Talking About the Mason Dixon Line: The Stories Behind a Geographic Boundary at Docent’s Workshop

In this living history program, Chip Jewell shares stories of the early days of firefighting, as a representative of the Independent Hose Co.
In this living history program, Chip Jewell shares tales of the early days of firefighting as an officer of the Independent Hose Company.

I was pleased to talk about how to interpret the history of the Mason-Dixon Line at the Frederick Historic Sites Consortium’s Master Docent Series Workshop on February 16.

This was the 22nd year for the program, which is geared toward providing educational opportunities that help volunteers working in museums share the stories of their communities and collections.

With that purpose in mind, we discussed how to develop narratives supporting the famous boundary’s history and ways to share those accounts with general audiences.

The workshops included several other interesting and informative topics, which helped docents share the stories of the past in Frederick County.  Those included the Civil War, prohibition in Frederick County, working with teenage audiences, and the history of firefighting in the county.

Chip Jewell, the Frederick County Director of Emergency Communication with the Frederick County Fire & Rescue Museum.
Chip Jewell (right), the Frederick County Director of Emergency Communication, is with the Frederick County Fire & Rescue Museum. He did a living history program for his presentation, interpreting the stories of the county’s early firefighters. I enjoyed catching Chip’s great program.

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