Turns out that learning history in a kitchen is a great way to get students immersed in a particular period of time. Adults and children alike can learn a lot from Riversdale Kitchen Guild & interpreter Marvin-Alonzo Greer, and Maya Davis – Director of Riversdale House Museum. They regularly give demonstrations preparing foods popular among enslaved communities in Maryland and open the house to visitors.
Two Families – One Home
The Calvert family lived at Riversdale. The Plummer family was their enslaved property. Research is uncovering new information about both families. The staff at Riversdale are using immersive techniques to teach visitors about the history within Riversdale. Smells of food being cooked in wood burning stoves, even the types food being cooked, help make history real to visitors.
Adam Francis Plummer and his descendants left a diary behind that has been a tremendous resource for historians. History isn’t just reading plaques at Riversdale, it’s experiencing the life of people within the house 200 years ago.
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Adam Francis Plummer was born into slavery in 1819 on the Goodwood Plantation of George Calvert, a descendant of the founding governors of the Colony of Maryland, in Upper Marlboro, Prince George’s County, Maryland.He was moved at the age of 10 to the Riversdale Plantation, also owned by George Calvert, in what is now Riverdale, Prince George’s County, Maryland.
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4811 Riverdale Road
Riverdale Park, MD 20737
Riverdale Park, MD 20737
