Phi Eta's History Blog

Going to the Source

2011-11-29T16:34:00.002-07:00

Brown and Shannon's introduction to scholarly journal articles gives us a rather basic yet meaningful understanding of what a scholarly journal article is and why it is useful as an historian. I found that their list of the pros and cons of scholarly journal articles was informative, but not entirely comprehensive. I couldn't help but think of a few other pros and cons, which may or may not be obvious. Journal articles are extremely accessible in today's world, as anyone with access to the Internet also has access to thousands of scholarly articles through online databases, such as JSTOR, etc. They are easy to search for, and to search within, again thanks to our modern technology. Another con that I usually find myself cursing when looking for a good scholarly article in my research is that due to the brevity of these articles, the topics are almost always extremely narrow. For example, if I am researching a topic such as "The Second Great Awakening", I am able to find very few articles. However, if I search "Charles Grandison Finney in Rochester New York 1825-1827", I will have much better luck. Essentially what I am getting at is that as an amateur historian and student, in which I usually find myself researching more broad topics, the information in journal articles can be far too specific for my research purposes.

In addition to the authors' discussion of scholarly articles, they include Elizabeth Fenn's article on biological warfare in 18th century America. I found the evidentiary discussion within this article to be interesting. While I understand that it is important to recognize any lack of evidence when making historical claims, and in this case in writing a peer reviewed article, it seems from my point of view that Fenn's argument is made less valid by her constant reiteration of the controversy around the evidence, or of the lack of available evidence. Personally, I thought that all of her examples, which for the most part came from primary sources such as letters, diaries, and other written, first hand accounts, were solid. While some were rumors published in local papers, or other less substantial accounts, she does write from a basis of primary source support. She includes many examples of cases in which biological warfare was present across the United States and even in Canada, or at least where a strong case can be made for its presence. Overall, I found her supporting evidence for the purposeful spreading of small pox rather convincing. While I am not sure I completely agree that these activities were as commonplace as she claims, and I am no expert on this subject, I do find her article and her use of primary source documentation substantial. I also feel that her article could have been more convincing if she would have limited the number of times she discussed the controversy over this subject and her lack of evidence.

Scholarly Journal

2011-11-27T23:27:00.001-07:00

This week in the article we read, the pros and cons were discussed about scholarly articles. The cons were that journals are just someone else's interpretation of the facts and that you only get one look at the event. Also, they require outside research when they assume the audience is familiar with the topic. On the other hand there were far more pros listed which includes referencing the sources the article used and using them to charge your own research, also they are short and to the point. And last they are peer reviewed by others in the field keeping them credible. In one way, scholarly journals are an excellent source of credible information on a subject, but they can be focused to one point so you there isn't much by way of general information.

The article we read by Elizabeth Fenn on biological warfare looked at disease warfare in the American colonies during the eighteenth century. She was tyring to widen the sphere of knowledge about this topic by "Going Beyond Jeffery Amherst" who it seems claimed that colonists deliberately spread smallpox to Native Americans during Pontiac's Rebellion. Using the facts she explains that it is very possible that biological warfare was much more common that we like to admit. She also mentioned how it is probable that people didn't write down these ideas many times, which had the feel of lack of evidence as evidence. She explained that this event was unusual because of the surviving writings directly incriminating those with biological warfare. I think her argument was pretty convincing up to that point. While she and Amherst make some interesting points, I find it tedious. Why focus so intently on one small episode of history? Is it like the story of the midwife? I can definitely see the pros of these scholarly journals, but at the same time what is the significance?
Megan Fotheringham

Source

2011-11-27T21:15:00.004-07:00

The article tells how journals are used and what they do for us. The scholarly journals are peer-reviewed so the article in the journal goes through rigorous editing process. The reviewers of the journal can remain anonymous if they want to be when they publish in the journals to be evaluated experts in the field and the author of the journal can be revealed or not. Scholarly journals have cons too. They help in research because they can lead you to other sources you want to look next. They have a conclusion that restates the argument rather than a proposition and explains in some greater historical context or debate. The scholarly journals are someone else's interpretation of the facts. The scholarly journals assumes the person is familiar with the topic at hand. They also assume the person has prior knowledge to get into a conversations and bring facts forward know about the topic at hand. If you look at what the article is saying that there is always advantages and dis-advtanges in journal articles so you have to decide what you want to do with the scholarly journals by how you used them and that will make it helpful to you and others because sometimes you have to find stuff out on your own that these journal articles don't give.

- Justin Kwan

Journal Articles and Biological Warfare

2011-11-26T22:56:00.001-07:00

I found it funny how our scholarly journal article was about the pros and cons of scholarly journal articles and how to write one. The pros listed include peer reviewed (they receive heavy scrutiny before publication), concise (short, sweet and to the point), and a guide to more sources (in case you wanted further research or wanted to check up on their facts). The cons include that it is someone else’s interpretation (you might have a different one) and the writers usually assume you are familiar with the topic (which could be VERY untrue). As I was reading further I couldn’t help but wonder what the difference was between the scholarly journal article and a research paper? Is it the length? Or am I missing an obvious point?
Further in the reading we look at Elizabeth Fenn’s own article called “Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst”. Fenn first focuses on the infamous story of Jeffery Amherst and his involvement in condoning biological warfare against local Indians. Fenn is sure to make the point that the article isn’t about condemning Amherst even though she does make a comment that his “record speaks loudly enough regarding his character”. I wonder if that was meant as an insult. It was apparently William Trent, a trader and speculator, who wrote that they had given local Indians two blankets and a handkerchief from the local smallpox hospital. It was not known whose idea it was or who carried it out. Also the instant epidemic of smallpox in the Ohio country coincides with the items given to the Indians at Fort Pitt. Coincidence?
Fenn goes further to discuss how Fort Pitt was not the first time biological warfare was used. In fact it was even evidenced that Indians had used it back during Queen Anne’s war in the early 1700’s. She describes more cases in which others have been documented using the same “weapon.” The conclusion can be drawn that although Fort Pitt is one of the more famous stories in biological warfare it definitely wasn’t alone. Its justification is that “all is fair in war.” However disease itself did in fact wipe out entire native populations. Genocide will never be just.

A Reverb on Last Week

2011-11-26T10:10:00.002-07:00

Last week I discussed the problem of attempting to prove the existence of a historical trend where scant (or even none) evidence remains or was never produced in the first place.

Imagine my surprise when I came across an article by Srichsman on the HNN site regarding the new IAEA report on Iran's nuclear activity. (See here: http://hnn.us/blogs/regarding-iaea-report-iran%E2%80%99s-alleged-nuclear-weapons-program) What really struck me in his post was that he accused the accusers of Iran of attempting to force Iran to prove the existence of a negative argument. (Namely, to prove that they don't have have any intentions of building a bomb.)

Going to the Source: When you have none.

2011-11-22T11:22:00.002-07:00

Something really struck me in the article published by Victoria Brown of Grinnell college and Timothy Shannon of Gettysburg college was their discussion of the appropriate response to not having sources for what you want to right about.

In effect, Brown and Shannon claimed that a lack of evidence for the widespread and systematic use of bio warfare during the nineteenth century could be interpreted as corroborating evidence for this trend. Because of the limited knowledge of the people participating in the trend, and of the rather undocumented state of things on the American frontier during the nineteenth century suggests that even though people used bio warfare, they did not record it for whatever reason.

Now, I'm no expert on either the historical process, or on nineteenth century warfare, but it seems to me that relying on this type of inference skates the line between logical mental gymnastics and just plain shoddy history. Firstly, simply because you don't have the evidence to support a particular positions, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. If however, you spend a significant amount of time in the trenches and come back with nothing substantial, I think it might be in your best cards to reassess your topic. There are just some things (however unfortunate it is to admit that) that simply can't be studied properly because of a lack of evidence.

This is so because even if we assume that Brown and Shannon are correct in trusting the inference of the writer, the conclusion is virtually meaningless. The inference doesn't tell us anything about the context, or about the motivation or even about the events in question. If we infer that British did or did not use bio warfare through the conscious spread of small pox, it doesn't radically alter our understanding of the period in questions because it allows us no further evidence.

My opinion is that this inference is the historical equivalent to creationism/intelligent design. Even if we accepted these propositions at face value, they are useless to us as academics because they don't add to our knowledge and might even play a role in detracting from either what we know, or our motivation to know more.

Conflicts in Burma

2011-11-16T16:06:00.003-07:00

I did not find any specific blogs or anything that really interested me. I went the "Occupy Wall Street" route and most of it was partisan rambling that did not entice me. Then I was teaching one of my small ELL groups at Woodrow Wilson when I began talking to one of the newer immigrants who said he was from Burma. He talked about when he left Burma in 2007 after his apartment building exploded killing his father, older brother and young cousin, who was in the family's care. His mother, two sisters and him made it out of Burma shortly after and were kicked around the world, from Europe to Africa, they finally made it to Canada, where he and his family lived for two years and he learned most of his English and French there. He then moved to Denver, Colorado for a couple years where he got a bit better at English, but lost much of his French. He is now here in the United States and is 13 years old, he doesn't really know how terrible things were in Burma, only that he felt much better when he made it out of the country.

The Hill.

2011-11-16T00:01:00.002-07:00

The Hill is a non-partisan blog that is run by mix of professional journalists in addition to 'common' guys. What makes The Hill unique is that it is focused specifically on the trench warfare that goes on the Congress via parliamentarians and non-germane language. Although the content matter is really in the weeds, (not even the 24-hour networks will cover this stuff.) a surprising amount of their content is genuinely interesting; if not for the news quality of the pieces, but for all the wacky stuff that goes on in the halls of Congress.

I nearly died from laughter from a post in 'The Floor Action' section of the sight which detailed the multiple failure of a minibus appropriations bill which weakened the previsions of the embargo held on Cuba since 1962.

From what I can manage, the story went something like this: when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought the bill to the floor Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) as well as Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) objected to the parliamentarian that the language concerning Cuba was not germane to the bill because it was a legislative and not appropriative measure. (The three senators also argued that the dictatorial ruling regime in Cuba is teetering and that lowering trade barriers could bolster its grip on power. Yep, the surplus of histrionics will never end.)

That's not all, the parliamentarian sustained the objection and Reid quickly brought to the floor the same bill stripped of the Cuba wording. That version however was shot down by Sen. Jim Moran (R-Kan.), the author of the Cuba provision, who commented that the new version was not the version that had come out of committee. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) also objected, complaining that bill spent too much and would fund abortion in Washington D.C. and around the world. (For those keeping track, that's dictators, abortion, government waste, and non-germane bills all in 30 minutes or less.)

Apparantly, Reid couldn't find anyone to vote on this bill without the Cuba provisions. So he did something called "filling the tree" and submitted a new(?) version of the bill.

I'm still not sure if it's now legal to buy Cuban sugar.

Somalia

2011-11-15T16:34:00.001-07:00

I found a blog by Mohamed H. Gulaid who reports about events in Somalia. His last post was on March 16, 2010. In this last blog he reports about how a militant group signed a peace agreement with the Somali government. My knowledge about the Somali government is limited but the fact that they felt the need to sign a peace agreement with a militant group could show how they are not a powerful government. The militant group is promised government positions for military support against Al-shaba and Hizbul Islam. I guess the trade off is power for backup. I wonder if the people of Somalia approve of this group and how far does their political abilities reach? Are they qualified for such positions? It seems to be risking a lot to offer this group senior positions. Mohamed notes that the militant group, Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jamaca, controls several districts and somewhat accuses the “Weak U.N. backed government” for this. Does the U.N. hold some responsibility for the lack of government order, especially when Al- shaba has pledged their loyalty to Al-Qaeda? The Prime Minster of Somalia has called the peace agreement an “essential step” in restoring order into the country. It seems to me that the government is doing what they need to in order to save their country but if they had a choice, they wouldn’t have turned to Ahulu Sunna Wal-Jamaca.

The Eurozone Crisis

2011-11-15T13:08:00.002-07:00

Marcus Brooks is an English man who keeps up a blog entitled "The Brooks Report." He describes his blog's purpose as "fighting mainstream media and nonsense corporate propaganda" and recently he has been following closely the crisis in the EU. Most of his posts link to articles published by the BBC or the Times, and he often includes relevant video clips as well. His commentary focuses mainly on the financial aspect of the crisis, as it appears that he is very well versed in this field. However, his most recent posts have been dedicated to the political situations in Greece and Italy, and how these new political leaders will be able to help improve the Eurozone crisis. Mr. Brooks maintains this blog very well, posting at least once a day on the most current news involving the economic crisis in Europe. Not only does he comment on the current events, but he also provides his readers with his personal commentary and ideas. For example, in a recent post he discussed England's consideration of injecting newly printed money into banks, and he proposed a solution that he thought would be more beneficial to England's economy. His positions seem to reflect a very conservative and strictly market capitalist point of view, and I do not find that I agree with many of his conclusions or solutions. However, I do appreciate his attempt to keep an up to date stream of information and dialogue going about this event in particular, and I find it very helpful in better understanding the current situation in Europe.

The Real Cuba

2011-11-14T16:34:00.003-07:00

The Real Cuba is a blog whose creator is unknown but claims to be an immigrant from Cuba. The blog reports of ’52 years of oppression. Titles of the tags are ‘US Fugitives in Cuba’, ‘Poverty in Cuba’, ‘Cuba by Satellite’ and ‘Murdered by Che’.

Although events in Cuba are not unfolding rapidly enough for it to make American mainstream news (Somehow Kim Kardashian makes it on my news everyday!) Cuba is still working on overcoming events that transpired years ago.

The trade embargo against Cuba has been going strong since February 1962.The Real Cuba reports that Cuba, with the embargo still in play, is attempting renovate and rejuvenate the economy.

“Only that the reality of Cuba bears little resemblance to the plucky little island narrative. Cuba’s penury has nothing to do with the U.S. decision not to trade with the communist island, but with the fact that the island is communist in the first place. If communism produced misery in Europe and Asia (where one half of Germany and Korea stagnated under repression while the capitalist halves of those countries thrived in economic and political freedom) why would the result be different in the Caribbean?
Communism is a human tragedy, enslaving the soul while failing to produce enough goods for the people trudging under it. Communist countries are large prisons; the borders must be closed lest the people escape. And within that hell there are smaller circles where the repression is intensified. It’s the Gulag, the re-education camp or, in Cuba’s case today, public beatings by government mobs for who speak up their minds.”

The Real Cuba is an interesting blog for anti-Cuba information. It gives me a different outlook into the life of a Cuban trying to dispose of his/her hated homeland’s government.

Silence and Denial

2011-11-12T19:35:00.002-07:00

Silence and denial problem is a controversial issue that is overlooked for a variety of reasons including embarrassment, shame, fear, or because the subject is taboo. Silence is a practical way of avoiding painful or controversial issues, and so we might “look the other way” instead of confronting a problem or discussing a delicate matter. The norms is to keep remaining silent or ignorant of information. Here are sayings of keeping quiet: "Bite your tongue," Button your lip," and "Silence is golden." Others say we should not seek out information: "Ignorant is bliss," What you don't know won't hurt you," "Look the other way," and Turn a blind eye. There expressions to discourage us from getting involved in matters that supposedly don't involve us like "Don't rock the boat," and Mind your own business." Trivial matters can be left not to be said, but when it comes to serious matters that they should not be ignored because they might lead to bad consequences that follow after them. When things are left unsaid it means a consent and or approval of what the person is doing or doing to is acceptable to the people observing. Silence prevent us from confronting or consequently solving problems and controversial issues.

- Justin Kwan

Current Events Blog

2011-11-11T12:59:00.001-07:00

When searching through blogs I found one by Kathrine Gottsegen who apparently is one of many who blogs on this "current events" blog. I think it may be for a class or job of somekind, but obviously is the work of ordinary citizens. She expressed her concern over the human rights issues in Saudi Arabia and the segregation against women. These women were promised new rights by the king Abdulla, but apparently there is still punishment for women who even dare to drive a car. She obviously felt this was very unjust and mentioned how in the U.S. we often take our rights for granted. Then she mentioned something interesting about a Saudi Arabian women she talked to who said there is too much freedom in the U.S. I thought it would have been interesting to explore that idea further and look at why too much freedom can be seen as a bad thing by the oppressed, but the author didn't give this any more thought.

http://soc202events.blogspot.com/search/label/Katherine%20Gottsegen

Influenza Epidemic

2011-11-08T14:39:00.001-07:00

Closer than any apocalyptic film produced in Hollywood, the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 ravished the country and the entire world, leaving production crippled and dwindled the population. This podcast is presented by The University of Kentucky, Library Oral Projected interviewed Teamus Bartley, a Kentucky coal miner.

This podcast is a wonderful and rare example of the effects the epidemic. During this time life stopped, but the few who weren’t sick were charged in taking care of the infirm. Bartley has said, “nearly every porch, every porch that I’d look at had—would have a casket box a sittin’ on it. And men a diggin‘ graves just as hard as they could.”

It is easy to recognize why the world was reduced in production, Bartley says, “And the mines had to shut down there wasn’t a nary a man, there wasn’t a, there wasn’t a mine arunnin’ a lump of coal or runnin' no work. Stayed that away for about six weeks.”

Teamus Bartley, and his personal history, will be able to shape our understanding of a substantial and turbulent time of American and World History.

