NARRATOR: Coming up on Keystone Stories, more than a collection.

[music playing] WOMAN: Support for Keystone Stories comes from Tom and Sara Sanger of the Torron Group in State College, a proud supporter of programming on WPSU.

More information at torrongroup.com.

Centre County Historical Society, with support from Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and viewers like you, thank you.

Welcome to Keystone Stories.

As our country marks its 250th anniversary, historical societies, like the one right here in Centre County, are becoming favorite destinations.

But did you know there's a community of storytellers who bring history to life beyond the walls of traditional museums?

These living historians believe that experiencing history firsthand is the best way to keep it alive.

As America celebrates 250 years, storytellers leave behind the modern world to teach us about our collective past.

Hi, I'm Sam McKinney, and my spirits are strong.

Hi, I'm Nancy Wilson, and I spin yarns.

Hi, I'm Wali Jamal, and I bring history to life.

Hi, my name is Kate Cunning, and I am a living historian.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: They're called interpreters, docents, or living historians.

And you'll see them keeping history alive for the public in a very personal way.

When we immerse people in what history really was like back then, then they get a better understanding and a better appreciation for it.

WALI JAMAL: And I like showing people their connection to the history because that's where the interest lies.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: These living historians reenact domestic life in the 1790s and early 1800s at historic sites connected to the Whiskey Rebellion, a violent uprising in Western Pennsylvania against a federal tax on whiskey that George Washington finally had to put down by force.

And it all starts with taking Pennsylvania rye and making it into whiskey.

It's an important story to tell.

It was the second-largest industry in Pennsylvania in the time period.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: This is the Eichelberger Distillery in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, a reconstructed distillery that today makes whiskey just as they did in the time of the Whiskey Rebellion.

SAM MCKINNEY: York County was the highest-producing county of making spirits in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania was the largest producer of spirits in the country.

And they were making thousands of gallons of whiskey, mostly rye whiskey.

I would say almost all of it was rye whiskey.

We were at the epicenter of huge amounts of whiskey.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: This historic site has a small but impressive collection of restored and reconstructed buildings that started with Dill's Tavern.

Using manuals and floor plans from the time period, they built an authentic 18th-century distillery from the ground up, along with two working copper stills.

SAM MCKINNEY: Fortunately, we had some really super good craftsmen because copper is not the easiest thing to work with, and we were able to build both of those stills.

We've tried to do everything possible to make whiskey-making as authentic as possible to the 18th century, early 19th century.

Probably one of the biggest things is we're wood-fired.

They kept the fire in a separate room.

That's an authentic thing that we're doing is that we are using fire, but we're also using a safety measure that they devised in the 18th century to try to keep from having explosions.

DARA RILEY KANE: Sam McKinney, he is absolutely self-taught.

To watch him go through it and come up with these epiphanies-- oh my gosh, they did this.

They did that.

It's been a fun journey.

SAM MCKINNEY: The mashing is the first step.

And then we take that after it ferments, and then we put it in the stills.

And then we run the stills.

And we run the stills when people are able to come in.

They can see how actually whiskey is made, and I think that's cool.

I have a good part of my life involved here, and it's a very soulful thing for me.

It's just a very wonderful place.

It really is.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: North and west, near the Monongahela River, the Oliver Miller Homestead Historic Site sheltered an extended family of whiskey rebels.

MARY PAT SWAUGER: William Miller was the one who was distilling whiskey at that time.

He was the person who refused to pay the tax.

He didn't register his still.

When they came on July 15, 1794, to serve him a writ of non-compliance, they were chased off the property with gunfire.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: More than 200 years later, the homestead site is much more peaceful.

It's now a living history showcase for 18th-century farm life on the frontier.

You can read about history in a book, and I always liked reading history in a book.

But when you actually do something yourself or you see it being done, I think it stays in your head then.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: One thing that will stay in your head is how self-sufficient settlers had to be.

They even had to make their own clothes.

And Nancy Wilson shows folks how it was done.

NANCY WILSON: What we say to children who really have very little grasp of what it was like to live here is that we grew our own clothes through the sheep and through the flax that we have planted.

