Behind the Scenes with Occupied Philadelphia's Living History Interpreters
Life in the Past Lane: Behind the Scenes with Occupied Philadelphia's Living History Interpreters
It’s a windy November morning and the marketplace is crowded. People bundled in vibrant cloaks meander past merchants selling their wares and craftspeople hard at work. Bales of hay line the vendor stalls, woven baskets overflow with produce, and fife and drums score the scene. Two well-appointed ladies lean across a spread of pastries and porcelain teacups to chat. A gentleman stops to observe a game of checkers played on a makeshift burlap board. If it wasn’t for the modern outerwear adorning visitors on the scene – the puffer jackets, quarter-zips, and windbreakers, some with smartphones poking out of their pockets – you might find yourself asking: what year is it?
The answer, however, isn’t what year it is, but what weekend it is. It’s the Museum of the American Revolution’s annual Occupied Philadelphia weekend, with over 50 costumed living history interpreters making these “olde” school sights and sounds possible. The event aims to give Museum guests and neighborhood passers-by alike an idea of what Old City might’ve been like in the fall of 1777, when Philadelphia was seized by the British and occupied for nine long months.
The living history interpreters that comprise the “marketplace” – really, the Museum’s outdoor plaza – aren’t just volunteers and Museum staff in costume. Each interpreter has a wealth of information to share about what daily life was like for 18th-century carpenters, dressmakers, woodcutters, soldiers, and other civilians. More interpreters can be found up the block on the lawn at Carpenters’ Hall, where you’ll find Continental Army prisoners-of-war and British troops alike practicing drills and setting up camp. The activities on the Museum’s plaza and behind Carpenters’ Hall are free and open to the public, so guests can talk to as many interpreters as they’d like before even stepping foot into the Museum, where they will find an immersive lineup of programming that reveals even more about this little-known time in Philadelphia’s history.
It sounds like a jam-packed weekend on its face, but this only accounts for what happens at Occupied Philadelphia during the Museum’s regular operating hours. There is a whole world of action behind the scenes for the living history interpreters that make the weekend possible. The excitement begins days before the British flag is unfurled on the Museum’s plaza as dozens of interpreters trickle into town – and it often lasts long after the last Museum guests head home, as the interpreters join each other for group dinners and nights on the town. Some even stay at the Museum overnight!
If you’ve never attended a living history event, you may know very little about costumed interpretation, which serves as a hobby for some and a career for others. If you have attended a living history event but have never participated yourself, you may have a general idea of what living history interpretation is, but the “hows” and “whys” may still elude you. With the help of the Museum’s Education staff, their vast network, and some sleuthing over Occupied weekend, read on the discover more about the inside world of living history interpretation.
First things first: How does one become involved in living history interpretation?
Many of the interpreters recounted attending a specific living history event or historical reenactment, often during their formative years, that sparked a lifelong interest in living history.
“When I was about 12 years old, I attended a Revolutionary War reenactment and was mesmerized by the sights, sounds, and smells,” says Joel Anderson, 38, of Richmond, Virginia. “Reflecting back on it, I recognize now that it opened up a window to a whole new understanding of human capacity… I began working as a guide at the same historical site and have pursued living history as a profession ever since.”
Others, like Leslie Bramlett, 53, of Trenton, New Jersey, stumbled into living history interpretation as a means to an end:
“I am a reading specialist, and I found that non-fiction text was easier to use in teaching students,” she says. “They were drawn in by the stories of people of the past, so I started dressing like them.”
Michael Idriss, 44, of Philadelphia, also became involved with costumed interpretation by way of his career when he joined the Museum as its African American Interpretive Fellow (now Manager) in 2021.
“Before joining the Museum, I truly did not grasp the significance of historical interpretation,” he says. “I had the pleasure of meeting an elder African American interpreter at the Underground Railroad Conference while I was attending Temple University. That conversation led to him becoming a mentor to me. So, when I had the opportunity to apply for the role of African American Interpretive Fellow at the Museum, I understood the assignment.”