Father Mychal Judge Will Never Be Forgotten

2011-11-06T13:21:00.004-07:00

For week 11 I continued the 9/11 trend. I listened to an oral history recording on Nation Public Radio website. The oral history recorded told the story of a picture taken on that sorrow day. The photograph is well known and you have probably seen it before. Father Mychal Judge was the first confirmed death due to the 9/11 attacks. He was the New York Fire Departments priest. He was in the North Tower lobby when the tower collapsed. His body was recovered minutes later and carried out of the smoke and into the street by firemen who were near and dear to the Father. The recording gives the information about the photograph from a primary source who helped carry his body out. Then the recording talks about the funeral and shared the speech given at Father Mychal Judge’s memorial, which 3,000 people attended. The recording really captivated what a great man Father Mychal Judge was. One man who was close to the father shared a quote from the speech given at the funeral, “we bury his heart, but not his love.” This oral history recording made me emotional. It thoughtfully broadcasted and made me want to tune into NPR more frequently.

9/11

2011-11-06T13:20:00.001-07:00

This week I watched 102 Minutes That Changed America. The show aired on television as a special documentary film on September 11, 2008; the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center Buildings. Most of the program was actual, cold, raw, scary, and captivating footage of the attacks. Some of the footage was by professional cameras, but what made this program so special was the citizen footage on small personal cameras. It was beautifully put together. It included interviews with eyewitnesses who supplied the footage. I could see the emotions coming back to the eyewitnesses as they spilled their stories to the viewers.

The program brought me back to September 11, 2001 when I was in my living room as a child watching the footage on my families television. Goosebumps tailed up my arms watching this program. It was so realistic and I felt like I was re-living the attack since the producers used the footage and interviews in chronological order. I would recommend this program.

9/11

2011-11-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Photographing The Insane

2011-11-06T13:19:00.001-07:00

I read a scholarly article on Hugh Welch Diamond who was born into a wealthy family at Goudhurst in Kent. Diamond’s father opened an insane asylum in 1820. By this time “madhouses” were growing to be extremely popular. In 1819 there were 40 licensed madhouses in all of England and whales and the total number of patients in the hundreds but as the years progressed numbers increased at rapid rates. As the patient numbers increased by hundreds and then thousands, Diamond became more and more involved. Growing up around the asylum he witnessed the horrors that took place inside the lock down facilities. Little is known about Diamonds education or how he became a doctor but he did. Diamond sought out information on asylums all over Europe and his mind was like a sponge. He absorbed information about the mentally ill, and how they were being treated and viewed as animals more and more every day by society. But he also read and researched other doctors concerns about this. Diamond found information from doctors in Paris who were trying to stop the dehumanization of the patients and start treating them with moral treatments. Fascinated with other’s ideas, Diamond came up with ideas of his own. Diamond had a passion for photography and he put it to use taking photographs of the patients, some of who had been mistreated and others who were lonely. Then he added the prints to his papers and shared them with doctors, scientists and lawmakers. The reactions were unbelievable. It was amazing how much the photographs helped pick up the pace to change the way asylums were run. Diamond eventually opened his own asylum for women where eh treated them morally and helped improve their lives greatly the photographs can still be viewed today.

2011-11-04T14:28:00.002-06:00

The two people are workers that are working on the San Francisco Bridge. They are trying to connect the cable together from what this picture looks like that is what they are doing. from this picture, the bridge is at its earliest stage of building the bridge. When the workers were working on this bridge, I don't think there is any safety for these workers. The workers had to be careful themselves when they work on the bridge they had no anyone else to help them except the people that were with them. The workers really had to rely on each other for support and moral. The workers possible did not get paid well for doing hard work that no one else would consider doing because it was dangerous and they never know what will happen to them. The bridge building probably took a long time to build because of the danger it presented to these workers working on the bridge. Once this bridge was finished, it became a big attraction and people started to drive on it to cut over to the inner part of California that would have take some of the drivers longer to get to the are on the other side of California if this bridge was not built. Now today, the San Francisco Bridge is used everyday for travel and to enjoy driving on it.

- Justin Kwan

"Miracle"

2011-11-01T15:38:00.003-06:00

This week I watched the 2004 Kurt Russell film "Miracle" that tells the story of the US Hockey team's victory in the 1980 Olympic Games. The film centers on the life of Herb Brooks, and claims to be the "true story" of his experiences coaching this team. The film begins with a photo and video montage that displays the key events in the United States from 1969-1979, essentially setting the stage for the movie. It seems that the main purpose was to display the state of seeming chaos and disillusion that Americans were in during the 1970s, highlighting events such as Watergate, the defeat in Vietnam, the gas shortages and economic difficulties, etc. The directors set the movie up in such a way that the eventual match between the USSR and the US hockey teams in the qualifying rounds exemplified the tensions of the cold war, and in the minds of many Americans the US victory enlivened in them hope and optimism for the country's future. As I was not alive during this event, I do not know if this is really how the country felt about this game. However, the film did an excellent job of establishing the historical context in which this took place and really allowing the viewer to see how the US hockey team's victory over the USSR and their winning of the gold medal could have been seen as a nationally significant event beyond the world of sports.

As I am not a huge sports fan, and had no previous knowledge of this event or its significance in the world of sports, I cannot say how accurate the film's portrayal of the game or of Brooks' coaching was. However, the film did place this event in context by including events in the film such as the Iran hostage crisis and a broadcast of President Carter's "Malaise" speech that would have been very much on the national radar during this time. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good film, in spite of Kurt Russell's awful attempts at a Minnesotan accent,and an entertaining portrayal of a "true story" from our nation's past.

Apollo 18

2011-11-01T12:51:00.000-06:00

Officially, NASA has declared the last moon landing to be Apollo 17. The film focuses on the conspiracy that Apollo 18 did in fact launch, having a top secret mission. According to the film the mission of Apollo 18 was to plant detectors across the moon in order to inform the U.S. of any possible ICBM attacks by the Soviet Union. While their, the two astronauts collect moon rock samples and discover an abandoned USSR space ship not far from their own land site. It is eventually revealed that the moon rocks are actually aliens. One alien manages to get inside Commander Walkers suit and into his skin, infecting him. I never understood how the alien-rock was able to get inside his space suit without killing him? The two try to radio Houston of these events but interference of an unknown source makes it impossible. Their space ship, Liberty, also faces extensive external evidence. Soon enough Walker realizes he is infected beyond cure and believes Captain Anderson must leave without him. Anderson tries to convince him otherwise but Walker is dragged away into a crater by the aliens. I didn’t understand what dragged him away either, seeing as how the aliens were portrayed as small rock like things. As Anderson tries to save him he is overwhelmed by the aliens and realizes his only hope for escape is the Soviet Union space craft. He is able to get it started but before he launches he is contacted by the deputy secretary of the Department of Defense and is informed that his possible contamination is too much of a risk in order to return him to earth. The third astronaut on the mission was Lieutenant colonel John Grey who manages to contact Anderson and offers him a rescue. However he is also contacted by the Department of Defense warning him to abort the mission or they will break communication, meaning they would not be able to return to earth. Before he can make a decision the USSR spaceship which Anderson is in reveals to have moon rock-aliens and he is attacked. Anderson, unable to control the spaceship, crashes into Grey.
The film incorporates actual film from the previous Apollo missions, highlighting that there is rock movement in the background. The three astronauts in the Apollo 18 movie were documented to have died under mysterious circumstances, their bodies were never recovered. Another factor that coincides with the film, are the 230 returned moon rocks from previous missions in which 160 of them are lost, unaccounted for, or destroyed.
Overall the film was less than exciting, taking far too long to catch interest. But it did raise the interesting question of why we had not returned to the moon.

1776

2011-10-31T22:56:00.003-06:00

So, this is a musical about 1776 and the founding father's role in the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is really cheesy and the musical numbers probably aren't so great, but it is pretty hilarious. It was directed by Peter H. Hunt in 1972 basically done off the Broadway version. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, somewhat force Thomas Jefferson to write the declaration as a part of making more time for signers to joining the cause for independence. It makes the founding fathers seem very likable and humorous. Probably not historically correct in most cases, but it gets the point across of how important the declaration was to the war and to the fight for independence.
Megan Fotheringham

The Patriot

2011-10-30T14:07:00.003-06:00

I watched The Patriot and while I have always enjoyed the movie I viewed it this time with skepticism. While it is true, there are a lot of elements in the movie that are not historically accurate; they used a make believe person acted by Mel Gibson to tell a story about the revolution. There were many elements in the story that did not follow the typical historical perspective. However, I can look beyond the inaccuracies and see this film for what it is, a pleasurable and enjoyable movie. I think that is what gets lost in the translation. I am not going to scrutinize each and every second of a film for it s inadequacies, I am simply going to take it for what it's worth, always keeping in mind that what I am seeing is not a historical documentary. I think there is some merit to a film like The Patriot, or Gladiator and a myriad of other Hollywood reenactments of historical events, however, I think the public needs to keep in mind that the accuracy of such media is very rarely pinpoint and often times fabricated to make the event more entertaining, and make the characters more pure and noble, or, in the case of the villains more evil. I am not going to sacrifice my love for historical movies simply because I have a background in history. I will however, make a more concentrated effort to educate myself and those around me about the accuracy of such films.

And A Little More Chávez

2011-10-29T23:57:00.002-06:00

I was really interested in what Kaitlyn had to say both about the interview technique (or lack thereof) of Studs Terkel Ceasar Chávez's childhood. Naturally, the best course of action was to steal her source and check it out for myself.

I'm really surprised about how little actual 'interviewing' Terkel did. I can only recall him asking a single question to Chávez throughout the entire interview. I'm not sure if this is the mark of a master interviewer, or the mark of a mad man but in either case the technique worked magnificently. Chávez opened up and spoke about some very deep experiences from his childhood, a migrant farmer during the depression. Many of the events that Chávez spoke of were haunting to consider, namely the poverty and discrimination that he faced as a childhood, and a reflection on how these events shaped his later activism.

However, Chávez's recollections were equal parts astounding and scattered. If Terkel opened him to speak so freely about his childhood, the interviewer also open an unrelenting floodgate of emotion and experience. I felt that the interview felt more like an intimate conversation among confidantes than an attempt to record memories for posterity. I think that Terkel would have been better served guiding the direction of the conversation both to give the listener a sense of continuity as well as to create a coherent narrative. Perhaps Terkel failed in this regard, as the collection of experiences given to us by Chávez are practically indecipherable without some beforehand knowledge of the man himself. Whether this is an outgrowth of Terkel's method or the result of proper research about the topic prior to the interview is beyond me.

In any case, despite the shortcomings of this interview. Anyone interested in a more intimate at historical figures than we are accustomed to should look to Terkel as an entertaining, albeit slightly depressing, source of entertainment.

King's Speech

2011-10-29T14:56:00.002-06:00

I have watched the King's Speech movie. This movie is based on on true story. For the most part, the movie mostly portrays King George VI with his speech impediment and how he was able to overcome it. In this movie it shows how King Edward, George's older brother abdicated the throne to pursue a widow woman in America. George has to take over as King of England. The movies shows his life on him working his speech impediment out. At first he did not want to believe he was lower than the peasant just because he could not speak. George's wife had him go to a speech therapy. The speech therapy would help him sound his words and try to get him to not stutter his words so much. In the discovery, George doesn't stutter when he has bad words to say coming out of his mouth. Toward the end of the movie, George is able to speak to the England people without too much stutter unlike he had at the beginning of the movie.

- Justin Kwan

César Chávez

2011-10-25T16:29:00.002-06:00

This week I listened to Studs Terkel's rather brief interview with César Chávez from 1971. In the interview, Chávez discusses his childhood growing up in California, focusing mostly on his experience during the years of the depression. Chávez's father was a migrant farm worker, and he recounts their family's experience moving from city to city following the work, and their living conditions at each of the new labor camps. The Chávez family owned a small plot of land for only the first few years of César's life, but it was foreclosed on by the bank and after that their family moved from labor camp to labor camp, sometimes living out of the car or even under nearby bridges when housing was not available. Chávez also tells a couple of stories from his early teen years when he first experienced outright racial prejudice, such as refusing to be served in a hamburger joint in Fresno and being told "We don't serve Mexicans here, get out" by a young waitress. He stresses that as a young child, most of these hard times were rather easy to deal with, that children are resilient and can easily adapt to new and difficult situations. But he does say that the humiliation and the shame that his parents experienced was extremely hard for him to handle, harder than being forced to miss school or work doing difficult labor for little money at a very young age. Something I found very interesting about this interview was that Terkel only had to ask one question and that set Chávez off talking non stop for over sixteen minutes. It seemed like he had a lot to say, and really great experiences to share. His childhood was incredibly difficult and it is amazing to see the way he was able to move past those experiences and the things he was able to accomplish in his adult life.

First African American at LSU

2011-10-25T14:48:00.000-06:00

A.P. Tureaud Jr. was the first African American student to attend Louisiana State University in 1953. After Tureaud became a student at the University in ’53 did other African Americans soon join? He gave a brief account about his time their as part of the “Story Corps” oral history project. He spoke to his friend Steven Walkly about how racism was still very much present. His peers ignored him pretending he didn’t exist trying to make him believe he didn’t belong. He had no roommates and in fact the students in the rooms on either side of him would take turns banging on the walls and having the radio on excessively loud to purposely disturb him. I’m left to wonder if he was ever approached with friendship while at the University? His professors would even refuse to touch his papers. One of them made it clear that she had not taught anyone of color and that it would be impossible for her to do so. I wonder how he was able to focus any attention towards his education when the environment was nothing less than hostile?
Being completely isolated Tureaud would often visit the University mascot, the tiger. The tiger was kept in a cage around his room and he would often relate with the animal seeing as he believed they were both prisoners. During on of his visits a truck pulled up beside him. A black man got out with his seven year old son. He asked him if he was Tureaud and after he responded yes, he explained that he wanted his son to meet him. He wanted his son to see him because his son needed to know that there was every possibility for him to attend the University. From that moment Tureaud knew that even though he wanted to leave and give up he couldn’t. He wasn’t there for just his education. He had become a symbol of hope. He was a drive for integration and equality.

Schindler's List

2011-10-25T12:29:00.000-06:00

Director Steven Spielberg’s critically acclaimed “Schindler’s List” is marked as one of the greatest movies of all time. Since it’s release in December 1993, “Schindler’s List” has made it to the tops of many “Best of” lists. Set in Nazi occupied Poland, the story follows German businessman Oskar Schindler, played by Irish actor Liam Neeson (Taken, The Dark Knight) as he tries to save his Jewish workers from impeding fate Jews in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Spielberg portrays the events in black and white. The film in black and white gives it a 'timeless' feel. For example, movies in color can diminish in the picture quality. Just think of movies like Ben Hur,The Ten Commandments and Cleopatra and although epic at the time, look dated to us now.

For cinematic appeal Spielberg splits to actors reciting the actual names of the list made by Schindler. The film emphasizes the importance of the endurance and survival of the real-life Shindlerjuden or "Schindler's Jews". The closing of the film shows the Shindlerjuden accompanied by the actors who played them placing rocks on the tombstone of the real life Oskar Schindler, a jewish custom of reverence and peace.

Finally, the best part of the movie (besides the wonderful acting of Ralph Fiennes as the epitome of Nazi-evil, Amon Goth) is the score composed by John William (Star Wars, JFK, Indiana Jones) with Special guest Itzhak Perlman.

Schindler's List, based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally about the experiences of Poldek Pffeferberg, a Schinderjuden. Whether the experiences of Mr. Pffeferberg are biased, well-founded or fiction, there is a deep cultural resonance for the Jewish community.

Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) relating the news of liberation to his Jewish workers.

Memories

2011-10-23T20:27:00.002-06:00

Ellaraino is now 72 years old recounting the visit with her Grandma Silvia. She tells the story when is 16 years-old and she was in love with Tyrone. Her family made a trip not to Los Angeles, but in the South in Farmerville, Louisiana. She was introduced to her Grandma Silvia, who was 106 years-old. Her grandma would tell her stories about the Civil War and saying she was Ella's age. She had freedom after the Civil War, but she did not feel free because she could not read and write. She tells Ella at the age of 85, she decided to get help from other grown-ups and children to help her to get her freedom and she studied on her own to read and write. She had something special for Ella when she went to the cedar chest and held up the tattered church fan for Ella then she though why is grandma showing me this. Ella's grandma Silvia turned the fan over to point out to her that she could write her name and now she knew that is when she got her freedom. Ella's grandma Silvia passed away in 1965, but "Grandma Silvia lives within my heart."

The King's Speech

2011-10-23T19:54:00.002-06:00

The King's Speech directed by Tom Hooper tells us the story (In a predictable, but solid manner) of King George VI and his attempt to grapple with feelings of inadequacy and responsibility (brought to life by his struggle with speech.) For those not inculcated in film culture, apparently this is remarkable in being well-received by critics in addition to having broad mainstream appeal. (It grossed something on the order of $140 Million.) However, what makes this film important to us is the exquisite (Or so I'm told) historical accuracy, right down to the textbook that Firth's son studies in addition to the display of technical mastery by Hooper and co.

