Trip Review Blog

To begin, the trip provided me with a wealth of information and allowed me to rediscover some aspects of history.  I particularly needed the Progressive Era information, as I, honestly, have underplayed it in the past.  This trip has shown me that I was in error and that I was doing a disservice to my students by being remise in delving into this timeframe more deeply.  Oh we discussed it, and it is threaded throughout much of what I teach… but I realize know that I have to be much more specific.  I will use the required lesson plan for this trip as an avenue to this end. 

 

As I reflect on what I have observed on this trip, I believe that much of it aligns itself to State Standards.  As always occurs in the social sciences, the standards are extremely interrelated.  However, I will use the following to frame what my students will learn from what I learned on this trip:

History Standard-

1. Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships.

2. Students know how to use the processes and resources of historical inquiry.

3. Students understand that societies are diverse and have changed over time.

4. Students understand how science, technology, and economic activity have developed, changed, and affected societies throughout history.

6. Students know that religious and philosophical ideas have been powerful forces throughout history.

I also will discuss Cultural Anthropology with my students, particularly concerning Hull House and the fact that they are still discovering artifacts, determining original paint schemes, original architecture, etc.  I will also discuss cultural relativity and use the diversity from the Hull House charts to illustrate this and relate it to Pueblo and other areas.

 

The way in which Professor Stan Schultz’ related the Progressive Era’s topics to  “Hot Button Issues” of today (birth control and abortion, U.S. border issues, domestic terrorism, socialist issues/accusations, U.S. interventionism issues, health care reform, conservation and the environment, poverty and urban housing, and reigning in corporate malfeasance) will  be especially useful.

The Chicago History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, Jane Addams’ Hull House, the Labor History Walking Tour, and the Pullman Tour were of great value and I believe I will use them in combination to address the Progressive Movement/Era with my students.  I will use information about Abraham Lincoln and from our Springfield trip to address the Populist Movement and the changing of our country from an agrarian to an industrial society.

The experience of the Museum of Science and Industry will help me discuss turn-of-the-century industrialization, as will the Pullman Tour.

 

Jane Addams’ Hull House and the Chicago History Museum will help me discuss turn-of-the-century immigration, among other trip-related experiences and information.

 

All sites will help me discuss urbanization and poverty, labor, women’s and immigrant’s rights, Nationalism, Nativism, Social Darwinism, and Scientific Management,

 

Further, I hope to use the experience of Jane Addams’ Hull House to possibly promote student community service and volunteerism in our area soup kitchens. 

 

Lastly, there are a few of us who are already looking into utilizing the DPQ Project parameters and resources in the Pueblo City Schools Magnet Schools/Middle Years Program/ International Baccalaureate Program.

6-13-09 Blog

Labor walking/bus tour.  Our guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job.  However, much of the verbal information seemed to be homage to his personal history.  I’m not quit sure why his role in the Vietnam War came up so many times in a tour about turn-of-the-century Chicago.  I also did not like the levity in his voice as he reminisced about being given credit for two bombings of the Haymarket Police Statue (although I agree that the statue should not have been placed where it was…; free speech was being brutally silenced- something which I intensely disdain- but someone also threw a bomb into a group of American citizens…).  Lastly, I did not like his comment that, “African Americans actually have the best part of town (the south side)” as if only African Americans live there now.  Other than that, it was a great tour.  It was really cool to learn that our tour guide personally took César Chávez to the Haymarket site.  Also, I did not know that only the U.S.A. and Canada do not celebrate Mayday.  I remember making flower baskets and leaving them on neighbors’ porches when I was a kid on May 1^stdown in LaJunta, CO.  I also forgot that it was not a Communist holiday, although I wondered why we celebrated it as a kid- I started to wonder if my Mom and Dad personally knew Marx, Engels, Trotsky, and Lenin (just kidding comrades).  It was truly amazing to stand on the site were the Haymarket bombing occurred and to see where we believe the first dynamite bomb/grenade in the world was thrown from.  I also found the memorial touching and noticed that the painting in the courthouse worded the incident far differently (“Engraving of the Haymarket Anarchists’ Trial”).  Also, I did not know about the “police spies.”  I always tell students that we have never had, nor do we have, “secret police” (although I know some people would disagree…), but this made me re-think they way I discuss secret police forces with my students.  Further, the guide said that the tradition of posting a guard at union-meeting doors came from these spies.  That may be partially true, but I also know that the Masons have practiced this for 100s of years, and that other fraternal organizations (like unions) have adopted much Masonic tradition.  Lastly, the obvious kangaroo court that sentenced these men to their deaths shocked me.  To see men executed because they could have been involved, or because they might have incited violence, is unbelievable and it makes me queasy in my stomach.  The guide said at the end of the tour that Clarence Darrow had said that he could have exonerated those men.  We will never know, but I personally believe that that may have been the case.

