To teach children about local history, The Williamson Museum puts together trunks of artifacts to highlight local people, events and time periods.
Traveling Trunks, which was started in 2007, is a program used as a teaching tool for individuals and local school districts, including Georgetown, Leander, Round Rock and Taylor ISDs, said Danelle Houck, Williamson Museum education program coordinator.
“[These] artifacts are meant to be played with,” Houck said.
Traveling Trunks offers a variety of different trunks for rent, each focusing on a different topic, including Hispanic Heritage, Up the Chisholm Trail, Endangered Species, World War II and Williamson County. Many of the items are copies or replicas to ensure the preservation of the originals, Houck said.
“We want to teach [students] about the history of this area,” she said. “The more you know about where you live, the more you appreciate it.”
Trunks are $25 to rent for two weeks, and a costumed presenter, who is either a volunteer or museum staffer, is included in the price. Lesson plans, reading materials and activities are also included, and educators may opt out of having a presenter and teach the material themselves. All materials are in line with Texas curriculum requirements, Houck said.
New this fall, the museum is offering a Dan Moody and the 1920s trunk as well as a Trains in Williamson County trunk, which includes items such as antique train tickets, conductor hats and photos from local oil fields.
Some trunks include information about local historical figures, such as Bill Pickett, one of the first African-American cowboys on the rodeo circuit, who performed in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Europe, according to the museum. Pickett, born in Taylor, worked as a cowboy in Central Texas and was the first African-American cowboy to be inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1971, according to the museum.
Jessica Weiss, a third-grade teacher at River Ridge Elementary School in Leander ISD, has used Traveling Trunks twice for her classes. Weiss has used a trunk about cowboy history as well as trunk about pioneers.
“The kids loved the trunks,” Weiss said. “It’s one thing to see those historical items on the computer or in a textbook, but to actually be able to feel and touch them is a whole other experience. It’s tactile; that feel of history comes to life.”
Traveling Trunks
• American Revolution (grades 3, 5 and 8)
• Civil War (grades 4-8)
• Day in the Life of a Cowboy (grades K-4)
• Dan Moody and the 1920s (grades 4-7)
• Digging into the Past (grades 3-7)
• Endangered Species (grades K-5)
• Hispanic Heritage in Williamson County (grades 2-7)
• Hunting and Fishing (grades 2-8)
• Pioneer Times in Texas (grades 2-8)
• School Days (grades 2-7)
• Swedish Immigrants (grades 4-8)
• Trains in Williamson County (grades K-8)
• Turn of the Century (grades 3-8)
•Up the Chisholm Trail (grades 4-8)
• Williamson County (grades 2-7)
• WWII (grades 9-12)
How to rent a trunk
To rent a Traveling Trunk, email Danelle Houck, Williamson Museum education program coordinator, at [email protected]. Houck will send a Trunk Request Form to the applicant. The museum needs at least one to two weeks’ notice to book a trunk, and advanced notice is encouraged.
