Thursday, September 12, 2013
What I'm Watching and Reading
Last June, I finally broke down and purchased a flat-screen TV. I can now scratch this off as one of the new technologies I do not have! I must admit...it is wonderful, especially since I have the kind that allows instant streaming (with Netflix). Needless to say, summer days with their heat and humidity have kept me indoors watching a lot of Netflix. I must recommend my latest viewing habit, Foyle's War. This detective series, set in England from the beginning of World War II until a year or so after, do an excellent job of showing how the homefront dealt with the weight of war. Every episode has something good to offer, and while most are excellent, some far a bit short. Still, I can not recommend this highly enough. Good TV!
Oh, and what am I reading?
Mark Edmundson, Why Teach?
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveler's Guide to Elizabethan England
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
The Decay of the Past
My visit to New England this summer has reinforced my notion that upkeeping any historic property is an immense task, ultimately requiring millions of dollars. In most of the homes I visited, even those with endowments and of well-known figures, there is always work to be done. For example, in the Frelinghuysen house the Dining Room window had suffered a crack and was duck-taped. Another ledge next to a window suffered from obvious water damage. The director noted to us that while there are some structural issues that need attention, there are sometimes conflicting reports about how to best replace an item. Also, in the case of the Frelinghuysen house and others, if you are starting with the original items, I would assume you want to keep the original for as long as possible, while still preventing any future damage to the property.
Another case in point occurred at Naumkeag (a gilded age "summer cottage/mansion" built in the 1880s by the Choate family). The guide here showed us a bedroom with bold fabrics on the bed and window drapery. However, she then took out a sample of what the original fabric looked like (brown beyond recognition, faded, tattered with holes). In this case, the curators were lucky in that the original receipt for the purchase of the fabric was in the archives. They contacted the company in England, who had a sample pattern swatch in their archive, and they were able to replicate the original fabric for the restoration. In most cases is it never this easy.
In 2010, I spent a week in Concord, Massachusetts, at a National Endowment for the Humanities summer workshop. We visited numerous sites, including the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott. At these homes, and others, I was struck by the lack of central air, climate controlled conditions, and the constant need for repair, upkeep and restoration. At one historic home there were 150 year old books on the shelf with windows open and floor fans running. I could only think about the humidity damage.
So, anyway, this vacation has reinforced the notion that our houses and our bodies, and we are always in some state of decay, which is only natural and expected. I guess the task of life is to focus on those things which blunt the force of corrosion a bit more easily, such as relationships, love, and friendship.
Another case in point occurred at Naumkeag (a gilded age "summer cottage/mansion" built in the 1880s by the Choate family). The guide here showed us a bedroom with bold fabrics on the bed and window drapery. However, she then took out a sample of what the original fabric looked like (brown beyond recognition, faded, tattered with holes). In this case, the curators were lucky in that the original receipt for the purchase of the fabric was in the archives. They contacted the company in England, who had a sample pattern swatch in their archive, and they were able to replicate the original fabric for the restoration. In most cases is it never this easy.
In 2010, I spent a week in Concord, Massachusetts, at a National Endowment for the Humanities summer workshop. We visited numerous sites, including the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Louisa May Alcott. At these homes, and others, I was struck by the lack of central air, climate controlled conditions, and the constant need for repair, upkeep and restoration. At one historic home there were 150 year old books on the shelf with windows open and floor fans running. I could only think about the humidity damage.
So, anyway, this vacation has reinforced the notion that our houses and our bodies, and we are always in some state of decay, which is only natural and expected. I guess the task of life is to focus on those things which blunt the force of corrosion a bit more easily, such as relationships, love, and friendship.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
More From the Southern Bershires
The earliest part of the original home (the left hand side with the window facade and triangular tipped roof) was an artist studio modeled after a building in France, which George discovered on one of his visits in the early 1920s. The studio was built in 1925, with the rest of the house added in 1940, when he married. Modernist architecture also greatly influenced the new addition. Because the museum's season just opened on Thursday of this past week, attendance was slow, to my great delight. On my tour, it started with just ME, along with two other guides, and the director, Kenny Frelinghuysen, the nephew of George and Susie. Soon into the tour, three other guests joined in. The main guide for my tour, Anna, offered excellent insight into modern art, the connection of art to architecture, and the use of line and shape in art. The house is full of suprises, first that is it is SO modern for the time....the living room, for example, still with original furnishings from 1940, could easily be lived in today. Large dramatic windows opened onto the landscaped lawn.
Each room took full advantage of distinct views. In the dining room and living room, I noticed small pinholes, which I was told were lights. They are not fixtures, but literally look like a whole in the wall...and placed at odd spaces high on the wall. One guide mentioned that in the living room these were meant to direct light to the two large frescos that George had painted on the wall surrounding the fireplace (you can see one of these on the left of the fireplace in photo to right). In the dining room they were also placed to create some light effect, and that this was the only light in the dining room save candles and two backlight wall features/sculptures. The use of light immediately took me back to my visit to the Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts, in 2010. One of the most outstanding features to me there was a description of how Gropious installed a pinhole light over the dining room table. When he hosted dinner parties for four or six, the pinhold opening above the table was just large enough that when light projected, it covered the table to its edges, but no more. Talk about dining drama! I also think about how intensely design oriented this couple was, thinking imaginatively about how to use light to shape art/nature/life. I also can not help but to compare that with the many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people across the nation, who in the late 1930s were still not electrified (especially more rural pockets of the deep South). If I still find the home amazing and "modern" in 2013, what would someone in 1940 have thought? It blows me away.
The entrance to the home is both everyday and quite dramatic. The front door is a standard size, but you step into to a marbled wide foyer or galley that includes floor to ceiling windows and glassed-paneled doors that open to the backyard landscape. A novel feature for their day, but more mundane to us, was the use of flourescent lighting overhead. Most outstanding in the entrance hall was the stairway leading up to the second floor.
If ever in Lenox, please visit this place, it is fascinating beyond belief. The guides know a lot about the property and you will come away with a greater appreciation for art, design, and landscape.
Next I ventured over to Chesterwood, the home of Daniel Chester French, most notable for creating the sculpture design for the Lincoln Memorial. French actually created many well-known sculptures, for private citizens, for memorials, including the famous Patriot statue in Concord, Massachusetts, and a well-known statue in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. Again, like most places around here, the landscape and the views were all incredible.I can see why people fled New York City and Boston to come here for a long summer season. The day I visited also opened their annual comtemporary art show, so more modern pieces of art/scupture were placed around the property for viewing.
My final stop for the day was the Norman Rockwell museum. The is probably one of the most visited sites in the area and always appealing. When Rockwell arrived in western Massachusetts he originally painted in the town of Stockbridge, but when this museum was built outside of town, they also acquired his studio and moved it to its current location. One other side note. I ate lunch at this museum and they had sandwiches catered from the Red Lion Inn in downtown Stockbridge. The turkey cranberry mayo sandwich was great, and a good value. It is worth considering this museum for a quick lunch!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Up the Hudson River Valley to Western Massachusetts
I have not posted in a while, but since I am on a vacation break, I thought it might be nice to write down a few observations while traveling.
I was a long drive yesterday from Jacksonville, through D.C. through Gettysburg, P. A. to the far outskirts of suburban NYC. Two interesting notes from yesterday...the drive from Maryland up through Gettysburg was amazingly beautiful, with a nice sunset and great views off the highway. Once dusk hit, there was a bonanza of fireflies, which looked almost like fireworks going off there were so many. One oddity...July 1-3 is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. While driving the outskirts here today I noticed that the outlet mall had a huge Abraham Lincoln with a big "150th" beneath it....all in lights. A bit odd.
Today's activities amazed me. I visited Franklin D. Roosevelt's homeplace in Hyde Park, New York. The tour is great. The home was actually owned by his mother, who, depending upon what you read, was a shrew, a mean controlling thing....or someone who was out to see that her son was well cared for. Either way, I learned a few weird facts. Roosevelt obviously grew up with wealth, but by fourteen he had traveled to Europe seven times, and was fluent in both French and German. His father gave him a gun to shoot birds, but he had to promise not to hunt during nesting or mating season. In the Hyde Park mansion there were dozens of stuffed birds.
I have not seen the new movie with Bill Murray as FDR, but the rooms are clearly marked where the former future King and Queen of England stayed when they visited the Roosevelts in 1939. The tour guide also mentioned that while FDR gave us the famous line, "there is nothing to fear, but fear itself," he was deathly afraid of fire (after developing polio and losing the use of his legs). They showed us all sorts of ancient fire prevention devices in the house (kind of like a fire extinguisher today). The guide also provided a funny quip about why FDR used those long cigarette holders...once, when asked he replied, "my doctor told me to stay as far away from smoking as possible."