So that's kind of an eye-opener for them to think you can grow your own clothes because they don't.

I spin, and I show children especially how we transform the wool from sheep into yarn.

To turn wool into yarn, of course, we have to grow the sheep.

And then in the springtime, we shear them.

And we have this lovely fluffy fleece that is quite dirty because they've been wearing it for an entire year.

So then you have to wash it gently and spread it out on the lawn on a day like this, so it will dry.

Then you card it.

Then you spin it into the yarn.

They look so different after they've been given a haircut.

And then we also talk about flax being transformed into linen, which we then give to the weaver, who weaves it into sheeting for the beds or summer clothing for everybody to wear in the summer so you're not sweltering in wool in the heat.

It's not necessary anymore to create our own clothing, to create our own thread, and to create our own yarn because it's so readily available in stores.

But I think that the public probably needs to know how it used to be and the people that survived with these survival skills, which for the most part, we don't have these days, I think, is just a real eye-opener, especially for children.

I think all of that creates an atmosphere, an authentic atmosphere for visitors.

And then to see the demonstrations of the docents, the forge, the spinning, the cooking, the bake oven, the spring house, I think it's just an immersive experience for everybody.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: The tax collector chased off the Miller farm was inspector of revenue General John Neville, a wealthy man whose stately home is now the Woodville Experience Museum in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

It's not just a house museum or a museum.

It's a living history farm.

And so when you step on site, we want you to be transported back in time and see what it was like to live in the 1790s to the 1810 time period.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: Like George Washington, John Neville was a slaveholder, owning the largest number of enslaved people west of the Alleghenies.

ROB WINDHORST: It's these folks that previously had been lost to history that we are now trying to put names, birth dates, occupations, and basically how they lived to our story here at the site.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: Helping Woodville tell those untold stories is actor and educator Wali Jamal.

ROB WINDHORST: He is a dedicated historian to the history of this particular enslaved population here at Woodville.

WALI JAMAL: I know, and I'm very interested in African-Americans' involvement in American history.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: Wali will tell you that the enslaved people here enjoyed a high level of trust, so much so that when tensions rose during the Whiskey Rebellion, Neville trained his staff to use firearms.

WALI JAMAL: In fact, in the Whiskey Rebellion reenactment, I was Henry Holt, and it was purported that he had fired the first shot in defense of the Neville home in 1794.

I like to make people feel like we're all finding this out at the same time, but I'm not dictating it to you that you're not going to believe this.

But in 1794, right here, and their ears perk up.

Their eyes open.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: This passion for history led Wali to find important stories to tell.

WALI JAMAL: I found out about Martin Delaney, and I'm like, what?

He did what?

And he's from where?

From here.

He went to Harvard.

He was a major in the Civil War.

He was Pittsburgh's first Black doctor.

He had the first Black-run newspaper in west of the Alleghenies.

I'm like, that's my next project.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: Wali wrote a one-man play and transformed himself into Major Martin Delaney, taking the story of this early Civil Rights leader onto the stage and directly into the schools.

When you research one thing, you find 1,000 others if you want to know.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: Another important historic site that living historians bring to life is the home of rebel leader David Bradford, where visitors see a life of privilege.

KATE CUNNING: With this being Mr.

Bradford's home, and with Mr.

Bradford being one of the figureheads of the Whiskey Rebellion, and with this being the epicenter of the Whiskey Rebellion itself, it's very important to remind our local public of our past, where we came from, and how we can grow from that.

Hello, welcome to the Bradford House.

We like to think if people walked into the house or if Mr.

Bradford were to walk into the house today, he would feel very much at home.

So we're taking people back and really showing them.

This is how Mr.

Bradford, a wealthy lawyer and landowner, would have lived in 18th-century frontier opulence.

My character most certainly would not have lived in the house.

Being in the outkitchen, I'm exposed to all of the fumes and the smells and the fire.

Obviously, I'm going to be very, very dirty.

My dirt and smoky odors would not be going anywhere inside the house.

I get to build fires, and I get to cook.

And I get to really show people in the most hands-on and immersive way what it was like to live in the 18th century.

The most important part is fire management.