I'm not a film critic by any sense of the word, but I found the editing and shots were fantastic. I think that Hooper's use of scene was brilliant. Nearly every scene was filled with tension, and the perspective of the shot's only added to that effect. This does not mean, however, that the scenes were in any way derivative (not even the montage scenes!) Scenes were broken cleanly into thematic units, in my opinion not a single scene was wasted or weighted down by other factors. The historical impact of this was a clear chronology and narrative. Things were happening in the plot, and the audience has a clear idea of when and why these events occurred. A characteristic, that in most historical(ish) movies, is severely lacking; the effect being the director saying: 'Look! Cool things happening over here, but wait this thing was also pretty cool.'

If it wasn't impressed by the shooting of the movie, the technical aspects were added by Hooper's team in order to blow me away. I came away from the movie firmly believing that what I had seen in the film in terms of environment and aesthetics were ripped straight from the mind of an elderly British person, with some sort of advanced 'cut and paste' machinery. Seriously, throwing in a high pitched narrator change the film into grainy black and white and I doubt that even historians could tell the difference. Needless to say, the lighting and sound were always appropriate to the plot as well as the historical reality at all times. I think Hooper should be given several awards for resisting the 'heroic' lighting style seen in too many 'based on a true story' period films. No heavenly beams of sunlight announcing the Firth is tantamount to Jesus (a la, 300/Patriot/Hamburger Hill), just a gritty sense of realism that plays perfectly into the tone of the movie.

I came to this movie prepared to write a scathing critique of mass -media films as a medium for History, ready to suggest that Historians collectively ban anything that doesn't have at least three Columbia graduates as advisers in addition to a sustained campaign of seizing and destroying all copies of 300. Pleasantly, I can say that The King's Speech reaffirmed my faith in the humanity (and intellectual honesty) of at least some of those involved in the entertainment industry.

Oral History- Gertrude Jay Lewis

2011-10-23T18:54:00.004-06:00

This week I found a good site for oral history documents at http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu. The one I read was by a woman named Gertrude Jay Lewis and her experience with the home front during WWII and also the cold war during her life. She was born and raised in New Jersey and was in high school during WWII. The interviewer asked a lot of questions about how she was raised, the impact of the depression in her childhood and religion. She was raised Jewish, but was never really religious until after WWII and the holocaust. She was interested in Mathematics, but didn't finish her education until after she had children. She went to college first in Cincinnati, where she met her husband and then later transferred to Rutgers after they were married. It was also interesting to note that her mother got a degree even when her husband didn't support it. She had three daughters, all of whom graduated from college and have great careers. The feminism that came out of just one family is pretty impressive. It was interesting the way she described the momentous events of WWII as just being on the back of her mind, exciting, but not directly related to herself. I think it is true no matter what generation is the focus.

Megan Fotheringham

Oral History

2011-10-23T13:00:00.003-06:00

I read some transcripts of some oral histories on this web site http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/online.html. The one that struck my eye were recorded in the early 1900s and were given by former slaves. One was by an extremely old woman named Sarah Grudger. She recounts an incredible meteor shower in 1833. She was playing with her siblings when her mom came running out of the house and was terrified. She saw all the stars falling and told Sarah every time a star falls, someone on Earth is gonna die. She said there would be a lot of people dying soon. Shortly after that Sarah and her family were sold into slavery and she never saw her mother again. It is quite interesting that less than 30 years after that meteor shower The United States had its worst and bloodiest war to date. These are the moments that bring history to life for me, the personal interest stories that are very often left out of the textbooks. Which is sad, because there is so much that can be gained from reading and listening to these personal histories. It's a shame that we no longer have anyone alive that can recount the events of this era of American history.

The American President

2011-10-18T16:39:00.000-06:00

I chose “The American President” for my PBS documentary. In this episode the topic was “Expanding Power”. The presidents they chose to highlight were Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Although I felt that several other presidents had also greatly expanded executive power, such as Abraham Lincoln.
Jackson was the 7th president of the U.S. and was elected as the president for the common man. He was known to welcome all Americans to the White House, portraying himself as an average citizen. In his time he has used the veto more than any other president before him, combined. Here I wonder what other bills he had vetoed. His most famous veto was the bill concerning the Bank of the United States, which was becoming increasingly corrupt, although they failed to explain how.
Cleveland was also a president who won his presidential bid by appealing to the working class. Like Jackson he had also used the veto exceedingly, about 600 times. In the beginning he focused his time on rebuilding a bureaucracy. At first several of his appointments were not approved by the Senate but with the help of the public Cleveland eventually got them confirmed. Naming some of his appointments would have been helpful. Also, why did the Senate originally deny them? In 1889 Cleveland lost is re-election bid due to vetoing legislation that the people favored. A reason like that brings back confidence that the American people do care about who is running the country. He won again four years later but unfortunately inherited an economy in depression.
Roosevelt was another war hero elected president. His background is among the more interesting especially knowing that he was a small kid with asthma and who later became an orphan. In Cuba he was the leader of a special force known as the Rough Riders. What type of work did Roosevelt do in Cuba? He was known for his expansion of the U.S. Navy and the Panama Canal.
Nixon was more famously known for the Watergate Scandal in which he pushed executive powers to the limit. After the Watergate crooks had been caught the line of who was in charge led back to him. Eventually his recordings which proved involvement in the scandal were demanded and when he refused the Supreme Court forced him to turn them over. He resigned from office. However beyond the scandal Nixon also made the first presidential visit to China and officially ended military involvement in the Vietnam War.
When compared to the History Channel, I felt PBS was aired more for education. The History Channel has several shows which are clearly for entertainment purposes rather than education.

"The Mormons"

2011-10-18T16:04:00.002-06:00

This week I watched the American Experience/Frontline documentary entitled "The Mormons", a four hour investigation into the early history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the evolution of Mormon culture and tradition throughout the 20th century. Part one focuses on the early history of the Mormons, starting with the childhood of Joseph Smith and ending with the abandonment of the practice of polygamy and Utah's statehood. Part two is an overview of the theological and cultural elements of the Mormon community, covering everything from what Mormon temples are all about to the church's welfare program to the process of excommunication. Throughout the entire documentary, different "talking heads" move the story and the dialogue along. However, there is a great variety in the types of individuals that are speaking, including historians, professors, authors, LDS leaders such as former president Gordon B. Hinckley, current members of the church, former members, strong critics of the faith, etc. Part one, as most of the story takes place in the 19th century, is represented with pictures, while part two is full of video representations of everything that is being discussed, including a virtual tour of the inside of an LDS temple and current interviews with members of the faith . This documentary was very interesting and the variety of different methods the film makers used to convey the information made it very entertaining and engaging. I also thought their choice of individuals to interview for the film was excellent, as I was able get many different perspective on all of the topics presented. Overall, this documentary was very informative and i thought that the way in which the film makers chose to convey the information was extremely effective.

We Shall Remain

2011-10-18T11:35:00.001-06:00

This week’s blog is a review of American Experience PBS documentary, “We Shall Remain- After the Mayflower”. Directed by renowned Cheyenne/Arapaho director Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals, Skins).

Chris Eyre (center) with two Plymouth extras.

The story: In 1621, after the Pilgrims made their way across the sea and established New Plymouth in what is now Southeastern Massachusetts Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag aided the new colony in an alliance of mutual protection and peace. Years later, the relations strained as a result of the Pilgrims refusal to adhere to the treaty years before. King Philip, the second son of Massasoit waged war on the colonies only to be killed a short time later.

The purpose of the documentary is to showcase well-known American events through the eyes of the Native Americans and to debunk the myths and romanticism attached to it. “After the Mayflower” reenacts the First Thanksgiving and progresses to the end of King Philip’s War. Narrated by Peruvian Native Benjamin Bratt (Law and Order, Miss Congeniality), the opening statement, “Almost nothing is known about the most iconic feast in American history, not even the date.” begins debunking the myths Americans have about that event. Most Americans have been taught that the First Thanksgiving was around the end of November, there was a peaceful dinner of hundreds of Pilgrims and Indians, lots of food (especially turkey and cranberry sauce) and cornucopia’s adorned the tables, that dinner was enjoyed by neighbors and peace and love abounded or not. The First Thanksgiving, as the documentary presents, was a small group of Wampanoag men entering the settlement, not sure on whether they would be welcomed and it was simply a time to increase relations in the hopes of an agreement of peace.

We Shall Remain, was reenacted by members the Mashpee/Wampanoag Tribes which is a tribute to the progress of Native Americans presented in the media. 30 years ago Native Americans were represented by the White man in tan make-up. Now, as this documentary showcases, Natives are able to present themelves and to even allowed to tell their own stories. ‘Talking Heads’ were the were predominately people from the Wampanoag tribes. They are telling their own history.

Even still, the want to cast Native American’s as more ‘Hollywood Indian’ type character. My good friend, Annawon Weeden, who was cast as King Philip/Metacom told me that he almost didn’t get to play the part of his famous ancestor because, “Chris [the director] believed me to be too tall. He didn’t think that I looked the part. Which I thought was ludicrous since I am Mashpee Wampanoag and am a direct descendent of Metacom. He wanted me to be shorter to fit the ‘Ideal Indian’. Annawon and the other actors were able to wear their own traditional attire for filming.

Annawon Weeden as King Philip in We Shall Remain

The documentary went to painful measures to ensure that the setting, costumes, weapons and language were authentic and fit the period. Nipmuc, an Alongquian dialect was used by the actors and were taught members of the tribe who knew it. The language is another factor to its authenticity. Westerns of yesteryear didn’t take such concern to the authenticity of a tribe. (i.e. they would show Southwestern Indians in Plains Indians attire, they would allow the Indians to say whatever they wanted, which they usually used as a dialogue of humorous rhetoric that no one on set could understand.” Voiceover’s of the narrator or someone reading documents of that time are over reenactments of the events transpiring or of the scenery of Massachusetts.

The message of this documentary does fulfill what it sets out to do and that is to tell the events of American history through the eyes of the American Indians. This, subconsciously, set up the documentary to be a guilt-induced ride for anyone, even Native American who watch it. I made a could of my Native friends watch this with me and we all came to the same conclusion, that is was depressing. “We got screwed over”, said one friend. “I don’t want to watch the rest of them because it[the documentary] makes it seem like we [Native Americans] fight and fight and yet the White man always wins.” The question is posed though, when looking at the event of American history through the eyes of the Native American lens, is there any other way to go about it than to show that the Natives have always lost? How could the documentary end on a high note for the Wampanoag when talking about that event in history?

Overall, the documentary series was superbly done. The actors were good and the call for authenticity in dress and language was a treat.

Meg Singer

The Civil War (Ken Burns Style)

2011-10-18T08:44:00.002-06:00

I watched the Ken Burns Civil War production as well, not all nine hours, though I have seen all nine hours. I watched the episode, "The Universe of Battle". I chose this one because it was mainly about the battle of Gettysburg and I wanted to see how it was presented. Generally, this battle is one that is made into folklore, more legend and myth than history. I was very impressed with how Ken Burns presented this particular battle. The talking heads he used were knowledgeable about the conditions and events that occurred, and they didn't seem too boring. He did use the floating over pictures, showing some close up and then slowly panning out, but it didn't detract from the overall film. I enjoyed this episode the first time I saw it, and I enjoyed it again this time.

The Civil War; as portrayed by Ken Burns.

2011-10-17T23:38:00.004-06:00

For my blog post this week, I watched the Ken Burns' series 'The Civil War.' (Yes, all 9 hours, a fascinating montage of photos zipping through space eighteen hours long.) Although I'm not by any means an expert on the Civil War, the narrative offered by Mr. Burns seems solid. I feel that his treatment of the contentious issues which still divide north and south were both accurate and well explained. (For the people of Mississippi: No, the war was not about States' Rights, and the was not entirely a referendum of human right as many in Massachusetts or similar locales would argue.)

But we're not here to describe the historical content of the film, but rather to assess the effectiveness of the medium in transmitting historical narratives.

It seems appropriate then to begin with the most basic element of film-making- the scene. Because of the understandable lack of the video, Mr. Burns' series is essentially a moving montage spiced liberally with talking heads. While certainly not the most exciting format, the lack of any better alternatives makes this an effective tool. When collecting the scenes together, Mr. Burns does an excellent job of maintaining a feel of motion and story-telling that is wholly appropriate for the historical process. I didn't ever feel as though the disembodied heads were droning on, nor did the narrator speed through key events by means of a fact-shotgun approach. Mr. Burns' narrative is crafted excellently, leading to tension and resolution, that I would consider is superior to most written work.

It's difficult to judge the use of technical elements in this film. Although I understand that Burns invented a new piece of film equipment in order to allow his pictures to fly through space in never before achieved fashion. The little of use of lighting and color which were used, were blended fairly seamlessly into the piece. Preferring to create visual tension and contrast than to obscure the vision or scream obscenities at the audience. Similarly, the use of sound was expertly managed. The period-esque voice overs, with appropriate regional differences, tended to ingratiate themselves in your mind. (I spent an entire day thinking in the voice of 'Midwestern drummer boy') But as in the case of the film, this option beats out all the alternatives. At least the voice acting was done professionally, and is devoid of over acting and gross stereotypes.

In general, the series serves as an interesting primer on Civil War. And certainly stands among the prodigious productions in the field like American Experience and other PBS films. Even in instances where the source material is actually moving, in color, and more abundant generally.

Antiques Roadshow

2011-10-15T19:06:00.004-06:00

This Antiques Roadshow is in Raleigh, North Carolina hosted by Mark L. Walberg. A older woman that inherited the pottery from her brother after his death. This pots are from Maria and Popovi Pottery in 1965. Bruce M. Shackelford tell the older woman that the son of Maria was a good potter and the designs on the pots and plates what they mean. The two pots and the two plates are now worth from $24,000 to $36,000. Another middle age women talking about a basket which she got it from her great grandmother. It is a Longwy Bride's Basket in 1885. Stuart Whitehurst talks to the female about the basket why it was made they way it was made. The basket is now worth $1,000 to $1,500. Older man has a drink set on display and wax case. Peter J. Shemonsky talked to the older man about the drink set was made of jade with gold and silver trims with the double imperial eagle crest with Czar Nichlos one side and Serna on the other side. He tells the older man that the wax case was to sealing the envelope that you put your family seal on the wax. The older man got copies of these two things. The drink set is now worth $1500 to $2000, while the wax case is worth $700 to $900. The auctiioner said if these two things were original then the drink set would range from $40,000 to $60,000 and the wax case $20,000 to $30,000. The two things together are worth $2,200 to $2,900made around 1980. Another much younger man talks about his dad's photos and medals in World War II. Gary Piattoni is telling the man theat the Navy was in charge of the Blimps. The man has a complete collection of the airship service group. The 1943 Airship Service Group is worth $3,000 to $5,000. Another oreder woman talking about photos of her grandfather and boyhood friend Eward Hopper in boxing match. Peter M. Fairbanks tells the woman that Eward Hopper works are $26 to $27 million dollars. The photos date back in the 1900s and the two photos would be worth between $10, 000 to $15,000 each. A woman tells the auctioner that her husband recieved a rifle from his mother whose his mother inherited this rifle from her great grandfather. Paull Carella tells her that this rifle was called a sharps pistol rifle made in the 1850 and it was rare. The rifle is worth $10,000, but with the Mormon ties to the gun it would be worth $30,000. A man talking about Dell Publishing where he worked between 1970 to 1979. This company was getting ride of work that had been around for years. Ken Gloss says the paperbacks are valuable because people love the covers. The Vintage paperbacks and Cover art worth $3,000 to $3,500. A older woman talks about a table that has been in the family for 7 generations and it was a wedding gift form Thomas Jefferson to his first cousin's daughter. Andrew Brunk can see connection to Jefferson on this table. He asks the woman what is the interesting part of the table. She tells him the wear bars on the bottom side of the drawer. The auctioneer notices the inlay on the table struck him as an interest. The Virginia Pembroke table in the 1800 would be worth now $15,000 to $25,000. It would be worth 10x more like auctioneer said if Thomas Jefferson sat by this table. A man talks about a watercolor his grandfather had who was given by an older couple work for on his farm, which he did not know much about it. Watercolor and Guash by Edmund Darch Lewis, Philadelphia artist. Debra Force tells the story about E.D. Louis life a little bit. The Edmund Darch Lewis watercolor in 1885 is now worth $6,000 to $6,500. A man talked about a Consima shop and brought this vase and had no clue what it was. Arlie Sulka tells him that the art glass made by Swedish Company and she tells him all about the origins how it became to be and how long it lasted. The art glass was made in the teens of the 19th Century. She tells him the type of this art glass is "Ariel" named after the Shakespeare play The Tempest referring to the air spirits. "Ariel" made in to the 1930 and lasted into the 1960s and even sometime in the 1970s. The 1966 Orrefors "Ariel" Vase now worth $5,000 to $7,000. An older woman talks about her husband's grandfather dealership in Ashville, North Carolina and her father-in-law dealership in Hickory, North Carolina. Rudy Franchi tells the women the history at this time. She has a sign in pretty good condition. The Packard Enamel-on-Steel Sign in 1932 is worth $4,000 to $6,000. A man talks about his mother bring over stuff of his grandmother and grandfather. He tells the auctioneer he looked in his grandmother's book and was very fascinated by it. Suzanne Perrault tells him this company Net Price List Potteries in California and opened in 1926, but in business about 6 years. The Malibu Potteries Sample book in 1930 worth $1,500 to $2,000. A woman's husband a avid collector. He got hold of the picture of St. Marks AMEI church when he visited in Durham, North Carolina. He was the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Confernece in Raleigh in 1966 and has a pamphlet of that time frame. he also got the book in that same time frame. Thomas Lecky tells during this time Martin Luther King Jr. was the apex and the importance of him in the state during this period. The signed book by Martin Luther King Jr. in her collection is worth $2,000 to $3,000. For all three piece of the archive they are worth $3,000 to $4,000. An man tells that the painting was given to his father from great uncle. He tells the auctioneer that his great uncle was a missioner in China from 1922 to the 1950s. Lark E. Mason tells the man it is an export painting. The painting tells where it is located. He tells the man the three main Chinese ports are Canton, Hong Kong, and Shangai. Teh mid-19th Century Chinese eport painting is worth $30,000 to $40,000. A man's grandmother guitar who was going to sell it back to his brother after World War II. he tell the auctioneer that it was passed down to his father then to him. The auctioneer tell the man that the guitar was played a lot. James N. Baggett tells the man this guitar he has comes from the Golden Era of guitar making at Martin Guitar Company in Pennsylvania. The 1937 Martin D-18 Guitar is worth $15,000 to $18,000. The guitar could be worth approximately $35,000 if nothing had to been done on it. A man tells the auctioneer about the picture of his great-great grandfather, Andrew Martin Chandler and the person next him Sillas Chandler, a slave of Andrew. The man tells the auctioneer they fought four battles together. Wes Cowan tells the man that Africans dressed in Confederate uniforms really rare image. The Confederate Master and Slave tintype is worth $30,00 to $40,000. A woman talking to the auctioneer about John Gaine's chair. Leigh Ken tells the woman the history about John Gaines and his son worked Episwitch Mess from 1707 1760. The John Gaines side chairs in 1725 are worth $30,000 to $50,000, but if they were not resurfaced they would be around $100,000 to $130,000.