Also on today's agenda was a visit Val-Kil, the cottage/home built by Eleanor Roosevelt with two of her friends during the mid-1920s. The home was built on the Roosevelt property, and Eleanor never spent the night there until after FDR died in 1945. Visiting here was a treat. Much like Eleanor Roosevelt, the home is very unpretentious, cottage-like, very liveable, and with things replicated exactly as they were when she died in 1962. Because her father and another relative both had issues with alcoholism, Eleanor tolerated alcohol, but never enjoyed its use. The guide noted that when she hosted people for dinner, she would have a "ten minute cocktail" before dinner...literally not serving drinks until 6:50 and ushering everyone into the dining area at 7:00pm. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved some amazing feats. I think the appeal for both her and Franklin are that while both had great money and power, they both also faced tremendous obstacles (Eleanor's horrible upbringing, the death's of many loved one's, the betrayal of her husband....along with his polio). Yet, despite these obstacles (and in part because of their money), they never let these personal tragedies undermine their determination in life to do what they thought would advance the human spirit.
The real surpise at Val-Kil was that our guide was a woman who actually knew Ms. Roosevelt when she lived in Hyde Park, from the 1950s-to her death. The woman shared several interesting stories about her compassion and interest in people.
More museum activities tomorrow!
I was a long drive yesterday from Jacksonville, through D.C. through Gettysburg, P. A. to the far outskirts of suburban NYC. Two interesting notes from yesterday...the drive from Maryland up through Gettysburg was amazingly beautiful, with a nice sunset and great views off the highway. Once dusk hit, there was a bonanza of fireflies, which looked almost like fireworks going off there were so many. One oddity...July 1-3 is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. While driving the outskirts here today I noticed that the outlet mall had a huge Abraham Lincoln with a big "150th" beneath it....all in lights. A bit odd.
Today's activities amazed me. I visited Franklin D. Roosevelt's homeplace in Hyde Park, New York. The tour is great. The home was actually owned by his mother, who, depending upon what you read, was a shrew, a mean controlling thing....or someone who was out to see that her son was well cared for. Either way, I learned a few weird facts. Roosevelt obviously grew up with wealth, but by fourteen he had traveled to Europe seven times, and was fluent in both French and German. His father gave him a gun to shoot birds, but he had to promise not to hunt during nesting or mating season. In the Hyde Park mansion there were dozens of stuffed birds.
I have not seen the new movie with Bill Murray as FDR, but the rooms are clearly marked where the former future King and Queen of England stayed when they visited the Roosevelts in 1939. The tour guide also mentioned that while FDR gave us the famous line, "there is nothing to fear, but fear itself," he was deathly afraid of fire (after developing polio and losing the use of his legs). They showed us all sorts of ancient fire prevention devices in the house (kind of like a fire extinguisher today). The guide also provided a funny quip about why FDR used those long cigarette holders...once, when asked he replied, "my doctor told me to stay as far away from smoking as possible."
Also on today's agenda was a visit Val-Kil, the cottage/home built by Eleanor Roosevelt with two of her friends during the mid-1920s. The home was built on the Roosevelt property, and Eleanor never spent the night there until after FDR died in 1945. Visiting here was a treat. Much like Eleanor Roosevelt, the home is very unpretentious, cottage-like, very liveable, and with things replicated exactly as they were when she died in 1962. Because her father and another relative both had issues with alcoholism, Eleanor tolerated alcohol, but never enjoyed its use. The guide noted that when she hosted people for dinner, she would have a "ten minute cocktail" before dinner...literally not serving drinks until 6:50 and ushering everyone into the dining area at 7:00pm. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved some amazing feats. I think the appeal for both her and Franklin are that while both had great money and power, they both also faced tremendous obstacles (Eleanor's horrible upbringing, the death's of many loved one's, the betrayal of her husband....along with his polio). Yet, despite these obstacles (and in part because of their money), they never let these personal tragedies undermine their determination in life to do what they thought would advance the human spirit.
The real surpise at Val-Kil was that our guide was a woman who actually knew Ms. Roosevelt when she lived in Hyde Park, from the 1950s-to her death. The woman shared several interesting stories about her compassion and interest in people.
More museum activities tomorrow!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
The Semester's End - and Other Odds and Ends
It is that time of year once again...the end of a busy semester. I don't know about for you, but this one seemed to fly by for me.
First, some humor for your week of exams.
Okay, now for a few hints of the final exam? Remember that the Final Exam will follow the EXACT same format as the midterm exam. If you are using the Course Outline that handed out on day two as your study guide (a wise move), you should start the page that begins "Washington's Presidency" and proceed from there to the end of the outline.
One student today approached me and said they were unsure of the dates we've covered and a bit confused of how we had traveled back and forth across time in the second half of this semester. Here's a quick breakdown.
Big Themes:
Politics: 1789-1830s - this took us from the ratification of the U. S. Constitution and formation of early government up through the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The point was to show how our government was both extending its power and also opening greater opportunities for equality among some people of the time.
Market Revolution: 1810s-1840s - this examined primarily the growing forces of transportation improvements, commercialization and industrialization as they transpired within the Northern, free labor states.
Antebellum South and Slavery 1830s-1860s - examined how the South developed a contrasting economy to the North, with the South remaining primarily agricultural with the growing influence of cotton production. Cotton growth also fueled the demand for labor (slaves).
Regional Splits and Civil War 1850s-1860s - we examined major issues in this decade as the free states and slave states faced increased difficulty in finding resolutions to major problems.
More Later.....
First, some humor for your week of exams.
Okay, now for a few hints of the final exam? Remember that the Final Exam will follow the EXACT same format as the midterm exam. If you are using the Course Outline that handed out on day two as your study guide (a wise move), you should start the page that begins "Washington's Presidency" and proceed from there to the end of the outline.
One student today approached me and said they were unsure of the dates we've covered and a bit confused of how we had traveled back and forth across time in the second half of this semester. Here's a quick breakdown.
Big Themes:
Politics: 1789-1830s - this took us from the ratification of the U. S. Constitution and formation of early government up through the presidency of Andrew Jackson. The point was to show how our government was both extending its power and also opening greater opportunities for equality among some people of the time.
Market Revolution: 1810s-1840s - this examined primarily the growing forces of transportation improvements, commercialization and industrialization as they transpired within the Northern, free labor states.
Antebellum South and Slavery 1830s-1860s - examined how the South developed a contrasting economy to the North, with the South remaining primarily agricultural with the growing influence of cotton production. Cotton growth also fueled the demand for labor (slaves).
Regional Splits and Civil War 1850s-1860s - we examined major issues in this decade as the free states and slave states faced increased difficulty in finding resolutions to major problems.
More Later.....
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Busy News Week - Boston Bombing
The past week was chock full of attention grabbing headlines, from the Boston bombing to poisoned letters sent to a Senator and the President, to fertilizer factory explosions in Texas, and back again to Boston and the successful manhunt for the terrorists who perpetrated the bombing.
In our class this semester we have focused a great deal on early American history, specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony and religious issues associated with its development. While thinking about the terrorism in Boston, I was reminded that the history of colonial America spills over with violent events. While violence in the past and present differ in motivation and intention, there is no doubt still the "terror" invoked by the act.
In The Unredeemed Captive, John Demos examines the 1704 attack by a French and Native American war party on the Puritan English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts. While the English had been battling French and Native foes, the attack on the village was unexpected and took its toll. Demos writes "Finally: the sum of the losses sustained, the massacre's full measure...Killed, 'in town,' 39 - and in the 'meadow fight,'an additional nine soldiers....Thus the 'slaine' altogether make 48. Captured, and now bound for Canada, 112. Alive at home - that is, the survivors - 140 (including ten remaining 'garrison soldiers'" (Demos 24).
In his syndicated newspaper column this week, the "God Squad" writer, Rabbi Marc Gellman, offered a further historical and biblical interpretation of the terrorism in Boston which I thought was quite thoughtful and timely - see below.
"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out ofEgypt ; How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
Amalek attacked the weak ones at the rear of the march. By choosing to attack the elderly and the young, the vulnerable and slow in the rear of the great Exodus, he guaranteed that he would be able to kill the maximum number of people with the least risk to his soldiers.
After the attack by Amalek in the Bible, God commands Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven...the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14,16).
The enemy we must never forget is also the enemy of God in every generation. Amalek is more than a man; he is a symbol, a symbol of terrorism, or radical evil in every generation where the Messiah has still not come or come again. Amalek was the first terrorist and on Monday, Amalek visitedBoston .
As I sat transfixed, sorrowful and angry before the television screen bringing me no news but revelatory images, one image caught my eye, as I'm sure it did yours. It was the picture of the first moments after the first explosion and it showed an older runner going wobbly kneed and collapsing in the street. In a brief report inThe New Republic , Marc Tracy wrote of him:
"...the runner in what is quickly becoming the iconic photo, who is being aided by police after being knocked to the ground by the explosion, looks to be older. He is somebody who likely took around five hours to complete the race. He is a civilian not only in the political sense, but in the athletic sense. In other words, it seems likely that whoever was responsible for the explosions--assuming somebody was responsible--was deliberately targeting ordinary decent folk rather than the superstars. And, whatever message they were intended to convey, the explosions created the impression that being ordinary is no protection against extraordinary horror. That feeling is the definition of being terrorized."
