Parents Day held at the Big Springs Museum

   The Big Springs Museum hosted an open house for parents and their school-aged children on Sunday, March 12 for a lesson in what this three story local history collection can teach youngsters about how the Caledonia community was settled.

   Big Springs Museum is visited and enjoyed by children and adults of all ages throughout the year. In addition, museum volunteers have produced an interactive New York State Education Department standards-based lesson called The Great Migration (1890 – 1930) that has been capturing the attention of fourth graders and their teachers for several years now.

   The Great Migration consists of five stations located throughout the museum. Cal-Mum fourth graders divide into small groups that rotate through the stations. At Station I children listen to stories told by African-American descendants of the Great Migration. The children learn about the struggle of the people to find work here and secure housing. At Station II the kids look at period clothing styles and enjoy having their picture taken at the face board (a painted board with cut-outs where the kids put their faces). Station III features a one-room schoolhouse. The children learn what it was like to go to school with children of various ages and grade levels. It has happened that a teacher has been disciplined to the corner with a dunce cap on! Station IV takes the children into a turn of the century kitchen, circa 1900’s where they learn how food was prepared without electricity. Station V features large tools, farm implements and other articles that helped the early settlers carve out a living.

   Jean Guthrie’s African-American history exhibit, featuring the names and faces of several local families, helps students get an up close and personal understanding of the Great Migration and the role it played in the complexion of the community.