Laura Ingalls Wilder What a Doll! Description

I’m doing a more in-depth descriptions of one of my programs each month. Check them all out. Which one would you like to see most?

Laura Ingalls Wilder What a Doll! (PowerPoint Presentation)

Laura Ingalls Wilder What a Doll!

Although dolls played a fairly small role in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and

writings, they have taken on a major role in her fandom. The impulse to create dolls of all sorts from the books began well within Laura’s lifetime. Since then many dolls have been made specifically for fans. A Charlotte doll (made to different designs at different times by all the homesites) is often the first non-book piece of a Laura fan’s collection. Dolls of all sorts, both commercially mass produced and art dolls, have been made of various members of the Ingalls and Wilder families. By their diversity they show the variety of people who are fans and the relative wealth assumed possessed by the people who collect them.

Program Specifics

The program covers both Wilder’s life and both the art dolls and commercially produced dolls it inspired. Among the dolls pictured are a collection of Charlotte Replicas from 1966 to 2022, the handmade Walnut Grove dolls made by one woman from 1975 to 2007, the Ashton Drake collectible dolls, the famous character dolls Laura describes in the only known recording of her voice, and even a set of life size dolls that once graced the parlor of the Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa. I appear as Laura Ingalls Wilder herself in later life, complete with matching doll.This program was originally created for a group wanting to talk more about dolls than Laura Ingalls Wilder, but I quickly discovered that a working knowledge of Laura’s life helps so I share highlights of Laura’s life before we really get started.

Although I dress up in Laura’s red velvet dress to match the adult Laura doll, I have to present this one as myself. I take you on a photographic tour of dolls. I start with dolls that Laura specifically mentions in her books, including Charlotte aka Roxie. Then we move on to the professionally made dolls from dolls meant to play with to Ashton Drake collectibles and beyond. Laura has also inspired art dolls from the earliest days of her series. We’ll show a collection of art dolls including the Ingalls family collection of dolls Laura is describing in the only known recording of her voice.

Alternatives for Presentation

This program has to use PowerPoint to show photos of all the dolls. It’s so photo heavy I really can’t present it any other way. I have to present this one as myself to share all I know about the dolls. Normally it’s presented in costume as Laura in the red, velvet dress outfit Laura’s later in life doll wears, but that is optional.

Find the summary handout here:
https://www.academia.edu/21971121/Laura_Ingalls_Wilder_What_a_Doll

Sound interesting?

If this sounds interesting to you, ask a local museum or library to have me come and present the Laura Ingalls Wilder: What a Doll! program.

Sarah S. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many times at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. She is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic, and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. How can you help? Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast,    look at her photos, and find her on    Facebook ,    Twitter ,   LinkedIn ,   SlideShare,   and Academia.edu . Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and former director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

What’s My Story?

I’m posting a more in-depth description of one of my programs each month.

Check them all out. Which one would you like to see most?

Storytelling

This was one of my first attempts to put together a program that was outside friendly as I started to get requests for those types of programs. In many ways it’s my most flexible program because the length can be easily adjusted. You can run it for 20 minutes, for an hour and a half, or just about any length in between. It also works really well for situations where you expect people to flow in, stay awhile, and then flow out again, since they are individual stories you can come in for one or two and then leave without feeling that you are missing something. It also works well for groups without a lot of knowledge of Laura Ingalls Wilder ahead of time and for younger groups. It can be done for groups of all adults, but that doesn’t work quite as well because as part of the program audience volunteers have to select an object off the table at the start of every story and adults have a much harder time doing this than kids.

Program Specifics

I tell interactive stories from Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life and from historic tales. Also included are poems and riddles. While I appear in 19th century historic clothing for this program, it’s not a first person program meaning I don’t pretend I’m Laura.

Storytelling Objects

A long table is placed at the front of the space. On this table will be placed an assembly of objects (stuffed animals, a plastic fly, a slate, a china doll, etc.). Each object represents a story, a poem, or a riddle. Audience members volunteer to come up and pick an object and then I tell that story, poem, or riddle. It’s completely up to the audience what comes next. Sometimes an object will have more than one story attached so it can change program to program. Some objects require their volunteer to stay up front and help with the story.

Alternatives for Presentation

There are two major variations of this program available. The usual version has a general mix of subjects. The alternative version focuses on animal stories. That one includes me bringing Pa’s Big Green Animal Book aka The Polar and Tropical Worlds: A Popular and Scientific Description. Read more.

Requirements

Hosts will have to provide a big table or 2 regular size tables at the front of the space and a small table off to the side or the back of the space. I need to be able to move around the table and the space should be set up so it’s possible for audience members to get up to the front and back to their seats as easily as possible.

Note that the one disadvantage of this program is that unlike in normal storytelling I can’t control the “set” which means that similar stories might be told right after each other and that it doesn’t build to one big finale story at the end. It ebbs and flows with the audience choices.

Sound interesting?

If this sounds interesting to you, ask a local museum or library to have me come and present What’s My Story?

Sarah S. Uthoff is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales striving to bring the History, Mystery, Magic and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation. Uthoff is a nationally known Laura Ingalls Wilder authority and has presented at five of the Wilder homesites, many conferences and numerous libraries, museums, and events around the Midwest. Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, and find her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Academia.edu. Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.

Genealogy Programs

My great-grandparents and me

I’m going to start doing a more in-depth description of one of my programs each month. Check them all out. Which one would you like to see most?

Genealogy Basics (PowerPoint Presentation)

There are lots of genealogy presentations, workshops, and general how-to information out there. What makes my presentation different is that it covers genealogy basics from a librarian’s viewpoint. Librarians help people with research all the time and so I bring that viewpoint to the subject. I offer suggestions about how to get started. We have a short hands on activity to form your first research questions to work on and then dive into ideas about how to stay organized with your research. Sometimes when you drop into a new hobby or project you get lost in all the things you don’t know. If you don’t know the terms, the processes, the organizations and the businesses, it’s easy to get lost. I’ll go over the basics of those.  Then I’ll go over some dos and do nots based on things other people wish they had done differently. I’ll talk about not only how you begin gathering information, documents, artifacts, photos and other family treasures, but what you do with it once you collect it. I’ll cover some basic suggestions on how to store things, how long some things last, and warning signs to look out for.

I’ve done this program many times and it always gets a very positive response even from people who have been involved with genealogy for a long time because they get a fresh prospective. In one sitting it takes an hour and a half, so I’ve decided it may work well for people to offer it in two 1 hour sessions with some additional information. I haven’t done it that way yet, but I think it might work better.

Alternative Version – Genealogy for the Non-Genealogist Librarian

I’ve done a second program that explains genealogy and genealogists to librarians. It’s proved to be a popular program with sessions at a national and statewide conference and a regional workshop in the last couple of years. I’d be glad to do that version as well.

Find the Handouts here:

Pathfinder BeginGenWeb2013

I’ve used the same information to create a LibGuide.

Beginning Genealogy LibGuide

NOTE: This program is not covered by Humanities Iowa so normal rates apply.

Sarah S. Uthoff is the main force behind Trundlebed Tales fighting to bring the History, Mystery, Magic and Imagination of Laura Ingalls Wilder and other greats of children’s literature and history to life for a new generation.Attend one of her programs, schedule one yourself, watch her videos, listen to her podcast, and find her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+,LinkedIn, and Academia.edu. She is currently President of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. Professionally she is a reference librarian at Kirkwood Community College and director of the Oxford (Iowa) Public Library.