I think I know the message the killer or killers were intending to convey: Amalek is not dead. I also know the message we must send back to Amalek: We will not forget you! Our deceptively calm and terror-free existence since 9/11 has not seduced us into forgetting you.
Our memory of your tactics in seeking out the old runners will not terrorize us into stopping the race and hiding in our houses. Our public places and our public celebrations will not end because of what happened inBoston . Our war against domestic or international terrorism will not end, and more than all that, God's war against all who target the slower, the weaker, the poorer, the most vulnerable, will also never end.
We do not yet know the name you chose inBoston , nor your twisted and bloody cause, but we know your generational name, your biblical name. You are Amalek and you are the enemy of God because you are the enemy of freedom.
An old rabbinic legend teaches that the reason God led the people in the Exodus with "a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night" was not to show the people the right direction, but rather to show them the right speed. The march out of the house of bondage was to proceed only at the speed of the slowest person in the march. That way, the strong did not get too far ahead of the weak. That way, the strong did not lose touch with the weak.
The war against Amalek is a slow war, but it is a war we're not fighting alone. We are together, and we are being led through falling and blood, through dust and despair to freedom.
May God comfort the souls of the victims of Amalek inBoston and around the world, and may God comfort all of us. Amen.
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com.)
(c) 2013 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
In our class this semester we have focused a great deal on early American history, specifically the Massachusetts Bay Colony and religious issues associated with its development. While thinking about the terrorism in Boston, I was reminded that the history of colonial America spills over with violent events. While violence in the past and present differ in motivation and intention, there is no doubt still the "terror" invoked by the act.
In The Unredeemed Captive, John Demos examines the 1704 attack by a French and Native American war party on the Puritan English settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts. While the English had been battling French and Native foes, the attack on the village was unexpected and took its toll. Demos writes "Finally: the sum of the losses sustained, the massacre's full measure...Killed, 'in town,' 39 - and in the 'meadow fight,'an additional nine soldiers....Thus the 'slaine' altogether make 48. Captured, and now bound for Canada, 112. Alive at home - that is, the survivors - 140 (including ten remaining 'garrison soldiers'" (Demos 24).
In his syndicated newspaper column this week, the "God Squad" writer, Rabbi Marc Gellman, offered a further historical and biblical interpretation of the terrorism in Boston which I thought was quite thoughtful and timely - see below.
The Bible and Boston
Only once in the Bible does God command us to remember one of our enemies. His name was Amalek. In Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (KJV) we read:"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of
Amalek attacked the weak ones at the rear of the march. By choosing to attack the elderly and the young, the vulnerable and slow in the rear of the great Exodus, he guaranteed that he would be able to kill the maximum number of people with the least risk to his soldiers.
After the attack by Amalek in the Bible, God commands Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven...the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation." (Exodus 17:14,16).
The enemy we must never forget is also the enemy of God in every generation. Amalek is more than a man; he is a symbol, a symbol of terrorism, or radical evil in every generation where the Messiah has still not come or come again. Amalek was the first terrorist and on Monday, Amalek visited
As I sat transfixed, sorrowful and angry before the television screen bringing me no news but revelatory images, one image caught my eye, as I'm sure it did yours. It was the picture of the first moments after the first explosion and it showed an older runner going wobbly kneed and collapsing in the street. In a brief report in
"...the runner in what is quickly becoming the iconic photo, who is being aided by police after being knocked to the ground by the explosion, looks to be older. He is somebody who likely took around five hours to complete the race. He is a civilian not only in the political sense, but in the athletic sense. In other words, it seems likely that whoever was responsible for the explosions--assuming somebody was responsible--was deliberately targeting ordinary decent folk rather than the superstars. And, whatever message they were intended to convey, the explosions created the impression that being ordinary is no protection against extraordinary horror. That feeling is the definition of being terrorized."
I think I know the message the killer or killers were intending to convey: Amalek is not dead. I also know the message we must send back to Amalek: We will not forget you! Our deceptively calm and terror-free existence since 9/11 has not seduced us into forgetting you.
Our memory of your tactics in seeking out the old runners will not terrorize us into stopping the race and hiding in our houses. Our public places and our public celebrations will not end because of what happened in
We do not yet know the name you chose in
An old rabbinic legend teaches that the reason God led the people in the Exodus with "a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night" was not to show the people the right direction, but rather to show them the right speed. The march out of the house of bondage was to proceed only at the speed of the slowest person in the march. That way, the strong did not get too far ahead of the weak. That way, the strong did not lose touch with the weak.
The war against Amalek is a slow war, but it is a war we're not fighting alone. We are together, and we are being led through falling and blood, through dust and despair to freedom.
May God comfort the souls of the victims of Amalek in
(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com.)
(c) 2013 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
Monday, April 8, 2013
"Feeling" versus "Thinking"
If you read the news today you heard that Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, has died. On the way home from work, there was a clip on NPR about one of her quotes, done by Meryl Streep in the movie, Iron Lady.
The quote, in many ways broadens what I wrote on many of your earlier essays. When you write you "think" instead of "feel." Watch the clip below from Youtube.
The quote, in many ways broadens what I wrote on many of your earlier essays. When you write you "think" instead of "feel." Watch the clip below from Youtube.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Getting All Political On You
I do not reveal my political biases to my students, but the upshot is I agree with about 25% of each political party (Republicans and/or Democrats), so I find my own viewpoints left out about 75% of the time. Nevertheless, here are a few postings to get you thinking about current economic life in the United States and educational upheaval in North Carolina.
First with jobs. Remember in good ol' 2008 when JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! was all the cry of elected politicians? Please visit this site on unemployment in North Carolina (county by county) at the WRAL unemployment map. http://www.wral.com/news/state/page/4879060/ You can search unemployment data month by month over the last four years or so. Where is the progress? Beats me!
Two interesting articles below. Note that they are about a year apart, almost to the day.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/071912-618874-what-happened-to-obamas-laser-focus-on-jobs-.htm
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/011813-641311-president-obama-unemployment-jobless-jobs-policies.htm
Secondly, what about public school teachers in North Carolina? Read this article about Diane Ravitch's recent visit to North Carolina. Ravitch is interesting because she transcends tired political ideology. She used to be more conservative, now she has become more liberal. She researches and writes policy for public education. She is someone who is willing to be malleable with her thoughts and when she ticks off everyone, she's probably doing something right!
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/23/2774218/ravitch-backs-nc-teachers-targeted.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop
First with jobs. Remember in good ol' 2008 when JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! was all the cry of elected politicians? Please visit this site on unemployment in North Carolina (county by county) at the WRAL unemployment map. http://www.wral.com/news/state/page/4879060/ You can search unemployment data month by month over the last four years or so. Where is the progress? Beats me!
Two interesting articles below. Note that they are about a year apart, almost to the day.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/071912-618874-what-happened-to-obamas-laser-focus-on-jobs-.htm
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/011813-641311-president-obama-unemployment-jobless-jobs-policies.htm
Secondly, what about public school teachers in North Carolina? Read this article about Diane Ravitch's recent visit to North Carolina. Ravitch is interesting because she transcends tired political ideology. She used to be more conservative, now she has become more liberal. She researches and writes policy for public education. She is someone who is willing to be malleable with her thoughts and when she ticks off everyone, she's probably doing something right!
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/03/23/2774218/ravitch-backs-nc-teachers-targeted.html#storylink=omni_popular#wgt=pop
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Your Feedback
Earlier this week I took a few minutes at the beginning of class to get your feedback/assessment of the first half of the semester, asking two basic questions. What worked? What did not work?
I read through all of your responses.
In many responses a consistent theme was that the quizzes covered too much material at once. Some of your direct comments were,
"Test in smaller amounts of chapters."
"I wish the reading quizzes were based on notes and lectures in class and they weren't grouped in several chapters because it is a lot of reading to cover and remember."
"...if we could focus more on one thing at a time it would be great."
Well, there is some madness to my method. When attending college one of the transitions you can expect to make is that you will find more material per quiz/test/exam. We do reading quizzes for every two (sometimes three) chapters. The Midterm and Final Exam cover much broader swaths of course material, but also offer more flexibility with response items.
I think testing on at least two chapters is important because when you transfer to a four-year college/university, you may be tested on many more chapters at a time, and you need to be prepared for this. For example, some college courses (for history) have a midterm, final, and three longer essays (that's five grades, and that's it). Others may have a midterm, final, and one large research paper (three grades, and that's it). Research shows that if you are quizzed on reading, the more likely you are to stay up with the reading and stay engaged in the course material. Granted, a quiz on every chapter may be great, but we do not have this much class time.
I like the response above that says, "if we could focus on one thing at a time it would be great." This is also a challenge for anyone studying history. We do need to isolate and discuss various historical events, or themes, but we also must remember that things do not happen in a vacuum. Events are influenced and connected to other events/ideas. You must be able to see the relationship between various historical events and make a thoughtful analysis about those connections.
