Jill's Journal: After our studies this morning, the girls and I headed to downtown Plymouth and the Pilgrim Hall Museum. I’ve since decided it was pretty much the ultimate “field trip” for school-age children. (The littler ones weren’t quite as enamored!)
The museum itself is America’s very oldest and was opened in 1824 with the express purpose of collecting and preserving Pilgrim artifacts. Think of it: the United States was less than 50-years-old at the time! Talk about some forward-thinking folks.
Almost right away, we got to see and touch a slab of Plymouth Rock, where it is believed the Pilgrims first set foot in Plymouth in 1620.
We soon saw the “First Peirce Patent.” This is the actual document or charter from the King of England in 1620 which granted the colonists the right to settle in the New World. But, whoops! The Pilgrims were granted rights in Northern Virginia and were a little off track when they landed in Massachusetts. When they decided to stay in what they called “New Plymouth,” they quickly drafted the much better-known “Mayflower Compact.” That original writing has been lost to history.
The first child born in the New World, days after landing, was a boy named Peregrine White. His mother actually gave birth on board the
Mayflower rather than on land. Although the Pilgrims didn’t take many personal possessions with them, Peregrine's parents did take this cradle in anticipation of his birth. The nearly 400-year-old cradle was made in Holland and is in remarkably good condition.
This beer stein of sorts, now called the Brown Tankard, came over with
Mayflower passenger Peter Brown. It’s 10 inches tall, was made in the Baltics in the early 1600s, and is fashioned like a barrel. Its sole purpose was for drinking beer, the standard beverage of the time.
The Pilgrim Bibles are both beautiful and fascinating. The one on the bottom right belonged to the 30-time Pilgrim Governor, William Bradford. Printed in 1592, it’s the Geneva translation, which was not appreciated by the King of England. The King soon came out with his own “authorized” translation, the King James Version, which began printing in 1620 (the same year the Pilgrims sailed for the new world). One of the very first 1620 King James editions is on the bottom left. It came over on the
Mayflower with John Alden, who was not a Pilgrim but a cooper, or barrel-maker, on the ship’s crew. He decided to stay in America rather than sail back to England. It is said he was the first person off the
Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock.
There were many more artifacts and Erika eagerly participated in the museum’s treasure hunt. It was designed for older children, but she tackled it with gusto and would not leave until she had identified every last painting and object it called for…all seven pages worth. I was amazed (and proud)!
Here’s a picture of Plymouth outside of the museum doors. The whole town looks like this: cute and quaint. I absolutely love it.
The museum itself is America’s very oldest and was opened in 1824 with the express purpose of collecting and preserving Pilgrim artifacts. Think of it: the United States was less than 50-years-old at the time! Talk about some forward-thinking folks. 
Almost right away, we got to see and touch a slab of Plymouth Rock, where it is believed the Pilgrims first set foot in Plymouth in 1620.
We soon saw the “First Peirce Patent.” This is the actual document or charter from the King of England in 1620 which granted the colonists the right to settle in the New World. But, whoops! The Pilgrims were granted rights in Northern Virginia and were a little off track when they landed in Massachusetts. When they decided to stay in what they called “New Plymouth,” they quickly drafted the much better-known “Mayflower Compact.” That original writing has been lost to history. 
The first child born in the New World, days after landing, was a boy named Peregrine White. His mother actually gave birth on board the Mayflower rather than on land. Although the Pilgrims didn’t take many personal possessions with them, Peregrine's parents did take this cradle in anticipation of his birth. The nearly 400-year-old cradle was made in Holland and is in remarkably good condition. 
This beer stein of sorts, now called the Brown Tankard, came over with Mayflower passenger Peter Brown. It’s 10 inches tall, was made in the Baltics in the early 1600s, and is fashioned like a barrel. Its sole purpose was for drinking beer, the standard beverage of the time. 
The Pilgrim Bibles are both beautiful and fascinating. The one on the bottom right belonged to the 30-time Pilgrim Governor, William Bradford. Printed in 1592, it’s the Geneva translation, which was not appreciated by the King of England. The King soon came out with his own “authorized” translation, the King James Version, which began printing in 1620 (the same year the Pilgrims sailed for the new world). One of the very first 1620 King James editions is on the bottom left. It came over on the Mayflower with John Alden, who was not a Pilgrim but a cooper, or barrel-maker, on the ship’s crew. He decided to stay in America rather than sail back to England. It is said he was the first person off the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock. 
There were many more artifacts and Erika eagerly participated in the museum’s treasure hunt. It was designed for older children, but she tackled it with gusto and would not leave until she had identified every last painting and object it called for…all seven pages worth. I was amazed (and proud)!
Here’s a picture of Plymouth outside of the museum doors. The whole town looks like this: cute and quaint. I absolutely love it.
3 comments:
Good work, Erika!
Love you, Beppy
That is a pretty amazing school field trip. I'm jealous, one week in and they're already getting field trips. :)
Yes Gary, I'm starting to think there might be a few benefits to this whole homeschooling business...!
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