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Susannah
White married Edward Winslow on May 22, 1621, marking the first
wedding in Plymouth Colony. And she still loves to tell everyone
about it.
The
Winslows are one of the 14 families represented in Plimoth Plantation's
living history museum, which recreates the 1627 Pilgrim Village
in Plymouth, Mass. Kate Moore, 42, portrays Susannah Winslow in
the working village that represents the life of Pilgrims just before
the colonists began to move away from the settlement.
Moore's
official title is "program interpreter," which is not
just a fancy term for colonial reenactor. Moore has studied numerous
first-person accounts of Plymouth Colony. She explained that "Gov.
William Bradford's book 'History of Colonies' is like our Bible."
She uses the information she reads to depict how Susannah might
have lived in 1627. She does not just give visitors a canned lecture
from memory; rather, she assumes the identity of her character,
adjusting for the level of sophistication of the audience.
"We
portray actual people who lived in the colony at that time,"
she said. "We are role-playing 100 percent of the time. We
never come out of character."
Sometimes,
Moore and her coworkers can be too convincing. "I was in a
grocery store after work and had stopped to buy lottery tickets
while still in costume. The cashier thought we actually lived in
the village. I just told him, 'I have lived there since 1622.' That
seemed to be enough," said Moore.
During
working hours, she and the other costumed interpreters from the
Pilgrim Village reenact day-to-day activities of real citizens of
the 1627 village, which included Myles Standish and other Mayflower
passengers. Improvising as she interacts with visitors, Moore stays
in first person, simulating Susannah's accent, knowledge, and perspective.
She dresses in authentic period costumes, makes crafts, and performs
activities in a replica house built by the interpreters.
The
activities Moore and the other role-players engage in include cooking,
gardening, tending to animals, and sewing. Moore works amid accurate
reproductions, not just displays, of the furniture, tools, and cooking
equipment used by Plymouth residents. She varies her tasks according
to the time of the year and occasionally participates in weddings,
feasts, and various games. However, Moore said, "It is the
stories that set it apart." She added, "History was one
of my favorite subjects in school."
She
boasts to visitors that she was not only the first to marry in the
colony, but also the first Pilgrim to bear a child. And she often
does this while tending to corn in the field behind the house or
making a cheesecake in a wood-burning stove. In fact, the food is
one of the interesting perks of the job.
"We
get a lot of free lunches," said Moore. "Some of the 17th
century recipes are really good." Before becoming a professional
pilgrim, Moore had worked in a restaurant for most of her adult
life.
She
stressed that the tasks, like cooking, are not staged. "I was
once exhibiting a meal with roasted chicken in front of some school
children. One girl said, 'They must be so full by the end of the
day.'"
Moore's
vast knowledge of the town, the time period, and specifically Susannah
allows her both to entertain and to educate visitors. Many of the
interpreters find the job appealing for that reason. It also allows
them to display a variety of interests and talents.
When
she was laid off from her restaurant job unexpectedly in 1995, Moore
answered an advertisement in the newspaper out of intrigue, never
expecting to take a job reenacting the pilgrim lifestyle. After
a successful interview, she decided to give it a try. "I took
a big pay cut. But I knew if I didn't do it, I would regret it forever,"
she said.
The
profession is not for everyone. "You have to like working with
the public, and you have to like to read. We are always studying,"
she said. "You also have to be patient and creative in order
to answer 17th century questions in the 21st century."
In
addition, the work can be unstable. At Plimoth Plantation, the season
lasts from the beginning of April until after Thanksgiving. When
workers serve as an apprentice - the first level of employment,
which lasts two seasons - they often must find alternative work
during the winter. After passing a test, an employee may be promoted
to "colonial interpreter." However, year-round employment
does not come until the final two levels, "lead interpreter"
and "senior lead interpreter." During the off-season at
these levels, employees may mend clothes in the curatorial department,
build houses in the artisan department, tend to crops in the horticultural
department, or go out to schools in the educational department.
There
are various living history museums around the country, including
Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and Conner Prairie in Indiana.
Information
about Plimoth Plantation is available at www.plimoth.org.
If
you enjoy speaking with a 17th century accent and love home-cooked
meals made over a wood-burning stove, grab your thimble or your
musket...and dream on!
-
Zachary Bromer, Salary.com Contributor
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