One of my professors in college provided a system for us as we studied. He advised us to read through the chapter and then go back through the chapter and think about which events you would characterize as "Political," "Social," "Economic," "Cultural," "Military," and so forth (you can add as many broad thematic categories as you like). What you would end up finding is that while you may define an event as primarily a political, it also had social implications, cultural implications, even economic and militaristic implications for society as a whole. You have to be able to discuss the minutia, but also see the big picture (zoom in and zoom out).
Someone offered a great suggestion which I will try and remember to implement.
"Provide an option to write an essay to replace a bad quiz grade." Wow, I like this. Anytime someone is willing to write more to take the place of multiple choice based questions, I'll probably take you up on this. Look for an option about this later in the semester.
Thanks for you comments, suggestions, and feedback. Keep up the good work and diligence in your studies.
I read through all of your responses.
In many responses a consistent theme was that the quizzes covered too much material at once. Some of your direct comments were,
"Test in smaller amounts of chapters."
"I wish the reading quizzes were based on notes and lectures in class and they weren't grouped in several chapters because it is a lot of reading to cover and remember."
"...if we could focus more on one thing at a time it would be great."
Well, there is some madness to my method. When attending college one of the transitions you can expect to make is that you will find more material per quiz/test/exam. We do reading quizzes for every two (sometimes three) chapters. The Midterm and Final Exam cover much broader swaths of course material, but also offer more flexibility with response items.
I think testing on at least two chapters is important because when you transfer to a four-year college/university, you may be tested on many more chapters at a time, and you need to be prepared for this. For example, some college courses (for history) have a midterm, final, and three longer essays (that's five grades, and that's it). Others may have a midterm, final, and one large research paper (three grades, and that's it). Research shows that if you are quizzed on reading, the more likely you are to stay up with the reading and stay engaged in the course material. Granted, a quiz on every chapter may be great, but we do not have this much class time.
I like the response above that says, "if we could focus on one thing at a time it would be great." This is also a challenge for anyone studying history. We do need to isolate and discuss various historical events, or themes, but we also must remember that things do not happen in a vacuum. Events are influenced and connected to other events/ideas. You must be able to see the relationship between various historical events and make a thoughtful analysis about those connections.
One of my professors in college provided a system for us as we studied. He advised us to read through the chapter and then go back through the chapter and think about which events you would characterize as "Political," "Social," "Economic," "Cultural," "Military," and so forth (you can add as many broad thematic categories as you like). What you would end up finding is that while you may define an event as primarily a political, it also had social implications, cultural implications, even economic and militaristic implications for society as a whole. You have to be able to discuss the minutia, but also see the big picture (zoom in and zoom out).
Someone offered a great suggestion which I will try and remember to implement.
"Provide an option to write an essay to replace a bad quiz grade." Wow, I like this. Anytime someone is willing to write more to take the place of multiple choice based questions, I'll probably take you up on this. Look for an option about this later in the semester.
Thanks for you comments, suggestions, and feedback. Keep up the good work and diligence in your studies.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Seize the Opportunity: Pre-March Madness Strikes!
If you caught my last post, it suggested I was planning a relaxed and calm weekend. Well...not quite. I got a call late Friday from my brother and his wife inviting me to attend the UNC/Duke basketball game (someone at their work had provided tickets, lower-level, almost center court - see pics below).
As a UNC grad, this was a no brainer. Of course I would go. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Even if it meant more travel, less time to grade exams (there will be time next week), and less sleep. Even though the outcome of the game was horrific for my side I had a wonderful time visiting and taking in the experience.
My point, briefly...when you are given opportunities, sometimes once in a lifetime opportunities, take them! It may mean other things get delayed a bit, or your schedule gets reshuffled, but the payback will undoubtedly be worth it. More specifically for this course, take advantage of whatever extra credit opportunities, suggestions, and tips I may offer.
My view for probably the worst Carolina performance in the UNC/Duke game in a decade or more.
As a UNC grad, this was a no brainer. Of course I would go. The opportunity was too good to pass up. Even if it meant more travel, less time to grade exams (there will be time next week), and less sleep. Even though the outcome of the game was horrific for my side I had a wonderful time visiting and taking in the experience.
My point, briefly...when you are given opportunities, sometimes once in a lifetime opportunities, take them! It may mean other things get delayed a bit, or your schedule gets reshuffled, but the payback will undoubtedly be worth it. More specifically for this course, take advantage of whatever extra credit opportunities, suggestions, and tips I may offer.
My view for probably the worst Carolina performance in the UNC/Duke game in a decade or more.
Pregame warm-ups. Of course we are going to beat Dook!
The tipoff. Everyone is in a frenzy.
Oh, okay, tipoff finally happening here. All downhill after this for UNC fans :(
Photos courtesy of Matt James.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Relax, Rest, Renew
"My candle burns at both ends
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -
It gives a lovely light."
Edna St. Vincent Millay
This is an oft-quoted and nice sounding sentiment by Millay. When I read this I imagine someone wringing every bit of energy and opportunity out of the emerging modern world of the twentieth century. "A lovely light" perhaps beaming off of beautiful young faces of New Yorkers scampering to nightclubs, speakeasies, and houseparties at all hours of the night.
But let's be real. If one's candle kept burning at both ends all through one's 20s, 30s or even 40s, the "light" would no longer illuminate beauty, but a face haggard and worn from exhaustion. Even Millay admits in the poem "it will not last the night."
By the time you read this, you have probably finished taking the Midterm Exam. We've already finished eight weeks in the semester, and are now on week nine. This is usually when most colleges have their Spring Break, but we delay ours in order to coincide with Onslow County Schools break over the Easter holiday. Nevertheless, you still need a break.
If you notice the workload on your syllabus, you should discover you've already done the really hard work. We have covered about 60%-65% of the work for the course, even though we have half of the semester left. I intentionally set it up this way so that all of your energy and enthusiasm at the beginning isn't wasted, and by the time you are ready to scream "Slow Down!" we are actually slowing down.
I want to recommend two articles about work/rest/renewal.
"Relax, You'll Be More Productive"
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/opinion/sunday/relax-youll-be-more-productive.html?smid=pl-share
"Managing Your Personal Energy Crisis"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/jobs/24pre.html
Take some time this weekend to relax and renew.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Humor and Encouragement pre-Midterm Exam
I promise I won't play this video in class as you take the exam. If you feel this much pressure while studying, or scream as much as the people in this video, please take a break, drink some tea, go for a run. Best wishes for your studies.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Peacock Pie and Spit Dogs
I traveled with many of my students and their families today to visit Tryon Palace, in New Bern, North Carolina. Thanks to all of you (I think our numbers were close to fifty) who braved the cool weather and torrents of rain to visit the site of North Carolina's colonial capital.
Even though I have been studying history for a long time, I learned many new things on my visit, some intriguing, and some downright bizarre. For example, while we were all in the Kitchen Office, the cook (a man) described how the roasting spit was sometimes powered by a wind-up pulley system, or sometimes by dogs. What? Dogs? Various dogs (spit dogs, the cook called them, and he said that their breed was no longer in existence due to lack of necessity) would run in cages next to the fire, and their running served as the power source to turn the spit, which evenly roasted the meat. When I got home I Googled and found a few images.
In the image above you can very clearly see the dog running in the wheel contraption to the right of the fireplace. The pulley's coming off of his wheel cage are turning the roasting spit.
Here is another image.
This more modern image shows the wheel cage, again to the right of the fireplace.
Another unusual and disgusting revelation was the food. In the formal dining room of the Tryon Palace they had set a table with several items that might have been served in the late 1700s for formal meals (the main meal was usually served at 2:00pm) with a light breakfast to start the day and a later meal, sometimes of leftovers, to end the day (these meals usually were taken upstairs in one's room at the palace). The main centerpiece for the formal dining room was Peacock Pie. Our guide noted that this delicacy went back to Medieval times, when a peacock was cleaned, cooked, and then served, but the colorful peacock head was attached to an encasement that held the peacock pie (like a body) and then the tail feathers were displayed behind the pie (or body) of the dish. I think PETA would have had a field day with this. Strangely, when I researched this further, I found that cooks from the 1500s-1700s were also seemingly obsessed with taking various appendages of the animals they were cooking and sewing the cooked parts together to create fantastical animals. Just search for some of this...it looks like Dr. Cookenstein.
And then the clothing. The guide took great care to show us a woman's corset, or stay, which every woman wore daily. The guide did suggest that our conceptions of corsets as exceptionally tightly bound might be a bit much. They were tied more loosely, he argued, for women had to eat, walk, and work in them. The biggest surprise to me, however, was that MEN also wore stays. The guide noted that men in military dress wore these to keep an erect posture, but everyday men also wore them, especially as they got older, to keep one's bearing upright (no slumped shoulders please). Perhaps I might need to ask for a stay next Christmas.
Finally, some illumination on the bathroom facilities. Most outdoor privies have more than one seat, or hole. The Tryon Palace interpreters stated that colonists were much less worried about privacy than modern Americans, so if there was a privy with four seats, they may all be used simultaneously. Keep in mind, this was single-sex use, not mixed-sex use.
