We develop characters as we need them, fitting our portrayals to the venue and the audience. For simplicity, we divide our work into portrayals (or in re-enactment parlance impressions) and presentations.
Portrayals are performed at living history events, where we tell a story from history, usually in a camp setting with all the costumes, props and other accoutrements of the period. Any portrayal can be scaled to fit a presentation, as described below. We are often joined in our portrayals by gentlemen friends, who are welcomed to our hospitality and company.
Presentations are talks done for small groups such as classrooms, home-schools, museums and other educational settings. We can speak in either first person or third person -- even mix the two voices. Give us an idea of the audience size and composition and we will tailor our presentation to augment your lesson plan or become a lesson in itself. Such presentations may cover several time periods, and are performed in costume with as many props as space and time allow.
Fees: We charge $50 per hour, plus $15 per quarter hour or any portion thereafter. We do not charge for set-up and strike time. If the venue is outside the Montgomery/Prince George's County area, there is a transportation charge of 20¢ per mile (mileage will be determined by Mapquest.Com) plus $10 per person for food. Or you can feed us whatever you are having.
Characters that have already been researched, costumed and equipped are linked in the list below. Others in the list will be developed according to demand. Some are self-explanatory, others link the reader to a "biography" of the character and her role in society
(
Warning: Fact or Fiction).
If you are interested in having a character talk to your group or class, please contact us directly by calling Ellen Wilds at 301-565-2359, email, or writing to us at
Remember The Ladies
8117 Hartford Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Several of our characters have posted their writings in our journal section. This link will take you to the journal home page. Individual links are below with the character description.
We also give talks on aspects of history not often covered in detail in history books. Our particular focus is women, from those who wear corsets to those who wear burqas, but we also teach the history and art of warfare, from the ancient wisdom of Sun Tzu up to current events. Clothing reflects society; so does warfare, and RTL teaches both.
Grammatical Warning: Even we are not always sure what time space we occupy, so we crave your understanding if any text on these pages mixes tenses without warning.
Come Play With Us
RTL is delighted to join any event in any time period we have prepared. We invite other re-enactors to join with us, visit our encampment, augment our presentation, or let us augment yours. Some of our portrayals make specific requirements of those who would join with us. You will find these aspects listed on the page linked to the above title.
How the Roman Empire lost the lands north of the Rhine as told by the Cherusker women encamped on the edge of the Teutoburg Forest. Rannvig and Nilda are fictional aunts of the Cherusker chief Arminius. While brought up as Roman ladies, they have never forgotten their tribal origins.
Roman soldiers who wish to visit the RTL encampment should be aware of certain conditions as spelled out on our Come Play With Us page.
The two women communicate during the battle with their nephew via coded messages, now decoded and presented here.
The Swiss War of Independence, 14th Century
Starting with the Helvetic Confederation on August 1, 1291 in Rütli Meadow and continuing throughout the 14th century, Swiss peasants tell a tale full of legendary folk heroes like William Tell and dramatic battles, presenting an opportunity to learn about the formation of Europe's oldest enduring republic, and a simple people who heralded the death of Age of Chivalry. (ready April 2007)
Peasants and knights who wish to visit the RTL encampment should be aware of certain conditions as spelled out on our Come Play With Us page.
Ladies, on their way to the proposed victory celebration in the Capitol, recount how the British burned Washington, and then turned to take Baltimore. One lady, Polly Sewell, the wife of Dr. Robert Sewell, is the owner of the only civilian home deliberately burnt by the British.
[RTL prefers to call this conflict by its contemporary name, hence "Mr. Madison's War," rather than the more common name "War of 1812." Firstly, few wars are known simply by dates. Wars rarely remain localized. So if we said the "War of 1757" would it tell you which war and where? There were many conflicts going on in 1812 -- in Sweden, with Napoleon, in Canada, in the U.S. Secondly, and perhaps more to the point, the U.S. attacked Canada at President Madison's instigation. It was his war and therefore should bear his name. Although we do not openly engage in politics, RTL freely admits that certain modern wars -- win or lose -- should be named for the men responsible.]
