By Kathrine Miller
This will be my final posting. All I can say is my many thanks to the Mahaffie organization for the endless dedication and effort towards my first internship. It has been definitely a rememeberable one. I have learned more than I have ever thought I could in a single Summer with Katie right by my side providing the path towards success. I can say that my ultimate goals of losing the fear of speaking of front of people and learning amongst the historians who are out in the community were reached!. Thus, I can take what I have gained and return back to the classroom (for now) but in the long run use this experience within in my own career. I also have to thank Dr. Cantwell, for allowing me the opportunity in the first place, without your guidance and reassurance it would have been a whole different ballgame! Now I can call the staff @ Mahaffie are friends and I will return as a visitor to interpret the experience a whole different way. So, I leave you all now- saying that this was hard at times, I lost my weekends, my sleep, I had to work in traditional clothing on hot days and do some jobs that were not pretty. However, in the end, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!! Thanks, I will be seeing you soon! Kat Miller
athrine Miller
of the chicken, sensitivity issues, the role interpretive themes, the connection to guests, role the of the site and its main mission. The guide offers an overall prospective on the reasoning of how and why butchering interpretation is included within the broad storyline of what Mahaffie and the City of Olathe is trying to convey to their guests. I have now come to the end of my project and finishing the final touches and hope that my contribution will find a good place on their research / library shelves amongst the other significant pieces that have been added as their collection. I did not want to walk away from my internship and not see some sort of piece that can recalled back to me.
I wanted to do a blog about just the little things that have brought me joy to experience during my time at the Mahaffie Stage Coach and Farmstead. I have uploaded a few photos that I have snapped along the way when time has allotted me. It has been a very busy season for the operation since they began the Thursday Family Fun Night that portrays a different theme each week. This past week on Thursday 7/9/15 it was a Civil War week theme with cannon firings and demonstrations shown to guests. I provided a picture of the 2 cannons that were used below. 
Other pictures slated in are of the property corm fields that I pass everyday and walking in one day- I saw the pioneer scarecrow; I thought it was a nice touch to add. July 4th celebration week was a wild ride since I had very limited experience of handling crowds such as this which I was told that the organization saw over 700 guests that day who had come to see the traditional firework displays they put together.(no photos included due to being extremely busy) We normally have around 100 guests give or take on Thursday nights and even less on Sat & Sunday. So it was a valuable experience to hold onto for the future. The other random photos expose the “ins and outs” of where I spend my time whether helping with traditional games, helping load guests onto the stagecoach, providing house tours, or sitting in front of a computer putting together a recipe for their weekly newsletter- it all becomes the “In’s and Outs” of the job at the Mahaffie StageCoach and Farmstead. To provide their guests an educational experience of 1860s frontier living. I am soaking up the very last days at Mahaffie to be able to walk away and know that my internship was a valuable experience that I can use later down the line in my career.
During my time at the Mahaffie StageCoach and Farmstead I wanted to step back to reflect on what I’ve really accomplished among a group of local professional historians, volunteers, and other seasoned professions. I feel that I have risen to the challenge that was bestowed upon me and have worked side by side with the staff (with some costume malfunctions here and there I have to say!!) without hesitation or question. Yes, there have been many projects that which I’ve started and had no idea what I was doing- such as my adventure with the chicken butchering experience or cleaning wool from a sheared sheep.
My last post left off where I was elated of finding an organization that would take the time to make sure my internship had a well-balanced learning experience. This included finding out that I would have an opportunity to work among their most cherished items besides the actual site itself. I know this is a rare educational experience that I am gaining and I will be grateful for every minute of it.
as possible to the final stage of a drying table. The next step would be to catalogue the artifact on a hard copy of a “Catalog Form”. This form consisted of detailing information such as an object ID, object name, home location, where found, description / condition of item and taking and its height/width/length.
At the Mahaffie Stage Coach and Farmstead it is the goal to provide their guests an joyful and an educational experience while they visit the historical site. One way to capture these elements is to offer their guests the option of viewing and and interacting with interpreters on the grounds who care for the site day in and day out. It is the hope that the guests take away some educational aspect of the life on the frontier and enjoy the site for what it has to offer with the use of interpreters.