 “The time will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today.” – August Spies.

  We then went to the Stockyard Gate.  It was also pretty amazing to think what was once there.  I swear I could still smell the stink of a packing plant.  I know that smell and I could almost taste it.  I wondered if the ground had become so saturated with death that it still lingered- then someone pointed out the operating packing plant across the street (Duh).  I though I was the “cow whisperer for a minute, but I guess not.

 

Lastly, we went to the Pullman Company Town.  In many ways I believe it was a noble experiment.  I must relate to my students the burgeoning concept of Scientific Management.  However in most ways it was, in my mind, a horrific journey into Social Darwinism.  I discuss Social Darwinism with my students often (one must…).  To think of this Baron experimenting with so many people’s lives as if they were laboratory rats was hideous.

(Oh- seeing the archeology at the Pullman site, and especially seeing the ruins of the predecessor to the skyscraper (the water tower) was incredible.)

“…and when we die, we shall be buried in the Pullman cemetery and go to Pullman hell.” -unknown

6-12-09 Blog

Well today we began at the Wisconsin Historical Museum.  I did not know where the designation “Badger State” came from.  When our tour guide explained the people used to use skunk oil like Vicks Vapor Rub (what kind of sweet nothings do you have to whisper into a skunk’s ear to get the oil…?), some very bizarre reasons for the designation came to mind.  Then I found out that it was because of the massive and important area lead mining (I never knew pewter came from lead…); and since wood could not be used except for the mining, early Wisconsinites would bury themselves in the side of hills for housing.

  

I then went to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.  It was very powerful.  There was a self-guided tour of U.S. conflicts.  There were some pretty amazing artifacts-

From the Civil War: Actual Hard Tack crackers, which were the staple diet for Civil War soldiers, many era weapons, a surgical kit, and much more.  Perhaps the most powerful artifact was one-half of some chest metal body armor with a huge bullet hole in it. 

There were also exhibits for: The Spanish-American War, “The War Against Microbes,” The Philippine War, The Mexican Border and World War I (and a Harley-Davidson used in both), The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Persian Gulf War, The Iraq War, and the War on Terror.  It made me very thankful for all the veterans who did far more than I ever did and those young people in harm’s way today.  Again, it was very powerful.

After that, we went to the Wisconsin Historical Society.  Prof. Jonathan Pollack presented some very interesting primary documents regarding immigration.  I’m sure we all teach about immigration, but it was really interesting to see the utilization of Naturalization Petitions and how they could tell us so much.  It led me to postulate as to how I could convey this to my students (and relate it to Pueblo).  I also relate how this avenue was not open to many who desired citizenship. Further, it led me to ponder what other types of primary sources are available that someone has not looked at. 

 

Lastly, we were treated to a presentation about the Progressive “Movement” by Professor Emeritus Stan Schultz. 

 

  I have always confused the Populist and Progressive Movements for some reason.  I believe this is because I knew that there was something wrong with the way some textbooks portrayed them.  I knew they must have overlapped in some ways and the Professor explained some of the reasons as to why.  I knew both were against the wealthy, in some ways, yet both were for the rural and urban poor in certain ways.  I also know from the Master’s Degree Fall Semester class that many Progressive women went into the Native American and Hispanic villages of the southwest.  We also recently studied Progressive schools like the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, so I knew there were rural aspects of both movements.  I think I now better understand the two movements and, thus, will be better able to explain them to my students.  I also thought the Professor excellently explained why the Progressive Movement can speak to our youth.  The “Hot Button Issues” of: birth control and abortion, U.S. border issues, domestic terrorism, socialist issues/accusations, U.S. interventionism issues, health care reform, conservation and the environment, poverty and urban housing, and reigning in corporate malfeasance are all of great consequence today.

