Honoring Our Past, Celebrating the Future

In early November, Middle School students spent a “Collaborative Day” visiting the Museum to prepare for this exhibit. Fifth through eighth graders explored a variety of objects from the museum’s collection, ranging from newspaper publications and handwritten correspondence to clothing, daguerreotypes (an early form of photographs), and athletic gear. Items were selected to represent four notable people from Sandy Spring’s past: suffragist Mary Bentley Thomas, baseball player Jack Bentley, postmaster and bank founder Alban Gilpin Thomas, and free black, shingle maker Remus Q. Hill.

Students were taught guidelines for object handling and were able to study pieces chosen specifically for this exercise. Explanations were shared of each item’s importance in the life of its prior owner. Students were asked to select objects that interested them most to sketch, and then wrote detailed descriptive paragraphs about them. These objects were the inspiration for artwork students created for the exhibit that will be on display at the museum through February 3.