Making History Come Alive

By Jim Day

If you have never been to a living history site like Williamsburg, Shakertown or any number of other historical sites around the country, you don’t know what you’re missing. A real treat is to attend one of the Civil War reenactments like the one held at Ft. Davidson in Pilot Knob Missouri . It’s an awesome experience with civil war reenactors filling the air with smoke from gun fire, cavalry charges, cannon volleys and Confederate soldiers charging the fort.

As readers of the MetroVoice know, we’re always looking for unique ministries to report on. Well, we recently found one called “Presenting History” founded by Mark Breckenridge who combines live reenactments with history to make teaching history fun and exciting.

Mark is a 10 year veteran and former Army Captain trained as a tank commander in the Army Reserve. To liven up his teaching of important military topics to soldiers and trainees he started using impersonations of famous people which was a big hit with his students. As a police officer for 15 years, one of his duties was a DARE instructor which brought him great joy as he interacted with the children sharing the messages of “Make Good Choices” and “Say NO to Drugs.” Mark has been a Rockwood School District presenter for six years in the Partners in Education Program presenting all eras of history to elementary and middle-school aged children. He has also made presentations in the Parkway and Lindbergh school districts and has performed in numerous churches and parochial schools.

When we first found out about Mark we decided to interview him and let him tell our readers about his unique and entertaining ministry. Here’s that interview.

Mark, tell me about your company. What is Presenting History?

“Presenting History is my way of bringing history to life in a way that is fun as well as informative. In my presentations, I dress how people of a past era would dress. I show common everyday items they would have used, and compare and contrast their items to our everyday items - showing the effort they went to, say for light, making candles or chopping wood and building a fire compared to our flipping a switch to get light. We also look at lost arts such as letter writing and musical instrument playing compared to our present-day TV-watching.”

How did you get into this business?

“My dad was a history nut. He had a large library of military history books. As kids, dad took us to Civil War battle fields. We toured Williamsburg and visited reenactors. I had a history minor in college and also assisted in teaching history topics in the army. I’ve been a reenactor myself for many years in many eras. I just love history as well as entertaining people especially children and especially if it also contributes to them in a meaningful way. So this is a perfect fit for me.”

What eras do you do presentations on?

“I teach Ancient Rome, The Golden Age of Piracy, American War for Independence, The Civil War, Lewis and Clark, Westward Expansion and World Wars l and ll. I also do presentations on black history.”

Do you have a particular historical period you specialize in?

“Rome is my favorite period because nobody does this era. My reenactment unit, Legion II Augustus, A.D. 43, are great folks from Arkansas that have done great education work on that time in history. This was the era of Emperor Claudius and the successful attack of Britain. Nero was the stepson who killed thousands of Christians and blamed Christians for Neros’ burning of Rome. Christianity had its great persecution that Christ warned about at this time.”

Who do you do presentations for?

“I mostly do school age presentations but also homeschool groups, youth groups, Scout groups, churches and special community events. I alter the presentation according to the audience, their needs and event.”

What could I expect if I hired you for my youth group?

“When I do Roman presentations, I’ll sometimes have the kids make cardboard shields and do shield drills. I also might show artifacts of the era. Kids come away with history and knowledge and they get it because I make it fun as well as informative. As a former DARE officer, I also give them clear guidance on avoidance of drugs and alcohol and the importance of making good choices.”

You strike me as an entertainer, Mark. Do you also do parties?

“Yes, I am an entertainer. What I love about this business is getting into the persona of different people from different periods of history, making it real to my audience, and yes, I do parties. I recently added a pirate persona to my repertoire, which would be fun for parties, children’s or adult. I also do impressions of famous people and lots of different accents, dialects, voices and sound effects.”

Mark, how do our readers find out more or hire you for an event?

“Well folks can visit my web site address which is www.presentinghistory.com, call me, Mark Breckenridge, at (314) 313-3969 or send me an e-mail at mark.breckenridge@sbcglobal.net.”

Well Mark, thank you for your time, it’s been a real pleasure getting to know you and learning about your ministry.

For more information regarding Presenting History, Mark Breckenridge and possibly scheduling him for a presentation in your school, church or special event, visit his website at www.presentinghistory.com, call him at (314) 313-3969 or e-mail him at mark.breckenridge@sbcglobal.net.