CHESTER, Va. -- Like most history teachers, Victoria Pagano uses a classroom. But she also uses a pig.
"Cordelia" is a Tamworth pig who lives in a pen at Henricus Historical Park.
She’s an example of the kind of livestock so important to the inhabitants of the Citie of Henricus, the second successful English settlement in the New World.
The park recreates everyday 17th-century life through its authentically-reproduced architecture, but more importantly, it comes alive through the actors, historians, and interpreters you’ll see strolling around in period clothing.
"It's something that we refer to as experiential archaeology," Pagano, the park’s Education Manager, said. "You can read about it in a book, but actually getting to try it, you learn more."
Today, she’s teaching a group of homeschoolers about the lives and interactions between colonists and Native Americans.
"We are the nerds that know it all," Pagano joked. "We have art people, anthropology people. So it depends on who you talk to, but these guys focus specifically on their venue."
One of them is her husband John Pagano, the park’s historical interpretation supervisor.
He’s a trained special education teacher and has worked as an actor and historical consultant on over 50 period films and documentaries.
"If they go home and Google, you know, musket or Pocahontas or whatever it may be. If they go home with a little more spark of what we were talking about then the mission's accomplished," he said. (The kids) put a lot more stock into this dress, this period. And I think that's the big difference. We call it ‘the kind of the magic’. Not sure what it is, but it's magic," he said.
It's fun for the kids, but also for the park’s historians.
"I get all different age ranges. I get pre-K. I get senior citizens. So, I think on our end it's a really fun way to be an educator."
