Montevallo, AL

At first glance, Montevallo, Ala., seems much like any charming small town, in this case with storefronts for R & D Hardware, Southern Style Beauty Shop, and several cafes.

But Montevallo (pop. 5,000) is also home to an organization that truly sets it apart: The American Village, a place where young and old can participate in the birth of the United States of America.

Participate? You bet. On Nov. 30, 1999, The American Village opened its doors, and thousands of visitors have since taken part in history—or as close to that as you can get.

“There aren’t any of those rope barriers like you would see in a museum,” says Linda Long, head of communications and marketing. “Everything here is interactive.”

“It’s like a virtual reality, colonial style,” adds Tom Walker, executive director.

The American Village is a civic education center—a history classroom that takes what’s found in textbooks and plays it out for students to see, touch, and experience. During a typical visit, students enter the village just as the protest against the Stamp Act gets underway.

“This is a large assembly in front of a replica of the courthouse in Williamsburg,” Walker points out. “Visitors really get a sense of how jealous the colonists felt about their liberty—that a government an ocean away was issuing overwhelming taxes without their consent.

“They get a chance to get involved,” he adds. “You can almost see the light bulbs coming on over their heads: ‘So this is what it’s all about.’”

Later, students are separated into 13 groups, each representing one of the original colonies, and these smaller groups participate in vignettes around the village.

One group finds itself sharing the experiences of a 16-year-old Colonial soldier. Based on an actual diary from the period, the soldier takes his new recruits through a daily camp routine. Students see first-hand the skills, hardships, and dedication of a soldier’s life.

Another group might wander into the dining room of an impressive replica of George Washington’s Mount Vernon home, while others are whisked into the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

“In this scene there’s an exact replica of the chair in which George Washington sat during the convention,” Linda Long explains.

On the back of that famed “Rising Sun Chair” is a carved gilt sun partially obscured by a horizon. The viewer sees that sun as either rising or setting.

“That determination is up to the individual,” Long says. “Benjamin Franklin saw it and knew that it was rising—rising on a new nation that was going to become a world leader.

“And this,” she adds, “is what the children take with them when they leave here. They realize that if that sun is to continue to rise—if America as a nation is to continue as a world leader—that it’s up to them.”

It was Executive Director Tom Walker who actually brought the village initiative to fruition.

“Reports from the Commission on the Future of the South basically said that we (the South) really needed to invest in people through education. That report, and others, reminded me that ‘We, the people …’ were more than old words on some historical relic—they were living words that define how it is we govern ourselves.

“This wasn’t a new revelation,” he adds. “These were feelings shared by many Americans in all walks of life.”

Walker, who formerly served as assistant to the president of the University of Montevallo, pitched the village idea to lawmakers and community leaders.

His persistence paid off, and in 1998 construction of The American Village began on a 113-acre tract of land in Montevallo, chosen for its location in the central part of the state. The supporters were many, but the biggest debt of gratitude went to the Alabama Legislature for creating The Citizenship Trust, a public educational corporation also based in Montevallo, dedicated to promoting citizenship education.

“Our primary goal is to educate Alabama’s young people,” Walker says, “but already we’ve had groups from five different states visit. We hope they all carry the experience back with them and help start something of this kind in their own states.”

The village isn’t just for kids—its resources are available to students of any age. And it appears that, with students, the village is a success.

“I was watching some sixth-grade boys as they were leaving,” Long recalls. “One turned to the others and said, ‘Way cool!’ When you can get that kind of a response from an educational experience, we know we’re a hit!”

Judy Woodward Bates is an Alabama-based writer.

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