Summerhill group helping history come alive in primary schools

Helping History Come Alive is the title of an imaginative inter-generational project launched this month by the Third Age Foundation, Summerhill, in partnership with local primary schools. Studying the Second World War and middle years of the last century is part of the primary school"s current sixth-class history curriculum. It is an earlier age which can seem strange and remote to today"s young pupils but is all too familiar to their grandparents and older neighbours. Now the two generations come together in an exhibition of early artifacts provided by Third Age Foundation members in a number of local schools. 'We approached our members and they went up to their attics; they brought us family mementoes, items which tell of a bygone age and no longer in use. We have collected over 100 pieces in the current collection,' says Mary Nally, chairperson of the Third Age Foundation. 'We set up the exhibition in the classroom and the pupils are welcome to see, touch and ask questions. Our members are there to answer all the questions and to tell the story of the many items from their own childhood. It has been very successful with the children becoming really engaged,' she said. Typical items on show include glass medicine bottles and children"s feeding bottles (open at both ends for easy cleaning), fire bellows, a child"s gas mask, a carbide bicycle light, and a chamber pot. 'We asked the children what the chamber pot was. One said a mixing bowl; another said a bowl for holding fruit,' said Ms Nally. Other items include oil lamps and tilly lamps, (gas pump lamps), a magic lantern which showed pictures and was an early prelude to a slide show, a phonograph (an early wind-up gramophone player) and flat irons heated up on the fire before use. Members of the Travelling community who are also members of the Third Age Foundation brought a selection of utensils - cups, plates and cans - crafted in tin by their own parents on the side of the road in Ireland. Third Age Foundation Maura O"Keefe who participated in the exhibition is a self-confessed hoarder. 'I spent a lot of time getting items from home for the collection and discovered some treasures before my own time which I had forgotten about. 'I think this project is fantastic; it"s living history. The children were full of interest and questions, and it"s also very gratifying for us to rediscover what we have at home and what they can teach us,' she said. Ms Nally explained that the schools say they are delighted with the obvious interest of the children and the discussion the exhibition is generating. 'This example of living history is a very good way of giving young people a sense of the past in a way they can understand and relate to. We also feel this kind of intergenerational project where the age groups can meet and listen to each other is very important in breaking down the barriers which can exist between younger and older people,' she said. 'This contact has tremendous scope. For example, we could see the Living History exhibition going into nursing homes and other care settings. It would be of tremendous interest to residents, help them remember and value their own childhood and give a positive sense of the past,' added Ms Nally. Third Age members have already visited three local schools and have received invitations from others, such is the interest. Ms Nally said the group would be delighted to share this new project with other schools and anyone interested should contact the Third Age Centre in Summerhill.