 Hello, and thank you for tuning in to town meeting TV today My name is Bobby Lucia, and I'm coming to you from the Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington to learn about traveling for history Which is a YouTube channel that started during the pandemic that explores some of Vermont's historic sites and shares stories about Vermonters Vermonters past so To learn a little bit more about that project. I'm joined by the creator of traveling for history Patricia Arrojo. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for asking. Yeah, of course This is fantastic. So excited to chat with you about the work that you've been doing. So Maybe let's just start with what got you into history before the the channel started I know it's only been a few years, but you've been I'm sure interested in history for a long time What what sparked your interest in history? my mother was always talking about Egypt when I was growing up and Which actually sparked my interest in ancient history. I have a degree in ancient history and from UVM so So and because Ancient history isn't necessarily an entire topic at UVM. I was I was I also learned a lot from other types of history. So So, uh, so I found history fascinating, you know, thinking about families My family for instance some most of my mother's Brothers served during world war two so War history is fascinating to me and I just find it's kind of unfortunate the way history is taught In school as if people are going to the gallows and missing the humor But in spite of that I still love history and I've had some awesome teachers along the way so So why not Did you grow up in Vermont? I've lived here 46 years So I've lived most of my life here, but no I've lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts in here And so your channel is called traveling for history. Yes It's there's a lot of Vermont content. I don't have you ever been outside of Vermont for one of your videos Um, well, I visited Bodie, California, and I do have some Bodie videos on my channel They're a series of photographs really because I didn't have a channel back then and I have also Again photographs as a video of Athens, Greece because it again wasn't filming back then so So yes, I have other things but it's primarily Vermont. Yeah So you started the channel. What was it three years ago? Can you tell us about why you started traveling for history and what it kind of started out as? I've been thinking about it for a while because I think there are plenty of stories people should know And why not share them? So I finally decided to start it in 2021. So February 2021 I found on youtube that this name did not exist Channel name did not exist So I decided to go with that one and the traveling is there's a lot of driving involved Wow, that is a traveling portion So it was so I filmed a bunch of videos here in Lakeview I visited Lakeview for a lot of years. Family is buried here friends are buried here. So I determined that they were all garbage and deleted them all so I know right so I conducted some research and my very first video was the gazebo over there. So Yeah, it's a beautiful place You know add around x style I think would so it's beautiful gazebo so So why not share these stories? So So yeah, and I'm most familiar with Vermont since I live here Yeah, and especially this area because I lived in Burlington for decades And so your videos it seems like you're posting a video almost every day every day you every day. Yeah Today I have as of today is the filming of this video 911 videos on my channel. I know that is as much work as that sounds like Yeah, was it a coped? Did it was it born out of the pandemic your project? No, but I wish I was filming I had been filming and during that time period with fewer people out and about I typically on cemeteries cemeteries are busier than most people probably think Cars coming in and out even in these remote they're remote to me anyway But there's no such thing as the middle of nowhere really someone knows where I am When I film it and I'll say I don't know where I am because when I'm driving I don't know where I am unless I'm at my site. So I've had a lot of people say you were in yada yada So how yay, thank you for that But It's nice to film on days when people aren't necessarily nearby So I don't have to keep putting my camera down or pausing it Because people are walking by Yeah and Your videos a lot of them have a few dozen views, but then a couple of them have A ton of views one of them has over 12,000 views It's a shot just shy 12,500. Okay. Yeah, and so I mean maybe do you want to talk a little bit about that video and why you think that video You know came got some traction and and Whether that impacts your approach to other videos. Are you hoping to Connect with as many people as you can or are you just making the videos that you want to make? both The video that we're talking about is was he buried alive and actually quite frankly was he buried alive It's really the one way I like to say that So he was a Dr. Timothy Clark is buried in evergreen cemetery in new haven, vermont and He was terrified of being buried alive. He was a doctor in the 18 What did you die 1850s? so his his Burial plot is pretty fascinating there's a there's a mound and On top of the mound is a what's called a capstone. So it's this big by granite with a with a pyramid sort of piece on top and underneath that is a set of stairs that leads down to his grave He had a a bell attached around his finger. So he could ring. I'm alive But he was dead. Oh and the most striking piece the most striking piece of his is a is a window That you could look down to his face Wow, I know I'm yeah, it's But he was actually dead. They apparently kept him for a week outside of the tomb. So he was Dead and then they buried him. But the so the window I've had a lot of people say oh, I can see his face The uh What I read is that the the window has um Has had condensation on it the seal has given So see you