Members of the Perquimans County Restoration Association always look forward to sharing the story of Abraham and Judith Sanders’ family home each time a carload of tourists arrives to tour it.
Last week, they got to share the story of what’s now known as the Newbold-White House with 134 Perquimans County Schools fourth-graders during what’s become known as Living History Day at the historic site.
To help the youngsters understand the Sanders’ lifestyle between the 1730s and roughly the 1750s, Living History Day organizers set up about a dozen exhibit stations across the property featuring colonial dance music, candle making, spinning, a smokehouse and games. The goal was, as the name suggests, to give students a “living history” view of what life was like in early 18th century Perquimans County.
One by one, the youngsters stood in line, taking turns learning to form candle wicks by sticking a piece of string into a simmering pot of wax. The wicks then were used to make hand-dipped candles.
Shown the house’s fireplaces, pine woodwork, period furnishings and a winding corner stair, students also got to see how home construction has changed over the past three centuries.
Approximately 40 volunteers participated in this year’s Living History Day, organizers said. Helping the PCRA put on the event were 15 members of Perquimans County High School’s Interact Club.
Brenda Hollowell White, a retired teacher currently volunteers with her husband Glenn White as advisers to the club which is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Hertford. Like Rotary, the Interact Club is an international leadership and service club, but for students.
“The high school students play an integral role in the success of the (Living History Day) event by assisting the exhibitors, by keeping the fourth-graders engaged in the presentations, leading the related activities in colonial games and dancing,” Hollowell-White said.
During a re-enactment in the Newbold-White House one of the few indoor activities during the event, Interact Club members played the roles of Abraham Sanders’ wife and children. Playing the role of Sanders was PCRA member Glenn White, who, the youngsters learned, also happens to be Sanders’ sixth great-grandson, according to PCRA member Penny Byrd.
White, a Perquimans County native who grew up in Belvidere, is a retired school principal, coach and teacher. This year marks his sixth playing the role of Abraham Sanders.
White is also the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin White, both charter members of the Perquimans County Restoration Association, the committee that formed in 1973 to preserve the Newbold-White House and get it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Like other volunteers at Living History Day, White smiled broadly as the fourth-graders skipped and speed-walked from exhibit to exhibit learning about this chapter of their county’s history.
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