Surviving the Dust Bowl

2011-10-14T13:59:00.004-06:00

This week on PBS I watched an American Experience program titled, "Surviving the Dust Bowl". The film used footage from the thirties in the Southern Plains as well as interviews with people who were children who lived through this time. It was interesting to see how the dust bowl actually looked. The documentary went from how the Southern Plains in Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and New Mexico from very fruitful in the beginning, to how the Dust Bowl eventually ended and shaped the plains. People were encouraged to farm in these lands because they produced so well. After the drought hit in 1931, the winds picked up the top soil and began to blow the dust all over the dust bowl. The drought lasted much longer than most people expected and after the worst storm in history, "Black Sunday", there was an exodus out of the plains for the west coast. Those who stayed had to deal with disease and death as well as exterminating jack-rabbits that ate what little crops were left. The government used New Deal programs to try and help struggling farmers, and when soil conservation was suggested, the government paid farmers to implement the changes. This film was really interesting to watch and I especially enjoyed the interviews and the footage that was shown.

Megan Fotheringham

Ancient Aliens on the History Channel

2011-10-12T10:40:00.002-06:00

The documentary “Ancient Aliens” focuses on the possibility that aliens have visited ancient civilizations and bestowed their knowledge and technology. In 1968, a year before Neil Armstrong arrived on the Moon, Erich Von Daniken wrote Chariots of Gods? In which he makes controversial claims that extraterrestrials had influence on early human cultures and society. Von Daniken’s literary works excited the already space centered society, explained things that archeologists couldn’t and created a storm of controversy.

The documentary gives the Nazca Lines of Peru as example of extraterrestrial interaction:

The lines atop the mountains are almost 23 kilometers long, long enough, Von Daniken believes, to be airstrips. The gigantic figures of spiders, apes and monkeys are so large that they can only bee seen from the air as being something significant. If it was art, why would the people of this ancient civilization create something they couldn’t see. If extraterrestrial’s did visit the mountains of Peru, why would they make Peru their stop. The documentary believes that the area around the Nazca Lines is rich in raw materials like gold, uranium, and nutrients in the soil. This would be the ideal place for any extraterrestrial activity or research into the earth.

If extraterrestrial’s were here wouldn’t these ancient civilization try to document it? The contributing scientist on ‘Ancient Aliens’ believe that there is proof:

In the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, theologically significant for Christians around the globe, it reads that a wheeled device descended from the sky. In Sanskrit, the Rukma Vimana are mythical flying machines piloted by a King and imitated the motions of a butterfly.

In Kimberley, Australia and Sego Canyon, Utah there are similarly depicted helmeted drawings of beings donning attire considered strange for the time.

Kimberley, Australia

Sego Canyon, Utah

Puma Punku, Bolivia is another example of extraterrestrial encounters. The ruins are megalithic rock formations that seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

The stone is cut perfectly to fit together in it’s formation but questions arise from guessing its origins. The rock is extremely strong and hard to cut, the quarry nearby is so far away, and there is no logical explanation of significance to the people around the region that would warrant the building of such a massive formation. Human ingenuity is hard to comprehend especially from a people who lived 5,000 years ago. The documentary believes that these cases are explained due to the encounters early civilizations had with extraterrestrials.

The documentary ends with this statement in the hopes that the mainstream will keep an open mind about the possibility of extraterrestrial encounters past present and future. “ We are not alone. We want to believe that someone is out there watching us and will come to our rescue when we need them."

Meg Singer

How The States Got Their Shapes

2011-10-11T17:25:00.001-06:00

“How the states got their shapes” was the program I viewed on History Channel. I turned on the television and their happened to be a mini-marathon on this series. To be honest I had never heard of it before and was expecting to catch Pawn Stars. The show recaps the history of each individual state. The first episode focused on American secrets and they did a segment about Nevada and the mysterious Area 51. I’ve always wondered if it was so top secret how did it manage to get out to the public? They confirmed that most of Nevada was government owned and that there was in fact an Area 51. The host of the show and an Area 51 expert drove as close as they could come to the sight of Area 51 without getting arrested. It was literally in the middle of nowhere and of course security knew they were coming long before they got their. I wonder how much security Area 51 has?
The second episode focused on how religion shaped several states. Blue Laws, which forbid liquor sales on Sunday, began with the Puritans and were picked up with intensity by Kansas. In fact, Kansas led the temperance movement which caused the short American period of prohibition. The host even met with a present local brewery owner, who has stated that in the beginning of his business he had received hate mail informing him he was doing the devils work, showing how Kansas still looked down on drinking.
It was no surprise that they had also covered Utah when it came to religion. They discussed how Utah was denied statehood several times because of the Mormon religion. Polygamy was a practice which was declared federally illegal and which was common among the Church of Later Day Saints. What I did not know was how large Utah originally was. Apparently when silver and gold were struck Utah was cut down and yet still denied statehood. The show also did a short bit about Brigham Young University and how this LDS supported University encourages young adults to get married early and have plenty of children. I was interested to see the history of our state told by outsiders. This episode somewhat opened my eyes to how unique Utah is viewed by other Americans.

Gettysburg

2011-10-11T12:03:00.003-06:00

I watched a show on the history channel about the Battle of Gettysburg, it was a documentary that mixed in some memoir with it. What was so amazing about was the recreation of the battles that they did. It was interesting to see the personal stories mixed in with the battle tactics and strategies. One point that stuck out in my mind was when a historian was talking about how he and his buddies would debate about how one machine gun nest could have shifted any major battle of the civil war. He said, you wouldn't need a machine gun nest, the battle of Gettysburg could have been won by the South with just two walkie talkies. The communication was so horrible that that's all it would have taken. In studying this as a historian, the personal interest stories are more to just fluff it up and make it more interesting for a casual history viewer, but the documentary and battle strategy and tactics really made it worth it, and an enjoyable film to watch.

Riley Crowford

The Lower East Side

2011-10-11T11:01:00.000-06:00

The New York City’s lower east side is a changing place. 100 years ago it was an over crowded immigrant Jewish community. It was packed with tenements and the number of people living there was three times more than it is today. Today the lower east side is undergoing a “rapid transformation, “ according to the Bowery Boys. It is full of luxury apartments and luscious clothing stores and overpriced markets, but there is one old school Jewish cultural aspect that has persevered and remained in the ever-changing lower east side: delicatessens. The Bowery Boys did a great podcast on the history of one of the most famous delis that has survived, Katz delicatessen. Katz serves pastrami, salami, chili dogs, brisket, and so many other traditional deli foods. When Katz first opened it was one of 60 kosher delicatessens in the area. In 1942 they did something that differentiated themselves from the other kosher delis. All three of the Katz boys had been drafted and were fighting overseas so their dad, and the owner of Katz, started a program with the slogan, “Send Salami To A Boy In The army!” And the store did just that. People could come and buy salami, which was then sent to the soldiers. In 1988 when times were changing and delis were becoming only a small part of the lower east side, the Katz family sold there deli. The new owners made it more tourists friendly. It is no longer a kosher deli, but it still is in the original location and serves the same menu. Most importantly, you can still order salami to be sent to your boy or girl in the army.

Hanna Merrill

The NYC Marathon

2011-10-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

In 1976 the entrance fee for the New York City Marathon was five dollars. But it took years for the New York City marathon to gain enough popularity to require an entrance fee. This is just one awesome fact I absorbed while listening to the Bowery Boys podcast on The New York City Marathon. The NYC marathon is one of the most popular marathons. Over 30 thousand runners run the marathon that lays tracks through all five burros, starting and finishing in Manhattan. There is so much history behind the New York City Marathon. Fred Lebo, an orthodox Jew who survived the holocaust and immigrated to New York City, started the New York Road Runners Club in 1958. He wanted to make marathon running popular. It took a lot of dreaming and hard work to reach this goal. The Road Runner’s Club ran in Queens and the Bronx and used Yankee stadium locker room to change and bathe after their running workouts. Not many people thought marathon running would gain popularity but Fred had a dream, which he was not going to easily let go of. The first official New York City Marathon took place in Central Park on September 17, 1970 and consisted of 4 laps around the hill filled and only semi-pathed park. In 1976 the Road Runner’s club gained more popularity by advertising and word of mouth. The 1976 marathon was significant because it had a five dollar entrance fee, was held in the bi-centennial anniversary year and the course was changed to conquer all five burros. It’s a logistical nightmare to organize a marathon even on a large budget. The 1976 marathon had the smallest budget the New York City marathon has ever had and they ran through all five burros with little police coverage or awareness. Anything could have happened, but good luck was on Lebo and the road runner club members’ side. The race raised money for the city, gained popularity and truly united people from all different backgrounds in a time when there was a need for lifted spirits. After the New York City Marathon gained so much popularity other states hosted marathons. Presently the New York City marathon is the most well known marathon and it makes itself available for all sorts of people. The Bowery Boys explained the historical part of the marathon and their guest speaker, a NYC marathon finisher, explained why it is so diverse and popular today. She explained that there are many ways to get an entrance number, which is basically your ticket to run the marathon. One way, that I was unaware of, is to raise over $1,500 for a charity on a list that the Road Runner’s Club post each year before the race. My favorite part of the podcast was when the guest speaker explained just how wonderful and diverse the crowd is who cheer the runners on. She said she encountered all sorts of tri-state area fans and her favorite moment was when she ran through a polish neighborhood where women and children were slicing fresh oranges and handing them out to runners, like herself. My mother has been a member of the Central Park track team as well as the New York Road Runner’s club since she weas fresh out college and I think she would agree with the Bowery Boy’s podcast claim that the New York City Marathon is magical.

Hanna Merrill

The Bowery Boys

2011-10-11T10:59:00.000-06:00

The second academic historian’s blog I chose to follow was, the Bowery Boys blog. Their blog attempts to learn and share as much as they can about New York City. The Bowery Boys blog is broken down into posts about different places and main events. I came across this blog in an article titled, “100 Awesome Blogs for History Junkies” and I didn’t know what to expect. I scrolled down a bit and saw a brief description of the Bowery Boys blog and I automatically clicked on it. Because I grew up in and around New York City I take it for granite. I thought I knew a lot about the place I’ve called home for so long, however, the Bowery Boys know a whole lot more. I can picture all the places they reported on but there is so much more history to these places than I ever imagined. For example, one of my favorite parks in New York City is Bryant Park. I knew there was a fire there a while back but I never thought any deeper about it. The knowledge I gained while reading the Bowery Boys blog is incredible. In a short post I learned which historical building was son fire, what its significance was, how long it took the building to burn down and why it burned so quickly. It was great to enhance my understanding of the place I come from and the spots I thought I knew everything about. The blog covers a wide range of aspects that make New York City so unique and influential. Instinctually I chose to reads about my favorite places and while doing so I tested my knowledge. One post I read was on Sardi’s Restaurant which is a restaurant located on west 44th street, nuzzled in-between some of Broadway’s most famous theaters. I’ve only dined there once because of its touristy reputation. But after reading the blog Sardi’s should not have a touristy reputation at all. It is true New York City restaurant that has been through prohibition, broadways ups and downs, and fed broadways struggling and successful producers, actors, and actresses. What makes it touristy are the framed caricature pictures covering the walls but as I learned even those have a deeper history because not all of those sketched producers, actors and actresses made a mark on Broadway. In fact a bunch of them did not make it at all and their caricatures are what remains of them on Broadway. These juicy stories make me miss home and most of all spike my interest in learning more about the places I love.

Hanna Merrill

'Pickers' fail to clear a basement bargain bar.

2011-10-11T09:26:00.000-06:00

For my blog entry this week, I watched a show called 'American Pickers.' From what I could tell from the hosts, the premise of the show is to find American antiques at bargain prices (a la, scouting through old people's barns.) refurbish them, and make a profit when reselling them.

It didn't surprise me then that this show had almost no historical information. Among the thirty or so items they bought in the hour, producers felt it was necessary to include background information on only a handful of items. And what was offered was incredibly paltry, a picture of the item would be displayed next to a slim paragraph placing the object chronologically. Apparently the producers believe that either only professional archeologists of twentieth century America watch the program, or that any relevant historical legwork is irrelevant to the audience. Hence, the historical value of the show is veritably non-existent; I walked away knowing the approximate cost of a 1940's Ribbon microphone in resell, but nothing about why it should be worth anything at all.

I had my bar set below the basement prices their hosts demanded for antique objects, yet I was still disappointed.

Despite my apprehension over the content of the show, I feel that premise of the show is even more offensive. Apparently, the only value of antiques is as a refurbished plaything or as a decoration for your den wall. I feel that this robs both the antique value (a la 'this is old, and really and important') as well as the historical value that it could provide to historians, anthropologists and others from the social sciences pantheon. On one occasion, I witnessed the 'pickers' removing objects from a well-cataloged and preserved environment only to 'restore' the piece and sell it to a private collector, making any opportunities to study the piece virtually nonexistent. This is not to mention the disregard with which they handled the antiques in general, not a single person used gloves or other proper equipment to handle the pieces. Similarly, I witnessed the 'pickers' personally destroy three pieces by attempting to use them without proper care to their age or condition. ('This is a cool crank toy from the 20's, let's see if it works!)

As usual with the history channel, I feel as though they sacrifice too much history in the name of entertainment.

How the States Got Their Shapes

2011-10-11T00:06:00.002-06:00

This week I watched an episode from the History channel series "How the States Got Their Shapes" entitled "Mouthing Off". This episode discusses the different accents that exist throughout the different regions of the country, covering both how and why certain dialects developed and the significance of those differences. For example, the Long Island accent is so distinct because of its geographical separation from the rest of the country, and the experts in this show claim that geographic isolation causes significant dialect differences to develop. They also mention the Southern accent as we think of it today, which was something that didn't actually develop until after the Civil War. The experts claim that this accent was developed after the war as a sort of cultural and regional characteristic that could continue to tie the people of the South together. The variety of examples presented is quite extensive, as the show covers regions from the South, to the East coast, to the Midwest and more, and mentions not only large multi-state regions, but also areas as small as a single city.

In addition to covering the basic accent distinctions from around the country, the show examines the significance of accents within the United States, posing the question "Can having an accent be a hindrance?" In order to address this question, the show looks at organizations that attempt to help people rid themselves of their regional accents and develop more standardized patterns.

Interestingly enough, this idea of standardized speech originated from the introduction of media such as the radio and television into everyday life, as the only people who actually speak in that way are those employed in the media business, such as news anchors. In addition to the media, the show also mentions the role of communication in the development of regional accents. Major historical events and developments such as the pony express, the telegraph, the telephone, and the internet are mentioned and their speech pattern implications are discussed.

This history channel program attempts to cover a very broad topic and a large amount of information in a small amount of time and in the most interesting way possible. Overall, I think the show's host and producers do a good job at keeping the information interesting and entertaining, but also accurate and historically based. The show interviews a few experts throughout, in this case two professors from different American universities, who chime in with their two cents every once in a while. However, most of the information showcased is from the interviews with average citizens by the show's host. The show focuses on the opinions and knowledge of the average American in order to attempt to give an accurate representation of the country's population as a whole by interviewing people on the street and asking them to do things like draw a picture of New York state, or recite the Gettysburg address. It is interesting to see the how different people's responses can be to these rather basic questions. This is a rather enjoyable show, and while it can be silly at times, it does actually provide a good amount of accurate historical information and is quite entertaining!

