想象一下1898年内布拉斯加州（Nebraska）乡村地区的景象——一辆马车走在小镇主街（Main Street）上，一位算数老师在只有一间教室的学校里给学生们上课，还有从店铺里飘出来的刚做好的巧克力的香味。

在“活生生的”历史博物馆中，参观者不用依靠想象，而是能亲历历史。

以下介绍美国各地的三座生活历史博物馆，侧重于不同的美国历史时期。

斯图尔草原拓荒者博物馆（Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer）

斯图尔博物馆（Stuhr Museu）坐落在内布拉斯加州中部草原高高的草丛中，保存了在中西部定居的早期拓荒者的历史。

博物馆执行馆长乔·布莱克（Joe Black）说：“我们讲述美国这个地区的故事——哪些事能行、哪些不行，不同文化如何发生冲突……这个地区的成长如何成为整个美国的成长的一部分。”

铁路小镇（Railroad Town）由历史学家们管理，他们看管镇上的商铺和住家。参观者能在锡匠铺打制工具，在店铺里买糖果，或在铁匠铺观看烧红的炭火。

布莱克说：“‘活生生的历史’深受欢迎。参观者能够自己看到、闻到、听到、摸到或亲身参与一项历史活动。”

博物馆生动鲜活的圣诞节（Christmas）、万圣节前夜（Allhallows Eve）及独立日（Fourth of July）庆祝活动吸引着来自全州及全美各地的游客。在暑假期间，历史学家们教授钓鱼、骑马、烘培、绘画等各种课程。

布莱克说：“我认为我们的优势在于能让你忘记你是在一个博物馆里，哪怕只有短短一秒，因为你让自己完全沉浸在活生生的铁路小镇中。我们能够创造这种时刻。”

普利茅斯种植园（Plimoth Plantation）

普利茅斯种植园（Plimoth Plantation）于1947年建立在马萨诸塞州（Massachusetts）历史名城普利茅斯，讲述了定居在该地区的17世纪英国殖民者以及该地区原住民万帕诺亚格人（Wampanoag）的历史。

每年有30多万名游客前来参观，漫步在1624年英国村庄的街头，在水力谷物磨坊购买玉米粉，并同现今的万帕诺亚格人交谈。

博物馆工作人员凯特·席安（Kate Sheehan）说：“活生生的历史具有让参观者发生转变的力量，能对你今后看世界的方式产生真正深远的影响。”

席安介绍说，某些展品在其他任何地方都看不到，例如从英国开到普利茅斯的五月花二号船（Mayflower II）的复制品。五月花二号船是英国人民赠送的礼物，于1957年由该博物馆收藏。

席安说：“她是一个漂浮的课堂。五月花二号船讲述了1620年那次航行的历史……而且她本身就是一艘有历史价值的船。”五月花二号船现在正在修缮之中，将于2020年回到这里纪念清教徒停靠在普利茅斯400周年。

圣迭戈海事博物馆（Maritime Museum of San Diego）

在圣迭戈海事博物馆（Maritime Museum of San Diego），参观者能够登上历史跨度长达500年的船只以及船只的复制品。

参观者通过参加教育性活动能够登上这些船只，从那些装扮成船员的讲解员那里学到知识，甚至能乘坐一艘1542年西班牙大帆船的复制品或全世界仍能航行的历史最悠久的“印度之星”（Star of India）出海航行。

孩子们通过在船上帮忙从事各项工作学会团队合作的技能，大人们则在了解圣迭戈海军的历史的同时享受乘船出游。

博物馆工作人员特丽莎·斯姆伦（Theresa Smullen）说：“这不仅仅是一座供人参观的博物馆。它还能让你离开陆地航行入海，让你切实扩展对西海岸（West Coast）的了解，并加深对我们丰富的海事传统以及同太平洋世界的历史渊源的认识。”

Living history museums bring the past to life

Imagine the year 1898 in rural Nebraska — a horse-drawn carriage drives down Main Street, an arithmetic teacher lectures to students in a one-room schoolhouse, the smell of freshly made chocolate drifts from the mercantile.

At “living” history museums, visitors don’t have to imagine. Museumgoers experience the past for themselves.

Here are three living history museums across the United States highlighting different periods in the country’s history.

Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer

Nestled among the tall prairie grasses of central Nebraska, Stuhr Museum preserves the memory of the early pioneers who settled the Midwest territory.

“We tell the story of this part of the country — how things worked and didn’t work, how the cultures clashed … how the growth of this part of the country was part of the growth of America,” says Joe Black, the museum’s executive director.

Railroad Town is staffed by living historians who operate the town’s businesses and homes. Visitors can make tools at the tinsmith’s, purchase candy at the mercantile, and watch embers burn at the blacksmith’s shop.

“What’s popular is the ‘living history’ aspect,” says Black. “Visitors actually get to see, smell, hear, touch or put their hands on an activity of the past.”

The museum’s immersive Christmas, Allhallows Eve and Fourth of July celebrations draw crowds from around the state, and across the country. In the summer months, historians teach classes that range from fishing and horseback riding to pie baking and watercolor painting.

“That ability to make yourself forget that you are in a museum, even if it’s just for a second, because you let yourself get so immersed in visiting Railroad Town — I think that’s the advantage that we have,” says Black. “We are able to create that moment.”

Plimoth Plantation

Founded in 1947 on the historic grounds of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plimoth Plantation tells the story of the 17th-century English colonists who settled the area and the Wampanoag people native to the region.

More than 300,000 guests visit the museum annually to walk the streets of the 1624 English village, purchase cornmeal at the water-powered grist mill, and engage with the modern Wampanoag people.

“Living history has the power to transport guests in a way that can have a really profound impact on the way you go forward and see the world,” says museum staff member Kate Sheehan.

According to Sheehan, certain exhibits such as the Mayflower II — a replica of the original ship that sailed from England to Plymouth — cannot be experienced anywhere else. Mayflower II came under the stewardship of the museum in 1957 as a gift from the British people.

“She is really a floating classroom,” says Sheehan. “Mayflower II tells the story of the 1620 voyage … but it’s also a historic ship in her own right.” Currently under renovation, Mayflower II will return home in 2020 to mark the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ docking in Plymouth.

Maritime Museum of San Diego

At the Maritime Museum of San Diego, visitors can board original boats and replica ships that span 500 years of history.

Education programs allow guests to explore the ships, learn from role-playing instructors and crew, and even voyage out to sea on a replica of a 1542 Spanish galleon or board the Star of India — the world’s oldest active sailing ship.

Children build teamwork skills through performing boat chores, and adults enjoy historic day cruises while learning the history of the navy of San Diego.

“It’s more than just a museum you’re walking through,” said Theresa Smullen, a museum staff member. “It’s something that takes you off land, to sea, and really gives you a fuller experience of the West Coast and our rich maritime heritage and historic connections with the Pacific world.”