In a time of no electricity and no running water, we're going to need constant trips back and forth to the well, also to the wood pile.

The original log kitchens-- there were two of them that stood here closer to the house, and both of them burnt down, which is why you never, ever have a kitchen attached to your house in the 18th century.

KENDYL WITTENRICH: The David Bradford house stands prominently on Main Street in Washington, Pennsylvania, where every summer the community celebrates the Whiskey Rebellion Festival, complete with an original street theater production that climaxes with the tarring and feathering of a federal tax collector, a reminder of an important moment in the birth of the nation.

KATE CUNNING: When you actually go to an event or come to the Bradford house and you see people like us that are dressed in 18th-century attire and showing you how life would have been like that back then, you have a better understanding and a better appreciation.

And it's so important for people to appreciate what we have been through so we know how to continue on.

This next piece features living historians.

These re-enactors and their individual portrayals, also known as impressions, interpret our nation's military past through public conversation.

This segment was produced in partnership with the Pennsylvania Military Museum.

[music playing] GABRIELLE KUHNS: It's really important because the public, I think, really connects with the ability to see a uniform or any kind of physical living history display in-person.

BRANDON BENNER: Obviously, people have different learning methods.

There are people who are visual learners, tactile learners, and I think reenacting and living history appeals to those people.

I don't even if it's a misconception that we're a bunch of nerds because we're definitely nerdy.

To go out and want to do this is kind of crazy if you think about it.

JARED FREDERICK: Although we can portray completely different time periods and we can come from all different walks of life, at the end of the day, everybody's love of history is what brings the entire community together.

Over the years, I've had a number of impressions.

My primary interest is the United States Army during the Second World War.

I often portray a soldier in the US Fourth Infantry Division, and that is something that is especially poignant for me because that is the division that my grandfather served in during the Second World War.

And over a decade ago, when I entered the world of World War II reenacting, I noticed that that was an outfit that hardly ever got any recognition, and that inspired me to create the Furious Fourth World War II Living History Association.

And we have been actively portraying that very important unit during the war, a unit that suffered about 250% casualties in 11 months' time.

As a professor at Penn State Altoona, I frequently incorporate living history components into the classroom.

As far as I see it, I have this vast assemblage of historical apparel and equipment and reproduction items, and I spent too much money on these things to only use them on occasional weekends.

I pass them around.

I let students try these things on.

I let them feel the physical weight of war as such.

And it leads to some really fun and engaging conversations with students, because they don't anticipate how uncomfortable these things are.

They don't anticipate how heavy these things are.

They don't take into account how easy they have it today in contrast.

And so using these tangible items in the classroom really opens up the doors for some really great realization when it comes to student learning.

[music playing] GRIFFIN BRADLEY: My grandfather served in the Vietnam War, and I think that's really what got me interested in portraying Vietnam War.

It's really great to have the family connection.

I think that gives you a deeper appreciation and some more confidence to try and learn more and research as much as you can to portray the time period accurately as well.

The hobby can be very expensive.

Not to turn people away from the hobby, but rather make sure that people do their research.

Make sure that you're collecting the right things.

When I started out with reenacting, I bought a bunch of replica uniforms from reenactor sutlers, and then over time, I started looking more at flea markets, antique stores, especially eBay is a big one.

When my uncle's shop, Whiskey Rebellion Antiques, opened, be able to experience a lot more stuff, do a lot more research.

My uncle served in Afghanistan.

He started trying to find some larger collections.

We started with an online store selling a few things, and then that brought the shop into what it is today.

We own this physical location that we're able to buy and sell and trade.

I think the biggest misconception is that reenactors can be compared to people that attend something like a comic convention, dressing up as your favorite superhero, when I think reenactors should be viewed as something in between watching a documentary and going to a museum.

You're able to get a deeper personal connection whenever you go to a historical event like that.

[music playing] GABRIELLE KUHNS: I first got started back in 2016 doing World War II civilian, but my real passion is World War I Women's History, because the majority of the American public doesn't even that women were involved in World War I. World War I was the very first time that women could join the military in an official capacity.

It's the best, I would say, when little kids, especially little girls, come up to the display, and they get to see that representation, whereas when a lot of them have picked up a history book in school, they only see pictures of GIs or men in uniform.