Thomas Burn

2011-10-09T21:32:00.004-06:00

On the History Channel website, I found a video that talked about Thomas Burns' Rouges Gallery. This was the first time anyone had used photography to identify criminals using mugshots. In the 1890's Burns began to take photographs of lawbreakers and he dispersed the collection throughout the country to catch them if they came on the radar again. Before mugshots, criminals would be able to leave a place once they became known as a lawbreaker and no one would recognize them. Even today we still use mugshots to catch criminals.

The video used reenactments to show the past, and pictures being taken. The narrator was talking throughout. It also showed some of the original photos as well as mugshots being taken today.

Megan Fotheringham

Around The World In 80 Ways

2011-10-09T21:25:00.002-06:00

On the History channel, I watched Around The World in 80 Ways. I say this show is very interesting to watch. The two people in the TV episode names are Dennis and Rob. They are going from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Ipanema beach in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. First then get of a 40 story building with a motorized window washing scaffold then get onto road train to a sugar plantation about 50 miles from their destination. They get on a harvesting tractor as another transportation to have fun. They walk for a little bit and find a railroad handcart both of them have to use their arms to get the cart to move. They have fun riding on a cart pulled by the ostriches. They get pretty close to their destination and try to use the water swan to get to Ipanema Beach, but that attempt failed. So they get a painter truck that pain lines on the road. They get to about 1000 mile from the beach. Rob takes the hang gliding approach to get to the beach and Dennis takes the road approach, but he get an ice cream bicycle art to ride down the roads.

- Justin Kwan

Technology and Culture

2011-10-09T09:03:00.002-06:00

The article is written by W. Patrick McCray about the technology and the culture it is in. Two European scientists discovered tiny changes in the magnetism that it can unexpectedly produce strong electrical signals. This became to be giant magnetoresistance also known as GMR. GMR revolutionized the electronic industry as it had the ability to produce computer disk drives to store ever-increasing amounts of data. Peter Grunberg and Albert Fert were awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of sciences and they were the two European people who used their laboratory research in what is today's electronic gadgets to having what we have like the ipod. This would not be possible if these guys didn't research what they did to come up with the stuff they did in these electronic device we have today. Other research people took what Grunberg and Fert had discovered and developed that idea into what is called the spintronics. The spintronics is what will become the nanotechnolgy in the later years. as the spintronic become better that the people in this research are able to come up with computer memory that is made small yet it can hold a lot of data.

- Justin Kwan

Civil Warriors

2011-10-06T13:07:00.000-06:00

I chose to follow a U.S Civil War blog by Ethan Rafuse. The blog has been listed in a few top-ten U.S Civil War Blog ratings. I immediately chose to follow a Civil War Blog because The United States Civil War has captivated me since middle school. Not only is it my favorite part of history to study but I also find reading anything on the Civil War entertaining. Perhaps the classes I have taken on the civil war that lead me to my fascination with the war, military leaders, Lincoln, reconstruction, and how the war is still remembered today. I believe to this day there is still a connection to the Civil War within the US that is deeper than connections to any other historical event. This blog is an example of this. Ethan Rafuse is a great blogger. He has collected and posted recent articles, some of which reporters have quoted him in, as well as written his own pieces that give opinions on events. These articles exemplify the connections historians and average people still have to the Civil War. Titles like, “Osceola — still smarting from Civil War — calls on KU to drop Jayhawks as mascot.” And, “Today’s Military is Still Learning From the Civil War,” truly help the reader understand that the Civil War is not just another piece of history nor is it forgotten. Infact, was intrigued the moment I started reading the blog because the sub title is, “Refighting the American Civil War, One Blog Post at a Time.” Ethan Rafuse and his team do a wonderful job of picking articles to do just that. I would recommend following this intelligent blog to anybody even those who are only slightly interested in the Civil War because it does not consist of bland factual civil war readings but rather recent articles filled with recent events connecting to the Civil War. This makes it much easier to relate and stay entertained. For those who are not as inclined to read, there are also interesting illustrations from past and present artists to admire. The Civil Warriors blog can be found at: http://civilwarriors.net/wordpress/

Hanna Merrill

H-Catholicism

2011-10-06T13:06:00.000-06:00

The second H-Net.org discussion network I followed was h-Catholicism, specifically a query that dealt with Catholic universities and higher education criticism. The query was as follows, “The Center for Applied Research in Education (CARE) at Notre Dame University in Lebanon has cited Freire on its website for many years.” And continues with a question, “Who can inform me if organizing a conference on ‘Paulo Freire and the Middle East’ would cause any controversy?” The h-Catholicism contributors had diverse ideas and offerings based off this question. Many contributing members touched on the Vatican’s involvement in the higher education system. A few of these posts were extremely persistent in claiming, catholic university faculty and administrators are rarely deterred by criticism from the Vatican. However, they did not discount that fact that the Vatican still ahs a huge influence on catholic universities’ curriculum and teaching methods. Most posts seemed to use Paulo Freire as an example to help prove their own points. I found this interesting. Many other questions that followed made me ponder the Catholic Church and its influence on higher education. These posts helped me strengthen my idea that religion is the area of history that changes the slowest. Numerous contributors were at a disagreement with each other. They would quote other contributors and use these quotes to fuel their new and different ideas; almost saying, “you are stupid to think that, here is what an intelligent historian thinks.” There were some mediators in the thread playing the devils advocate role. Sometimes the mediators would take a side. I did not think anyone was out of line but the conversation defiantly became heated quickly. One thing is for sure, religion in the classroom is always a difficult subject to come to agreement on no matter what the question at hand is. I would recommend reading this topic because it is informative and also entertaining.

H-Connecticut

2011-10-06T13:04:00.000-06:00

For my first Phi Eta blog post I followed the h-Connecticut discussion network. The topic I chose was a query, which was trying to find any information on a revolutionary war hero who was reportedly buried in Fishkill Connecticut. The query was followed by a slim amount of information that had already been discovered. The tone of the query was almost one of enthusiastic interest. They were looking for names, burial sites, family history web sites and although the first post offered only a small portion of information to start from, it was enough to interest many other h-Connecticut members. Automatically I thought the responses would be short and of little help to the original query. However, I was proven wrong. I was amazed by the quantity of full-hearted responses other network members had posted. Time seemed to be of no concern for the responders. This is something to be admired. Going out of their way to answer questions about a topic that may not be of their highest interest is very impressive. It is in no means selfish. Vast groups of people were united through a post. Maybe this says something about technology and its ability to connect people with similar ideas and instantly help them fuse these ideas to reach a common goal. However, what I took away from this post, above technology’s power, was a feeling of how interesting and uniting history can be. The fact that historians and average people are still interested in the revolutionary war is fascinating. Like Shakespeare’s plays, the fixation with historical events is timeless. At the very moment that an event occurs, questions start flowing and the flow is almost never interrupted and always strengthened. The query about the revolutionary war Fishkill burial sight is an exceptional example of this statement because the revolutionary was happened so long ago and yet, 10 posts from eight different historians followed the query with well thought responses. I would recommend reading topics in the h-Connecticut discussion network to anyone, even if their interest in history is not strong.

Hanna Merrill

Phone Calls on Murdered Civil Rights Workers

2011-10-06T11:40:00.001-06:00

C-SPAN.org's weekly podcast highlighted phone calls of President Lyndon B. Johnson and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover on the murdered Civil Rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Beginning on July 212, 1964 Hoover calls Johnson to confirm that the civil rights worker's cars were found, burning about 8 miles NE of Philadelphia, MI. Hoover, although unable to see if there were bodies in the car, believed the men to be dead in the car or were taken and killed in another location saying, "I would doubt that the people down there would give them a break."

On June 23, 1964 two bodies were found. The first body was identified as Charles Edward Moore, who attended college at a nearby school. The second body was unidentified because they only found the lower half of the body. The two bodies found had no connection to the three missing civil rights workers.

On August 5th, Lyndon called Hoover to congratulate him on the closing of the case. The men, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were found dead not far from the location of the car. Chaney was shot 3 times while the two other men were shot once. The sheriff, deputy sheriff, Justice of the Peace and seven other Ku Klux Klan members were believed to be involved and Hoover hoped that at least one out of the ten would break and they would have enough evidence to prosecute.

Meg Singer

Podcast: Latin American Art

2011-10-05T00:38:00.003-06:00

This week I found a site that has pod casts of lectures given by various professors which I found pretty helpful. www.backdoorbroadcasting.com

I found a historical one about the art of Latin America. It was titled, "The Journey and the Garden: Landscape and Modernity in Latin America" it was given by Prof. Jens Andermann. He showed a lot of landscape and garden paintings that had been influenced by the political events of the time. For instance he had a few paintings by Miguel Lawner who painted trees during his time at a Cuban concentration camp. It reflected not only the destruction of the particular type of trees that was going on, but the situation politically as well. Lawner was accused of using hidden coded messages in his artwork.

Andermann went on to explain the evolution of art in Latin America. The type of materials and mediums used as well as the inspiration. The landscape art became more important and as time went on paler colors were used. You could see the art becoming more modern with each historical event and new landscape. It was a pretty interesting lecture and the pictures that accompanied it made it more enjoyable to listen to.
Megan Fotheringham

Witches and Revolution

2011-10-04T14:14:00.000-06:00

For this weeks podcast I once again returned to the Gilder Lehrman institute of American History website and I listened to the podcasts of John Demos and Carol Berkin.
John Demos is a Yale professor and his podcast was titled “Religion and Witchcraft in Colonial America.” He begins with the famous Salem witch trials. He discusses how most defendants were acquitted and those who were convicted were later overturned. Demos stated that it all began with gossip. Back then every town had suspected witches. There were references to witchcraft everywhere. The witch trials were only the tip of the iceberg (Demos). In an essence witchcraft was a part of life. And yet I wonder why it was feared so much? Demos moves further to explain how the people of the time would use God as an explanation to the world around them. Science and religion coincided with one another during colonial times. They would explain nature disasters as God punishing certain towns therefore those people would respond with prayer, repentance, and moral reform. By the time of the American Revolution, Americans reconstructed God toward a different interpretation. He was not there to only punish. How different was God viewed back then as it is in present times? Does it change with time?

Carol Berkin at the National Constitution Center gives a lecture about the “Myths of the American Revolution”. Berkin discusses how most Americans believe that the American Revolution came about after oppression from the tyrannical English Parliament and every colonist spontaneously rose up in unification to defend unfair taxes. She states that this story is wrong. The colonies were built for no other reason than to supplement the mother country. However parliament largely ignored what was going on in the colonies which came to be known as salutary neglect. There was no overwhelming consensus to fight the British. As John Adams had put it 1/3 supported the war, 1/3 opposed it, and 1/3 had no opinion. The numbers for who opposed it are actually believed to be much higher. What did drive many colonists into the revolution was the intolerable behavior of the British army that was sent to watch the colonies. Berkin continues with how the Revolutionary war was also a civil war when Indians were concerned. For them it was a battle for their land. For North Carolina farmers it was a battle for representation because they were being oppressed by the tidewater government. In many cases it was colonists killing colonists. For smugglers it was a war to keep in business since they made their living competing with Britain. The American Revolution was a series of different wars for different goals.

Biblical Religion in Context

2011-10-04T12:05:00.002-06:00

This week I listened to a lecture about Biblical religion in the context of Ancient Near Eastern culture from Christine Hayes at Yale. This lecture was one of many from her course "An Introduction to the Old Testament(Hebrew Bible)". The purpose of this lecture is to discuss two different ways that Biblical religion is understood in its historical context: one model shows Biblical religion as an evolutionary extension of Ancient Near Eastern religion and culture, while the other shows Biblical religion as revolution in that Israelite religion is radically different from Near Eastern culture. Hayes briefly discusses the first model, and spend almost the entirety of the lecture on the second model. She uses a specific work by Yehezkel Kaufmann throughout her entire discussion of the revolutionary understanding of Israelite religion, drawing exclusively from his conclusions to discuss this topic. It was interesting to me that she chose to use only Kaufmann's work in this lecture, especially because at the end of her discussion she mentions that Kaufmann's conclusions are often forced and can be disproved with further investigation. So my question is, why spend forty five minutes discussing a work that does not present an accurate interpretation of the material you are attempting to teach? It seems as if a different approach, using a wider variety of sources, would have been more effective in presenting this material. Overall the lecture was engaging and informative, but the approach Hayes chose to take and the limited number of sources she used in her discussion of this broad and multifaceted topic seemed to diminish the quality of this lecture. The discussion of Biblical religion in its historical context is one that has the potential to be a more interesting and wide ranging subject, but the approach taken by Hayes severely limited this potential.

Robin Hood

2011-10-03T10:33:00.002-06:00

I listened to a podcast about Robin Hood, and the myth behind the man. The podcasters spoke of the evidence of him actually existing, and also talked of how much he was romanticized, as many of these characters often are. They talked of how he later became an extremely wealthy aristocrat and how he probably never actually robbed from the rich to give to the poor. These are merely tales told by people and skewed and branded throughout time. Nevertheless it was amusing to hear how the most revered outlaw came to be and how his myth grew throughout the ages.

Riley Crowford

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

2011-10-03T09:31:00.002-06:00

I listened to Organization of American Historians Talking History podcast on Collapse: How Societies choose to fail or succeed. In this podcast, Jared Diamond talked a lot about failures of societies. he listed characteristics that make societies fail. One of the big things that make societies fail is environmental problems. The societies that fail eventually go into civil war, turn to terrorist acts, or there there is mass migration away from the country. He generalized the failures of societies into four categories. The failure of societies was complicated and hard to understand. It had environment problems and population growth. The elite people of the societies insulate themselves from the rest of the population and let them suffer instead of helping out. The people in thesis societies fail because they do not repraised their core values they have. He also talks about the how societies can succeed too. He mentioned that media, television, newspaper, and books help the societies to learn from remote societies problems so they are not repeated. The successful societies also learn from past societies that made them fail they way they did and to improve on those mistakes made by the past societies.

- Justin Kwan

Distilled Awesomeness!

2011-10-01T19:31:00.001-06:00

This week I listened to several podcasts put out by the American Historical Society's Talking Historypodcast. Although defunct for the past five years or so, the archival stuff is really worth taking a look at. I would really recommend that everyone at least check out what they have to offer, whether for educational or recreational use. From what I've seen, they have a fairly broad range of topics discussed by professional historians who are specialists in their field. Perhaps even more surprisingly (and admittedly enjoyable) they have professional audio experts. The interviews are conducted with quality studio equipment (you can actually hear what people have to say!), background music and transitions are handled perfectly (No drowning out the host or his guests!), and best of all the podcasts are offered in a direct download format in .mp3 format. (You can actually listen to it wherever and whenever you want without hassling with streaming/crappy web players? This is ludicrous!) Seriously, do yourself and the nice folks at the podcasts a favor and take some time to enjoy their well-polished product.

Aside from my favorable impression of the technical quality of the podcasts, the subjects and the academics they have on to discuss them are equally as impressive. I listened to podcasts concerning the previously unacknowledged broad scope Truman administration's Cold War policies, in addition to a session discussing the life and character of Werner Von Braun. (creatively entitled 'Prometheus') In both instances, the academics were given the time to present their ideas in a nuanced fashion, instead of the typical 89-FONT response typical of the media at large. Further, the host actually developed a relevant conversation with the historian allowing the conversation to explore ever more subtle disctinctions about their subjects, rather than impede the conversation by asking the professional to comment on contemporary events or make predictions about 'what if' scenarios.

In addition to the interview segment, the podcasts include sections devoted to the historical method utilized by the professional in his investigation, in addition to providing information on treasure troves of related information. Sometimes this took the form of primary source documents such as the online content of a muesuem or an online historical database maintained by a foundation or society. Or by providing relevant secondary sources by other established Historians in the field.

On top of all this already packed into the show, the end segment is an essay produced by (I think) by a history student, with conclusions which draw reasonable generalizations about the topic, musing on the meaning of the event, as well as parallels with contemporary issues in historiography or culture.

All in 29 minutes! Honestly, if you've spent any time watching the History Channel or any other similar history intended for mass consumption, you owe it to yourself (and the producers) to at least give this podcast a listen. What do you have to lose?

Map Podcast

2011-09-27T18:05:00.003-06:00

This week I found a podcast with a special expert, David Rumsey on historical maps. It was pretty interesting to learn about how maps changed with new discoveries and how maps were made anciently. One of the first maps he mentioned was carved. I found that cartography was really intriguing and I wanted to learn more about the maps he mentioned. He also talked a lot about the future of mapping and how the web and other technology has changed forever the maps we see today. All over are maps with an abundance of information whether it be political, social etc. Rumsey argues that maps had a great impact in history. They reflect the change in the world as well as geography. Really interesting to think about!