As you can tell, a very enlightening day!
Oh, and even more enlightening might be more hints for your Midterm Exam (see previous posts for earlier hints). One of your essay possibilities will focus on the transition of early America from a society that valued hierarchy to one that gradually began to see the emergence of greater social democracy. The best way to think or write about this question is to consider the changes in religion (especially how the Great Awakening brings in greater opportunities for social leveling, or equality).
Even though I have been studying history for a long time, I learned many new things on my visit, some intriguing, and some downright bizarre. For example, while we were all in the Kitchen Office, the cook (a man) described how the roasting spit was sometimes powered by a wind-up pulley system, or sometimes by dogs. What? Dogs? Various dogs (spit dogs, the cook called them, and he said that their breed was no longer in existence due to lack of necessity) would run in cages next to the fire, and their running served as the power source to turn the spit, which evenly roasted the meat. When I got home I Googled and found a few images.
In the image above you can very clearly see the dog running in the wheel contraption to the right of the fireplace. The pulley's coming off of his wheel cage are turning the roasting spit.
Here is another image.
This more modern image shows the wheel cage, again to the right of the fireplace.
Another unusual and disgusting revelation was the food. In the formal dining room of the Tryon Palace they had set a table with several items that might have been served in the late 1700s for formal meals (the main meal was usually served at 2:00pm) with a light breakfast to start the day and a later meal, sometimes of leftovers, to end the day (these meals usually were taken upstairs in one's room at the palace). The main centerpiece for the formal dining room was Peacock Pie. Our guide noted that this delicacy went back to Medieval times, when a peacock was cleaned, cooked, and then served, but the colorful peacock head was attached to an encasement that held the peacock pie (like a body) and then the tail feathers were displayed behind the pie (or body) of the dish. I think PETA would have had a field day with this. Strangely, when I researched this further, I found that cooks from the 1500s-1700s were also seemingly obsessed with taking various appendages of the animals they were cooking and sewing the cooked parts together to create fantastical animals. Just search for some of this...it looks like Dr. Cookenstein.
And then the clothing. The guide took great care to show us a woman's corset, or stay, which every woman wore daily. The guide did suggest that our conceptions of corsets as exceptionally tightly bound might be a bit much. They were tied more loosely, he argued, for women had to eat, walk, and work in them. The biggest surprise to me, however, was that MEN also wore stays. The guide noted that men in military dress wore these to keep an erect posture, but everyday men also wore them, especially as they got older, to keep one's bearing upright (no slumped shoulders please). Perhaps I might need to ask for a stay next Christmas.
Finally, some illumination on the bathroom facilities. Most outdoor privies have more than one seat, or hole. The Tryon Palace interpreters stated that colonists were much less worried about privacy than modern Americans, so if there was a privy with four seats, they may all be used simultaneously. Keep in mind, this was single-sex use, not mixed-sex use.
As you can tell, a very enlightening day!
Oh, and even more enlightening might be more hints for your Midterm Exam (see previous posts for earlier hints). One of your essay possibilities will focus on the transition of early America from a society that valued hierarchy to one that gradually began to see the emergence of greater social democracy. The best way to think or write about this question is to consider the changes in religion (especially how the Great Awakening brings in greater opportunities for social leveling, or equality).
The Failures of ESPN - Bait and Switch
I spent this morning with my students on a field trip to New Bern, North Carolina, to visit the Tryon Palace. The rain poured as we walked around the grounds and from the museum to the palace. Eventually the rain gave way to a foggy mist on the return drive. Once home, I was looking forward to plopping on the couch and watching the UNC/NCSU basketball game.
Well, 4:00pm rolled around (game time) and the game did not appear on my ESPN channel. I texted another friend who told me the game was on ESPN News or ESPN3 (neither of which I have on my cable package). I rechecked the ESPN website to check their printed online schedule, and yes, it said the UNC/NCSU basketball game would be broadcast from 4:00-6:00pm on ESPN (not ESPN News or ESPN3).
Instead of the rivalry game, I was treated to post-race coverage from Daytona. It seems there was an accident at the end of the race and everyone was in "disaster news coverage" mode. For 55 minutes, roughly 4:00-4:55, ESPN interviewed numerous racers, staff people, perhaps even a concession stand vendor.
I ended up sending three emails to ESPN during this time when the game was not being aired on ESPN (in complete contradiction to ESPN's printed schedule, as noted above). All emails were answered - by humans? not really sure, as they had the same robotic answer (and also oddly, very jockish, waspish sounding responders..Brad...Brandon...Blake...I kept wondering if I sent dozens of emails would I get to Seth....Smithson....and Stone). The second email did have a phone number that it suggest I call if I wanted to log a more human complaint, which I did. Strangely, the phone representative provided the very same scripted answer as the first two emails. She noted that live national broadcasts sometimes preempted more local coverage. My response was that the race had ended by 4:00pm, and all ESPN was doing at that point was flittering around interviewing people and discussing the possibilities of the accident (how many people were hurt? do we have any news?) So, unless you consider chasing ambulances to the hospital a live national broadcast, the race was over and the UNC/NCSU game should have become the main national live broadcast at roughly 4:05pm. Update: After watching the ABC National News they led with the Daytona car crash story, perhaps emphasizing my point even more...that the post-race crash coverage should have been carried on ESPN News channel, not on ESPN, which mainly carries LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE.
The ESPN representative apologized for any inconvenience, but I responded that her apology could not get the first half of the game back for me....could it? Crickets on ESPN's end. In my last email I asked them to at least send me an ESPN cap for their messy scheduling. I'm not banking on that.
Here's the point. ESPN, if you printed your schedule, even if it was only online, FOLLOW THE SCHEDULE! I'm thinking about just dropping cable altogether. I have a limited package of 70-some channels, and still not much to watch. ESPN's actions today don't help.
Well, 4:00pm rolled around (game time) and the game did not appear on my ESPN channel. I texted another friend who told me the game was on ESPN News or ESPN3 (neither of which I have on my cable package). I rechecked the ESPN website to check their printed online schedule, and yes, it said the UNC/NCSU basketball game would be broadcast from 4:00-6:00pm on ESPN (not ESPN News or ESPN3).
Instead of the rivalry game, I was treated to post-race coverage from Daytona. It seems there was an accident at the end of the race and everyone was in "disaster news coverage" mode. For 55 minutes, roughly 4:00-4:55, ESPN interviewed numerous racers, staff people, perhaps even a concession stand vendor.
I ended up sending three emails to ESPN during this time when the game was not being aired on ESPN (in complete contradiction to ESPN's printed schedule, as noted above). All emails were answered - by humans? not really sure, as they had the same robotic answer (and also oddly, very jockish, waspish sounding responders..Brad...Brandon...Blake...I kept wondering if I sent dozens of emails would I get to Seth....Smithson....and Stone). The second email did have a phone number that it suggest I call if I wanted to log a more human complaint, which I did. Strangely, the phone representative provided the very same scripted answer as the first two emails. She noted that live national broadcasts sometimes preempted more local coverage. My response was that the race had ended by 4:00pm, and all ESPN was doing at that point was flittering around interviewing people and discussing the possibilities of the accident (how many people were hurt? do we have any news?) So, unless you consider chasing ambulances to the hospital a live national broadcast, the race was over and the UNC/NCSU game should have become the main national live broadcast at roughly 4:05pm. Update: After watching the ABC National News they led with the Daytona car crash story, perhaps emphasizing my point even more...that the post-race crash coverage should have been carried on ESPN News channel, not on ESPN, which mainly carries LIVE SPORTS COVERAGE.
The ESPN representative apologized for any inconvenience, but I responded that her apology could not get the first half of the game back for me....could it? Crickets on ESPN's end. In my last email I asked them to at least send me an ESPN cap for their messy scheduling. I'm not banking on that.
Here's the point. ESPN, if you printed your schedule, even if it was only online, FOLLOW THE SCHEDULE! I'm thinking about just dropping cable altogether. I have a limited package of 70-some channels, and still not much to watch. ESPN's actions today don't help.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Don't Procrastinate
It is hard to believe, but we are already six weeks into the spring semester. Some of you may be feeling like this.
The best advice I can give is to avoid procrastination. Watch the following example below.
Do some work toward your goal everyday. Read fifteen or twenty pages. Write several paragraphs of a paper. Study or review your notes. A small amount of study and action on your subject everyday has proven to be the most effective method of learning. It also reduces anxiety when you approach the major tests, because you are comfortable with the information, have already identified weak spots, and made corrections.
The best advice I can give is to avoid procrastination. Watch the following example below.
Do some work toward your goal everyday. Read fifteen or twenty pages. Write several paragraphs of a paper. Study or review your notes. A small amount of study and action on your subject everyday has proven to be the most effective method of learning. It also reduces anxiety when you approach the major tests, because you are comfortable with the information, have already identified weak spots, and made corrections.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Slavery - More Questions
After finishing our section on the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the growth of slavery in early Virginia, there are still numerous questions about the issue. I will try to address some of these below.
