February 23, 2006

Learning from the past

A trip to Colonial Williamsburg changes two teachers’ lives

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Imagine taking a trip back to 18th century colonial times. For two Williams Elementary School teachers—one African American, one white—that is just what they did. And while role-playing a slave and a wealthy male landowner, they discovered newfound understanding and appreciation for civil rights.

Williams teacher Louise Polizzotto is all smiles as she leaves the Brick Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. Photo courtesy of Rhoda Mirabeau

Fifth grade teachers Rhoda Mirabeau and Louise Polizzotto were selected to participate in the Colonial Williamsburg Teachers’ Institute this past summer. The two women learned the hardships and triumphs of the Americans living in that time, which allowed them to translate the history of colonial times into lessons for fellow teachers and students. And through their journey, the two friends encountered life-changing experiences.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation operates the largest living history museum in Virginia on the restored 18th century capital of Britain’s outpost of the empire in the New World on the 101-acre historic site. Costumed interpreters tell the stories of the black, white and native American men and women and the challenges they faced.

“The teachers who attend Colonial Williamsburg never teach history the same way again,” said past Santa Clara County Office of Education [SCCOE] HSS coordinator Dr. Barbara Schubert. “They attend for a week starting in Jamestown and end in Yorktown. And they are chosen to attend by their peers who have attended previously.”

Polizzotto had attended the Colonial Williamsburg Convocation previously, but had never written the essay to apply. This past year, she and fellow teacher Mirabeau won the coveted trip to experience our nation’s history.

The trip is sponsored by the Robert and Marion Wilson Foundation and other donors and the cost of the trip is
completely covered for the winning essayists. It is given to selected teachers with the idea that they will share the knowledge gained with their students and with other teachers.

Since Mirabeau and Polizzotto returned from Colonial Williamsburg, the two women have created lessons for a unit on slavery in early America. Polizzotto is currently teaching lessons to her fifth grade students at Williams. On March 1, they will attend the Colonial Williamsburg Convocation at Baldwin School for registered fifth and eighth grade teachers.

Mirabeau and Polizzotto will present “Slavery Made Easy” to the educators. Other teachers who attended the Institute will present “Colonial Williamsburg recreated,” “Religious Revival in the 18th Century,” “Teaching the American Revolution Gladly” and “Our Heritage: Using Primary Sources.”

A week in Williamsburg
While in Williamsburg, Mirabeau and Polizzotto stayed at the Brick Tavern on the Duke of Gloucester Street in the historic district. The theme of their stay was “Becoming Americans” and began with a visit to a Jamestown Settlement where an archaeological dig is searching for more clues of America’s past. A discussion of navigation was discussed on a recreated “Susan Constant.” Then the pair was whisked off to a Powhatan Indian Village. An 18th century ball with modes of dancing and etiquette was enjoyed in the evening.

Williams teachers and friends Louise Polizzotto and Rhoda Mirabeau are all smiles on their life-changing trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Photo courtesy of Rhoda Mirabeau

The second day the pair visited the Great Hopes Plantation to learn about indentured servitude and slavery and then, the Peyton Randolph home to understand what urban slavery was like. Then, the group was whisked off to view the primary documents at the Rockefeller Library.

“The feelings I had in Williamsburg were mixed,” said Almaden resident Mirabeau who has taught at Williams for six years. “When we had our first meeting, we were told that we would be given roles to play so that we could experience the feelings that a person would have living during that time period. I requested to be a slave, because as an African American I could really get into character while learning more about my ancestors in the colonial period of our country. I started to think and act as my character Toby. As we visited the plantation I started to reflect on how slaves must have felt in a strange country.”

On the third day, the pair visited the capitol of Colonial Williamsburg, the governor’s palace and the Bruton Parish Church. Mirabeau was a jury member in a re-enactment of an 18th century court trial while Polizzotto role-played a male Virginian landowner who tried to “swill the crowd” into voting “him” into the House of Burgesses. The evening followed with a performance called “Remember Me When Freedom Comes” by African Americans depicting the way slaves survived their conditions.

Williams teacher Rhoda Mirabeau holds a piece of paper demonstrating the amount of room each kidnapped African had aboard ships as they were brought to America. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

The two women spent the fourth and fifth days in Williamsburg visiting the shops to learn about the trades people of the 18th century and what their work entailed.

On the sixth day, Mirabeau and Polizzotto spent an unforgettable July 4th in Williamsburg. They heard the Declaration of Independence stated by Thomas Jefferson, a rousing parade and music of the fifes and drums, then a picnic and fireworks at the governor’s palace.

A life-changing experience
“We had a chance to talk to Thomas Jefferson after he made his famous speech,” said Mirabeau. “At the end of his presentation I asked him the following in character: You said in your speech ‘that all men are created equal, am I not a man?’ He replied ‘not for you madam, this is the way it is.’ I responded ‘sir I have a dream that one day all men will be free.’ He answered ‘madam, for your sake I hope one day your dream will come true, but this is not that time.’ I am so glad that that day has arrived in our country.”

“Growing up in Oakland and going to schools which were very racially mixed, I felt I understood much of the struggle African-Americans have had,” said Polizzotto, a teacher for the past 21 years, the past four at Williams, and an Almaden resident since she and her now deceased husband Paul moved here 30 years ago. “But when Rhoda and I were transported back to 1776 and experienced the Fourth of July and the reading of the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence in Williamsburg, I felt ashamed that she was being treated as less of a person because of her race.”

Williams teachers Louise Polizzotto and Rhoda Mirabeau shared their experiences at a presentation of “Slavery Made Easy” to the local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma. Photo by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

Quid pro quo
Polizzotto has already started teaching her fifth grade social studies students the colonial American history she obtained on the trip. Her students are interested and ask thoughtful and insightful questions.

“If people back then believed that slavery was OK and now we know how bad it is, I wonder what it is today that we believe is OK that really is not?” asked Williams student Connor Boehm.

Polizzotto believes this is an affirmation of why the study of history is necessary. “To learn from the mistakes of the past and not repeat them.”

Both women readily admit that that their trip to Colonial Williamsburg was a life-changing experience. But more than that, the two have become closer friends and look forward to sharing their new understanding of our nation’s past with other teachers and students.

The Colonial Williamsburg Convocation will be held Wednesday, March 1 at Baldwin School at 280 Martinvale Ave., San Jose from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The fee is $45 and includes refreshments, light supper and handouts. For further information contact David Walters, SCCOE HSS Coordinator at (408) 453-6859.