Day campers relive history in Carrie’s prairie

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Before there were fidget spinners, there were whirligigs — a wheel held taut on a rope, shaken by a young owner and spun quickly. At the Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Girlhood Home, day-campers put their own twist on it with color that blurs as the wheel spins.

The craft was part of a day-long exploration for the 12 kids exploring the Chapman Catt museum, with the assistance of six volunteers with the 19th Amendment Society. Campers were taken on a prairie walk with Heidi Reams, naturalist with Floyd County Conservation; created quilt squares; produced their own crayons; and assisted with lunch, shucking corn for an old-fashioned farm lunch. They topped off the day with sweet, homemade apple cider.

It’s the third year of the day camp, 19th Amendment Society member Susan Jacob said.

“It’s an outreach to children to come out to Carrie’s museum, and some of them do get interested in the history because of it,” Jacob said. “We talk about Carrie and the right to vote, being a good citizen.”

The activities were planned by the museum’s intern Caraline Eggena, who has interned with the museum twice as a University of Northern Iowa student. Eggena is from Rockford and a double major in history and public administration, and is considering working with non-profit organizations after graduation in 2018.

“You want to give them what Carrie possible would have had, what she would have done in the prairie,” Eggena said. “Now we have so much more we can use … the paper spinner, I thought we could modernize it, make it a little more colorful.”

“I’ve relied on some of what they’ve done in the past — the kids have liked it,” she added.

“It brings a different audience to the museum,” Jacob said. “A lot of times the kids will come out with their parents. We encourage them to bring parents on Aug. 19 to our open house. We’ll be operating the cider press again for the afternoon.”

The museum’s open house will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and this year will feature student essays on Chapman Catt’s work for women’s suffrage, a county plaque honoring her at the Floyd County Courthouse, and crafts created by students at this week’s prairie day camp.