6-11-09 Blog

This morning we went to the Jane Addams’ Hull House.  I did not know what to expect, as I am somewhat burned out by the Progressive era as of late.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The information presented was very valuable and I left feeling I knew more about social settlement houses and the Progressive movement in general.  Jane Addams was a fascinating woman, as was Ellen Gates Starr (interesting- the double consonants in both of their names…).  They complimented one another, as they were both activists and socialists, but Jane Addams was more of a writer and essayist and Ellen Starr was more aggressive.  They were both, nonetheless, radical for their time.

    

 I did not know that Jane Addams was also an ardent anti-imperialist and a devoted anti-militarist.  I did not realize that her work resounded across the earth, nor that she received the Nobel Peace Prize (the first American woman to do so).  Also, it was very interesting to me that she was actually the English translator for Friedrich Engels (wow).She faced the problems that emerged due to turn-of-the-century labor issues, crowding and urbanization issues, health and nutritional issues, and immigration and industrialization issues.  How daunting that must have seemed (excuse me- how daunting are these issues even today…?).  She took the 1880’s London concept of tenement houses and applied that to Chicago.  She did this, not from the ivory tower of some university or some organization far removed from the suffering (and reality…) of the problems, but from the problematic areas themselves.  Jane Addams and the Hull House not only witnessed to the transformation of women into the public sphere, they were responsible for much it.  I have to admit thatI usually picture female reformers as middle-to-upper class prim and proper women thattaught immigrants and the poor how to keep house.  I know it was not this simplistic, butAddams “got her hands dirty” if you will, and that makes her far more vital and important in my archaic mind.  I also found the relationship to, and the contrast with, Ida B. Wells fascinating. 

 

Further, the creation (and idea) of a separate “Juvenile Justice Court,” which must have been the predecessor of our present separate Juvenile Justice System, is much ahead of its time.  In fact, Lisa Junkin explained to me that Jane Addams was, in many ways, responsible for the concept of “childhood.”  This was not really applied to non-wealthy children in the past.

Further, the creation (and idea) of a separate “Juvenile Justice Court,” which must have been the predecessor of our present separate Juvenile Justice System, is much ahead of its time.  In fact, Lisa Junkin explained to me that Jane Addams was, in many ways, responsible for the concept of “childhood.”  This was not really applied to non-wealthy children in the past.

I think I may try to create a lesson plan involving the concept of the soup kitchen.  This could be done when we discuss the turn of the century, urbanization, immigration, mechanization (and maybe the Great Depression).  I may see if our Consumer and Family Studies teacher would like to have her students participate.  They could research turn-of-the-century soups (maybe up to and including the Depression era) and breads, and each of my students could be labeled as differing ethnic groups (based on the over 24 different groups represented in Florence Kelley’s research) and with different socioeconomic conditions.  I may also see what related information I can find about Pueblo during this period.  Further, I could definitely relate the ideas of “food disparity” and “food deserts” which we learned today, to my students.  Lastly, I could possible have someone come down from one of our local soup kitchens and give a presentation resulting in advocating that students do some of their required volunteerism hours in a local soup kitchen.

  Picture from Pueblo Soup Kitchen

 

Lastly, I enjoyed the Billy Goat tavern upon completing the boat tour.

   

6-10-09 Blog

To begin, I really enjoyed the comedy club.  I have not laughed like that in a very long time and it was very therapeutic (and who knows?- we may have lived history if one of those young comedians makes it big…). 

 

 

Now to the serious stuff:

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Our Tour Guide at the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio talked about the “Wow Rooms.”  I had a “wow” day.  I remember studying Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in an Intro to Art class at USC (CSU-P) back in the 80s, but I had forgotten much about this genius.  I must admit I wondered why we were going to an architecture site, but I really enjoyed the visit and found it historically interesting.  I am not sure how I will incorporate it into my classroom, but I do discuss art at various times.  I particularly found the two sculptures (Boulders) powerful and thought-provoking. The Tour Guide said the symbolization is of man attempting to not be bound by gravity and the carry-over of man not being bound by convention.  To me it also expresses agony and loneliness (go figure…).   I also found the inscription on the hearth profound.

