Part of an occasional series of case studies on the way in which history organizations are reaching out to new audiences.  The first in the series covered the way in which The Freedom Trail Foundation promotes their historic tours with daily video clips.  Contact us to suggest or submit a case study.

Title: "A Sailor's Life for Me" online game with educational curriculum and a free iPad app from the USS Constitution Museum in recognition of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812

Description: In this award-winning online game and educational curriculum, “A Sailor’s Life for Me!”  users explore the ship, scrub the decks, and fire cannons.  Meeting real sailors who served on “Old Ironsides” in 1812 compels users to not just learn history, but experience and explore it.  The educational curriculum links directly from the game and includes 120 printable lesson plans and activities for the classroom or home that utilize history, science, math, social studies, art and language arts to explore Constitution and life at sea in 1812. 

Objective: Teach the War of 1812 through the lens of USS Constitution and make this history available to all.

Research and development: The staff of the museum spent more than ten years researching the 1812 crew of Constitution.   Stephen Biesty did the illustrations.  Eduweb did the interactive development.

Funding: The Office of Navy Commemorations and the Institute of Museum and Library Services

Results (with stats through March 15, 2012):

Since its launch in January 2011, the website has had 35,830 visits from 23,345 unique visitors who generated 99,578 page views.

The free iPad app, released in February 2012, has been downloaded 879 times from 59 countries.

Institution: The USS Constitution Museum site and the organization and their events on The History List

For more information, contact Jodie McMenamin, Development Officer at the USS Constitution Museum

Case study date: June 26, 2012

To suggest or submit a case study, contact us.

Adding a listing to The History List is cut and paste simple. Anyone--staff, interns, volunteers, enthusiastic supporters--can add a listing.     This video shows adding a new event and a new organization to The History List.

To view this video full screen--it will be easier to see details--click on the video and once it starts playing you'll see symbols appear in the black bar at the bottom of the video.  Click on the symbol on the right end of the black bar.  It's the "Full screen" symbol to the right of the YouTube logo.

With The History List now open to all organizations, we're focused on spreading the word.

Thanks to several colleagues who are helping do just that through local, state, regional, and national conferences and publications:

• Cathy Stanton, Editor of History@Work from the National Council on Public History, in a blog post on a presentation at the national conference in Milwaukee this April.

• Larry Cebula, Assitant Digital Archivist at the Washington State Digital Archives and an Associate Professor of History at Eastern Washington University, in a blog post following the same presentation at the National Council on Public History's annual conference.

• Phil Katz, Assistant Director for Research at the American Association of Museums, writing in the AAM's Future of Museums blog.

• Dan Yaeger, Executive Director of the New England Museum Association, in a recent member newsletter.

• Susan Nicholl. Executive Director at MetroWest Tourism & Visitors Bureau, at the Regional Cultural Convening earlier today in Framingham, Massachusetts earlier today.

• Deb Friedman, Vice President of Public Program at Old Sturbridge Village and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums, at the organization's annual conference, Maintaining Relevance in a Digital Age, which begins tomorrow near Dallas.

• Patty Bruttomesso, Local History Coordinator at Mass Humanities, at the Mass History conference, Taking Center Stage: Conflict & Collaboration in the Peopling of Massachusetts, presented by Mass Humanities, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Program in Public History, the Joseph P. Healey Library and the Public History Track at the University of Massachusetts Boston and taking place Monday in Worcester, Massachusetts.

• Robin Zeigler, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions and co-chair of the organization's annual conference, Forum 2012, in Norfolk, Virginia this July.

And thanks to early supporters, including Diane Calvano, who has provided two opportunities (October 2011 and May 2012) to present to the regional Historical Sharing Group she leads, and Gloria Greis, who provided an opportunity to present last December and get feedback at a meeting of The Charles River Group, which she leads.

Is your organization having a meeting or conference in the coming months?  If so, please let your colleagues know that The History List is now open to them--at no cost--to publicize their organization, event, exhibit, or site.  This is a convenient, very graphical one-page handout.

Last night I made a brief presentation on The History List to a group of historical societies that get together and share ideas once a quarter.  (Here's the one-page "How to" designed for staff, interns, and volunteers.)  The group is led by Diane Calvano, who has done a great job creating a forum for historical society board members and volunteers throughout the area.

Last night's meeting was hosted by the Charlton Historical Society and held in Rider Tavern (1799), which the Society owns and has restored over the years.  General Lafayette, entertained at the tavern in 1824, is one of its famous guests.

Rider Tavern, an off-the-beaten-path treasure—Charlton, Massachusetts has a population of around 13,000—is one of the reasons we started The History List: To create a way for organizations such as the Charlton Historical Society to reach beyond their community and let more people know about their events and exhibits, museums and sites.  From the pictures (below) taken last night, I'm sure you can see why Rider Tavern is worth a visit.

Using The History List to promote your organization and events