Handout for 2008 AASLH Session:School Outreach Programs - Transforming the Field Trip

1. Minnesota History Center Museum
History Player in the Classroom
www.mnhs.org/HPIC
The Minnesota Historical Society opened its flagship museum, the Minnesota History Center, in St.
Paul in 1992. Building on the Society’s experience with various forms of live interpretation at 24
historic sites throughout the state, the History Center opened with an extensive menu of exhibit-
based interpretive programs. History Players – costumed characters from Minnesota history
portrayed by professional interpreters – quickly became a popular feature of the museum’s exhibits.
Libraries, community centers and schools frequently called the History Center to see if these
characters could travel off-site. After years of responding informally to these requests, the History
Center launched an official outreach program, History Player in the Classroom (HPIC), in 2000. In
each 50-minute HPIC program, costumed interpreters engage student and adult audiences in the
stories of