EDUCATION

An Introduction for Middle School Teachers

The French Legation Museum looks forward to the coming visit of your middle school students and their participation in our Hands on the Past program.  Hands on the Past has three parts.  Part 1 consists of a tour of the Museum (house, kitchen, carriage house, and grounds) focusing on Texas history and aspects of art and architecture, science and nature, pioneer technology, and historical research.

Part 2 introduces students to material culture and archaeology.  They will explore different ways of life in nineteenth century Texas, solve problems confronted by early Texans, and relate this information to life in the twenty-first century.  Students will participate in a hands-on “dig in a box” exercise to demonstrate archaeological techniques.  Post-curriculum materials include a “How well do you remember?” quiz.

Part 3, Pages from the Past, may be included for more advanced students.  Students will learn about different types of historical research documents, including primary and secondary sources.  They will work with documents, newspaper articles, maps, photographs, and objects to explore how each can inform us about the past.  Part 3 also includes a “How well do you remember?” quiz.

The French Legation

The French Legation stands on Robertson Hill, just east of downtown Austin.  Perched high on a hill, near the Colorado River, the site has been home to many over the centuries.  Archaeological excavations have uncovered Native American artifacts 9000 years old.

The story of the museum begins in 1839, when France officially recognized the young Republic of Texas and Jean Pierre Isidore Alphonse Dubois came to Austin as  charge d’affaires, or diplomatic representative.  Dubois purchased 22 acres of land in September 1840 to build a legation, or diplomatic outpost.  Dubois only lived in his new home for a short time.  After  several incidents including a feud with an innkeeper, known as the Pig War, Dubois left Austin for good in April 1841.  The property changed hands several times.  In 1847, Dr. Joseph Robertson, a former mayor of Austin, purchased the house.  He planned to open it as a girls' school.  When that venture failed, the Robertson family moved in the following year.  They stayed for ninety-two years.  The last family member died at the Legation in 1940.  The State of Texas purchased the property in 1949.  The Daughters of the Republic of Texas became its custodian.  They have operated the French Legation as a museum since 1956.

The House

The main house, the oldest standing frame structure in Austin, is the original 1840 French Legation.  It was the centerpiece of a domestic complex surrounded by four outbuildings – the kitchen, carriage house, privy, and slave quarters.  The house represents a Louisiana Bayou style home typical of the southern states, with a central breezeway and two rooms on either side.  This arrangement helped to cool the house allowed for maximum air circulation.  The unfinished second floor remained an attic.  Household furnishings come from the time of Dubois and the Robertson family.

Early Legation residents followed a lifestyle unfamiliar to us.  Cooking and plumbing functions took place in outbuildings.  Fireplaces provided heat.  The walls were covered with cotton canvas, stretched and tacked to the framework and then painted in color combinations unusual in today’s homes.

Privacy was not a factor in daily life.  Dubois shared the premises with three French servants and two slaves.  The Robertsons raised eleven [six girls and five boys] children in the house, in two bedrooms – one for each gender.  They used the hall as both a living and dining room, and the children received their early education there.  Maria, a slave woman, cooked for the family and cared for the children.  In total nine slaves (five adults and four children) served in the Robertson household as of the 1850 census. 

The Kitchen

The kitchen at the French Legation is an outbuilding separate from the main house.  This arrangement was typical in Texas and the South until after the Civil War.  Detached kitchens fulfilled the same functions as those in contemporary homes: food preparation, preservation, and storage.  They also kept heat, cooking odors, and dangers presented by large fires out of the main house.

The present kitchen at the French Legation is a reconstruction, based on evidence unearthed during a 1960s archaeological excavation.  The original kitchen had a dirt floor and windows without glass.  One-piece rough wood shutters covered the windows during bad weather.

The kitchen building was not painted.  It was the workplace of servants and slaves under both Dubois and the Robertsons.  The many of the kitchen furnishings, a gift to the museum, reflect the era of Dubois (pre 1850s).  Many come from France and will not be familiar to your students.  Look for them to add lavabo [a wash sink] and panetiere [bread cooler] to their vocabularies.

The Outbuildings

There are two other reconstructed buildings at the French Legation, the Carriage House, and a Privy.  The Carriage House is a reproduction of one that may have stood on the grounds to the northeast.  It  houses an exhibit reception area, the gift shop, staff offices, and a meeting room.  The Privy,  on its initial site, served as a restroom and a place to dispose of household trash.  Many archaeological finds come from old privy sites.

Continue to "Hands on the Past" Lesson Plan

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