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A collection of images and articles in the LOC related to our hometown of Wayne, PA
HAUNTED HOMETOWN HISTORY
It’s October, and for the second year in a row, I’ve walked my sixth graders through our town to a hidden gem that is bound to spark some historically-inspired haunted stories. The hosts of the Radnor Historical Society were thrilled to share their rich array of primary sources, embellished with stories of “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary War general who is our town’s namesake, along with numerous other haunted tales to jumpstart their imaginations to create haunted tales of their own.
Digging through the LOC website, I found a number of related images and resources to beef up their tales. I’ve started an album to provide a little bit of incentive for my students to dig deeper and find more historical references to riff on. While we were touring the Radnor Historical Society, our lovely guides shared numerous primary sources including a Conestoga wagon, sugar nippers, a butter churner, spinning wheels, a musket gun they each got to hold and pass to one another, old dolls, dishes, and a rather haunted looking gilded mirror that was dark on one half and clear on the other half. Unmistakably haunted!
Our guide was a distant cousin of our town’s namesake, General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, whose dead body seemed to take forever to decompose, so his sons retrieved the body, boiled it down to the bones, and as they were traveling back to the General’s final resting place in St. David’s Cemetery, just a few blocks from our school, some of the bones fell out of the wagon. You can only imagine the ideas this folk story will inspire as my students begin crafting their own tales.
While they were wandering the Historical Society, they took a series of notes on a template that had them identify: Who? Wanted…But, ….So,....Then,.... The follow-up to this array of possible storylines is to craft two-sentence stories. After this, students will select their most fruitful idea and develop a 1-2 minute monologue that we will share on Halloween, maybe even in and around the old Finley House that is the home of the Radnor Historical Society. I look forward to challenging my students to add to this album, and I can’t wait to hear their stories on Halloween!
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HAUNTED HOMETOWN HISTORY
It’s October, and for the second year in a row, I’ve walked my sixth graders through our town to a hidden gem that is bound to spark some historically-inspired haunted stories. The hosts of the Radnor Historical Society were thrilled to share their rich array of primary sources, embellished with stories of “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary War general who is our town’s namesake, along with numerous other haunted tales to jumpstart their imaginations to create haunted tales of their own.
Digging through the LOC website, I found a number of related images and resources to beef up their tales. I’ve started an album to provide a little bit of incentive for my students to dig deeper and find more historical references to riff on. While we were touring the Radnor Historical Society, our lovely guides shared numerous primary sources including a Conestoga wagon, sugar nippers, a butter churner, spinning wheels, a musket gun they each got to hold and pass to one another, old dolls, dishes, and a rather haunted looking gilded mirror that was dark on one half and clear on the other half. Unmistakably haunted!
Our guide was a distant cousin of our town’s namesake, General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, whose dead body seemed to take forever to decompose, so his sons retrieved the body, boiled it down to the bones, and as they were traveling back to the General’s final resting place in St. David’s Cemetery, just a few blocks from our school, some of the bones fell out of the wagon. You can only imagine the ideas this folk story will inspire as my students begin crafting their own tales.
While they were wandering the Historical Society, they took a series of notes on a template that had them identify: Who? Wanted…But, ….So,....Then,.... The follow-up to this array of possible storylines is to craft two-sentence stories. After this, students will select their most fruitful idea and develop a 1-2 minute monologue that we will share on Halloween, maybe even in and around the old Finley House that is the home of the Radnor Historical Society. I look forward to challenging my students to add to this album, and I can’t wait to hear their stories on Halloween!
Stay spooky,
Jodi
What a helpful description of your plan to combine the Radnor Historical Society visit with student writing of haunted stories! Can't wait to hear how it all turns out!
Me, too! Please keep us posted 
Jodi Sabra
!
Lost bones. Oh my. What a great idea to engage students in local history
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