Frank Lloyd Wright also worked on the Transportation Building for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (thus providing a flawless transition to the next part of this blog- Damn I’m good). 

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The Museum of Science and Industry was well worth the trip.  I wish we had had more time to view the displays.  The presentation was interesting and the virtual tour was really cool.

  

The scale of the White City and the exposition was truly staggering.

  

I also found it interesting that a woman was in charge of the design of the Women’s Building, as the presenter said this was the first time women’s achievements were recognized- which I can bring up when I discuss women’s rights with my students.

I may discuss the fair and its implications with my students when we discuss the turn of the century.  It is interesting to me that it should have been held a year earlier- celebrating the arrival of Columbus to the “new world,” particularly in light of the divisive nature of Columbus in our time.  I tell my students that Christopher did not know he was going to bring diseases to the Americans that would wipe out maybe 90% of every man, woman, and child on two continents.  However I also tell them that if you want to vilify Columbus, then do so for his return voyages- when he came as a conquistador. 

 

It was also interesting that Charles Atwood designed Central Park.  I can discuss this when I talk about urbanization at the turn of the century.

Further, the use of this new technology- electricity- is “crazy-crazy” (to quote my students).  That obviously fits into my lesson plans, as well as the introduction of the Pledge of Allegiance, Juicy Fruit gum, the hamburger, and Cracker Jacks.

 

Lastly, I was very impressed by the U-550.  You can still see the bullet holes.  This Memorial and exhibit will definitely help me relate the capture of the Enigma code and the effects of this regarding WWII to my students.

6-9-09 Blog

Today we revisited the Chicago History Museum.  The DBQ presentation by Chip Brady was excellent.  There were/are many useful ideas and resources.  I would like to purchase some of his material.  I would also possibly like to see if I could get him to present to some Social Studies and Language Arts teachers that are affiliated with my school (the cost is $750.00/day plus expenses- if you’re interested).  I’m sure this is far less than the presenters our districts usually pay sto come to Pueblo (and far more pertinent…).

We then went on a cool tour of Old Town Chicago.  It was very interesting, although I kept waiting for a red-light district to appear out of the mist.  Alas, no such luck.  We did see some old bars (some reminded me of some in Pueblo…

 

                                                                           

 Our Tour Guide- Dick

  The Tour Guide told a neat joke about the Chicago mud before they raised the streets (although it reminded me of Doctor Rees saying “the boy drowned in a puddle…” when we were discussing The Jungle)- a guy from turn-of-the-century Chicago is up to his head in mud on the street.  A passerby asks him if he needs help and the man replies- I think I’m alright.  There’s a horse under me.

 

 Lastly, please allow me a soapbox moment.  I was glad when Chip mentioned the Amendment process.  One of my pet peeves is when the news, history books, and teachers say “Congress passes this amendment…,” or “Congress repealed the 18^th Amendment…”  Only the states can ratify an amendment (and only the states could ratify the 21^st Amendment which annulled the 18^th Amendment.

                                                                                                            Ray

6-8-09 Blog

First let me clear up some confusion. I am not in whatever weight-lifting competition some of the other guests at our conference center are participating in.  I realize I have the svelte physique of one but my only goal in being here is history.

Today, at the Chicago History Museum,

we began with a presentation from Doctor Sarah Marcus- Chicago at the Turn of the Century.  She began by discussing with Chicago was different than contemporary cities in the 18^th Century.  I hope to illustrate to my students that Chicago became what it was/is because it began as a center of transportation and industry.  I stress, to some of my students, the access to the interior of the country that the Great Lakes provided.  Connecting the Chicago River to the Illinois River (and thus to the Mississippi River system) was brilliant and, to me, unbelievably important(although I had to rethink my Colorado and Panama Canal-based concept of a continental divide).   

The Chicago Fire is always interesting (and tragic) and the Peshtigo, Wisconsin Fire was also interesting. 

Doctor Marcus’ discussion of the historical context of the Haymarket Riot- as the rebuilding after the fire fueled the economy and it (along with an increase in U.S. manufacturing and industrialization, and the expansion of the railroads) necessitated tremendous immigration during a worldwide socialist and anarchist movement- was explained well.  Also, Doctor Rees’ reminder of the context of May Day was helpful in understanding the bigger picture.  

This will better enable me to discuss it with my students.

