You can read as many history books as you’d like, but there’s nothing quite like stepping into the past and experiencing it for yourself.

I’ve spent more days in the 19th century than I can count — the hoop skirts and corded petticoats, the freshly-baked bread, the historic buildings spanning the 1800s.

Our American Heritage

What the Signers of the Declaration Sacrificed

Amy Coney Barrett v. the Online Mob

Once you’ve dipped candles over an open fire or cranked a butter churn for hours on end, history never really looks the same again. For the first time, it just feels so tangible — so real.

I’m firmly convinced that American history can’t thrive on historical textbooks or documentaries alone. In an era when many people spend more time glued to their phones than in face-to-face conversation, it’s all too easy to lose perspective on life.

Even today, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, we forget the individuals and ideologies that led to the founding of our nation. We forget that our Founding Fathers were people like us — not just stern-faced portraits in U.S. history textbooks.

And the same is true of millions and millions of people in America’s past. What were their untold life stories? What were their fears and doubts, their hopes and joys?

And herein lies my favorite part of reenacting: breathing life into an era too often seen as lifeless and impersonal.

I have the unique opportunity to invite people into the 1800s in a way that draws on as many of the five senses as possible. And my hope is that this deeper understanding........

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