May Day is not always a distress signal. On May 1, 1976, three grandsons of John Surratt, Jr. cut the ribbon to open Surratt House as the first historic house museum in Prince George's County, Maryland. A lot of good has come our way over the years.

In celebration of the current May 1, 2014, we are happy to announce that the Surratt Society's new website went live today -- thanks to the hard work and generosity of staff member, Julie Cowdery, and Life Member, Dr. Rick Mundy of Kansas, who donated his time to developing the new format.

We are still tweaking and adding things, and we hope that you will take the time to view the page in its entirety and let us know what you think. The first website that we had lasted for 16 years, so let's hope we get that kind of mileage out of this one.

Check it out at http://www.surrattmuseum.org.

I just checked it out. It looks great. Thanks to all involved!

Congratulations on all the great work!

(05-01-2014 06:47 PM)L Verge Wrote:  ...we hope that you will take the time to view the page in its entirety and let us know what you think.

I can't compare it to your former website as I had never seen that one, but I like this new one very much. First of all I appreciate that it works well on mobile devices, all is well-arranged and easy to handle. The entire layout and design is IMO attractive, the chosen shade of blue goes nicely with the red color of the Surratt House, and the font is in line with the topic. Also I find the contents and way you address the user welcoming to all kinds of individuals and age groups. And I find the "Ask the historian"- offer a great thing.

BTW, the forum is one of the few other websites that works very well (and faster than on the computer) on a (my) mobile phone as the entire page appears on the screen. And the design is great, too, very noble and classy.

(05-01-2014 06:47 PM)L Verge Wrote:  The first website that we had lasted for 16 years, so let's hope we get that kind of mileage.

(16 years, wow!! I didn't know anyone who had private internet access in those days...I didn't even have a computer. America was miles ahead.)

The website looks great Laurie! Julie and Dr. Mundy did a great job. I especially like the " ask the historian" option. Great touch.

The Ask the Historian section has always been on our website and was used very frequently until the site had problems almost two years ago. I'm hoping that the new version will be able to post the questions and answers on the site. The old one used only personal emails between the questioners and various answerers (new word).

What is now termed a "blog" will not be a blog. It's going to be more like a current events bulletin board. None of us have the time nor wonderful expertise to maintain a professional and educational "blog" such as this forum or BoothieBarn.

It's wonderful, Laurie! Well done and very informative. Great design and nice to look at. I thought the scrolling photos were very inviting; if I had never been to the Surratt House the new site would make me want to visit!