University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 6, No. 1/1996 Museum team recreates 19th-century farm Only a team effort could be responsible for making the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village such a success, with more than 23,000 visitors last year alone. Five women with UD ties-Hope Schladen, Jenifer Grindle Dolde, Lorraine Goodman, Joyce Farmer and Kay Powell-run that successful show in Dover, Del. Founded in 1980, the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village is a 10-acre, open-air museum that offers visitors a chance to see an authentic, 19th-century farm setting. Curator Dolde, Delaware '95, says the permanent and temporary collections of the museum feature objects ranging from a crop duster to the world's first broiler chicken house. "Our collection goes hand in hand with education. It's a commitment," says Schladen, director of the museum and a former student in UD's museum studies program. Schladen and Goodman, Delaware '75, have intensified the already educational focus of the museum with the introduction of yearly themes. Each year, the museum recreates the effect that a particular trend or event had on life in a rural Delaware community. This year, the theme is the publication of the first mail order catalogs and the profound influence they had on the lives of small-town farmers. Researching these effects is where Dolde comes in. She is animated as she gestures to a small parlor in a reproduced farmhouse. "They spent much of their evenings in here, gathered around the catalogs. It was a family event," she says. Dolde explains that, by bringing tools and manufactured goods (not to mention tonics promising extraordinary results), mail order catalogs changed forever the lives of rural families. Goodman, who majored in history and art history, puts exhibits' sometimes complicated concepts into a context accessible to children. Not content to sit and wait for students to come to the museum, Goodman designs packets that she sends to Delaware teachers at particular grade levels, depending on the exhibit. This year, fourth grade students are learning about mail order catalogs, even in schools where a trip to the museum is not possible. Next year, the theme will be the Great Depression, and Dolde has already begun the research for artifacts to depict Delaware life in that period. Importantly, the museum has 300 volunteers, coordinated by Powell, a UD representative on the National Council for Agricultural Research Extension and Teaching Council. Farmer, Delaware '74, is pursuing a degree in accounting at UD. With a B.A. in math and secondary education, she assists with educational efforts and keeps the books. Unlike many facilities, the Delaware Agricultural Museum makes some of its displays accessible to the public, particularly to the curious hands of children. Visitors can, for example, sit in the pews of the recreated old church. "We've had weddings in here," Dolde says. "We want people to be able to experience the history we present, and it's hard to do that from a distance." -Ann Marie Schropp