Polly Sewell's 1814 letters
The Ladies' League of Decency
 Temperance, charity, suffrage -- how women shaped society even before they had the right to vote. Since such organizations existed throughout the 19th century, RTL can appear in any decade from the 1830s through 1900.
 A euphemism -- caution: this presentation is not for young children, but is suitable for high school and for sex-ed classes.
Soldiers, Union and Confederate who wish to visit the RTL encampment should be aware of certain conditions as spelled out on our Come Play With Us page.
Fortress of Freedom House Rules and Menu
Miss Sallie Port's Journal
The Early History of Nursing
Florence Nightingale, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, and the founding of the Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies.
Ellen Lea, a Quaker midwife caught up in the Civil War.
Also, see World War One nursing sisters below.
 Women on the frontier stop by the local gathering place, to trade trinkets for supplies. Ranging from well-educated women who have followed their husbands in search of a new life to tribal women watching their old ways dying out, the Trading Post allows spectators a view into the European invasion of North America.
Soldiers and civilians who wish to visit the RTL encampment should be aware of certain conditions as spelled out on our Come Play With Us page.
Women at Work, 19th century
The life of the working woman was one of low pay and no respect, and yet the women persevered. RTL can portray a variety of the following characters:
-
Teachers
-
Laundresses
-
Dressmakers
-
Early factory workers
-
Servants
-
Entertainers (yet another euphemism)
All Aboard, April 16, 1912
Safely aboard the Carpathia, two Titanic passengers recall the beauty of the great ship and the tragic last hours. Titanic characters are drawn from the list of survivors, and are based on occupants of different lifeboats.
 Red Cross nursing sisters in World War One (ready September 2006) work a small field hospital where we tend to the wounded or a well-stocked field pharmacy where we discuss potential cures for the Influenze Pandemic.
(See Come Play With Us)
Ellen and Barbara worked Team Greykell's pirate rest stop for the MS Challenge Walk on Saturday 30 September, 2006, with Ellen serving as ship's "sawbones." Not only were we one of the most recognizable and memorable rest stops on the 50 mile course, but one of the best served medically with other stops sending over to us for extra moleskin.
Specific Classroom Presentations
Domesticity
As school marms we can transport your classroom to that of the late 19th century, using period textbooks and other props to show a class just how many things have changed in education. We discuss educational history, from Jefferson's vision of a public school system to the use of schools to shape social policy. (ready 2006)
Skilled hands in womanly arts -- spinning, sewing, embroidery. Using a 1901 Singer hand-cranked sewing machine, a drop spindle, and a flyer spinning wheel we demonstrate how clothes were made in the days before everything could be bought off-the-rack.
The Shipping News
Popular books and films, as well as scientific advancements, have brought the great luxury liners on doomed voyages to public attention. RTL presents the stories of the famous ones: Titanic, Lusitania and Andrea Doria -- and the less known Britannic, as well as the forgotten passage of the Gustloff, the greatest maritime disaster in history.
Military History
Although women are not always considered as sources of military history, it is a fact that women have been involved in one way or another in every war throughout history -- either as combatants or as collateral participants. RTL presents military theory based on classic works such as Sun Tzu and Niccolo Machiavelli, as well as our own concept of the three great "generals" -- General Terrain, General Distance and General Weather. The correct deployment of these forces can make or break a campaign.
How The Mighty Fall
Three Roman legions, Boudicca's rebellious tribes, Austria's heavily armored knights, and the best British regiments in Zulu land learned that victory does not always fall to the strongest or the best-equipped. RTL compares these encounters showing how over-sights, lack of crucial intelligence, and over-confidence can lead to disaster.
Women in War
There were women who fought, either covertly or openly. There were women who took on new roles to cope with the social changes brought on by a protracted conflict. From the Confederacy's "steel magnolias" to Rosie the Riveter, women filled men's roles long before the female population was given the respect and the power due to them. With women now fighting alongside the men in modern combat it is appropriate to address the history of women in war.
|