ready. The one cannot actually see that but people see what they see Who am I to say? So um, yeah Um pretty uh pretty wild. You know that video who's pretty taken off That was my october 30th video in in 2021. So for halloween week. I like to have spookier stuff Because I love halloween. It's my favorite holiday. So um So yeah those and and the first time in 2021. I had a zillion cemetery videos because of garrs. What is it? It's october A friend of mine did say, you know, you have a lot of cemetery videos. Yes. Yes, I know What do you like so much about cemeteries? Well, they're quiet places But again, there are more there are more people around than you might think but um So many fascinating people are buried in these places You know here at lake view. There are several metal honor recipients. You'd be surprised. They're all of the american civil war era You know, some of these men should have video should have movies made of them But the thing is if someone wrote a script like that, they'd be laughed out of the producer's office, but this is real stuff So, you know, it's it's astonishing. I couldn't find one grave. So I just aimed my camera in the direction of it. Um, but You know general. Oh Howard is buried here and um, think Howard University because he was the one who founded it I know, right? So definitely people Living people should know about these dead people 100% Yeah Have you you mentioned making sort of spookier content on halloween? Do you as you spend a lot of time in cemeteries? Do you ever come in contact with Spirits of the people that you're talking about or or um, how do you think about that as you're walking through a cemetery? Well, I've had uh I Filmed a video of of an experience. I had had now I didn't film the experience I wish I had presence of mind for that, but no So here at lake view and I think lake view is considered haunted to some degree But I was parked on a winter's day. There was snow on the ground and um Sitting in the car, you know, the wind was blowing coming off the lake and all that stuff the um, and I noticed that the snow had Was holding in the air that does not I mean, I've lived here a long time. I've never seen that before and it's it appeared that that um That there were two people walking side by side with I mean the snow was like on them, you know on the on the shape I've never seen that it would move for a little bit and then all of a sudden the snow was gone I I actually have chills on that one, but uh I didn't know what to tell you That was my experience And then at evergreen cemetery in New Haven where dr. Clark is buried Um, the whole vibe there is just creepy Um Well, it's it's so odd, you know, and um most cemeteries there are driving paths even if they're grass, you know and they do have essentially U shaped single lane Thing but there's usually places to pull off for a car. No the headstones are right up against the paths the path and There is no pulling off So you are right behind someone which happened to me when I was filming there a car pulled up behind me And they were doing the same thing they come to see this grave of dr. Clark. So um So that was uh interesting um Are there any So we're in lake view you mentioned a couple of folks that are buried here Um, I know you've done a lot of you've mentioned that you started doing videos and then you uh, you know Started over and have done a lot more videos in lake view. Um, what are who are a couple other folks that are buried here that you Um, that you like to share the story of Well, I did um A video on uh seadora pack uh, so Her father's uh, seador pack was um one of those men who received a medal of honor uh So the thing was interesting about seadora Is How she sort of attached herself to him for I don't know Fame of some sort She would accompany him to um all the military engagements where he would share his story And after he died she actually changed her first name to theadora And uh would continue to talk about him in these things But she was a poetess and an author on her own in her own right. You can read some of her stuff online um, it's very much in the It written in that language of the early 20th century. So um But yeah, it was uh, I think she's very interesting. She has no headstone No headstone at all. No marker at all her her parents And her her brother who died when he was very young All pretty deceased her and it's interesting an article came out recently About why there would be no death date numbers on a headstone And that would likely be because everyone else died and there was no one left to think about putting a death date an end date And it stands to reason since her family's was all all pretty deceased her that there was no one left to give her a headstone So sad really for a woman who seemed to crave his attention and and all that and and for those of you who are local Theodore peck actually was the one who started peck insurance too. So he had a um An illustrious career after the after the civil war Patricia what I find so amazing about your channel and your videos you're able to find these stories But then you're also a really fantastic storyteller. Thank you. Do you see yourself as a storyteller and you know, how do you Think about putting your voice into the stories that you tell and what what do you think your perspective provides to the Stories that you're that you're sharing I care about the stories. I'm sharing that that's a I think that's a big deal to care about these these folks particularly the people but I also film buildings and I find them very interesting as well when I think about the the things that happened It's like taverns for instance. Um, they're not just Drinking holes, you know, they were they serve food. They had rooms that people could stay in This I mean thinking about the stories that the people told there They're also a place where people would gather to get the news. It's not like they had Google it's not like they even maybe had newspapers. So, um You know thinking