About Us

        The Mero District Militia is a living history group that was initially conceived to benefit Tennessee State Parks historic sites with early militia as primary or secondary theme of their interpretive missions. However, this is group that has potential to eventually operate outside of Tennessee State Parks and into other Tennessee historic sites.

         As I've noted elsewhere, militia impressions have a long way to go. Dressing up, shooting black powder and minimal interaction with the public does little in the way of interpreting our State's history in a meaningful way. Interpretation, which this group will be doing, is the means by which the visitor connects to the story and site on a level that is much more than cerebral. It is primal and sometimes subliminal. It finds commonplace in stories of our past. It instills a sense of place, an almost spiritual connection that defies explanation, at sites precious to us as Tennesseans. The goal of the living historian, then, is to help the visitor understand their own cultural identity in the context of Tennessee history and to ultimately provoke the visitor into action - that is, cultural resource protection and conservation.

         So how do we do this? First, through educating ourselves. As living historians, we must seek to intimately understand both the broad context and nuance of the time period we are working in. Second, we must care. We must care about the integrity of the research. We must care about the accuracy of the portrayal. We must care about where the program carries the visitor. We must have passion. Finally, we must be professional in every aspect of what do from the quality of our historic attire to our attitudes.

         Most of what's been stated so far can be summed in Freeman Tilden's Six Principles of Interpretation. If you're not familiar with him, I highly suggest reading his extremely influential work Interpreting Our Heritage (1957). Here are the principles:


1. Any interpretation that does not somehow relate what is being displayed or described to something within the personality or experience of the visitor will be sterile.

2. Information, as such, is not interpretation. Interpretation is revelation based upon information. But they are entirely different things. However, all interpretation includes information.

3. Interpretation is an art, which combines many arts, whether the materials presented are scientific, historical, or architectural. Any art is in some degree teachable.

4. The chief aim of interpretation is not instruction but provocation.

5. Interpretation should aim to present a whole rather than a part and must address itself to the whole man rather than any phase.

6. Interpretation addressed to children (say, up to the age of twelve) should not be a dilution of the presentation to adults but should follow a fundamentally different approach. To be at its best it will require a separate program.

With time, effort, and patience, we can get there!