History for Grown-Ups (& Students)

Debbie Roland directs one of the most remarkable local history museums in the nation. The Calhoun County (South Carolina) Museum is housed in a spacious, multifunctional, modern facility—a result of her years of public awareness and fundraising efforts, coupled with legislative diplomacy. More importantly, it’s an uncommonly lively place, considering its small town location in a rural, slightly populated county. School groups frequently are on guided tours; individual students come regularly to research history projects; genealogists arrive from across the country to benefit from Roland’s lovingly preserved and ever-increasing storehouse of family records and artifacts. The townfolk have acquired a deepening pride in their museum and are supporting it with donations of important family heirlooms, money and—just as vital—with their eager participation in museum programs.

How did she attain backing on such a broad scale, when residents of most other small towns with limited resources take a miserly view toward cultural spending?

Roland oversees a year-long public school genealogical research project, wherein students earn credit by digging into their ancestries. She’s seen countless youngsters convert from bored history students to avid historians in their own right. But that’s only half of her objective. Roland has learned how to attract the attention of parents. Students who visit the museum typically go home with a souvenir in hand—a balloon, mug, pen, etc. It’s a gift with a message, generally in the form of a question. “I always give them something with a question their parents won’t know the answer to,” Roland reveals. “That piques the parent’s curiosity and, at the same time, heightens the student’s interest. We get both the student and the parent involved in history.”

In an alarming era when more and more Americans, young and old, aren’t reading anything unless it’s absolutely required, Roland manages to get them to read, voluntarily, history (of all subjects!).