about all the history of those places. It's pretty fascinating to me And when I think about the people buried Um Everyone has a story to tell you know, I've been working on a series of these Americans of the war soldiers right now in one cemetery down in east middlebury, but I found some information about about them including some obituaries and It's and even sometimes as a photograph a photograph of people who've been dead for you know 100 or more years So putting a face to a name it just blows me away And you know some of those obituaries there was one there was one man who had survived the civil war and then He died years later. He was cutting cordwood With a friend. Thankfully he was with someone. He was standing on trees that were That had fallen over these whole trees and they were sort of I guess like this um resting on one another so definitely Probably dangerous. Definitely dangerous at stand-up because when he was sawing something He lost his balance and fell backwards He hit his neck in such a way that he was completely paralyzed And nine hours later he was dead By doing something that's was just sort of every day in commonplace Yeah, so I think people should know these stories. Yeah, absolutely I have to ask where you mentioned obituaries. Where else do you look for these stories? Well, that was actually from a website that unfortunately has been down for weeks now the uh the um They're having an issue with their database So that whoever manages that has been trying to get it back up and they have some things back up But the soldiers themselves all the stuff I would use Um, totally not available. So I only have the uh the men from that cemetery But I still have about 20 to find that one place place has oodles of of these civil war men buried there but uh, so I find uh You know when I've talked about buildings, I'm often often using wikipedia. I know I'm sorry But it's it's not as garbage of sight as it once was and I do check the citations to make sure they actually go someplace Um, and when they don't or it is questionable. I don't I don't use the material. Why why would I um, nobody wants Garbage to watch. Well, actually some garbage is good, but you know but But you know this past Saturday as of the date of this video. I was in south hero Vermont and well in grand isle so grand isle county I was up in and for the Of the eight videos I filmed that day six were interior Places I got to be inside on a rainy. Yeah rainy day, too But inside filming in these um in these places, which I hardly ever get to film inside I mean just hardly ever I can think of Two two places where I filmed inside and one was really cool. It was the Whiting community church. I'd filmed the church. It's on the state register of the starting places and um So I talked about the history of the place and all that And um, I got On facebook a a uh the pastor reached out. I said if you want history, I'll give you history So I said does that mean we get to go inside? Yes Yes, we did. It was a beautiful church The information I had said it was it was it was um Just one story But that wasn't true. There was a second story where the church actually was So that was mind-blowing too. So um, I got to see all sorts of stuff I got to film all sorts of stuff. He answered all sorts of questions He was a lot of fun and um, I love when there's chemistry With the person, you know, I got to film. Oh, I guess that's the third place. I got to film inside the brick school museum, which is a jarge it the building had been a district school and The president of the historical society was was there that day. We had arranged this And she gave me an impromptu tour of this historical society museum. Oh, it was so much fun. She was excited. I was excited History nerd, perhaps I I may be a history nerd but um, So so it was really fun the So I was able to film the historical society museum and actually a couple people came over From across the street for another place and and uh, they were enthusiastic talking about all these great things Um, it was a lot of fun. That video has not gone live yet, but two of the places I filmed up there have so Yeah, it's I love connecting with those folks can't recommend historical society museums enough They're often inexpensive or free Because I love free Well, I'm gonna fix income. It's not fixed all that high. So free is a beautiful thing So and and when it was filming in grandile, you know, I had filmed the exterior of the building It's on the national register the hide log cabin Which the same family owned from 1783 into the mid 1940s So some member of the family it just it's stunning to me this this so walking in that building Because it's open seasonally So walking into that building. I felt like I was walking on the Floorboards of history. Yeah, it's it's um, that was It was amazing. Yeah, it's incredible to hear that you're able to connect with People and share your love for history because that sounds really special. I also I know you have over 500 subscribers on your channel and folks that are regularly Interacting with um, what you're posting all the time. How do you do you ever? Do you meet the folks that are following your channel? Do you know who they are? You know, what kind of comments do you typically get on your on your videos? I have 528 right now and The only time I know who has subscribed to my channel is if they have a public channel And it's surprising how many people have public channels and I don't think they realize that Because they have no videos up. I have a friend for instance who subscribed to my channel And she has a public channel which I told her because she has no videos She I can't mention she would ever end videos. So And she didn't know did not know so That's the only time I know who has subscribed unless of course they also comment and But is it often friends and family or do you you typically don't know the folks that are following here? No, almost zero idea I will know on facebook And those not necessarily