill for him. There were various activities on his
land at different times of the year. From the operation of the saw mill
to working in orchards, cutting ice on Rock Creek, to making rye whiskey
and peach brandy. Then there was the daily activities such as running a
merchant mill, to cows in the cow barn, making butter and cheese in the
spring house, etc. Then the family had greenhouse and nursery complexes
nearby and in other parts of Washington, D.C.
The stories and related explanations of historical patterns of change should
use correct artifacts in the mill to illustrate the basis of all programs.
For example, if the mill was a "custom" or "grist mill,"
then the mill should have toll measures, toll dishes, toll boards, etc.,
and if the mill was a merchant mill then the mill should have wooden flour
barrels and branding irons, etc. This should go along with the proper furnishing
plan for the mill. So many mills either do not have furnishing plans, and
they contain only random artifacts thrown together, or the curator had on
proper understanding of the mill's operation when it was originally put
together. An example of this is when Bob Batte and his helper Brian operated
Peirce Mill during the 1970's. The mill was restored in the 1930's to reflect
what it looked like when the mill was first constructed in the 1820's. Bob
Batte and his helpers were dressed in the costume of the miller of the 1890's,
and they interpret the mill as if it reflected that period of technology
in its restoration.
Milling is a trade, and not a craft. A craft you can put down and take up
when needed. Milling is a trade and industry that requires an investment
of raw materials and resources to maintain it. Depending upon if the mill
was a "custom mill" commonly referred to as a "grist mill,"
or "merchant mill" then the occupation may be either a full or
a part-time job. If the miller did this as a part-time occupation, then
the story of what he did during the other parts of the year should be told
as well. For example Ed Mabry who operated Mabry Mill along what is now
the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mr. Mabry was a miller at his mill, but was a blacksmith
by trade. He also at times operated a saw mill and a woodworking shop. How
do we interpret the place of the miller's work? If it was a merchant mill
then it was relegated by the local supply of grain, world economy, supply
and demand, and even wars in other parts of the world. The merchant mills
enjoyed a large increase in income where the Napoleonic Wars began. Flour
rose from 4 dollars and 50 cents a barrel to 11 dollars a barrel. Most mills
that were operating during this time period do not mention world events
that effected the merchant milling trade.
The religion of the miller is important. At one time most people engaged
in the milling trade were Quakers. It was the Quakers who developed this
radical idea of profit. At one time you could only ask the far market value
for an item. Never any more or any extra, it was not your due. Quakers were
pacifists, and at one time the miller was exempt from military service.
There were and are still many mills found in what could be commonly called,
"Amish Country." It is a common myth that the Amish operated grain
mills. They have two trades, one being of a craftsman, such as a harness
maker or a blacksmith, and the other being a farmer. In Pennsylvania Dutch
Country it is the Mennonites who operate grain and flour mills. Then were
the mill is located effects what the mill produces and the local people
eat. For example in the low lands of Virginia, the people eat grits, and
in the mountains the people eat buckwheat pancakes. Mabry Mill sells corn
meal, corn grits and buckwheat flour. It is catering to the tourist and
no longer the local community.
When you mention the word, "mill" or "milling" most
people think of the sentimental terminology, "good old days."
A great deal of the "good old days" in people's minds are created
by nostalgic notions of the past. The worst mill programing is when the
whole interpretation is "dumbed down." Millstones become "rocks"
and the milling process is referred to as "mashing the grain into meal."
I hate this idea of making things sound old-timey, and taking proper technology
terms out of the programs and substituting it with hillbilly talk. It is
just not professional and has no place in education programs.
What is necessary for developing a good thematic interpretive program is
an interpretive manual. This will bring the interpretive programs up to
date, and offer the public and educational and meaningful narrative that
accurately representative of the sites history, and place in a larger view
of history. This lists all of the necessary requirements for developing
profession interpretive programs. What is should include is the following:
An interpretive Manual:
1. A mission statement.
2. The site history.
3. A correct time line of ownership of the mill, and its operation along
with products produced.
4. A list of people associated with the site, and short biographies if known.
5. Historical structures report.
6. Historic furnishing plan.
7. Historic landscape report.
8. Previous programs and grant proposals.
9. A list of technical and historical reference works.
10. A list of mill archives and where items are located.
11. A list of the on-site reference library, photographic collection, and
12. Copies of research reports and related program material.
Each interpreter should have their programs files nearby, handy to pull
out to show auditors as to the program information that they are discussing
with visitors. Each program file should contains the following information:
1. A lesson plan.
2. A topic outline.
3. An expanded outline (this contains enough information that anyone could
give the program using this as a reference only).
4. A written narrative of the complete program.
Copies of each complete program file should also be kept in the education
director or chief of interpretation office. Volunteers are should be welcome
to develop their own programs, but should not be expected to do so. They
can use standard site or preexisting programs. This sort of information
should be contained in the volunteer handbook along with the first seven
items found in the interpretive manual.
Problems of Interpretation:
One of the biggest problems of interpretation is when the mills interpretation
does not match the mill's actual history. The mill may have been restored
incorrectly restored and therefore, it can't be properly interpreted. There
are mill-wrongs and mill-rights. The biggest problem with mill restoration
is that there is a longer list of mill-wrongs than mill-rights.
People who work in theme or cartoon amusement parks are putting on their
resume that they have done "character interpretation" when they
have paraded around in cartoon animal suits. This may also apply to individuals
who have stood in front of restaurants in such costumes in the heat of summer
without being able to see without the aid of someone holding their hand.
When I have worn the "Smoky The Bear" costume when I worked for
the National Park Service, it seems that I was the only person that I knew
who wore it, that it was made to actually fit. Does this mean that I am
type-cast? In the various classes that I have taken in interpretation, "character
interpretation" apples to first-person not minimum wage student summer
jobs in amusement parks.
To be continued.
Hazen's Beaver County Mill.
Joseph Hazen's North Sewickley mill in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, circa
Note: A Full-Size image of Hazen's Mill is found on another one of my web
pages. Thank you.
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