A Whitman facility hosted an opportunity for elementary school children to learn about historical wardrobe.
John Versace, from left, Ariana Versace and Moustafa Gomaa beamed as they imagined donning the threads from other eras and performing activities common among children of their respective periods. Moderator Al Haynes, right, led them and their peers in a playful afternoon of understanding their roles in advancing the preservation of history and civics.
John Versace enjoys being a 21st-century figure, but his enthusiasm when portraying a colonial apprentice Monday afternoon revealed the 9-year-old would not have minded coming of age 300 years ago.
The youngster and 30 other children attended “Growing Up, American Style,” an interactive presentation courtesy of Old City’s National Constitution Center, at the Whitman Branch, 200 Snyder Ave. The look at children’s historical garb and social roles marked the first of six Traveling History and Civics Program lessons the library will host. The lineup includes Feb. 22’s “Breaking Barriers Show,” a celebration of extraordinary African Americans.
Learning of the opportunity to have the Constitution Center continue its outreach to city schools and libraries, Friends of the Whitman Library President Laura McColgan completed a fall application. The Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback and the Thomas Skelton Harrison foundations awarded the scholarship that allowed her location to welcome presenter Al Haynes.
“‘Growing Up, American Style’ is well received because the children can literally feel history,” he said.
The Fairmount resident and the program’s moderator began by discussing differences between the colonial era and current times. Excited to banter with him, students from Andrew Jackson, 1213 S. 12th St.; George Sharswood, 2300 S. Second St.; John H. Taggart, 400 W. Porter St.; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2329 S. Third St., facetiously responded with raised hands when he asked who had either chopped firewood or milked goats before school.
“I need a volunteer,” he said.
Haynes chose John, a resident of the 300 block of Cantrell Street, to represent an ambitious apprentice. Adorned in his gym uniform, the Sharswood fourth-grader soon became a duplicate for an 18th-century child on the verge of adulthood. Colonial societies considered a boy a man at either age 8 or 9 after his britching ceremony, Haynes said as he produced britches to initiate John’s transformation, which drew laughs when he put on the replica.
The spectacled helper added an ascot, a vest, an overcoat and a tri-colored hat. His glasses made him look like a modern Benjamin Franklin, whom he learned about that day at his Whitman school. In fact, his lesson led him to choose to be a printer like the statesman was as a youth when Haynes wondered which colonial occupation John would have wanted.
“I had not expected this much clothing,” the boy said before Haynes told him his predecessors would have worn similar outfits at all times of year, with no break even for sweltering summer days.
Along with addressing dress, the program aimed to explain hygiene to reflect the scarcity of resources and the differences among the classes with respect to sanitary practices.
“How often do you think John would have bathed?” Haynes asked.
“Every day, hopefully,” his 13-year-old sister Adriana Versace said to laughter.
Hearing that he would be fortunate to be able to cleanse himself two or three times a month, he received a smidge of pity with a chorus of “Eww.”
“You dirty thing,” his sibling said to more chuckles.
Haynes chose the seventh-grader for his examination of what an affluent girl would wear to school or a ball in the Victorian Era, adding a bulky undergarment to her frame.
He noted a woman might have worn up to 35 pounds of apparel to make a stark contrast between the past and present. Her first article did not slow Adriana, but she became a model of reduced movement, donning a petticoat, a hoop skirt, a blouse and a dress jacket.
Her societal standing could not have guaranteed Adriana more than five baths a month, Haynes said.
“You would be a little smelly, too,” he said to the girl, who blushed to giggles.
After lunch raised their blood sugar Friday, students at Andrew Jackson School, 1213 S. 12th St., had their heart rates increased courtesy of a rousing visit from former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Many Americans can recall the faint echo of the familiar opening line of the U.S. Constitution “We the people…” from past years of education. However, America’s relatively short journey, which has been plagued by issues of racism and sexism, has left the meaning of “We” slightly ambiguous.
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