Megan Fotheringham

French Imperialism

2011-09-27T15:45:00.002-06:00

The podcast I listened to most recently discusses "French Imperialism" and can be found on academicearth.org. This video is a lecture from a class at Yale University entitled "France Since 1871", and the lecture is taught by a graduate student by the name of Charles Keith. The content of this lecture revolves around the development of French imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and how the growth of the empire in turn gave rise to a strong French nationalist movement. The theories he discusses involving the growth of nationalism and imperialism echo the work of Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, where the majority of the emphasis is placed on the cultural significance of empire building within the metropole and its relationship with the emergence of popular nationalism. This lecture was not only interesting, but also entertaining. Keith did an excellent job at keeping his audience engaged by throwing in a few jokes and changing up the material. It seemed likely to me that the topic he was speaking on was the same as his dissertation, as he had an extensive amount of sources readily available and enmeshed within his lecture. He constantly quoted primary sources, often times in the original French, during the lecture and made good use of a variety of sources to back up the claims he was making. Overall, this lecture was very informative and interesting, and was an excellent representation of a well researched and well written planned historical lecture.

Auschwitz, Paintings and Torah Scrolls

2011-09-27T10:57:00.047-06:00

BBC Radio’s “A History of the World in 100 Objects” takes objects and tells history. Peter Lewis interviews his uncle Bryn Peterson, a Welsh WWII Prisoner of War about the painting of his later wife Peggy, painted in the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland.

In 1939 Bryn met Peggy before he went off to war. He told her that he would come back to her. Bryn was picked up by German soldiers six days after he arrived in Belgium. He thought that they were there to shoot them on sight, instead the Germans came up to them and shook their hands. They were taken to Thorn, Poland and Bryn escaped. By jumping trains he almost made it to Vienna, Austria but he was captured and taken back to Thorn. Whilst in Thorn, a compound of twenty barracks, Bryn learned German. He said, “After Welsh German comes easy. They used me as a translator.” Bryn remembers the horror of his time in the camp. “All you would think about was food” He reflects, “Once there was a man who was sick, he had diarrhea but he kept eating.” He would escape at every chance he could. Bryn would volunteer for the working parties. Bryn and about 30 other British prisoners were taken to Auschwitz to work in a metal shop. “I used to see the naked Jewish bodies. Women, babies, men. All nude. They were gassed and then they would burn. Even the Germans would talk quietly amongst the dead.”

In Auschwitz, Bryn worked with a Polish Jewish boy, a painter. “I pulled out the picture of Peggy that I had and he asked me, in broken English, if he wanted me to paint it. So he did. He couldn’t sign it because he a Jew. So I don’t know who he was.” Bryn kept it hidden by putting it on his back (Measurements or visual was not found on the website). Bryn was taken from Thorn and was marched with 12,000 other prisoners. Still marching a horse was killed, “The prisoners were like wolves, they started eating it skin and all.” Bryn made his last escape and made it to the American line of defenses.

The picture hangs on the wall in Bryn’s Welsh home as a reminder oh something hopeful in a time so evil. The mystery of the painter’s identity is a mystery that will never be solved, the painter might have been put to death in Auschwitz along with millions of other Jews there. Bryn says, “I would have liked to find out who he was. I thank him. It all comes back to me. "

The second of the podcast was a first person account of Helen Goldkind from the First Person Podcast Series-Conversations with Holocaust Survivors reflecting on her removal and arrival to Auschwitz sixty years later.

Helen Goldkind arrived to Auschwitz with her mother, brother and grandfather. As night approached they could smelled something horrible, "Like they were burning flesh". They opened the cattle cars they had been traveling in and the Germans screamed fro them to get out. Everything they had with them, any luggage or possesions were thrown into a ditch. Helen's heartbreaking accounts goes as follows, "And my grandfather came with the Torah scrolls and he wouldn’t think of parting with the Torah scrolls because, first of all, it’s a sin to throw it down.
And my mother looked around and all of a sudden, she sees that they’re beating him up. They were telling him to throw the Torah scrolls in the ditch. ...

I saw this with my eyes. That’s why it’s so difficult for me. And they were screaming. My mother looked fairly young, but she was holding on, I had a six-year-old brother, and I don’t know, accidentally, or whatever it was, I wanted to know what was happening to him and he was already on the ground and they were still hitting him there.

And my heart cried out, “Somebody help him!” you know, this is my grandfather. Nobody came to… nobody came. [Crying] And then…

My mother was still holding onto my brother and he loved books. We weren’t rich, so if we ever got a present that was a book…and he was holding on to one book and my mother saw what happened to my grandfather. She was afraid that they were going to also beat him up, so she was begging him to throw that book into the ditch and he wouldn’t do that.

Then she was negotiating it with him. Finally he took the book and gave it to my mother and he was watching my mother throwing that book into that ditch and she just cried. And then all of a sudden, one of those monsters came and they pulled my brother away from my mother and he cried. [Crying]

And my mother heard him, and she ran after him, and she was telling those monsters that he’s only six years old, he will not survive without me. And they were beating her up and she fell and they kicked her around with those big boots.

And finally, you know, when they saw she had difficulties getting up, they pushed her to the left and she went with my brother. Many times, when I think about it, I say maybe if she wouldn’t run after, maybe she would survive because she was fairly young. In the other hand, I say to myself, you know, my little brother didn’t go to his death crying. [Crying] She was there with him. That was the last I saw my mother."

-Meg Singer

Uncle Tom's Cabin and Disease

2011-09-26T13:35:00.000-06:00

For this weeks blog I listened to the podcast of historian David Reynolds and historian Charles C. Mann. I retrieved both podcasts from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History website. David Reynolds focuses his podcast on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Reynolds goes on to state that this novel was the most influential ever written in American history even though some historians might disagree. I wonder what historians he is referring to? Uncle Tom’s Cabin spread like wildfire as it was also turned into a play making the message of the novel more mobile and accessible. Uncle Tom’s Cabin created the uproar which started the Civil War. Lincoln himself even quoted to Stowe “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.” Reynolds begins with Stowe’s background highlighting how her Christian background created her drive for anti-slavery. He mentions how Stowe was even involved in the Underground Railroad. He didn’t list his sources of information. Her novel created sympathy in the north for slaves. Stowe cleverly crafted characters to love only to be torn away by the evils of slavery. The south responded by banning the book and dubbing Stowe a “fanatic”. It was a direct threat to their order. Reynolds finishes off by promoting his book which would give more exact details on the influence of Stowe’s novel.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historians/podcasts/podcast.php?podcast_id=608

Mann podcasts about America before Columbus. He begins with the finding of his high school history book. Declaring that the majority of the information about the Americas before Columbus was wrong he begins the lecture. I wonder how the history books were wrong? Mann states that the number of natives was much greater than first believed. He then moves on to discuss how there were very few domestic able animals in the western hemisphere. This serves as important because the worst diseases begin as animal diseases which eventually break the human-animal barrier. He didn’t list any specific disease but he makes the point that the natives were not physically capable of fighting these diseases. Therefore he wishes to break the stereotype of Europeans being better fighters, or having greater technology, etc. Europeans were given the advantage when they brought foreign diseases. These diseases wiped out an estimated three quarters of the native population. Although I do feel Europeans did have an advantage for other reasons as well Mann gives his statement that they were able to colonize because they had the biological advantage. Therefore the Americas were not empty forests when first discovered, as often portrayed.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historians/podcasts/podcast.php?podcast_id=529

Napoleon to World War I

2011-09-26T10:46:00.003-06:00

I listened to two particularly interesting podcasts that can be found at this address; http://bingethinkinghistory.blogspot.com/. The two that jumped out to me were one on Napoleon and another on the decline of the British Empire that was sealed around World War I. They did cover some broad terms on both of these subjects, but they were able to compress wide ranges of history down to about an hour which made for some very interesting listening, and it was actually quite affective. It's like asking yourself, okay, I have to cover the history of the United States in an hour, what points do you cover? They do this very well, and almost seamlessly, covering only the most important points. For example, one of the podcasts was on Napoleon's reign up until steam power. Lots to cover there, and they did it in under an hour touching on only the most important events. The other podcast was on the decline of the British Empire from the American Revolution to World War I, another far-reaching era of history that they were able to cover in under an hour. I will definitely be back to this website, as I liked the format, and how they covered the topics they did.

Riley Crowford

Minds of Dogs

2011-09-25T21:47:00.002-06:00

People assume dogs have the same kind of emotions as humans have, but they do not. yes dogs do have emotions, but they are different than humans because in that sense such as guilt people have and feel it, but dogs have no sense of guilt what so ever. To a dog when it sees something wrong in a picture, it puts a map of sort into their mind and react to whatever is happening and try to fix the situation. Dog's have a good sense of smell and hearing. Dog's smell is far superior than a human's smell because the dog can sense something before they can see the thing. The dog use its smell to distinguish something if that thing is older or younger depending on how long the thing has been somewhere. The do have great hearing far better than the human's hearing. hearing in a dog is great because it can distinguish between something it wants to hear and not to hear. The dogs can distinguish noise of what is really going on to the noise that is just noise to it.

- Justin Kwan

Chinese "Laundryman"

2011-09-25T21:04:00.004-06:00

The Chinese laundrymen were immigrants that came over to the U.S. and Canada to start a business. This laundry business was a fixture in every town and city. The term "laundryman" became synonymous with the Chinese. They were socially isolated, and endure a life of drudgery and racial hostility. They would live int the laundry building to save money and they could not travel very far with the money they make from their laundry business. They had to hand wash people's clothes. When they were excluded in Canada and U.S. that they found a way to get around it. The kids of the Chinese "Laundrymen" would sometimes would help their parents out. The parents wanted the kids to have a better life than they did when they kids. There had been four stories about the kids who have to work in laundry business with their parents. Two of the stories told, there were still Chinese laundry business around, but one of the kids said it would be the last business still run by the person telling the story, but once the person is gone it will no longer exist. The other story was the person upgrade the laundry business with modern washing machines and dryers. All four people told a story about their parents laundry machine, but all the people telling the stories about their parents went on to have jobs that were not a laundry business.

- Justin Kwan

"How it Really Was"

2011-09-20T15:57:00.002-06:00

PhD candidate Christopher Knowles studies at Kings College in London, and keeps up a blog entitled "How it Really Was" where he writes periodically about his current research. In his most recent post, Knowles discusses the book Life in the Occupied Area by Katharine Tynan. The first sentence of his post reads, "Every now and then, in my research, I find somethings surprising and shocking." I really liked the way in which Knowles presented the information in the following pages simply because the content of the post revolved around the aspects of the book he found to be interesting, even "shocking", as opposed to simply writing about the historical accuracy of the work or a dry review of the work as a whole. Isn't this the kind of thing that sparks interest in historians and motivates further investigation and research into a particular subject? As an aspiring historian I think Knowles really has the right idea in that he is focusing on the aspects of his research that seem at odds with the rest of the information out there, things that are surprising, intriguing, and sometimes even new or unheard of. If he is attempting to find out as much as possible about one subject, which in his case happens to be the British occupation of Germany after WWII, then it is necessary to not only read the existing literature, but analyze it and even challenge it at times if that is where the research leads him. Overall, Knowles uses his blog to discuss aspects of history that pertain to his specific field of inquiry and look at specific works he has read. As a fellow history student, I find this blog to be extremely interesting and if I were to be involved in a similar field of inquiry I would also find his discussions very useful.

Food and History

2011-09-20T13:17:00.003-06:00

Have you ever traveled to a distant land? How do you know where to go and what to see? And how do you know if you will like the food that the nation or region is known for? With that, how do you know to eat Schitzel in Austria, Fish and Chips in England, Vegemite in Australia and Gnioches in Argentina.

Rachel Laudan’s Blog is “A Historian’s Take on Food and Food Politics” takes us to the history of food. Laudan’s blog takes different national dishes, explains the significance culturally and symbolic relations to the nation and to explore something about culinary heritage.

When studying history, do we delve into the depths of what the society might have eaten. We know the basics i.e the American Indians of the Southwest eat beans, corn and squash. We know that the Scots love their haggis but what is the significance in culinary art as a historian.

Laudan’s discusses this query with a group of scholars from across Latin America in Guadalajara, Mexico. The idea that every nation’s cuisine is essential to it’s identity of its citizens. On the subject of the Mexican immigrants in California Laudan says, “…half a century after Mexico had lost California to the United States and since the Mexicans had lost their lands, tamales were being made and sold by all and sundry as street food. It’s a reminder that Mexico has not only written most migrant contributions out of its national cuisine but also the cuisines of its former territories.”

Although Laudan gives a specific reference to the contribution traditional Mexican cuisine has had on the importance of the growth of California she leaves the reader wondering how truly influential food can have on the significance of history.

Meg Singer

Still Smoldering Ten Years after 9/11--Yet Still Hopeful

2011-09-20T12:47:00.001-06:00

The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 has come and gone but historian Gil Troy still makes it a point to announce his anger. In his blog he discusses how furious he feels towards the causes of 9/11. He claims that in our culture it is said to be better to move on, yet he remains enraged. I couldn’t say I agree with his statement. Along with many other aspects, the attack on 9/11 definitely brought anger to America and I would say many still hold that anger close.

He goes on to discuss his anger that so many good people lost their lives. Over three thousand innocent people were taken on this day. In the same paragraph he mentions that most were “either white collar male professionals.” He states that the media was sketchy and naming this fact. I wonder why he felt the need to. Troy goes on further to discuss his anger towards anti-Americanism. He makes the point that Al-Qaeda resents American power, success, and freedom. Most would agree, but can it not be also true for other, more specific reasons as well?

Troy continues with his anger of radical leftists and Islamists preaching their beliefs in Europe, even though it supports sexism, theocracy, homophobia, etc. They are spreading anti-Americanism, and yet would they not have this right here in the U.S.? He then criticizes Bill Clinton for not more actively chasing Bin Laden and for George Bush who failed to notice the threat. I don’t know how fair it was to specifically mention these two but Troy goes further to analyze how in the 2000 presidential campaign reporters and politicians mainly ignored the issue of terrorism. I question how big terrorism was an issue before 9/11. He also states that 9/11 could have been avoided if the CIA and FBI had better cooperation. Again I inquire, what was amiss in the communication between the two?

Troy ends with a positive note. He describes his pride in America, for on a day of tragedy Americans united. On that day there were no racial, social, or religious differences. Everyone was an American who did what they could to help.
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/141731.html

Europe Debt Fears

2011-09-19T21:20:00.002-06:00

I read a blog about the debt crisis in Europe by Iwan Morgan. He spoke of how the European nations were not worried about the recession in the U.S.A. because they felt as though they were not affected. It turns out France is falling into the same pit-falls that the U.S. did. Much of this stems from the problems Greece is having. This is being coupled with the fact that Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe is not offering to help fix the problem. In fact, much of Germany is actively speaking out against bailing Greece out of this mess. Since France had no safety net, they are being drug down with Greece, and this could cause quite a problem for them.

Riley Crowford

Women History Blog

2011-09-19T14:58:00.005-06:00

I forgot to include the URL last time, http://www.womenhistoryblog.com

This week on the Women History blog, I looked at women spies during the Revolutionary war. I first read about a women who spied for the revolutionaries and helped to pass on coded messages. Her name was Anna Smith Strong. Part of her role in coded messaging was hanging laundry so that revolutionaries would know the positions of the enemy. Because she was a women, many saw her as a noncombatant and she was never suspected. The spy group she belonged to was extremely detrimental to the revolution.

On the other spectrum of things was a woman named Ann Bates, who was able to effectively spy for the British. Her position in the community was such that she wasn't suspected, and she even disguised herself as a man to get information. As a woman she was able to walk around the revolutionaries armies without being questioned.

I think it was satisfying to see women using their "low class" position for their cause.

Texting Makes U Stupid

2011-09-19T11:51:00.003-06:00

Texting -

Niall Ferguson is a professor of history at Harvard University and a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. He is also a senior research fellow at Jesus College, Oxford University, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Standford University. He says today's teenagers are avid readers and prolific writers but in the sense of reading and writing text messages. He say to the people even if you don't have kids, but if you look around you can see these teenagers text messaging away because it is a trend for them. The teenagers are oblivious to their surroundings because they are tapping away on their phones.

He comments on that if somebody took a group of teenagers to a field trip far away from their home that they would be texting all the way to the destination. He also comments on that if you take a group of teenagers to see a painting, picture, art, or anything in a museum that they might take a glance at what they are looking at then they will go back to their texting or looking for text message from someone else sending them texts. Half of the teenagers today don't read books unless they are made to. The people between the ages of 18 to 24 who read books that is not required for school or work is down by almost 10% than it was 20 years ago. There are not many who enjoy reading for fun anymore.

http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/141825.html

- Justin Kwan

How NOT to do History.

2011-09-16T10:53:00.000-06:00

Conal Furay and Micheal Salevouris maintian (In our Methods and Skills textbook) that one of the legitimate uses of history is as a tool to shape public policy. Indeed, historians have used their knowledge of the past in order to influence the course of concurrent events since the concept of history was invented. Furay and Salevouris rightly point out the example of wisdom wielding diplomat-historian George Kennan, who developed the policy of 'containment' towards Soviet states during the onset of the Cold War. By drawing from his knowledge of ancient empires, Kennan rightly concluded that empires, built by conquest, cannot survive without it.

We can surmise then that it is not only appropriate for Historians to wield their knowledge of the past (If such a thing can be done) in order to influence public policy, but that it can actually result in beneficial consequences.

But what is the consequence of a group of people, such as a special interest or other lobbyist, uses history as a weapon to augment their arsenal of soft money, white papers and lawyers in pursuit of political gain?

Blog, or DIE!