1. Do slaves still exist in America?
Slavery was legally abolished in the United States with the passage of the 13th amendment in December, 1865. Despite this, slavery still exists throughout the United States and the world, though different in form from what one would expect to see in the 1800s. For example, today we hear a great deal about sex-trafficking. Much of this is akin to slavery. Also, as recently as the early 2000s, there was a North Carolina farmer accused of violating the 13th amendment when he kept migrant workers on his farm and would not allow them to leave.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/03/opinion/1194837193498/the-face-of-slavery.html?smid=pl-share
2. Did anyone protest slavery?
Yes, but broaden the word protest to include more activities than running away, rebelling, or generally expressing disagreement. When historians discuss slave resistance, they focus on the obvious forms of fighting back (those mentioned above), but also on the more subtle techniques. For example, one theory historians have refuted is that slavery was so dire and harsh that all remants of African culture were lost when slaves arrived in the New World. This is simply not true. Think of all of the "African survivals," things like food, language, dance, music, and storytelling. These cultural survivals, and many more, provided slaves with agency, or self-determination. Slaves, even though in bondage to someone else, could still cook, dance, play and share as they wished from their knowledge of life in Africa. For masters, this type of activity often looked benign, or quaint. But for slaves, this represented an assertion of self, of their cultural identity. Stepping it up a notch, actions such as feigning illness, breaking work tools, or working slowly, also allowed slaves to attempt to control their own destiny and life, if only for brief periods of time. Examination of documents from the 18th and 19th century reveal that masters struggled vigorously with ways to control their slaves. This signals that slaves were always resisting, in one fashion or another.
For a sample of African cultural survivals, see these clips of a "ring shout." The second clip is shorter, a news clip from Georgia, and the McIntosh County Shouters. The first clip a bit longer, but allows you to see the more intricate footwork and rhythmic clapping.
3. Were African females treated worse than African males?
My response here, once again, goes back to a comment by a former professor. He said it was important to distinguish between the "conditions" (i.e. - the treatment) of slaves, and their "position" (or legal standing). Even today when we visit various historic sites, some of which contain the "slave quarters," we may be saddened, or amazed, at our perceptions of how bad or how good their conditions may have been. For example, a slave on a wealthy plantation may have lived in a cabin with furniture, decent clothing, and decent food. On other plantations the "conditions" could have been deplorable (poor food, inadequate clothing, harsh physical punishments, and sexual expoitation). In Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she recalls how her master offered to build her a separate cabin and provide luxurious clothing if she would become his full-time mistress. Ultimately, while "conditions" do matter to people who are living through them, it is more important to discuss the "positon" of slaves - that is, they are OWNED by someone else. Therefore, slaves have no rights and no say in their own lives. So, in addition to considering how masters treated their slaves, we must first recognize that they owned them, and legally could do with them what they willed. Ultimately, this ownership of other people not only degrades the slave, but also ultimately degrades the owner, thus the evil of slavery - there is nothing uplifting about it for anyone.
4. How many free Blacks were slaveholders?
Good question, I do not have exact figures at my fingertips, but I think I read a recent figure that in the 1860 census there were several thousand African Americans who owned slaves up through the Civil War. This is a tiny percentage of total slaveowners. Some people are surprised that any Blacks owned slaves. How could this be? Some explanations suggest that free Blacks purchased family members or other relatives to prevent them from being sold, and to help them be as close to free as possible. In some states the law made it difficult to free a slave. Nevertheless, we must also consider that a few free Blacks held slaves for the same reasons whites held slaves - they made money. Keep in mind our class discussion of how our human nature slides to paths of least resistance, especially when faced with economic choices. We sometimes make decisions based on economics now (even when it compromises our moral standards). People in earlier time periods most likely responded in similar ways.
Midterm Exam Hint. There will undoubtedly be a essay possibility where you will have to compare the early settlement of Virginia with Massachusetts. You will be asked to consider such factors as: reasons for settlement, make up of early colonists, how they established their towns or settlements, problems faced by each colony, and how each colony resolved its problems. Ultimately, which colony do you think was most successful?
5. Where did slaves sleep?
This question gets at the conditions of slave life. We will discuss this more when we get to the antbellum period, 1830-1860. However, here are two examples. The first photograph comes from Stagville Plantation outside of Durham, North Carolina (http://www.stagville.org). The original slave house is a bit unusual compared to most other southern plantations. It is a two-story, four-room house. While this may not look so harsh, context is important. This is NOT a two-story, four-room house for a slave family of five or six. No, each room in this house was home to anywhere from five to seven slaves.
My other example is from Somerset Plantation, located on Lake Phelps in northeastern North Carolina. The very large plantation once had twenty-three slave cabins. The one below is a reconstructed cabin for a slave family. (http://www.nchistoricsites.org/somerset)
1. Do slaves still exist in America?
Slavery was legally abolished in the United States with the passage of the 13th amendment in December, 1865. Despite this, slavery still exists throughout the United States and the world, though different in form from what one would expect to see in the 1800s. For example, today we hear a great deal about sex-trafficking. Much of this is akin to slavery. Also, as recently as the early 2000s, there was a North Carolina farmer accused of violating the 13th amendment when he kept migrant workers on his farm and would not allow them to leave.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/03/opinion/1194837193498/the-face-of-slavery.html?smid=pl-share
2. Did anyone protest slavery?
Yes, but broaden the word protest to include more activities than running away, rebelling, or generally expressing disagreement. When historians discuss slave resistance, they focus on the obvious forms of fighting back (those mentioned above), but also on the more subtle techniques. For example, one theory historians have refuted is that slavery was so dire and harsh that all remants of African culture were lost when slaves arrived in the New World. This is simply not true. Think of all of the "African survivals," things like food, language, dance, music, and storytelling. These cultural survivals, and many more, provided slaves with agency, or self-determination. Slaves, even though in bondage to someone else, could still cook, dance, play and share as they wished from their knowledge of life in Africa. For masters, this type of activity often looked benign, or quaint. But for slaves, this represented an assertion of self, of their cultural identity. Stepping it up a notch, actions such as feigning illness, breaking work tools, or working slowly, also allowed slaves to attempt to control their own destiny and life, if only for brief periods of time. Examination of documents from the 18th and 19th century reveal that masters struggled vigorously with ways to control their slaves. This signals that slaves were always resisting, in one fashion or another.
For a sample of African cultural survivals, see these clips of a "ring shout." The second clip is shorter, a news clip from Georgia, and the McIntosh County Shouters. The first clip a bit longer, but allows you to see the more intricate footwork and rhythmic clapping.
3. Were African females treated worse than African males?
My response here, once again, goes back to a comment by a former professor. He said it was important to distinguish between the "conditions" (i.e. - the treatment) of slaves, and their "position" (or legal standing). Even today when we visit various historic sites, some of which contain the "slave quarters," we may be saddened, or amazed, at our perceptions of how bad or how good their conditions may have been. For example, a slave on a wealthy plantation may have lived in a cabin with furniture, decent clothing, and decent food. On other plantations the "conditions" could have been deplorable (poor food, inadequate clothing, harsh physical punishments, and sexual expoitation). In Harriet Jacobs' Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, she recalls how her master offered to build her a separate cabin and provide luxurious clothing if she would become his full-time mistress. Ultimately, while "conditions" do matter to people who are living through them, it is more important to discuss the "positon" of slaves - that is, they are OWNED by someone else. Therefore, slaves have no rights and no say in their own lives. So, in addition to considering how masters treated their slaves, we must first recognize that they owned them, and legally could do with them what they willed. Ultimately, this ownership of other people not only degrades the slave, but also ultimately degrades the owner, thus the evil of slavery - there is nothing uplifting about it for anyone.
4. How many free Blacks were slaveholders?
Good question, I do not have exact figures at my fingertips, but I think I read a recent figure that in the 1860 census there were several thousand African Americans who owned slaves up through the Civil War. This is a tiny percentage of total slaveowners. Some people are surprised that any Blacks owned slaves. How could this be? Some explanations suggest that free Blacks purchased family members or other relatives to prevent them from being sold, and to help them be as close to free as possible. In some states the law made it difficult to free a slave. Nevertheless, we must also consider that a few free Blacks held slaves for the same reasons whites held slaves - they made money. Keep in mind our class discussion of how our human nature slides to paths of least resistance, especially when faced with economic choices. We sometimes make decisions based on economics now (even when it compromises our moral standards). People in earlier time periods most likely responded in similar ways.
Midterm Exam Hint. There will undoubtedly be a essay possibility where you will have to compare the early settlement of Virginia with Massachusetts. You will be asked to consider such factors as: reasons for settlement, make up of early colonists, how they established their towns or settlements, problems faced by each colony, and how each colony resolved its problems. Ultimately, which colony do you think was most successful?
