Yesterday the Colonial Scientist Went to Fort Mifflin. We had about a score of visitors, that’s twenty more than I have seen since March!, so I would say this was a limited success. As we “reopen” our favorite sites and events with masks and physical distancing, it won’t feel the same as last year but for those of us that love history we can cope.
Stewart Roseman and I demonstrated several important scientific discoveries of the last half of the 18th Century, provided an opportunity for a few trailblazing visitors to gain a hands-on appreciation for the transformation science went through in the 18th Century by using our instruments themselves. The crowds were small and often we had the luxury of spending a lot of time 1:1 with our guest.
Below are some photos courtesy of John Butler. Later this month, we will post some video on both the Fort Mifflin and Colonialbrewer website.
Come next week when I will bring three versions of the Declaration of Independence. I will be reading from the Dunlap broadside but you might want to compare it to the Gill broadside that was published in Boston and Thomas Jefferson’s original draft. They are surprisingly different interpretation of the same document.
