Cordell Hull Park Teaches Harvest Time

Time to harvest the crops at the Cordell Hull Birthplace State Park Saturday.

Park Manager Monique Johnson said the event will show kids how people in the 1870s prepared their harvest heading into the winter months. Johnson said the event is a good way for kids to learn and to better understand that time period.

“We do have a lot of stuff that people have probably never seen demonstrated before,” Johnson said. “So it’s always good to be able to visually see something instead of reading it in a book and so we want people to enjoy it and have a great time while also learning.”

Johnson said the event will feature a demonstration of canning food and smoking meat. Johnson said the event helps pass down the culture and tradition of the Upper Cumberland.

Johnson said people would smoke meat to preserve it as refrigeration was not available back then.

“At the smokehouse, he will be out teaching and talking about salting their meat and how long that took,” Johnson said. “That preparation time that you need to salt that meat and really the short time period to smoke it and what the purpose and the reasonings for that. I think that’s always something good to learn and learn about because before this I didn’t know that so I find it quite fascinating to learn about this stuff.”

Johnson said volunteers and staffers will showcase typical attire from the period as well. Johnson said the event will also cover other aspects of life.

“You will see women working over a hot fire in a dress and how dangerous that could have been,” Johnson said. “So you get to kind of see those things and gives you more perspective of what things look like.”

Johnson said the park still teaches classes such as basket weaving to keep that culture alive.

Johnson said food and craft vendors will also be at the event. The event runs from 10am-4:30pm Saturday.