We're Your Museum Docents. Join Us!
Guide visitors through the historic Taylor-Brown House and Museum exhibits. Tell the stories of Caroline County History and Culture.We’re your museum docents. We welcome visitors to Caroline County and the Museum of Rural Life, and we tell the remarkable stories behind each museum exhibit.
New docents get an inside look at Caroline County’s unique history and receive special training in how to tell the story and present historic artifacts and exhibits.
Each docent gives just a few hours per month to welcome and guide visitors through the Museum. We’d love to have you join us!
Find out more: docents@carolinehistory.org
I have always loved history and have a BA and MA in history. Three of my family lines – Todd, Beauchamp and Andrew – have lived in the area (what is now Caroline County) since the early 1700’s. When the long time docent of the Rural Life Museum retired, a new docent program needed to be created. I volunteered to do so. In order to receive funding for the Historical Society, it was necessary to keep the Museum open. The docent program has been very successful with a dedicated group of people. I invite others to join the docent program.
I have lived in Denton since 1971 and feel a permanent connection to Caroline County. So it was natural to want to become part of the Rural Life Museum. I’m proud to show people our beautiful museum and explain our very long and interesting history. I hold JOK Walsh in high esteem for the tireless effort he put in turning the MRL into what it is today and it is still evolving. It is all very exciting and I am glad to be part of it.
My husband and I have always had a mutual fondness for historical sites. As soon as we were able to purchase a pop up camper, we hit the open road to battlefields, museums, historical road side markers, feedome trails, and cemeteries. Our three kids had little interest, but they saw more of the world outside of Denton . They realized there were other parents and grandparents who were interested in who, what, and how things took place in America and the world, before they arrived. We hope enough got through to make them feel ownership and responsibility for the role they have in what comes next – the making of history.
History is not just my vocation, but my lifestyle. Not only have I visited 365 national park units in all 50 states to bolster my Advanced Placement United States History lesson plans, I have also traced my original North American ancestor to his arrival in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1609. The family tree soon spread to Dorchester County before the Deans made their way into Caroline County. So you could say I was born into it. As a result, I take preserving and promoting local history very seriously. I am keenly aware of the fact that in today’s world of heritage tourism, museums and historical societies need to have an aggressive online presence to draw people in or else the organization is essentially invisible. I enjoy that social media aspect of volunteering, but it is just as exciting to share the historical headlines and obscure stories of Caroline County with visitors inside the Museum of Rural Life as well. Caroline’s past is our present and our future too, so I will continue to not only help the Caroline County Historical Society locally but travel the country looking for ideas and practices that could be implemented successfully here as well.