Who, When, Why What

[L Verge]

Kate - we always need volunteers at Surratt House, and we even help you get a period appropriate outfit. Unfortunately, we are owned by a gov't agency that has not been able to give our paid employees a raise in four years and that has a hiring freeze on. That's why volunteers are so critical to our operation.

You really do meet interesting people who visit, and most of the time you have extra minutes to interact with them once your regular tour is done (we set our tour limits at 45-55 minutes depending on the group, but never more than an hour - even though some ignore that dictate). During that tour time, you are visiting ten rooms and learning social and cultural history as well as the assassination-related material. We give you a big, thick docent manual to learn from as well as over-all training and tag-a-long training with experienced guides before allowing you to solo.

You will also end up involved in other history discussions. Today, I manned phones, but got involved with one young man with an interest in politics. He considered Ike a very weak President because he failed to "solve" the continuing racial problems. I swung it the other way, however, and noted his accomplishments in the field of better infrastructure for our country. This same man was surprised when I said that I did not think Kennedy could have gotten his Civil Rights principles through Congress - that it took Johnson to do that. He thought Johnson was a rude, crude, Texan (I agreed), but Johnson was a better politician and knew where the skeletons were hidden in Congressional closets. I then found out that this man wasn't born until the late-1970s. Try explaining to someone like him what it was like to teach in Maryland during desegregation and busing...

I guess my point is that, while teaching visitors about the Civil War and John Wilkes Booth, one can get easily side-tracked onto other history topics. You get a well-rounded education in the history/museum field.

Craig - keep your son's interest in history and the Lincoln assassination alive at all costs. Our society is working hard at destroying our heritage, so we have to launch counter-attacks. I have to drag my daughter kicking and screaming into historic places. Luckily the history genes just skipped a generation and are now well and healthy in my grandson.