5. Where did slaves sleep?
This question gets at the conditions of slave life. We will discuss this more when we get to the antbellum period, 1830-1860. However, here are two examples. The first photograph comes from Stagville Plantation outside of Durham, North Carolina (http://www.stagville.org). The original slave house is a bit unusual compared to most other southern plantations. It is a two-story, four-room house. While this may not look so harsh, context is important. This is NOT a two-story, four-room house for a slave family of five or six. No, each room in this house was home to anywhere from five to seven slaves.
My other example is from Somerset Plantation, located on Lake Phelps in northeastern North Carolina. The very large plantation once had twenty-three slave cabins. The one below is a reconstructed cabin for a slave family. (http://www.nchistoricsites.org/somerset)
Keep in mind that these two examples are from two of North Carolina's largest antebellum plantations. Most slaves lived in conditions much worse than depicted here.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Colonial House - Where Are They Now?
As some of you watch Colonial House, I thought it would be interesting to post some YouTube videos of cast members and their recollections of the series and how it influenced their lives. The easiest to find was a bit from Oprah. Oprah Winfrey and her friend Gayle King visited the show while it was being filmed. In this clip Oprah and Gayle share a meal with one of the families.
And then several years later, the same family revisited.
And then several years later, the same family revisited.
Remember Dominic Muir? In the video picture above he's on the bottom right with the dog. I found the following video clip on YouTube. I thought it was interesting to compare his statement here (really the first 2:30 minutes of the video) with The Great Awakening book, document #11 by Hannah Heaton.
For a more modern version of a George Whitefield style minister see below, especially 1:40-3:15.
And for something really different, check out this photograph of Don Wood, one of the freemen on Colonial House. Since the series he's become an actor in low budget horror movies, both writing and acting in them. A nice headshot, though quite different from his look on Colonial House.
Finally, there is an interivew with Julia Friese (another of the servants) about her experience on the show soon after it was made. Check it out here: http://www.whyy.org/applauseonline/past/200405/juliainterview.html
In just a random search of cast members this is what I came up with. Enjoy.
Monday, February 4, 2013
What Are You Reading?
This is a question that I hope people still ask one another. It is a good opening question, a way to get at someone's interests, curiosities, and ambitions. I just cleaned off my bedside table, and here is a list of some of what I read last year:
Nonfiction
Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life, by Natalie Dykstra
Williams Alexander Percy: The Curious Life of a Mississippi Planter and Sexual Freethinker, by Benjamin E. Wise
Sex and God at Yale: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad, by Nathan Harden
Bonhoffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas
Coming Apart, by Charles Murray
Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay, by Christopher Benfey
Incidents the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs
Soldier From the War Returing: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming From World War II, by Thomas Childers
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century, by John Kasson
The Bible (selected passages)
Fiction
Canada, by Richard Ford
Mason's Retreat, by Christopher Tilghman
The Right Hand Shore, by Christopher Tilghman
The World According to Garp, by John Irving
Textbooks
America: A Narrative History, by George B. Tindall and David Shi
The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, by Thomas S. Kidd
The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents, by Richard Godbeer
Newspapers and Magazines
The New York Times (Sundays and selected articles during the week)
The Raleigh News and Observer (daily)
The Chronicle of Higher Education (weekly)
The Tideland News (weekly)
The Atlantic Monthly
The New Yorker (sporadically, but excellent articles and equally excellent cartoons!)
What are YOU reading? Share your best suggestions in the comments.
Nonfiction
Clover Adams: A Gilded and Heartbreaking Life, by Natalie Dykstra
Williams Alexander Percy: The Curious Life of a Mississippi Planter and Sexual Freethinker, by Benjamin E. Wise
Sex and God at Yale: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad, by Nathan Harden
Bonhoffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas
Coming Apart, by Charles Murray
Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay, by Christopher Benfey
Incidents the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs
Soldier From the War Returing: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming From World War II, by Thomas Childers
Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century, by John Kasson
The Bible (selected passages)
Fiction
Canada, by Richard Ford
Mason's Retreat, by Christopher Tilghman
The Right Hand Shore, by Christopher Tilghman
The World According to Garp, by John Irving
Textbooks
America: A Narrative History, by George B. Tindall and David Shi
The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents, by Thomas S. Kidd
The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History with Documents, by Richard Godbeer
Newspapers and Magazines
The New York Times (Sundays and selected articles during the week)
The Raleigh News and Observer (daily)
The Chronicle of Higher Education (weekly)
The Tideland News (weekly)
The Atlantic Monthly
The New Yorker (sporadically, but excellent articles and equally excellent cartoons!)
What are YOU reading? Share your best suggestions in the comments.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
So Many Questions...
I want to respond to a few questions that were asked anonymously at the end of class last week.
Several questions revolved around the relationship between Native Americans and the English colonists who settled Jamestown.
How did the Native Americans (the Powhatan Confederacy made up of Algonquian-speaking villages in Virginia) react to the English settlers? Why were the Natives not joining their tribes together and fighting back on a massive scale? Why didn't the colonists attempt to befriend the natives and adopt their lifestyle? Were trading with teh Natives in the 1600s-1700s or just viewing them as hostile?
These are great questions for which I have inadequate responses. Much of what we know about this early relationship comes from the English perspective, the written sources that remain. Many cultures transmitted history through oral tradition (many Native American groups included). If those Native groups are dying at a rate of 80-90% during this period of English settlement and conquest, tradition suffers, and history can be disrupted, forgotten, or ignored. Remember, it is the victors who often write history. In this case, it is the English who triumph over the Natives, so we are getting an English-skewed interpretation from the surviving records. Additionally, resisting or fighting back is next to impossible when you have disease ravaging your society. Also, most colonists saw the Natives as vastly different from themselves, as uncivilized (at best) to savage (at worst). Once we start discussing the settlement of Massachusetts, we will learn that the colonists viewed the Natives there as pretty much minions of the devil. That's a harsh way to view someone. So, the likelihood of adopting Native lifestyles is minimal. With that said, some adaptation of Native culture is undeniable. The English will adopt food, hunting and cooking techniques, language, and so forth. There is a cultural exchange happening. In the index of your book, there is a chapter by chapter bibliography for further reading or research. In this case, check out Gary Nash's book, Red, White, and Black: The People's of Early North America. As an answer to the very last question above, YES. Colonists are trading/learning from the Natives for survival. The Natives are also key to the colonial trade in animal skins, which could be very profitable for the Europeans involved. You want to maintain good relationships to keep these trade/economic doors open. However, warfare/fighting disrupts these relationships periodically.
The hierarchy of their society was difficult for me to understand...why wasn't there more revolution? More people like Nathaniel Bacon?
Great question...I think you are asking why did people seem satisfied with their lot in life? Why didn't they demand more rights and privileges? I have no good answer for this except that this is the way it was always done and this is what people expected. It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks....but one of the benefits of leaving England and coming to a new world was that you were in a new place and that allowed for new possibilities and new ways of doing things. We do eventually have a revolution (1775-1776) and it changes everything for us, and later for the whole world. More later in the semester on the factors that led Americans to question the notion of established status or positions within society.
What were other countries doing? Did other countries, like China, or Russia, try to settle (in North America) as well as England?
Quick response, China...no...Russia...yes. See map (from the later era) in your textbook, page 255. Several years ago I visited the Alaskan town of Sitka (beautiful place). It was settled by Russians, complete with a very Russian Orthodox Church.
When did towns in Virginia form?
The very first town was Jamestown, the original fort. Remember that in the Virginia colony there will be very few towns, as landholders are often living on their property. The riverways and waterways are the "road" that connects colonists to one another and to whatever governmental business they may need to conduct. From the overhead I showed last week, early Virginia towns included Jamestown (1607); Henrico (1611); Fort Henry (Petersburg) (1645); Norfolk (1682); Hampton (1691); Yorktown (1691); Williamsburg (1699). In 1700, for a colony this size, this is not many towns.
Midterm Exam Hint: There will most likely be some sort of essay question on the development of slavery in early Virginia. You may have to also explain this in the context of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Remember that we did the essay/journal on the transition in early Virginia from indentured servitude to slavery. In the potential essay on the exam, you should be able to explain why this occurred by using specific evidence/discussion/logical historical reasoning.
Did men cheat on their wives?
This may sound like an odd question, but it is a great one, because it gets at the heart of what we want to know about people from the past. Were they like us? Were they really different? The answer I give comes from a previous professor, Winthrop Jordan, a world-reknowned scholar of slavery. During one particular class Jordan was asked about some behavior/relationship status/activiity between slaves and masters. I can not remember the exact questions, but perhaps something like, "how often did masters have sex with their slaves?" Or, "did any of these master/slave relationships involve any notion of 'love' or was it all exploitation?" (An answer to this second question would require a multilayered critical reponse..not for here). Jordan responded that any human behavior taking place today, or that you can imagine taking place today, took place back then as well. Whether or not certain behaviors occur with more or less frequency today or then is up for discussion, but the human heart...greed, lust, anger, envy, love, sacrifice, mercy...it happened then and happens now.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Yesterday we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as well as the 57th presidential inaugural ceremony, beginning the second term for Barak Obama. Though our course focuses on the first half of American history, up to 1865, it would be a mistake not to include current events in the mix, especially with African American history. I hesistate to even use the previous phrase, because I don't want to segment a separate "African American history" that will be trotted out for observation only one day or one month out of the year and then be forgotten. As we will learn this semester, African Americans have played an intrinsic role throughout American history, to help build and shape our nation.
