This past week, we had the pleasure of hosting nine curious campers at our Future Historians summer day camp. Our campers, ranging from 9-12 years old, were very excited about history, research and digging up the past!

What did they do all week? Well, they began by learning all about oral history with the Michigan Oral History Association, including how to develop good questions. Then they conducted real oral history interviews with Michigan History Center volunteer docents. They asked the docents about their elementary school experiences and how they differed from growing up in today’s world.

The campers also spent time in the Archives of Michigan learning research techniques, viewing historic maps and even diving into their own family history using Family Search and Ancestry.com.

A tour of Meridian Historical Village allowed them to step into the past and learn what Okemos was like long ago. Camper Grace said, “I really want to learn more about the one-room school houses! That is really interesting!” Camper Samantha chimed in, “I’m so glad we don’t use chamber pots anymore!”

According to our Future Historians, one of the most fun experiences they had this week was using a century-old map of Lansing and to try to navigate downtown Lansing. This gave them first-hand knowledge of how much Lansing has changed and allowed them to ponder why the changes had been made to many of the streets and buildings.

Camper Isaac made some thoughtful observations about what he learned on the tour: “I think the insurance business was really different back then…the hotel that burned down three times really needed better insurance!”

A tour of historic Mt. Hope Cemetery helped show the campers why cemeteries are important for historical research and family history research. Each camper chose a gravestone and then researched the person associated with it upon returning to the Michigan History Center – they even learned how to read a death certificate.

At the end of the week, our Future Historians presented final projects, which summarized what they had learned during their oral history interviews with docents earlier in the week.

Our Future Historians want other kids to know a few things – primarily that history is fun and interesting. They also agreed that it takes patience to be able to learn new things about the past. Most plan to continue researching their family history and their historical areas of interest.

Thank you to all our enthusiastic campers and fabulous counselors for making our first ever Future Historians camp a great experience! If you have a curious kid who would enjoy Future Historians camp, sign them up next year – keep an eye on our website,  Facebook, and Twitter for announcements regarding registration for Summer Camp 2019.