2011-09-13T19:21:00.002-06:00

I've been looking forward to this blog entry all week!

Blog, or DIE is a humorous blog run by author Michael Aubrecht. Blog, or DIE is an adaption of the "Join, or die" flag from the poltical cartoon Benjamin Franklin had in his Pennsylvania Gazette.

"Blog, or DIE" posts are more about the taboo subjects of American History. One post entitled "Ben Franklin, ambassador, inventor, sex therapist?" Makes a comedic jab at Franklins conquests and his kinky preferences. "Blog, or DIE" has another post inquiring if the Founding Fathers liked to get a good bake on. "The Founding Stoner's" blog post suggests that, although the information on the historical uses of cannabis in earlyAmerican society is limited, the notion of theFounding Fathers blazing isn't far fetched.

Meg Singer
Blog, or DIE!

Women History Blog

2011-09-13T13:27:00.002-06:00

This week I found a blog that looks at all kinds of American women history. They have many categories from revolution women to civil war women. I looked specifically at a bunch of blogs on the witchcraft trials in Salem. Basically they outline the facts of one woman's life and fill in with details that may have been part of her life, given the time period.

The first woman I read about was Margaret Stevenson Scott. She was born in England 1615 and later married Benjamin Scott with whom she lived in Massachusetts. She had seven children before her husband died and left her a widow in 1671. When discussing the accusation against her, the author of the blog points out different factors of her life that made her easy prey to be called out as a witch. Her poverty, her status as a widow for a long period of time, and the fact that only three of her seven children lived to adulthood.

The next post was even more intriguing because it was the only witchcraft trial ever brought before Pennsylvania. William Penn even took part in questioning the "Witch of Ridley Creek". Apparently the woman was a Swede and the English went against her because English cows were not giving milk. They discussed the possibility that the English were jealous of the Swede's good farm land. Penn, however found the woman innocent of having powers and let her go.

The blog also used some interesting links to their sources that would be excellent research material.

Megan Fotheringham

Trust me, I'm a doctor.

2011-09-13T10:00:00.002-06:00

Would historiography be an appropriate topic for a blog objectively about history, or would I have to write about the history of controversies concerning historiography? Does that mean that proper historians are only allowed to guide the path of their chosen profession passively? Do historians get to cross the line from scholar to activist, in cases concerning their particular historical field or about the nature of history? Or is that a job left best to philosophers of history? Even more fundamental, who gets to make the questions about historiography that others will pour over?

Finally, how do we decide who gets to be a card-carrying member of the historian boys' club and who gets left out in the rain? (Presumably next to the History Channel)

Maybe we should ask the academic, tenured-at-fourteen and all around serious historian; he is, after all, the one with a several strings of letter flowing from the end of his name. Surely she has the best answers that are available, besides having those letters that follow her name means that she must inherently be better trained and more knowledgeable about history than any of us 'amateurs.' Right?

Not so, according to David Petruzzi. In his View historians should be judged not by the number of qualifications and fellowships awarded to them, but by the quality of the work they produce. He argues against what he perceives as a gross mis-characterization of historians; he rightly points out that many academic historians wouldn't be remembered even a month after they pass away because they simply don't produce enough material or it isn't of sufficient quality for many to take notice of it. On the other hand, Mr. Petruzzi stresses (a little to heavily) that many 'amateurs' like himself are accomplished authors of books and articles which appear in mass media and historical publication.

Mr. Petruzzi also pointedly remarks that the difference between amateur and professional historians is different from practically every profession. In the case of sports for instance, the instant an individual is paid to play sports or receives a monetary award from their performance they automatically become professionals in their field. However, Mr. Petruzzi although receiving payment for apparently all of his publications (He makes that fact exceedingly clear) he still can't seem to get his rightful membership in the Historians guild. In fact, according to Mr. Petruzzi the only thing that separates him from professional statues is three magical letters: Ph.D.

While I sympathize with the critiques that Mr. Petruzzi lodges against our institution, it seems strange to me that he offers an ad homeneim response to the system that is guilty of using ad homeneim to discriminate suppossedly against would be prodigious historians. While it's true that not every person who's a doctor can dramatically save cardiac arrest patients while enjoying a nice dinner, or even say, write fluently according to the standards and norms of their field; having credentials is enough to prove that you can at least communicate effectively and produce something that would be relevant to individuals interested in history at some point for one reason or another. Which is on the whole, a much fairer judge of that person's contribution than: 'I have mainstream appeal/success' (a la History channel style.)

Paul Finkelman

2011-09-12T16:03:00.000-06:00

After my last blog about slave breeding I became increasingly interested in the historian, Paul Finkelman. It didn’t take long for me to find a blog of his. The topic I chose was immigration and more specifically the proposed revision of the fourteenth amendment. Distinguished members of the Republican Party have considered denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. Paul Finkelman and two other historians teamed up to discuss why this was unreasonable.

They began by stating that all three of them are grandchildren of illegal immigrants. They go on to describe personal stories of how each of their grandparents gained access to the U.S. I believe this was explained due to the fact that thousands of others will have similar stories. Finkelman in particular told the history of his grandfather, who had poor vision, and when immigration inspectors were unmistakably denying entrance to those who could not work; his grandfather took no chances and entered through Canada.

They go forward to expose problems with the proposition. They described a domino effect. If children of those who are undocumented are not allowed citizenship then by the same means their children and grandchildren won’t be granted citizenship either. Therefore generations will be denied even though America has been their only home. Also, as a recent fact, those that are being denied are mainly of Hispanic descent. As much as race has been worked to be kept out of laws, it will be a forced factor. Several have and may take this as an attack on the Hispanic community.

The three scholars come right out and declared that citizen proposal is a mistake. Direct sponsorship of the fourteenth amendment was given by the Republican Party after the Civil War. They claim it is a shame that current Republican leaders want to go away from their history. Although I do believe they forgot to acknowledge that the party was not the same back then as it is now. In addition they disapprove the claim that parents want their children born in the U.S. to one day have that child sponsor visas. It is federal law that prohibits sponsoring parents for immigration until the age of 21. Parents do not receive a “get in free card” by any means.

Punishing the child for the wrong doing of the parent is “un-American” (Finkelman 8/2010). The children, in a case like this, are completely innocent. One is responsible for ones own acts. As a final point they make sure to cite the Dred Scott case of 1857. It was ruled in this case by the Supreme Court that blacks, even free ones, could never be U.S. citizens. This was the case that particularly brought about the fourteenth amendment, to remove citizenship from politics. Citizenship is not a category that should be swayed in different time periods.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-finkelman

H-Asia

2011-09-12T13:31:00.003-06:00

This week when I looked at H-Asia, I found some older posts that were pretty interesting. One was looking for Japanese films that focused on women. There were a lot of responses recommending a lot of films that sounded really intriguing. The thread took a turn, however, when a lady put up a post originally from H-film talking about films directed by women and how they are seen/accepted. One woman critiqued Zhang Yimou's films as not representing women at all and just having women in the roles. The discussion ensuing about women in Japanese films was not very long after that and it ended with someone arguing that it wasn't even the point of the original askers question. Sort of anti climatic, but it did leave me with questions about Japanese film and the difference between ones with women as directors or not. It would be interesting to research more closely. I now want to have a deeper look at Japanese film and the portrayal of women, especially looking at the recommended movies.

Megan Fotheringham

Technology

2011-09-12T09:35:00.006-06:00

E-Book Readers: Parables of Closed and Open

Tom Scheinfeldt, Managing Director of Center for History & New Media, assistant professor of History, George Mason University, discussed about eReaders. At first, he was comparing the Amazon Kindle vs the Apple iPod's as the eReaders. He says these two devices have a closed interface that they only have one software that they use. These two device are great, but many people want open interfaces for their eReader. Sony introduce their line of eReader a few weeks later to compete with the Amazon Kindle and Apple's iPod as ereaders.

He says the Sony eReaders are open interface. The Sony eReaders support open EPUB, which means it can display Google books and library books also. Barnes and Noble wants to join in this battle with who has the best eReader out there for people to get. Barnes and Noble's eReader says that its device will run on the open source Android mobile operating platform. He claims that open hardware and operating system wins over closed and more controlled operating system on the devices like the eReaders. He saying that if Sony, Barnes and Noble and other late entrants into the eBook readers take first then the end-to-end Apple's iPod experience is an exception rather than the rule.

- Justin Kwan

The Taking Tree

2011-09-11T12:48:00.003-06:00

I reviewed the group blog Liberty & Power that I stumbled upon on the History New Network. The post that caught my eye was one by Amy H. Sturgis. This was a play on Shel Silverstein's "Giving Tree" she called it "The Taking Tree". It was actually a video on youtube and it can be seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J416tucEFMk&feature=youtu.be This is about a mighty tree that had money for leaves, strong branches and a strong trunk. Eventually, politicians came and stripped the tree of everything it had. They used the money to shore up an economy that was failing due to no income by the government. They used the branches to build expensive homes and sell them to people that could not afford them. They used the trunk to invade nations they didn't like. They even used the stump in an attempt to give their elderly a comfortable retirement. FInally, as it says in the video, the tree was "f*@$!%& destroyed." I think this fits in well with our topic this week on causality. Showing there is more than just one reason why the economy is in shambles.

Riley Crowford

H-Russia

2011-09-06T12:41:00.002-06:00

The discussion thread I read this week on H-Russia is from November 2010 and deals with the Katyn Massacre. For those unfamiliar with this topic, the Katyn Massacre in brief was the mass murder of Polish police officers and intelligentsia (estimated 22,000) by the Soviet Secret Police in April 1940. While the mass graves were discovered in 1943, the Soviet government did not take responsibility for this event until 1990, and most recently the Russian Duma released a document in November 2010 admitting Stalin's personal involvement and responsibility for this event.

So, the discussion thread on this topic was introduced by a man name Grover Furr, who is a professor and possibly (it is never stated) an expert on the Katyn Massacre or Russian history in general. However, according to his post and other individuals' responses to his post, it seems as if he is a Stalin apologist, and while he claims he is not, that is still up for debate. His post on the Katyn Massacre is his attempt at claiming the documents used to incriminate Stalin, the ones most recently used by the Russian Duma, were falsified. He gives a link to a Russian magazine article in which the original documents have been scanned in and can easily be read. Furr sites these documents and lists a few reasons as to why he believes they are in fact fake. The responses to this post were, to say the least, highly entertaining (apparently no one really likes Mr. Furr....) Scholars were in an uproar about Furr's claim that Stalin was not at fault. One Walter McIntosh states, "Grover Furr has a history of showing an irrational bias in regard to Stalin and his crimes against humanity."

This is actually one of the nicer responses to Furr's post. However, from an historical point of view, the comment

I found most interesting was "...[no] expert would ever render any professional opinion from a digitized copy of a

document."

As historians, or at the least students of historical study, what do we make of this comment? Do we ever study digitized

copies of documents and draw conclusions from them? If so, are those conclusions null and void because of the medium

of the document? Do we always have access to the original document in question, and if we do not, what then?

Interpreting Egypt

2011-09-06T12:18:00.000-06:00

The H-Net Blog Discussion Post of H-Human Rights has a thread from February 2011 by Kurt Mills entitled Interpreting Egypt. Mr. Mills requests H-Human Rights subscribers to ‘…enhance attempts to interpret any public policy engagements in which they may be involved.’ He uses the example of the relationship between the United States and Egypt asking, How will the relationship change? What will Egypt’s new government be? What are the best resources in trying to understand what is happening there? Mills asks for information from anyone who is living in Egypt.

The responses were varying scholars. One scholar refers to ECOSOC ( Economic and Social Council of the United Nations). One scholar, an Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the American University in Cairo refers Mills to a website, ALMASRYALYOUM, based in Cairo which is translated from Arabic to English. Another scholar refers to a blog called, ‘Liberty of Egypt’ and The New York Times: Opinionator.

This thread seemed very helpful to the work that Mills is trying to accomplish. It created a surprisingly mild thread of interactive information that generated little debate despite the subject.

Meg Singer

Slave Breeding

2011-09-06T12:01:00.000-06:00

For this blog I’ve chosen H-Slavery. I followed the thread “Query II on Slave Breeding”. A teacher opens up the discussion by recalling a past question which he posted and a consensus was reached. On the terms of slave breeding the respondents to the earlier query confirmed that slave owners would tend to shy away from forced mating because it “…would have produced morale problems” (Motter 9/5/2000). He goes further to discuss that in his Afro Americans in history course they came about a passage which in fact does give evidence of a specific slave owner buying a female in order to impregnate her, in which the children would be valuable assets. He questioned whether this was a just a rare case, or if this was a “dirty little secret” kept from historians.

The first response was from a Catherine Clinton who did not offer any titles. She believed that male slave holders and their relations with their female slaves was a underrepresented in scholarly literature. She gave the specific example of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Heming’s. She goes further to claim that she was reached “enough evidence” to state that slave master’s were willing to interfere in any part of a slave’s life. How much is enough evidence? What would have been helpful are the resources that helped her come to this conclusion. However she does make the good point that a nickname was given by slaves to other slaves who would breed for their masters. Why would a nickname be given if it was not a common practice? She did not state where she found this information concerning nicknames.

From here it reaches to a debate between Paul Finkelman (who states that he is a distinguished professor) and Clinton. He claims that the particular evidence offered by Douglass was not enough to claim “breeding”. In his next post he argued that “Catherine is really wrong” pertaining her claim on Thomas Jefferson. He states that Jefferson did not use Sally for breeding and that poor word choice was being used.

Clinton was quick to respond, claiming that Finkelman misread her. She states that he confused her comments on Jefferson and that their may be in fact more evidence to the contrary of slave breeding. She does not offer any once again.

In the next post Finkelman apologizes to Clinton. He however does claim that she has not offered solid evidence. He seems to challenge Clinton. I did notice that the topic swayed from slave breeding to Thomas Jefferson. Clinton responds by stating that she is too busy to answer these questions at the moment. She makes a final note to promote her book. I would understand is she was in fact too busy but did she ever respond to Finkelman’s challenge?

2011-09-01T20:01:00.010-06:00

H-Sport

On the website H-Net website, the H-Sport query poses a question on how to design an American Sports History Course. Larry Hartzell is a professor in New Jersey and is the Co-Chair of the Department of History. He had done a lot of research on the topic He asking people how to help get his syllabus together for this American Sports History Course. he is asking question for other to give him feedback on what should be on and what should not be, but what is the best texts to use is the best and which ones to avoid.

Another person replied to Larry's question, by giving a suggestion to what he can do. He suggest to Larry to start of with a personal and family history of a sport for each student and how it has changed over the years. He also suggest to Larry giving choices for the students to pick from such as book reports from a select list in lieu of quizzes or tests (gem, 1999). he suggest that the student look at sports movies and compare and contrast the idealistic and realistic portrayals of sports.

There is a post by a person to contact if Larry is interested in swimming and soccer, which the person has no clue that Larry is asking for in the original question. The person gives a link for Larry to contact him or her if interested.

- Justin Kwan

H-Asia

2011-09-01T15:58:00.003-06:00

I started reading a long thread on "Orientalism" in H-Asia. It initially began with a post talking about a writer, E. Said, whose theories about Orientalism didn't apply to the western perception of China and Japan because he compared European actions only with middle eastern countries, and he wanted to look at more western thought of China and Japan. He got a lot of responses for secondary sources that critiqued Said and more material about western relations with China and Japan. People started attacking the idea of Orientalism more and more. One professor pointed out that now there are more teachers who are from Asia, and the Orient isn't as alien as it was in WWII.
It was interesting to see the discussions go from many bookish resources into more philosophical discussions. Many people wanted to give Said some credit for writing what he did. They defended his writing and credited him with his contribution. Even the initial asker. He also began discussing the difference between western culture and Asian cultures which was very interesting. The debates went back and forth between people about how China and western cultures differed and why.
Megan Fotheringham

H-Russia

2011-08-31T00:35:00.003-06:00

An interesting query that I came across in the H-Net blog H-Russia poses the question "Who is/was a Ukrainian?". The author of this discussion thread is a professor of history at Miami University, and in his initial posting he states that there is much confusion today among Ukrainian citizens regarding their true national identity. He states that because of Ukraine's long standing history with Russia many feel a need to either emphasize or downplay their Russian background or loyalties in exchange for Ukrainian loyalties, while some do not feel a connection to either nation and are at a loss for who or what to identify with. The first few responses to this query are from individuals with valuable personal insight on the matter as well as professional historians who specialize in such studies and give their informed opinions on the matter and suggest further reading. However, an interesting response was made by a man who makes a claim about the relationship between a famine that occurred in 1833 and the present day contentions between the Russian and Ukrainian people. This author claims that the famine was created by the Russian regime as a sort of punishment for the Ukrainians. Immediately following, a different man begins to dispute this claim that the famine was created for those reasons, and they continue to argue for roughly five or six more posts. What is interesting about this discussion is that the first man cites a number of primary sources, mostly letters written by Stalin, and quotes specifically from them, giving his interpretation and opinions. However, the second man has a completely different understanding and interpretation of these same documents, and this is a serious point of contention between the two.

This discussion thread in particular seemed historically relevant in the context of this class in that it deals with one of the central concerns in historical study, and that is the analysis and interpretation of primary source documents. These two men have the same document in front of them, yet both come to completely different conclusions about its content and its intent.

