Cheltenham Township’s Laila Jerkins, 16, is one of eight local teens who participated in the Museum of the American Revolution’s Living History Youth Summer Institute.

The Institute, which ran from July 5 to August 11, is a six-week intensive course for young adults interested in interpreting the lives of people of African ancestry in the Revolutionary era. It is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal, the Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation, Bergman Foundation, and National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

The program is now in its second year and included weekly offsite research trips to sites like the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, NJ, the Dennis Farm in Susquehanna, the Betsy Ross House, Germantown, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

According to PhillyFamily.com, the Institute culminated with a public event.

From their article:

This event is a culminating public event for the students participating in the Museum’s Living History Youth Summer Institute, which is part of our African American Interpretive Program. This six-week summer institute is an intensive course for young adults interested in interpreting the lives of people of African ancestry in the Revolutionary era and involves guest speakers, research projects, and field study. 

“We are fortunate to have an outstanding group of young people who are fully engaged and significantly contributing to all facets of this year’s Living History Youth Summer Institute,” Michael Idriss, the Museum’s African American Interpretive Fellow, told The Reporter. “It has been a blast to watch them gain knowledge about historical costumed interpretation, career paths in the museum field, and the importance of being a good storyteller, especially in communicating the work of both free and enslaved people of African descent. I’m impressed by their quick progress and proud to be working with them.”

For more on the Institute, you can click here.

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Photo courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution