The basement once housed pioneers, ragged and tired from their journeys on what is known as the National Road.
Today, the underbelly of Cambridge City's Huddleston Farmhouse is a museum that features three interactive exhibits created by Ball State students and faculty as part of an immersive learning project.
"Immersive means ‘dunk in,' like when Baptists baptize people and dunk them in all the way under the water," said Nancy Carlson, an associate professor of telecommunications and the initiator and executive producer of the project. "This project is immersive because it was intense; we worked on it full time."
The projects were unveiled at the farmhouse's reopening Saturday. The 1841 farmhouse is located 40 miles southwest of Muncie near Richmond, Ind., and was previously closed for two years for renovation and museum development.
Its exhibits tell the stories of pioneers who traveled on the nation's first national highway and underscore the importance of "the road that built the west," Carlson said.
Graduate student Jeff Hendrix worked on the museum exhibits. Hendrix said he became involved in the project as soon as he came to Ball State to pursue his master's degree in digital storytelling.
"I love history; I love doing video and graphic design work," Hendrix said, "This was an opportunity to see telecommunications work attached to a physical element, which just adds to the storytelling experience."
Hendrix was the director of photography for the first exhibit — a covered wagon that plays video footage of actors impersonating pioneers and reciting passages from actual historical journals when visitors peer inside. He did graphic design work for the second exhibit — a touch-screen map built with Adobe Flash that teaches visitors about locations on the National Road.
The third exhibit deals with the national road in a more recent age. Hendrix directed this project, which features an antique car from the early 20th century. When visitors press buttons on the car dash and radio, video footage about the road is played on the windshield.
"They're three pretty large projects I've been working on for a full year," he said. "Lately I spent hours and hours and hours every day, getting them ready for the museum."
Hendrix said over the course of the project he had the opportunity to visit the studios of project partner Split Rock Studios, a museum exhibit designing group based in Minnesota. Hendrix and the projects' group of primarily graduate students also worked with a scriptwriter based in Washington D.C. and received help from Ball State's Emerging Media Department.
Brandon Smith is the assistant director of creative projects for the department and was one of the faculty members that helped with the technology aspects of the exhibits.
"We sit in offices and work on these projects, stare at computer screens and have meetings and conference calls," Smith said. "But until you're at the museum and you see people that are so excited about the subject matter — it doesn't come to life until then."
The Huddleston Farmhouse is operated by Indiana Landmarks, an organization that strives to preserve endangered historical sites. The farmhouse, museum and exhibits are open to the public Friday afternoons 1-5 p.m. or by appointment; admission is $5 for adults.
Carlson said she hopes people take the opportunity to learn a little more about local history and appreciate the work students put into their immersive learning projects. She said what her students have done is immerse themselves in the work and create professional, permanent fixtures in the community.
"When our students are married and have 10-year-old kids, these exhibits will still be here."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
