Today is Progress report day. I hate progress report day. My students hate progress report day. We hate it for different reasons however.
To me, it is like a new beginning. Students get a wake-up call as to just how bad an average can be when you only turn in one assignment out of 10 but the chance to turn things around looms on the horizon. To my students however, it is a death knell. No matter how many times I remind them that it is a PROGRESS REPORT, they all scream about their averages and much moaning and gnashing of teeth is heard.
No matter how many times I ask them to see me for tutoring before or after school, I am still chased around the classroom by students waving progress reports like villagers waving flaming torches at Frankenstein. No matter how many times I tell them to take it home and get it signed for a homework grade, 40% will still throw it in the trash anyway and take another zero. No matter that I always call parents when I don't get the progress reports back. In everything I do as a teacher, grading papers and giving grades to 178 students is my least favorite thing. I wish that all grades matched what my kids are capable of doing. I wish that all students would at least attempt to do even a small bit of what we're doing. I wish all students could taste a little bit of success without so easily accepting a progress report full of zeros.
Because in the end, it's actually no small matter when a fifteen year old has already given up.
If you are a regular reader/subscriber to History Is Elementary then you are aware that I have had several fits and starts to my posting schedule since the latter part of August due to health concerns and two major surgeries.
Thanks for hanging in the there with me. It has been a real challenge to keep to a regular blogging schedule. I’m behind in several posting topics, and the only way I know to get rid of the many entries on my “to-do” list is to just begin wrestling them to the ground one by one.
Some time ago I became aware of History Today magazine and their blog found here. Information at the site explains…History Today delves into the deeper, historical issues that lie behind the headlines. We have been published in London since 1951. Paul Lay, the magazine’s editor has his own blog here and the main website for the magazine can be found here along with archived articles and much, much more.
I’ve already added the sites to my blog roll. Go check them out!
Today’s wordless or near wordless offering is a video regarding the Great Depression from the Thomas Brothers. If you aren’t sure who the Thomas Brothers are check out their website here and follow this link to another video clip showing how they mix history, video, and song to entertain and teach with.
Even if you can’t get the Thomas Brothers in front of students these clips are interesting enough to add to a lesson or unit of study.
Be sure to check out the video here that clearly shows how they work their magic with all age groups.
You can locate other bloggers participating in Wordless Wednesday here.
In an October, 2008 online article at the site for a South Carolina news station, USC economist Dr. Bill Hauk states, “There are enough similarities [between the current economic crisis and the Great Depression] to say there’s definitely something wrong here. We definitely do need to be concerned. I think the comparisons to the Great Depression are certainly premature and hopefully unneeded.” I agree with him to a point. The current situation is exactly that…current. We are living through a huge historical event that others in the future will analyze and judge. It’s too early to look at the situation clearly, yet that is our nature, isn’t it?
As a teacher of history I’m anxious to get my facts NOW, so when little John or Jane asks why did my dad lose his job, how did this all happen, or why does my mom yells at the television and throws things every time Obama’s face shows up on the screen I can give a proper answer.
Yet, we must realize the situation is still fluid, and we certainly don’t know the whole story regarding how all of the dominos have fallen or in some cases been pushed. While I want to agree with Dr. Hauk and state I don’t think today’s situation is greater than the problems our nation experienced in the 1930s especially listening to some of the folks including my parents who lived through the events I honestly have to say I don’t know…because this historical chapter is still in play.
Dr. Krassimir Petrov, a professor of Macroeconomics, International Finance, and Economics at the American University in Bulgaria, wrote a great article at The Market Oracle in November, 2008. He states, “At its core, environment of the 1990s, and the response of the Fed to the tech-telecom bust has created an economic environment that has encouraged the repetition of the very same mistakes that led to the Great Depression.” Dr. Petrov then lists several obvious parallels to the current crisis that include:
*Asset Bubbles…first in the stock market during the 1990s, then in real estate during the 2000s, pretty much mirroring the stock and real estate market bubbles of the 1920s.
