Creating Historical Persona
Who are you?
Stage 1: Guest
The first step is establishing a persona, which acts as your historical identity at events! When you guest at events with your chaperones, pay close attention to their Persona and start brainstorming what sort of an impression you would like to create.
Stage 2: Apprentice
this is when you will begin to develop a backstory. You will be supported in this effort by your mentors.
Your backstory allows you to answer questions about who you are, where you are from and various aspects of your character such as beliefs and opinions.
The key to developing your persona is to research and understand the time period. HCA focuses on the use of primary sources in all of its research. Consider reading first person accounts such as diaries, newspapers, journals, and family genealogy.
Stage 3: Journeyman
You will work on developing your first person presentation skills.
The first person presentation style is when reenactors maintain a historical identity in language, behavior, tone of voice, and accent throughout the event. This style of presentation is used at historic sites such as Pilgrim Village in Plymouth, Mass., and in Colonial Williamsburg.