One final note on this discussion thread is that one of the men involved in this rather heated discussion signs off on his final posting with the title "Distinguished Professor" in front of his name, somethings he had not included previously....

Woman in War

2011-08-30T13:57:00.001-06:00

I've chosen to research about H-Minerva which focuses on the topic of women in war. The subject thread I am following is "Query about a woman in WWI". The one who began the discussion, Susan Holahan, immediately introduced her subject by hoping to get advice from WWI veterans. This shows that she recognizes that primary resources are the most critical to research. She goes on to ask about who received Croix de Guerre during WWI. She received limited responses to her post partly, I believe, because she did not describe this war award. If she had listed a description those who were willing to help might have been given an easier platform in which to begin. Through my own research I discovered that is was a military decoration given from both France and Belgium and it was known to be given to foreign allies (Fortin 8/4/2008). It was received when acts of heroism were performed while in combat. She goes further to explain that she is verifying a story about a women who received such an award for ambulance driving in the late 1914 or early 1915. The woman is named as Maggie Owen Wadelton. Holahan disputes these facts with the "British Ambulance Service" in which she says "she was on medical leave" (Holahan 8/4/2008). Holahan seems to be implying that another woman received this award and was mistaken for Wadelton.

Her first response was by Noonie Fortin who is a retired United States Army Reserve first sergeant. She offers Holahan a link. Fortin also states that "Capt. Barb only mentions 3 women getting the award". The obvious question is who is Capt. Barb and why are his words so powerful that Fortin would see no reason in questioning him? The link, I later discovered, was out of date. If this link offered non refutable information how is that it was out dated?

Among other responses Holahan received a post by a Pat Jernigan who did not identify her credibility. She suggested a book "20^th Century Women of Courage" by Beryl Escott. This book is said to contain "…women from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US/ and awards issued by these countries" (Jernigan 8/5/2008). Because this book was published by a distinguished publisher do we take their facts without question? She also suggests archives from www.womensmemorial.org. Ultimately, why are these sources difficult to find for Holahan?

An Armenican Manifesto circa. 1923

2011-08-30T10:19:00.009-06:00

**There is no better way to feel like a historian than by pouring over documents
for hours and hours for a small reward. And yet, we continue to do it.**

The H-Net blog post that I found interesting was that of a query posed

on the discussion board of ‘H-Genocide’. The post entitled “An

Armenian Manifesto circa.1923” from Dennis Papazian who,

at the beginning of thread stated, “This is indeed an interesting

document...The document was written by a disillusion leader of

the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.” The author of said document

is known only as, Katchaznouni.

The blog’s initial and following authors summarize the significance of

the document. Armenia, newly established, was fighting against the

ruthless Turkish Armies. The Armenians were left defenseless and

caved to the ‘Reds’. This document “evaluates the tragic incidents as

incidents of war and open heartedly declare that they (the Armenians)

have been tools in the hands of foreign powers.” (Katchaznouni,

Hovhannes and Akalin, Lale The Armenian Revolutionary Federation

(Dashnagtzoutiun) has nothing to do anymore: (report

submitted to the 1923 party convention) (Istanbul : Kaynak Yayinlari,

2006; Back cover)

As a historian, the document, which is neither found on the thread

nor anywhere online, is of debatable significance. On one hand, it

is a testament to the Armenian congress in self establishment.

On the other, Katchaznouni was considered a man of little
significance due to his lack of experience in administration in
international relations.He was someone who was bitter after his
many trials, lapsing his

judgment. The document has had varying exposure but

it is something worthwhile if studying Armenian-Turkish Issues.

-Megan Singer

Robert E. Lee

2011-08-29T11:13:00.002-06:00

I've been reading some of the discussion boards on H-Net about Robert E. Lee and how he's being viewed around the nation in certain parts of the nation. I personally think he has always gotten a bad rap for what he did. I remember sitting in my elementary school American history class and learning about what a traitor Robert E. Lee was. It wasn't until later I learned about who he really was and I was able to make a proper character assessment about the man. To think I spent years thinking he was no better than Benedict Arnold, when actually he was just doing what he thought was right. Unfortunately, I really feel that history is one of the topics taught with the most bias intertwined within the lessons.

Sexuality

2011-08-28T14:23:00.002-06:00

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) students should have the same rights as a straight person. People should not judge other people by their sexual orientation, but people should treat a person fairly regardless what type of sexual orientation that have attached to them. These type of people may have similar values as you do, but they have a social stigma attach to them to represent for who they are to themselves and others around them. These people have the same privileges as we do in the first amendment. They should be allowed in school to learn the same stuff we are learning. We should not be judgmental to this LGBT students just because they are different from us. We have to accept them as who they are because everyone is entitled to all the rights in the first amendment.

I am in shocked that people thinking prostitution is a good thing for women when in doubt I know it is a bad thing. Prostitution makes women look bad make their image tainted so they so their reputation. I am outraged how the media twists the sexual images of women to make them look worse than what they really appear to the other people. I don't mind sexual images of women is a bad thing if they are not put out of context and they could mean different things for different people looking at them.

I don't like the way the editor define "fat". Yes I agree people here in the U.S. is get heavier than usual because we eat too much food with bad source of fat in the foods we eat. I think the the restaurants especially fast food ones should consider giving healthy choices for people to choose from and limit the unhealthy choices. Yes, the U.S. obsessed with the size and beauty of people. I think the U.S. should worry about the size of people, but not worry about the beauty of people. The beauty of the people should be decided by the people think who they really are and not by images shown to the people to see that they should look like this and not like this.

I agree with the posting about Sex offenders. I agree with the laws that are out there to help protect the public from these sex offender people. I like the idea the laws make the sex offenders have their personal information out there so if something happens the people know who they are dealing with and get the proper authority to do something about it. The sex offenders have no way to harm innocent people without having being reported because everyone knows who they are. These sex offender laws may be hard to monitor very well, the people should look out for themselves and use reason to get the right people of the streets and not panic mode to just get rid of someone because he or she thinks that person is a sex offender when he or she doesn't have a reason to believe in it. There could be misleads too, the people that may be registered as sex offender is not a sex offender and that can cause chaos in the system.

I think young children should not have access to sexual books that are meant for adults. If the children get access to sexual content then they start think this is must be how she is is like according to these books. Children will eventually have to get exposed to this kind of stuff, but they should not be exposed to them until the are mature enough handle what might happen if they do this kind of thing. Many people will say well it all depends if the children are ready at this stage or they need a little more years first before they can comprehend what is going on in these sexual books.

[Insert tired monument pun here.]

2011-08-28T12:02:00.002-06:00

"Dead men make such convenient Heroes.

They cannot rise to challenge the images

We would fashion from their Lives.

It is easier to build monuments

Than to make a better world.

So now that he is safely dead,

We, with eased consciences, will

Teach our children that he was a great man,

Knowing that the cause for which he

Lived is still a cause

And the dream for which he died

Is still a dream. (Hines 1987, 468)."

I too wonder what people think about when they visit such monuments. I happen to think people are motivated to visit the mall because of revisionist or romantic notions of history. (i.e. Glen Beck's 'Taking Back [of] America' on the [exact same] steps of the Lincoln Memorial 40 some odd years after King's march.)

For instance, many if not most individuals think of King as solely a champion of civil rights; when in reality he spoke out about such issues as: quality of life for working class people, in support of labor unions, against war, the proliferation and use of unconventional warfare and sexism.

What makes these historical omissions particularly relevant is the continued assaults against those values for which King fought this electoral cycle. Don't forget that King was killed while assisting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, and not while pursuing civil rights. Does anyone else feel that Hines was eerily prophetic in writing this piece?

I wonder how conservatives such as Wisconsin gov. Scott Walker or New Jersey's Chris Christie would evaluate a modern Martin Luther King. Incidentally, a national public opinion poll shows that 94 percent of Americans view King favorably. Who are the other six percent?

Perhaps our national obsession with monuments is a form of catharsis? Maybe as Hines suggests, it's simply easier to build a nice marble(?) monument than to build adequate housing for the working poor?

(http://www.democracynow.org/2011/8/26/mlk_national_monument_inspires_calls_to, nice discussion of MLK and his monument. Including the above citation. )

Monumental

2011-08-24T09:40:00.003-06:00

We have a new monument on the National Mall, the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial. It is, as we're being told at length, the first Washington monument to an African American and the first on the mall to a non-president.

I think such a monument is absolutely "deserved" - whatever that means, and for what my opinion is worth. But I always wonder what we are to make of such monuments. Clearly people want to see such things - they clamber all over the Lincoln Memorial; they read names and leave offerings at the Vietnam wall. What are people thinking as they visit such places? What, exactly, are we remembering? What about places like Mt. Rushmore, or the statues of Confederate heroes in Richmond, Va.?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/us/23mlk.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=martin%20luther%20king%20jr.&st=cse

The Great Maine Mural War

2011-03-30T17:11:00.002-06:00

Maine Governor Paul LePage wants a three-year-old mural removed from the state's Department of Labor because, well, evidently because it depicts labor too favorably. Check out the story at this link. http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2011/03/29/news/doc4d921b5f67a68563352154.txt

A few things have caught my eye of late

2011-03-30T15:09:00.003-06:00

First of these things:

The 'fight' over William Cronon's emails related to Wisconsin's labor bill.

If you haven't kept up-to-date on this issue, interesting articles and opinion blogs abound! Huffingtonpost.com's take on it can be found here: Huffington post on Cronon At the bottom of that story is another article asking for emails related to Rachel Maddow, a liberal journalist, and labor.

I haven't formed a complete opinion on the matter. However, what I wonder is do these requests for private or semi-private communications intimidate scholars and other intellectuals? Would I want Random Political Group trawling through my email conversations? No of course not. Would they learn anything new about me that they could then use to ... suppress my writing/research? Again, No. In fact, I'd be even more likely to write/publish/blog/research a topic given the extra attention. Because to me, that suggests that they have something they are worried a researcher will discover and shed light upon. Somewhere a juicy bone is waiting to be found. (Insert evil laugh and rubbing of hands here.) According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Cronon stated that the request for his emails "could have a chilling effect on the university," "giving faculty members reason to fear that any e-mail they send will be made public as a result of politically driven efforts by their critics to fish around for information that will discredit them." (Lifted from Huffingtonpost article.)

Would it? Would the possibility that a hostile political group could sift through your emails and research cause you, as a scholar, to censor yourself?

Second of these things:

Winners of the Bancroft Prize were announced. One day I hope to be at least considered for a nomination for this prize. I dream big!

I am extremely pleased that Christopher Tomlins won for his work Freedom Bound: Law, Labor, and Civic Identity in Colonizing English America, 1580–1865. His work was featured in my graduate education and he made his way into my comprehensive exams as well. Because I am a childhood historian, I was also very interested in Sara Dubow's Ourselves Unborn: A History of the Fetus in Modern America. Fetus...childhood...it's related. The third book to win was Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.

You've Been Quiet

2011-02-23T17:49:00.001-07:00

Yes, I've been quiet. Not much happens when you are unemployed. =-)

But I haven't been idle. I am supposed to be turning my thesis into articles and a book but instead I have detoured to a personal project on Japanese popular culture. I'm dropping by today to say how much I adore Google documents (Google Docs).

I have the, perhaps faulty, impression that many historians and history professors (all professors?) are slow to adopt new technologies. (None of those working at Westminster, of course!) So this post serves as a "Wow! Check this out!...Shiny new toy this way..." post OR, if Google Docs is on your radar, this post can serve as a review... A Four-Star review at that.

My personal project is actually a collaborative endeavor with a fellow scholar living in California. While she is very good at emailing back and forth in order to track our thoughts, online chats, and written pieces, I ... suck at it, to be blunt. I needed something that would track changes separate from my email inbox. After poking around online, we decided to use Google Docs.

After uploading a document, you can choose to share it with other Google users. The program lists last modification and can even show details of what was changed by which user. More useful for me and my collaborator, we can write in the document at the same time (so long as it is shared and we have permission to edit)! She can change my word choices and I can correct her typoes. Additionally, we can "chat" in a text document, saving our conversations, ideas, and brainstorming sessions.

I imagine this would be an interesting way to allow students to collaborate and do group work, beyond the blackboard-type platforms, in addition to allowing scholars to collaborate online without losing documents in their email inboxes.

Not a five-star review? Nah. Google Docs is limited in some ways. It likes to convert files to certain platforms and cannot convert all file types. But that's a minor complaint and my collaborator and I are able to work around it because we both have the same software programs.

MA at ECU

2011-02-10T10:11:00.001-07:00

Undergraduate history students who are considering graduate school should take a look at the programs at East Carolina University at this link --

http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/history/graduatedegrees.cfm

Welcome to a New Semester!

2011-01-08T19:43:00.003-07:00

Not to rub it in, but, as of December 15th, I am the proud owner of an MA in History!

I survived grad school. I'm glad I went, despite the pain and suffering. But now what? I can't sit around playing computer games for the rest of my life? I have to eat (at least occasionally). Of course, the next step is to get a job. Certain family members, proud of the fact that I could now officially teach history at the college level began scouring Craigslist and the local newspaper for positions.

Yeah, okay. I let them do it for a few weeks before breaking it to them that one does not usually find a job in higher education on Craigslist or in the local paper. So, where does one look? Good question!

Job search resources that I have been poking around on:

HigherEdJobs.com

Adjunct Professor Online

Additionally, many states will have a resource of some sort that lists community and junior colleges, such as Utah Community College Jobs.

And there are others that pop up when you google "adjunct jobs."

By far, one of the more valuable sources for information and networking between historians is
H-Net. As an undergrad, I was intimidated about signing up for any of the lists, to be honest. But it's good to know that the resource exists.

On a side note, I am addicted to Utah and will be moving back home in ten days! Perhaps I can stop by and say hi.

Thankful for Amendments?

2010-11-19T11:22:00.001-07:00

The other night in class, we were posed the question, "Which Amendment is most important to you?" Being a women's history class, the majority of students said the nineteenth. (All the amendments can be found here.) So, that is the question I pose to you? Which Amendment is the most important in your life?

What was my answer? Well, I actually had a hard time answering the question. This is partly because I am a legal historian who studies Constitutional law. My thesis focused heavily on the Fourteenth amendment and how it has influenced individual lives. I do believe our legal system would be different without it. However, I am very politically active and do believe the Nineteenth plays an important part in my life. Finally, in my opinion, there is something special about the First amendment, which seems to me to lay out American freedoms very succinctly. So, aloud, my answer was the First, Fourteenth, and Nineteenth (in no particular order).

That was my answer, aloud. Internally, I struggled for a moment because I've also just finished reading The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction by Akhil Reed Amar. And his close reading of the first ten amendments, or (should I say twelve?) followed by how the Fourteenth changed their interpretation made me hesitate. In the heat of the moment in a classroom situation, you simply answer the question posed. But now, sitting at home, pondering history as history nerds are wont to do, I wonder what my answer would have been at the time of the writing of the Constitution. (Actually, my first ponder is would I have been a Federalist?)

Given just the Bill of Rights, and Amar's interpretation, I think I may have chosen the Third amendment as the most important to me. In my mind, the fear of quartering troops and standing armies as a threat to freedom and liberty loomed large at the time.

Who You Calling an American?

2010-11-18T14:42:00.003-07:00

Here's my nominee for Teachable Moment of the Year:

Pres. Obama's new children's book, Of Thee I Sing, includes historical figures that the President thinks are worth his daughters' notice. Here's the list:

Georgia O’Keeffe

Albert Einstein

Jackie Robinson

Sitting Bull

Billie Holliday

Helen Keller

Maya Lin

Jane Addams

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Neil Armstrong

César Chávez

Abraham Lincoln

George Washington

The Fox Nation website notes that "his most controversial choice may be Sitting Bull, who defeated Custer at Little Bighorn."

http://nation.foxnews.com/media/2010/11/15/obama-praises-indian-chief-who-killed-us-general

The original Fox Nation piece (very short) appeared under the headline "Obama Praises Indian Chief who Killed U.S. General." Note that the headline has been "corrected for historical accuracy" to now read "defeated" US General, after two noted western historians, Robert Utley and Paul Hutton, pointed out that Sitting Bull, already well into middle age, did not actually participate in the fighting. Hutton and others note that Sitting Bull might be offended to be called an American (not having seen the original book, I don't know for sure that Obama calls him that, either.) Note also the "salute" in the column to the right to Native American History Month.

That's just the beginning of this rich historical feast, however. Check out Andrea Stone's piece on AOL:

http://www.aolnews.com/politics/article/fox-news-headline-on-president-obama-kids-book-ignites-sitting-bull-controversy/19720203?icid=maingmain51link526197&a_dgi=aolshare_email

Stone points out the troubled life of Billie Holliday - the controversial art of Georgia O'Keefe - I don't know if anyone has yet pointed out that Helen Keller, another of Obama's choices, was a committed socialist, friend of birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger, co-founder of the ACLU or that Jane Addams might have (gasp!) loved other women. Is it churlish to note that Washington owned slaves, or that Einstein contributed to the creation of nuclear weapons?

Trivia test: how many of these figures have FBI files?

History: the gift that keeps on giving . . . or is that Fox?