Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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Fifth-graders from Athens-Chilesburg Elementary examined several 19th-century artifacts from the Henry Clay Estate.

When students step off the school bus at the Henry Clay Estate, they step back in time.

Peering into the smokehouse at the Ashland Estate, venturing down to the dairy cellar and marveling at the statesman’s carriage and ornate furnishings in Clay’s former house, children get a sense of life in the 19^th century.

But there’s nothing quite like holding a piece of history in the palm of your hand. In “Artifact Adventures,” education coordinator Becci Ray offers students that chance.

“We’ve gone into our own collection and pulled out some artifacts – things that were used in the house or outside,” she said. “They can learn a lot about history by examining artifacts.”

Some fifth-graders from Athens-Chilesburg Elementary recently paired up to analyze several interesting items – among them a silver tea strainer, wooden butter paddles and a decorative shoe horn.

The students donned gloves to handle the artifacts and took notes on their observations.

“Some of the things we have (now) are similar,” said Julian Little, who discovered how people used a long-handled rug beater before vacuums came along.

A few artifacts fooled the youngsters. An eye medicine dispenser, for instance, was mistaken for a child’s sippy cup, and a charcoal-loaded iron was thought to be a teapot.

“We had to observe what they were used for and how it affected the people,” said Kyle King, describing how he and his classmates studied the details and potential function of each item.

Kyle’s group examined a pair of button hooks, which women used to help close up their high-ankle shoes in those days.

“It really threw me off because it was metal,” he said after hypothesizing that the slender, hooked instruments were for dental hygiene.

Classes from Athens-Chilesburg weren’t the only area students studying estate artifacts. Eighth-graders from Beaumont Middle School visited earlier in October, and fifth-graders from Stonewall Elementary are coming later this month.

The field trips also include a tour of the home and the grounds, with such highlights as the gas works system that supplied fuel to the estate and a ship’s bell mounted near one of the outbuildings.

ACE fifth-grader Olivia Antigua, who moved here from Pennsylvania a few months ago, said one of her favorite parts was learning about the estate’s namesake statesman. She particularly liked exploring the icehouse outside and the bedrooms in the mansion. “It shows a little about Henry Clay and the generations of his family,” she said.

Teachers also appreciate the value of this type of activity to enhance instruction and book learning.

Marshall Spivey, who accompanied Olivia’s group, noted that fifth-graders focus on American history, so their visit to the estate will enrich their classroom experience this year.

“They’ll be able to relate what they’ve seen with what we’re studying,” he said.