Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center will welcome Dr. James Golden, director of interpretation & education at Historic Deerfield, this Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom to discuss storytelling in historic walking tours. Golden is the second presenter in the museum’s new speaker series, Revolutionary Perspectives, which celebrates innovative approaches to how we discover, interpret, and share American history, with an emphasis on themes of memory and identity.
What does storytelling look like in a historic walking tour? Golden will discuss how the museum's new walking tours engage visitors through intentional strategies of storytelling. According to Golden, “Historic sites often refer to ‘stories the objects tell’ or ‘using story-based interpretation’ – but those approaches don’t always translate into actual storytelling.” By highlighting the development of Historic Deerfield’s outdoor walking tour series – including “History and Architecture”; “Deerfield in the American Revolution”; “Slavery, Labor, and Freedom in Deerfield”; and “Deerfield in the Arts and Crafts Movement” – Golden will demonstrate how museum professionals draw narratives out of a fixed landscape.
At Historic Deerfield, Dr. Golden oversees the interpretation of the historic houses and craft spaces, the K-12 education programs, and key public programs. Before joining Historic Deerfield in 2019, he was director of education at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT. He has also taught at Wesleyan University, Trinity College, and the University of Hartford.
Registration is required for this virtual event, to be held on Zoom this Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. The program is free for all, thanks to a generous grant from the Wadsworth Lewis Fund. To learn more about upcoming programs in the Revolutionary Perspectives speaker series, and to register, head to www.keelertavernmuseum.org/events.