Earlier this summer, while most Longwood students were still recovering from the tenacious wrestling match of finals, a class was beginning in the Admissions Office parking lot. There, Dr. Jim Jordan loaded up his bus with Undergraduates ready for a week in Virginia's Northern Neck. The course aimed to educate students on the past, present, and likely future conditions of the area and then used these factors to paint a portrait of deep socio-economic ties to the constant shifts in nature.
With each day's activity, the students were led into a new side of the Northern Neck. Just off the bus, they investigated the place where they would live at Hull Springs Farm. The students briefly visited the house where the farm's former owner, Mary Farley Ames Lee, lived before selling it to Longwood. But that day, Jordan was more interested in showing off a subtle piece of pre-colonial history.
In the woods, there had been tales of an "Injun cornfield" which was found not fifty yards from the house. In a grove of dead pines, Virginia Indians would have burned the trees for firewood and for sunlight to the corn below. Later, the students went artifact hunting in a fallow corn field and came to a wetlands preserve where Indians would have spent a season gathering plants, birds, and other materials.
The next day was about the area's time as an English colony, starting with the colonial property at Nomini Hall. Nomini, first owned by the Carter family, was the headquarters of an impressive sixteen-plantation conglomerate that held a double mill on the property. The remains of the mill were scattered about in the backwoods of a cow pasture, with the depression of a bricked up sluice and millpond covered by vegetation.
But as a symbol of loss and finality, nothing beats the Carter cemetery where almost all the family members are buried and a stately catalpa tree grows. The only possible exception is Robert Carter III, who by manumitting the family slaves lost his neighbors' respect and died up north. The ex-slaves, however, are certainly close to the property. Not far down the road, on a hillside matted with periwinkle, there are numerous pits; each is believed to overlay a gravesite. The graves, just like those at the Carter estate, have the bodies facing sunrise for judgment day.
After leaving Nomini, the students were led through Stratford Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee. The palatial and H-shaped mansion was beautifully preserved with portraits from several Lee generations, lavish bedrooms, antiquated halls, staircases, and the corridors where slaves worked. The guide even showed off Stratford's kitchen and explained the arduous duties of a cook at mealtime.
The Colonial Day came and went, leading into Water Day. The first event of Water Day was at the Glebe House, former riverfront home to the area's rich Anglican minister. Its lavish style also showed the colonial parish-man was a sharp elbowed businessman with slaves, a wife, children, and mistresses.
In sharp contrast to the personal home is the relatively humble Great Yeocomico Church. Great Yeocomico stood a distance down the road from Glebe House and held the initials of its pastors with a Masonic inscription. The architecture of the small church was graceful and surrounded by an ancient gate from colonial times.
A large cemetery lay to its side. Returning to the water, Jordan's class visited a museum on the history of the fishing community. It was not until the next day that the water theme ended with a canoe trip. Traveling from the backwaters at Hull Springs Farm to the sandbars of the Appomattox, each student was faced with the success of driving the canoe and the defeat of turning it over.
The appointments of the fourth day were agricultural, with a proposal at Mary Farley's house on wetland conservation and then an explanation of modem farming at a Virginia Tech facility down the road. The alternative to these complications, which included genetic modification, patents, and big high-maintenance equipment, was presented on the fifth day, themed Tourism. The tourist spot in question was a farming museum owned by Sam Johnson and Luther Welch.
On the tourism theme, there was little else to be said but for Washington Burial Ground and Westmoreland State Park. At Washington Burial Ground, the class saw a monument that operated more as a symbol for Depression-era America than a cemetery for George Washington's family. Later, at the State Park, students searched for shark's teeth on the Potomac beach. At the time, one could almost be persuaded they were on vacation. And that is how this course met its end, going down smoothly with a day at the park and a movie night at the farm.
Looking back at the experience, Alexa Boucher said she enjoyed "not only spending some time with some awesome class mates but [also] when we visit[ed] the Carter House. I liked it because we ventured into the woods to learn how they produced bricks over a hundred years ago. As well as the many historical facts about the house and the family that were cool and very unique. I also liked learning about how the Indians lived when [they] occupied the land."
She also suggested, "The only thing that I can think of that could improve the course [would] to be more students signing up to take it. Although it is a lot of information to learn in a week, it is an experience that you will never forget."
Jennifer Yuhas said, "Every person was a part of this course, together we peered into the past to better understand our predecessors and subsequently gain a better understanding of our own civilization." She would also "highly recommend this course to all majors, not only is the curriculum rich in diversity, the course overall is, well, awesome!