*Securitization…Although not in the very “ultra-modernistic” form and shape of the 2000s, with slicing and dicing of pools and tranches of seniority, it was widely recognized in the 1930s that securitization during the 20s drove the domino effect in the U.S. financial system during the Great Depression. *Excessive Leverage…It was very clear back then that the root of the problem was not deleveraging per se, but the excessive leverage that took place prior to the deleveraging process. “Investment Pools” were then instrumental in both the securitization and excessive leverage, just like the Hedge Funds of today.
*Corrupt Gatekeepers…accounting firms aided and abetted the Environs and Worldcoms and in the current crisis we are seeing the same thing (see the most recent report from ABC's Brian Ross) and following the Depression the SEC was created due to the corruptness in the 1920s. *Financial Engineering…We are led to believe that financial engineering is a rather recent phenomenon that flourished during the New Age Finance Era of the last 15 years, yet financial engineering was prevalent in the 1920s with very clear goals: (1) to evade restrictive regulations, (2) to increase leverage, and (3) to remove liabilities from the books, all too familiar to all of us today. *Lagging Regulations…Understandably, regulations should have forseen today’s financial problems and should have been introduced before the crisis.
*Market Ideology…Laissez-Faire reigns, but we need to remember the money markets are not really free
*Non-Transparency…Originally, lack of transparency was designed to fool the markets; ironically, modern-day financial executives have gotten to the point of fooling themselves. But then Dr. Petrov takes a turn and states the current mess will be judged greater than the Great Depression. I wonder what moniker history will finally give this time period….the Great, Great Depression? The Greater Depression?
Here are Dr. Petrov’s six reasons why this period will be judged greater:
*Overvalued real estate…The real estate market has been driven by a number of innovations in real estate finance
*Total U.S. credit – Credit makes leverage…the more credit in the market, the more leveraged it is *Explosion of Derivatives…Warren Buffet has linked derivatives to ‘financial weapons of mass destruction.’ Derivatives, as well as ‘Value at Risk” (VaR), has skyrocketed in recent years with the potential to destabilize the financial system for decades…The unwinding of these derivatives could only be compared with a nuclear explosion in the financial system. *Dow-Gold ratio…[This] ratio represents the most important ratio between the relative pieces of financial assets and real assets…When leverage in the financial system increases significantly, so does the ratio. When leverage increases, so does the ratio. A high ratio is interpreted as an imbalance between financial and real assets – financial assets are grossly overvalued, while real assets are grossly undervalued. It implies a correction eventually will be necessary – either through deflation, deleveraging and a collapsing stock market, or through inflation, which implies stagnant market for many years and steadily rising prices of real assets, commodities, and gold, usually associated with stagnant economy and typically resulting in stagflation. Deflation occurred during the 1930s while stagflation occurred during the 1970s.
*Global Bubbles…It is impossible to make direct comparison with the 1920s, but today the global economy is rife with bubbles. Back then in the 1920s, the U.S. had its stock and real estate bubbles, while the European communities were struggling to rebuild from the devastations of WWI that ended in 1919.
*Collapsing Bretton Woods II…The global monetary system was on a quasi-gold standard during the 1920s….While the media describes the problem as one of illiquidity and confidence, a more serious analysis indicates that boom-time credit has been employed unproductively and so losses must be incurred. In other words, scare capital has been misallocated, poorly invested, and effectively wasted. No amount of money or fiscal policy can fix the errors of the past, just like no modern treatment can quickly restore to health a drug addict debilitated from a decade-long drug abuse. If Dr. Petrov is correct even harder times are coming. Harder times regarding life choices and harder times in trying to figure out how to teach this mess because for every economist like Dr. Petrovthat argues we are entering a period worse than the Great Depression there are just as many stating we are just in a slump and no comparison can be made.
The question goes back to ancient times when philosophers debated the origins of the universe including Aristotle, Plutarch, and Macrobius. More recent discussions have taken place with Steven Hawking and others. Here's an article regarding the question from 2006 that purports the issue has been solved.
In education we have our own chicken or the egg dilemma. Which came first….the student or the teacher?
Think about it. Students can’t exist without a teacher. Even students conducting independent study have some sort of advisor, guide, or text to teach the student. On the other hand teachers can’t exist without a student. If we are going to teach there has to be a student to teach.
So, when it comes to making educational sacrifices how do we decide who is more important…the teacher or the student?
Who should come first in education?