         

The historical context of the Great Migration, WWI blockades which limited European emigration, Chicago’s eventual employment of African Americans, and the end of WWI and the resulting job competition, was critical in understanding the 1919 Chicago Riot. 

Lastly, The Encyclopedia of Chicago and the Great Chicago Stories (historical narratives) were a valuable resource.

 

Ray LeMasters (LeMo)

Art Institute of Chicago

Today was a lighter day, it being Sunday morning.  Buckingham Fountain was amazing;

and the Art Institute of Chicago was a great stop.  Obviously American Gothic and The Nighthawks were powerful, and I wonder what my students might postulate if I asked them to compare the two.  To me they both convey not just sadness, but a sense of longing for something better.  It might be a good idea to have them compare the two in reference to the historical context of each picture.

    

To me, the Dorian Gray painting an the OLD PROSTITUTE painting from the American section also can be historically related to Chicago and some primary documents from Sin in the Second City. 

     

Lastly, I might discuss, with my IB History of the Americas students, the reasons and rationale for our reverence from paintings from the Renaissance, etc. when we have American art that goes back to 800BC and further.

Springfield and New Salem

We began our day visiting the Old State Capital building in Springfield.  The building was a beautiful representation of Greek Revival architecture, and the fact that it was completely torn down, renovated, and the exterior was then put back into place was fascinating.  One could discuss geology with students, as I was informed the stone was quarried a few miles from the capital and that it was originally sedimentary (you could see the marine fossils in it). 

 

We then traveled to the Lincoln and Herndon Law Offices.  This was not moved, as was the Old State Capital, but both can serve as a resource in illustrating to students the fluid nature of history.  One historical artifact was torn down and reconstructed, and another was reconstructed incorrectly. Also I must admit I did not expect myself to wax poetic as I write this, but touching the desk that President Lincoln sat at and used was, in a small way, like touching living history. 

The Lincoln Home was amazing.  I might use this as yet another example of Lincoln bettering himself through hard work and determination.  It also serves to contrast the wood-cabin persona students are familiar with from most of their education regarding Lincoln.

 After that we went to Lincoln’s tomb.  To use a trite word correctly- it was awe-inspiring.  A historical note for you military history buffs: the drawn sword the Marine is carrying is a Non-Commissioned Officer Marine Corps sword.  The Marine Corps is the only branch to authorize Non-Commissioned officers to carry a sword.  The Mameluke sword- which many people are familiar with from tv- is only for officers.  However, the officers switched to the enlisted sword during the Civil War due to the fact that it was better to use in combat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Salem can serve as an example for students to not look forward to a historical site too much.  Only one cabin was original and the highway through the lower portion of the site should be moved.  Lastly- no ale in the tavern…? Let’s get serious here.  I cried myself to sleep that night.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

                                                              

I am not sure what happened to the original text I thought I submitted the night of the 5th, but I believe it went something like this:

 

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library was great!  

 

Erin Bishop (Director of Education) provided some very useful information on sources (particularly primary…), and I enjoyed the paintings exercise.  The Lincoln-Johnston letters, I believe, also humanized President Lincoln, which is useful in attempting to peer through the mist of Lincoln’s historical martyrdom; and they also provided a useful parallel for students- regarding hard work.  Further, I was happy that she brought up the 1908 Chicago “race riots,” as I had forgotten about them.  The poem activity was also interesting.

 

Bryon Andreasen’s (Research Historian and Editor- Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association) presentation was poignant, as it broke the very complex subject of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates into one single question: How do you resolve moral conflict in a representative democracy?  I particularly liked his cancer analogy- when describing why the founding fathers could not deal with slavery during the time of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Bill of Rights.  I explain to students that if they had, we never would have had a country, but Mr. Andreasen’s comparison to removing a cancer which would result in the death of the host was powerful. 

 

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum was also fascinating.  I was able to get a book of the many political cartoons displayed in the Whispering Gallery, which will be useful in our history department, and I found myself rooted to the spot as I listened to the White House servants discussing President Lincoln.  Finally, anyone who was not profoundly touched upon viewing the depiction of the wrenching apart of the slave family has some serious problems.

 

Sincerely, Ray LeMasters (LeMo)

I am not sure what hapened to the original text I thought I submitted the night of the 5th, but I believe it went something like this:

T