Stepping Back in Time

It's a place that decades of Saint David's fifth grade classes know well, where they have learned about 18th century customs, furnishings, and even how to dance a minuet--the National Society of Colonial Dames Museum House in Manhattan.

Our boys visit this replica of a pre-revolutionary home of an affluent citizen in conjunction with their study of Colonial times.

Monday evening, it was the site of our annual Alumni Parents Council Cultural Event, spearheaded by co-chairs Dorothy Faux and Linda Foran. As we gathered in the garden of this stately edifice, the museum educator Joie Anderson welcomed us and we began our tour of the house. She spoke about the Society's ultimate purpose of education and preservation. The New York Society's educational mission is focused on the vital role of the women of Colonial New York.

Ms. Anderson explained that the museum house was built in 1930 by women who were descendants of important people during the Colonial era. When it was constructed there were no buildings from the Colonial period of such magnitude in New York City.

The museum house incorporates features from 18th century houses and is filled with 18th century furniture and artifacts.

This enjoyable evening with Saint David's friends was a journey back in time made more real because we could see in each room the way a segment of people from an earlier time lived.

It was decidedly low tech, not a display screen or interactive device in sight! Instead we were asked to just "be" in the past, a reminder of the value of reaching back to understand what came before us as we move forever forward.

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