To phrase this another way, trying to talk about American history with only a brief mention of African Americans would be like building a brick wall without any bricks.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Buzzsaw
For my students, I'm sure it is like any horror movie. Things are moving along fine, there's love, laughter, friendship, "normal life," and then IT appears, and IT will mow you down in a second if you haven't been paying attention, or in the case of class, doing the work. The IT I'm referring to is the QUIZ...reading quizzes...based on reading, not class discussion and lecture. What? Reading? Yes, reading. You mean I can't just come to class and listen and make an A? Unlikely. To be fair, these reading quizzes are quite challenging...no, they are HARD. I don't make up the questions. I draw them from a test bank that comes with the book.
Students, please avail yourselves of the resources that come with the textbook. The StudySpace has practice quizzes, a place to create flashcards, and an outline for each chapter. Remember, you can access the StudySpace by going to the weblink at the beginning of every chapter.
Also, it is important to learn what types of questions are being asked. Some questions are simple recall. This is I think what most of you are expecting, or at least wish for. For example:
Who was our first president?
a. Abraham Lincoln
b. George Washington
c. Thomas Jefferson
d. James Monroe
e. John Adams (our book adds a fifth choice!! Instead of my random chances being 1 in 4, they just went to 1 in 5...aww shucks).
Obviously, the answer is B, George Washington. There is an easy "yes," "no" feel to this question...you either got it right or not...it is pretty black and white. Unfortunately, most college multiple choice tests are not this easy.
Other question categories include the WOULD NOT question, or the EXCEPT question.
Which of the following would NOT characterize the Mississippian Indian culture?
a. towns built around plazas and temples
b. cliff dwellings and widespread use of irrigation
c. cultivation of corn, beans, and squashes
d. ceremonial human torture and sacrifice
e. extensive trading activities
The easiest way to answer this question is to treat the answers as True/False statements. You are looking for the ONE answer that is NOT true of Mississippian Indian culture. So, just go through each statement...is it true or false? If you do this, B is the appropriate response.
In most cases, Spanish explorers and soldiers who came to the New World were motivated by all of the following EXCEPT:
a. religious zeal
b. desire to serve their fellow men
c. pursuit of riches
d. desire for power
e. patriotism
Again, treat the EXCEPT questions the same way, but instead of using a True/False dichotomy, you may use a Yes/No method. Ask a simple yes/no question using the potential answer. A. Were Spanish explorers and soldiers motivated by religious zeal? (answer yes or no). B. Where Spanish explorers and soldiers movtivated by a desire to serve their fellow men? (answer yes or no). Again, you are looking for the EXCEPTION, the NO answer. In this case, it comes up pretty quick...the answer is B. The Spanish were not coming to the New World for altruistic reasons.
Finally, the other qualification for questions is that sometimes there may be an answer possibility that seems "good." There may be another that seems "better." However, there will always be one that will work "BEST" with the question asked. The trick here is that the WHOLE ANSWER must be true. Sometime students think an answer works because one half of the answer is correct, but the other half, which are they not sure about seems likely but they are not sure. If in doubt, move on. Sometimes half of an answer may be correct, but the other half intentionally wrong. Look for the BEST answer. For example:
George Washington:
a. Became our second president, after being chosen in 1789
b. Became our first president, after being chosen in 1789
c. Became our first president, after being chosen in 1776
d. Became our first president, after being chosen in 1800.
Take what you know: George Washington was our first elected president. (so therefore the first answer is eliminated. But to answer this question successfully, you must know more, when was he elected? The only statement that is fully true all the way through is answer B.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A Contrarian's View of Technology: I Like My Recipes On Cards with Rubber Bands
Let me start with a story.
In a news article a year ago, Gene and Joan Tankersly were interviewed about a movie being made in their neighborhood about Steve Jobs, who lived across the street from the Tankerslys during his youth.
"The Tankersleys, now both in their 80s...recalled the day Steve Jobs, a friend of their daughters, raced over to invite the couple to look at what he and Wozniak had created - a box-like device with a keyboard."
"It didn't mean anything to us," said Gene Tankersley.
"He [Jobs] said, 'Everyone is going to want one of these things,'" added Joan Tankersley. "I said, 'Steve, what would I do with it?' He said, 'You can put your recipes on it.' I said, 'I like to put them on cards with rubber bands.'"
("Filming of jOBS' movie begins in Jobs family home," N&O, 17 June 2012).
I sometimes address the digital divide with my students the first day of class. Especially the expectations of late teens and twentysomethings and their mid-fortysomething instructor regarding the use, response, and thrill of technology.
I crossed the digital divide in 1987. I was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill and one of our history professors assigned us to the computer lab to access a "historical game model" he and a colleague had developed. Basically you read historical scenarios and then (the magic....) you CLICKED on various computer keys to signal a yes or no response, to move you forward to another historical scenario (Excitement = PONG). I later participated in a brief study in the pyschology department on how to use a mouse - it was like riding a bike for the first time. Gradually, I found myself reserving time in the computer lab to type papers for class. The most jarring moment came in 1990 when a friend studying at the University of Michigan discussed how she had communicated to another friend in Los Angeles by computer. She said, "A box appeared, you typed a message, then hit 'send.' Within minutes, you received a 'message' back from the friend that you could open and read on your computer." I remember saying, "What? That Fast? Unbelievable!"
I know, it sounds really pathetic. But that's when and how it began for me.
I must admit that even though I've grown up with this digital divide, and could have plunged headlong into the technological buffet before me, I remained a bit of a technophobe. A technocontrarian really. I believe that technology offers unlimited benefits (and I want people to exploit those, I myself employ them frequently at work), but at the same time I know something has been lost. In 1999, when visiting Oxford, Mississippi, I walked around campus and noticed that students within touching distance of one another did not talk to those around them, but instead chatted on their phones. This is, of course, now commonplace everywhere, except even if you are in a real, live, one-on-one conversation with someone, the cellphone call may still take priority. I have consciously tried to fight back.
For example, when I am visiting with someone, either in conversation, dinner, or a car-ride, I purposefully do not check my phone if it rings (even if I have the phone handy). I'm of the position that if it is important, they will call back later, or leave a message that I can check and respond to later. Or, if it is really urgent, they will contact the Highway Patrol who will pull me over on the road, or knock on my front door. The people who really need to get in touch with me have my number, or know someone or some way to get it.
Didn't anyone else grow up when dinnertime was sacred? You sat at the table talking and if the phone (the one right there on the wall in the kitchen) rang, you wouldn't answer it, but instead reasoned if it was really important they would call back later. Or, for goodness sake, if they were calling between 5:30-7:30, didn't they know you were eating dinner (a forgivable offense if they were new in town and hadn't learned your family's eating schedule)?
I think I'm resisting the demand of immediacy. Increasingly, we live in a world that demands our attention, and luckily, I'm still living with the luxury of not having to give a quick response. Must everyone and everything be answered NOW? The answer is simply no. I have found that questions hastily asked, if left unanswered, will often resolve themselves within reasonable time. On the flip side, I will admit I have missed dinner, concert, and movie invitations because I didn't have the phone handy, or didn't get to the call/text immediately. Can I continue my pace forever...doubtful...but let me enjoy my moment.
Perhaps it's just me and it is in my genes? My older brother and I are both phone phobic. Growing up, the phone used to start ringing in the kitchen and my brother would direct me to answer it. I'd say, "I'm not getting it, you get it." He'd retort, "I'm not getting it, it's your turn." We'd both ping-pong responsibility and continue to watch TV as the phone rang for the thirteenth or fourteenth time. You could get away with this in the 70s and 80s because the neighbors calling just assumed you were not home, or outside playing. However, if you ignored the fourteenth ring, and mentally returned to TV only to be interrupted by another immediate series of rings, you could rest assured it was a parent - usually my Mom, requesting that we take the casserole out of the oven in order not to ruin dinner, and question what in the world we were doing not to get to the phone sooner.
Here's a list of technological things I don't do: Facebook, Twitter, Skype. I do use email. I purchased my first cell phone in 2006. I still don't have a Smartphone, an iPad, Kindle, Nook, a flatscreen TV, HDTV, DVR, or even a dishwasher! If I see you in person I WILL want to talk to you. If I read a book, it's the old fashioned way. I do wash dishes, by hand. Amazing how life continues even when you are not plugged in.
I'm slowly moving into our new century, but please let me come in at a pace that maintains a balance of simplicity, need, connection, and sanity. Feel free to stop by the back porch to say hello. We can talk for a while and enjoy the view together.
Please let me suggest The Social Network, an excellent film that highlights the potential loneliness of connectedness.
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