friends A lot of friends have subscribed to my channel and whatnot, but I've never asked my friends to do that I figured they would join if they if they wanted to Yeah, and thankfully a lot of my friends have yay. Thank you friends And what kind of comments and feedback do you get about your videos? Well, it's kind of interesting to be a mixed bag on facebook. I belong to a variety of groups. So When I'm talking about a building that's about to be demolished for instance the The one in bellows falls was my first And that was slated to be demolished in october when I filmed it, but it actually was demolished in in december of that Yeah, they love me So when I was there filming it, you know, I was talking about Perhaps it could be saved And the comments of facebook overall in this one group was uh, are you going to do that? I do you have the money to do that? No, of course. I don't have the money to do that grants, you know Groups, you know, this was the first method this church in bellows falls. It was the oldest It wasn't used as a church anymore It was the the locals knew it as the y the ymca because it was the y for 45 years But but it was the first method this church in quite frankly was the oldest church It would have been celebrating its 200th anniversary or 250th anniversary and and they tore it down one one member of the What's the village so Sort of like a select man And he wanted to torn down and that was it the building was gone. Um, so they have a bigger parking lot Yeah, I know bigger farmers market Farmers markets are great, but it's just such a shame that they lost the building But it was in horrible shape, you know, the the roof line was like that You know smiley face on a roof line is a bad idea Yeah I know we're about to wrap up in terms of time here One question, you know, I I it's amazing the stories that you're able to pull out from From so long ago, what makes a good story for you? What are you looking for when you're looking for thing? You know what? Yeah, what what makes a good story for you? Well, I like the human angle so So for instance, I got a lot of comments positive comments on facebook about So when I film the exterior of the Hyde log cabin, for instance, I was talking about the fireplace and I qualified that telling them. Well, you know, let's be clear. This is not a Victorian fireplace. It's you know Built in 1783. So this is a working fireplace They would have had likely a spit for the animal that they would have Killed, you know a swing arm for the pots so you could determine how how much heat you wanted or not It likely had a spider. I hate that name for this thing But it's a frying pan that has a tripod of legs three legs on the bottom And so you put embers underneath for a lighter, you know, the the light feature The low heat version Very utilitarian Fascinating stuff things that people used the things the fact that women certainly women would be doing the cooking And because of sparks if you're wearing a linen dress because they would grow linen They grow flax, excuse me They don't grow flax and then they would create linen out of it But if you wear linen near a fire, there will be embers and it will it can catch fire So they would wear woolen garments. So woolen skirts When cooking because it's a natural fire retardant wool It's a spark on wool and it will have a bit of a light and then it goes out So much safer but imagine using that on a typical Vermont summer day, you know hot human horrible the three h's of summer and I mean, whoa so So thinking about the people who've been working on that kind of thing and it turns out I was right the It didn't have a spit. It's actually kind of a narrow opening compared to others I've seen And head no and often though to those those Those kinds of fireplaces would have had a a place to bake bread on the side on one of the side walls so Very utilitarian and dangerous You know, we're so fortunate now we just turn a turn a knob and poof we have heat on the stove painting sounds like you're you're Good at really painting the picture of the human experience from thank you time With a couple minutes left here. Is there anything that you wanted to share about traveling for history that you haven't yet mentioned? You know if anyone wants to talk about anything, you know reach out I have an email address traveling for history at gmail.com. I'm not hip enough for a number So the word for it's written out and it's one element traveling but Um, you know, it's fun. I was filming in a town not going to tell you where because I'm working on this um and And saw something that that sparked a huge interest I wish I could tell you more about this, but really I'm keeping under wraps but because of a One thing I saw I've been researching the three men involved. I I have finally come to the end of what I could find about them so um And talking to town clerks and a bunch of different towns. It's amazing. They know everyone and everything I swear Um, and are very helpful So two more pieces and I can I can share this video about people and um sad Sad terrible story. So, um We'll have to stay tuned for that. You'll have to stay tuned for that. Yes. Absolutely. But uh, yeah Thank you so much for having me today. Yeah, Patricia Rojo. Thank you so much for joining us and talking about traveling for history And um your the channel is just called traveling for history on youtube, right? Yes, it's traveling for history on all my social media except for twitter x or they call themselves now It's traveling for high one there. But um, but everywhere else is traveling for history. So i'm on tiktok and Facebook and instagram. So you can find me all over the place. You can follow me wherever you like. It's free to follow um So it's all good. Awesome. Thank you so much patricia Thank you all for tuning in to town meeting pv today My name is bobby lucia and you can find this program and others on our website cctv.org or on our town meeting tv youtube channel Thanks so much. Have a good day