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Fourth-graders learn about Ohio history
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Presenter Judy Lewis showed a group of St. Christine fourth-graders many household goods used in pioneer households. Lewis invited student Michael Diana (left) to turn the wheel of an old-fashioned coffee grinder on Feb. 29.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .During a presentation to St. Christine students of local pioneer artifacts from the Arms Museum, presenter Judy Lewis explained that many early settlers of Ohio had to travel here through rough trails in New York and Pennsylvania in covered wagons.
By SARAH FOOR
Judy Lewis from the Mahoning Valley Historical Society visited St. Christine School on Feb. 29 with a suitcase of artifacts to show how Ohio pioneers lived more than 200 years ago.
Lewis, of the society’s Arms Museum, focused on the adventurers who made their way to Ohio after the Connecticut Western Reserve was created in 1796.
The pioneers were forced to travel dangerous and exhausting paths through either Pennsylvania or New York. However, Lewis reminded the students that the work wasn’t over for new Ohioans when they arrived.
“When many new settlers arrived in the Mahoning Valley, they didn’t find a grocery store, a mall or anything you might expect these days. The pioneers had to build their own houses, find water and provide food for their families,” Lewis explained.
The Arms Museum provided a wealth of household artifacts that were known to be used in Ohio homesteads in the early 1800s, including a mortar and pestle, butter paddle, coffee grinder, wood bucket and clothes iron.
Lewis explained how pioneer children were schooled and showed off a collection of children’s toys to show that there was fun to be had even in hard times.
The visit from the Arms Museum is part of a history unit on Ohio history for the fourth-graders.
“This time of year, we teach Ohio history in celebration of our becoming a state on March 1, 1803. We were glad to invite the museum to teach the students about the hardships of Ohio pioneers. How much our state and our country have changed in a little over 200 years is really astounding, and it’s important to the students to understand that transformation,” said fourth-grade teacher Cynthia Ricci.