I’m partial to the notion of putting students first…..ALWAYS, but tough economic times really shows the mettle of some folks. They either get it, or they don’t.
It seems like Americans across all socio-economic boundaries are all re-learning economic lessons these day in a very hands-on, real life fashion. Every week I learn of more and more of our friends and family who have been let go from their jobs.
Conduct a Google blog search using the key words “hiring freeze for teachers” and this is what you find: link after link to various articles regarding hiring freezes in public school systems and university systems across the United States. Here’s an article where teachers are contemplating returning their raises to their cash strapped district.
From time to time I join in on some of the education discussions on the Topix page for my hometown of Douglasville, Georgia….a suburb of Atlanta. One particular discussion touched on the subject of a hiring freeze and the general public was debating where cuts should be made. I entered the conversation to add more information regarding why school nurses are needed in today’s schools considering all of the medicines and chronic…often life threatening burdens our students carry around with them every day.
Then I made pushed the evelope….I issued my opinion stating that if employees were given their pink slips then cuts should be made across the board and not just in the classroom. My exact statement was, “As far as [dismissing] teachers…I think we could lay off a few of the paper pushers at the county offices for local school boards.”
A gentleman using the screen name “Coach” stated, “If you think about the implications of such a horrible statement before you post it, you might reconsider it. It is some of those paper pushers, not all mind you, that is fighting for teachers jobs.”
I countered, “Not quite sure what you mean by implications…No…I think I’ll stick by my statement. I’ve been involved with three different school systems as an employee, very involved parent, and observer and can truthfully say in “most “ systems there are too many chiefs and not enough braves.
Note the keywords in my post…”most” and from the original posting…”few.” Not all paper pushers as I described them are essential and yes, I do realize there are several great educators out there who end up riding a desk. Many are my friends. We need them, and they do a great job, but there are several [examples] of dead weight out there as well. In all three systems I’ve been involved with the county office has its fair share of folks who were involved in some sort of situation where I would have lost my job [for some of their antics]…yet they get to ride a desk. Yep, I’ll stick by my statement especially since it was not a blanket statement regarding all board employees.” Clearly, clearly I rattled this guy’s cage for some reason.
He stated, “I am not as smart as you think you are, but here goes…It seems like it’s easy to say, and it has become the first think that is said. I am not at the central office, but I am an administrator…, and I have over the past month or so been sick to my stomach at the prospect of losing teachers. I have lost sleep. I think about families and mortgages and student loans and marriages and kids…[I] get mad and then I get industrious and try to think of who might need who I am losing and I make phone calls and go see people. I help teachers to have better observations. I talk to teacher eligible for retirement about the situation. I re-evaluate what can be done and change my minds hundreds of times on just my opinion on the matter (I do not have the final decision anyway). And then I walk down the hall, and hear horrible comments like fire “paper pushers” at the board or ‘They are going to fire teachers? What they really need to do is cut down the number of administrators we have.’ And again I think about families, and relationships, and homes, and it pisses me off that the person for whom I have been fighting to keep and losing sleep over despite the fact he/she has problems calling parents, expects me to do his/her classroom discipline, and can’t figure out why 40% of his/her students are failing. I have been fighting to keep them for several reasons. They show signs of hope, they really do love kids, and they have families…just like people I know at the board of education. It’s a shame that bad economic times brings this out in people.
So stand by your limited convictions, and go start another blog.
Coach’s response caused me great pause. I don't really understand why someone has to resort to personal attacks when discussing an issue, but I finally responded, ”….thank you for clearing up your obvious frustration in the process of letting staff go. I certainly understand where you are coming from as far as having the responsibility of telling teachers they may not have a contract next year, and I in no way meant to belittle the burden all principals have to shoulder at this time…I understand how you have a heart even for those staff members that ‘piss you off’…the staff members that despite ‘the fact he/she has problems calling parents, expects me to do his/her classroom discipline, and can’t figure out why 40% of his/her students are failing.’
