America Houses History

Hi, I'm Phu. This week we went to the America History Museum. And I would like to share with you guys about my experiences and interests of this Wednesday field trip. There are many things that I want to share but I'm just going to talk about the history of America Houses since 200 years ago called " Within These Walls".

The house on Elm Street, Ipswich, Massachusetts, 1963

The Choates' House

Revolutionaries' Home, Slave's Home

The house from the picture was built in 1760s and was taken apart and brought to the Museum by Smithsonian in 1963. So why is this house in the Museum? The reason is that it's an example of New England building practices and they wanted to save 200 years of American family stories and history.

A Reformer's Parlor

The Patriotic Kitchen

The very first family that lived there was the Choates' in 1757 - 1772. A room in the house was made to display the Choates' kitchen. After that another owner, the Dodge family, came in 1777 - 1789. It's was called the Revolutionaries' Home and the Slave's Home because Chance, Dodges' African American slave, probably lived in this white household before slavery was declared  unconstitutional in 1783. Another room was made  to display the Caldwell family's (1836 - 1865) parlor. It was the center for antislavery activity in the community and also the center of the family's religious and social life for middle class people in the mid 1800s. In 1941 - 1945, the Scott family began renting there and about that time electricity reached the house in the 1920s.Then Roy Scott installed the first toilet in the 1940s. One room was made to display the patriotic kitchen, Mary Scott's mission was to help the war by producing and conserving food and saving tin cans, foil, and leftover fat for recycling into war material on the home front during World War II. These pictures, which I took in the museum, represent each family.