Once acclimated, most interpreters develop a specific living history persona and tend to portray the same or similar characters at events, though unlike actors, who embody the character they’re portraying, interpreters sometimes present their personas in the third person. Some of these are based on general societal roles. Anderson, for example, portrayed a recruiting officer of the 1st Troop of Provincial Philadelphia Light Dragoons at this year’s Occupied weekend. Others are modeled after real people: Idriss bases his character on Cyrus Bustill, a baker who provided General Washington with bread during the war, and Bramlett bases hers on Lucy Bloom, an enslaved woman who fled South Carolina to join the British Army.
So, you’ve honed your living history persona. Where and how frequently do you get to use it?
Beyond Occupied Philadelphia, the Museum hosts several additional holiday weekends and events that benefit from the help of living history interpreters. Idriss says he gets into costume at the Museum about eight to 10 times a year. Bramlett, Anderson, and numerous other interpreters confirmed that they participate in these events “as often as possible” at historic sites and other museums across the region, and since there’s no shortage of those, it’s particularly easy to pick and choose which opportunities to take. However, not all gigs are created equal.
“Many living history events or reenactments can be a crapshoot of quality impressions, event standards, and programming,” says Anderson. “Sometimes, events can feel like a place where reenactors are trying to escape modernity and eschew anything or anyone that disrupts that sentiment… that is antithetical to [a place like] the Museum of the American Revolution.”
When it comes to prioritizing events, however, it’s not all about quality. It’s also about company, and taking up a niche hobby or career is a great way to meet like-minded people and forge lasting connections. In fact, most Occupied participants said there was at least one participant they were looking forward to seeing that weekend. One interpreter explained that he and his friend attended most events together, and whenever one portrays a Continental Army soldier, the other comes as a Redcoat – and vice versa. Bramlett says she is always excited to connect with new interpreters, especially fellow interpreters of color. Idriss looks forward to breaking bread with his fellow interpreters at the annual Saturday evening post-Occupied dinner. Anderson even met his wife through living history colleagues!
Regardless of what (or who) an event entails, educating and facilitating meaningful discussions with guests is at the heart of living history interpretation.
“I really look forward to the interactions and conversations I have with the public,” says Anderson. “Things can get very deep, very quickly, and likewise you can have a heartwarming encounter with someone that reflects the brightest versions of ourselves and our shared humanity.”
Is there anything else we should know about living history events?
Now that we know more about the process of discovering and engaging in costumed interpretation – the aforementioned “hows” and “whys” – it’s important to zoom out and consider the more abstract ways that living history can impact one’s life.
“Living history is not only a way to teach the past – it’s also a way [for you yourself] to learn about the past,” says Bramlett.
Anderson agrees, saying, “Living history can be life changing, both for its consumers and its practitioners. At its core is experimental learning, which creates opportunities for people to see themselves as part of a greater whole, as well as an active participant in a historical continuum. It can provide clarity of what we are capable of, both collectively and individually, which hopefully is empowering."
Idriss, who also spearheads the Museum’s Living History Youth Summer Institute, stresses how much representation matters when it comes to living history events.
“I view historical interpretation as an act of service. To share the lived experiences of individuals who looked like me, but who rarely had their perspectives shared as they faced the daunting challenges of Revolutionary America is a remarkable experience that I do not take for granted,” he says. “With one in five people of Revolutionary America being persons of African descent, it is an incredible responsibility to provide a face and, more importantly, a voice to their contributions to the foundation of our country.”
Finally, is there anything we maybe shouldn’t know about living history events that you’re willing to share anyway?
Like any other career or hobby, the world of living history interpretation is not without its goofs, messes, and obstacles. Idriss describes a wardrobe malfunction at last year’s Occupied weekend in which he split his pants. Bramlett recounts the time that she helped a newer interpreter ease her way out of a tricky guest conversation along with the interpreter’s friends. And Anderson has his own anecdotes he’s willing to share – but, according to him, “none that I can.”
The Museum's next living history event will be Makers of Revolutionary Philadelphia Day on May 17, 2025. Click here for more information.
