VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Erie Canal Museum celebrates Canal’s bicentennial
Dillon Buck: Derrick Pratt is the director of education and public programs here at
the Erie Canal Museum – and he understands the history of the canal
better than most.
Derrick Pratt: “The story of the canal, it’s really the story of kind of all of upstate New York. It kind of creates
the world that we live in today.”
Buck: “The museum itself is over sixty-years-old and is celebrating the canal’s
bicentennial with events, special exhibits, and school tours.”
Steph Adams: “We’re going to have more hands-on workshops where people can come in and, with the help
of outside experts, learn kind of a practical skill that would have been used on the canal but
would still be helpful now.”
Buck: Like many Central New Yorkers, the history of the canal sits close with
Derrick, which makes his work all the more worthwhile.
Pratt: “It’s a pretty fulfilling job. I myself am from Central New York, I grew up going on field trips to
the Erie Canal. I’m glad to be teaching people about their own local history.”
Buck: Some of the skills that will be taught to celebrate the bicentennial
include navigation, foraging, sewing, and small repair.
Pratt: “An important thing to remember here is that we’re all still living through history. We all are
active agents, and that’s something that we try to share with our audience as we go forward.”
Buck: Reporting from Syracuse, I’m Dillon Buck, N-C-C News.
SYRACUSE, NY (NCC News) – The Erie Canal will turn 200 years old this October, and the Erie Canal Museum is ensuring that the local community is involved at every step. To celebrate the anniversary, the museum will be hosting a series of events, special activities, and temporary exhibits.
Derrick Pratt, Director of Education and Public Programs, oversees the museum’s activities, including school tours, field trips, lectures, and skill workshops. He wants others to know the canal’s importance as we approach the Bicentennial.
“The story of the canal, it’s really the story of kind of all of upstate New York,” said Pratt. “It kind of creates the world that we live in today.”
Pratt’s love for history and the Erie Canal stems from his roots in the area. As a longtime resident, he finds satisfaction in educating others on the same tours and field trips he grew up on.
“It’s a pretty fulfilling job. I myself am from Central New York, I grew up going on field trips to the Erie Canal. I’m glad to be teaching people about their own local history.”
Along with Pratt, Steph Adams works as the museum’s director of interpretation and is in charge of making temporary and permanent exhibits. Adams ensures that the museum features events with a specific bicentennial focus. She is also planning workshops to teach practical skills that would have been used on the canal and can still be used today.
“We’re starting off with sewing. We’re going to have later in the year things like orienteering, so learning how to navigate with a map and compass, foraging, bike repair, all sorts of good stuff,” said Adams.
Adams also has a personal connection to the canal, and she wants others to understand its value and impact on all of New York.
“The Erie Canal is really interesting because this corridor throughout New York State, it’s really kind of a microcosm of everything that happens in American culture,” said Adams. “So I think it’s important to learn about local history. I grew up, about an hour away from here in central New York, still, like, still along the path of the canal.”
The most important fact that both Pratt and Adams want to impress upon their visitors is that the story of the Erie Canal and all of New York is always progressing.
“An important thing to remember here is that we’re all still living through history,” said Pratt. “We all are active agents, and that’s something that we try to share with our audience as we go forward.”