And it's really great to be able to show them that people who looked like them existed back then.

I think we can encourage more women to join the hobby by always being open and kind.

My motto is that there is no such thing as a stupid question when it is asked by someone who is eager to do the work in research, gathering materials for an impression, whether it's uniform or former ununiformed, and really just being kind and open to newer people who are joining the hobby.

MICHAEL CARPER JR: So I've been reenacting since about 2000 and started off doing Civil War, got into World War 2.

I've done Vietnam, Revolutionary War, World War 1.

If you name it, I've probably reenacted it.

I've always, since I was a little kid, have loved the military.

My dad was in the military.

My grandfather was in World War 2.

My great-grandfather was in World War 1.

My great-great-grandfather was in the Spanish-American War.

My great great great great grandfather was in the Civil War and then all the way back to my ancestor who was in the Revolutionary War.

So the military has always been in my blood.

I enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in 2002.

I was 17 years old.

It was a couple months after 9/11 happened.

I got out of the military in 2014.

The reenacting hobby in general is good for veterans because there tends to be a lot of us that do it because we are looking for that camaraderie that exists in a military unit.

And while we don't salute and do all that kind of stuff in our unit, there is a rank structure, and then afterwards, you can talk to your buddies about your stories and stuff.

And if you're having a hard time, that's somebody you can talk to that has a similar experience most likely.

The hardest part about staying historically accurate is if you want to sleep historically accurately, it's not very comfortable, especially once you get a little older.

It makes it more difficult to sleep on the ground like these guys did.

Some people will go crazy when it comes to historical accuracy, like the same exact underwear that these guys wore in World War 2, but I don't quite go that far.

BRANDON BENNER: Through the majority of my time in reenacting, I've typically focused on the American Civil War era, specifically the experience of Northern soldiers, most of the time from Pennsylvania.

I have, as far as I know, five Civil War ancestors, possibly more that I have to confirm.

But that is what I know best and the stories that I feel I can best articulate.

So I think it's of critical importance to be focusing on this period of our history and to do it right and to do it responsibly and to approach it with the seriousness that it deserves.

I personally have shaken the hand of a man who shook the hand of a Civil War soldier.

That's how far apart we are-- two handshakes.

That's it.

So if this happened so comparatively recently, it can happen again.

And I think it's incumbent upon all of us as Americans to ensure that that does not happen again.

It's important to show that life in wartime changes for everyone.

I think that's something that as Americans, we've become very insulated from.

We have been very lucky to not have combat occur on our soil since the American Civil War.

And I think because of that, we've become very distant from understanding what war is and what it looks like.

What a lot of reenactors, and especially the ones I associate with, are trying to do is not just portray combat, which we as civilians.

I myself have never served in the military.

I have no understanding of the terror of combat.

What I want to do instead is show the everyday lives of these guys.

I think that's where the beauty of the hobby really comes from.

It's not about standing in a field, pretending to shoot at your friends.

I think the real beauty of it is immersing yourself in those everyday moments and getting to feel what that's like.

I think one of the really endearing things about the reenactor community is that it's a really diverse mix of people from many walks of life.

They are students, firemen, UPS drivers, corrections officers, professional historians, and they're from all over.

They have all sorts of different family and professional backgrounds.

They're of all different political persuasions, and really little of that matters when we're together.

There's something for everybody in reenacting.

There's something for everybody in history.

And I think once they find that, I think that'll give younger people a better connection to history.

When you get to reach out and touch the uniform, when you get to smell the gunpowder, when you get to see people wearing these uniforms and doing what these guys did day in and day out, that helps you realize, oh, this is real.

This isn't something that I just read off of a page in a textbook.

This is an experience that real human beings had.

At the end of the day, the most important part is to have a really good core group of friends who you can go out to events with, collaborate with.

And when you have that community with you, those connections can even extend to outside of reenacting.

JARED FREDERICK: There's few things in our divided society today that I think has the capacity to bring people together, like history does.

And I think the reenactor community is a demonstration of that.

Thanks for watching.

See you next time on Keystone Stories.

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