You are standing in front of a graphic panel and artifact case titled “Farming in the 1900s.” To your left is a fireplace with family portraits hanging over the mantelpiece. To your right is a reader rail titled “Window on the Past: Conservation.”

The panel in front of you includes text and five images. The case below it includes three groups of artifacts with labels.

The main text on the panel reads:

Farming in the 1900s
During the Great Depression, Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Howat managed more than 700 acres of farmland, including the Contee farm and Woodlawn. The Kirkpatrick-Howats raised prize beef cattle and grew hay for their livestock.

The images on the panel include:

A painting of Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Howat wearing horse-riding clothes, standing next to a black-and-white dog.

A black-and-white photo of Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Howat posing with farmhands at the Contee farm, ca. 1920s to 1930s. The photo shows Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Howat dressed in white standing in front of a group of ten workers.

A black-and-white photo of African American farm laborers Bill Watts and James Neal.

A photo of a brown-and-white cow grazing on grass. The Kirkpatrick-Howats raised prize beef cattle on their land.

A photo of local African American farmer Mr. Joyce planting seeds, ca. 1960s, with horse-drawn machinery.

The case includes three groups of artifacts with labels.

The labels read:

Milk Bottles
The Java Dairy Farm supplied milk to Annapolis and the local area from the 1920s to the 1940s.

Recovered from the Java Dairy Farm:
1 to 3. Milk bottles from the Java Dairy Farm, ca. 1920s to 1940s

Sheep Shears
From the 1870s to the 1920s, wealthier households in the region raised sheep, providing wool for knitting.

Recovered from Woodlawn:
4. Part of a pair of sheep shears, ca. late 1800s to 1900s. This artifact is accompanied by an image of a pair of sheep shears, which look like a pair of knives attached at the bottom with the blades facing inward.

Hunting
The Kirkpatrick-Howats and their guests liked to hunt. Archaeologists have recovered bullet fragments and shotgun shells in the area.

Recovered from Woodlawn: 
5. Bullet fragments and shotgun shells, ca. 1900s