Your comment ‘They show signs of hope, they really love kids, and they have families…just like people I know at the board of education’ tugs at my heart. I’ve seen those educators as well, but at some point we have to understand that the students come first, and if a staff member isn’t coming around not only could they be out of a job…you could be out as well, and the education profession continues to have egg on its face. How long do we wait for those educators to “get it”? The educators you describe aren’t just newbies, and you and I know it. I’ve seen quite a few 30 year veterans with complaints against them as long as my arm and yet…someone is still waiting for them to “get it.” I’m sorry my comments seem to make you think my convictions are so limited. One or two comments on a message board certainly do not clue me into who you are or tell you who I am…However, I would think twice before I would belittle an educator’s efforts at educating the general public about his or her subject matter as I do at my blog History Is Elementary. I began my site with the full knowledge of my last principal. She understood the importance of what I was doing even when I have spoken out on issues in a direct opposite line from hers.
She understood that the only way we are going to ever get out from under many of the misconceptions and perceptions the general public has about what we do and how we do it is by speaking out.
Coach didn’t respond to me again, so I don’t know what he thinks about how long it should take for a teacher to “get it”. One year? Two? Five? Ten?
If students should come first….we can’t keep holding onto staff waiting on them to come around. There are plenty of people out there waiting in the wings that “get it” and want to get on with it.
In the meantime, I’m sticking to my original statement on the messageboard. If cuts are made….if sacrifices are requested it should be across the board and not just classroom teachers.
I get emails all the time regarding new projects and great sites to enhance my classroom. I thought I’d share a few with you:
Cotton Campus – is designed for elementary and middle school students, their educators and parents. The site has resources to help introduce the history of cotton. The site features slideshows, games, classroom activities and a video on cotton’s sustainability, as well as downloadable and printable lesson plans for teachers. Some of the activities involve writing and research, way to develop math skills through constructing and solving equations from cotton word problems, and science experiences involving comparisons between cotton, other natural and man-made fibers. There’s also a quiz or two.
21st Century Abe – has as its main purpose to celebrate Lincoln’s 200th birthday and to take a look at his life, work and words through modern eyes. This site was created by the Rosenbach Museum & Library and highlights the museum’s collection of rare Lincoln manuscripts with a digital documement viewer, artists’ interpretations, commentary from a renowned Lincoln scholar & contests for the best user submissions.
Have you checked out the PBS show called History Detectives? I was recently informed that PBS Engage is featuring History Detectives, Tukufu Zuberi, as part of the ongoing PBS Engage series called “Five Good Questions”. The series features a PBS celebrity or insider and asks vistors to to send in questions to be answered the following week. The blog series has been very successful. Tufuku Zuberi will be the feature this week coinciding with a special episode of History Detectives next Monday….February 23, 2009…dedicated to African-Americans’ impact on history and society. You can post comments and questions here.
Democracy Web – This is a new website from Freedom House and the Albert Shanker Institute. The site not only describes the U.S. experience with democracy, but also compares it to that of every country in the world, including those where citizens lack a vote and a voice. There are two sections to the site….an interactive, global Map of Freedom and an online study guide designed to assist secondary schools and college-level educators as they prepare lesson plans.
Fresh Brain – is a great place for teens to explore technology. The site states….We give teens who are great at programming, graphics, or video a place to show off their work and develop new skills in the process…..Students can learn to make a YouTube video, program a video game, or develop a Facebook application.
And finally…..last but certainly not least
Academic Earth – this site brings together video lectures and full courses from leading educational institutions and adds in a user-friendly learning environment. There are more than 1,500 lectures (including history) and there are plans to add more in the future as well as some collaborative features and content in the next few months.
In a post of mine over at American Presidents Blog titled Monroe Crossing the Delaware I go into great detail regarding how I use Emanuel Leutze’s painting Washington Crossing the Delaware in my classroom.
I’ve posted about the painting again over at APB. It seems the Metropolitan Museum of Art discovered a photo that depicted the painting in a special frame Leutze ordered specifically for the painting.
Per a web article I read over the weekend Leutze’s frame bore sheields at each corner and was topped with an eagle crest and a ribbon that marked lines from George Washington’s eulogy: “First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen.” You can read the rest of my post here, and see the Matthew Brady image that got the reframing started.
Head on over and check out several great reads. Posts include something about saving The New York Times, a review of Andy Crouch’s book Culture Making, sources to watch television online for free, and an opinion piece regarding a formal apology regarding slavery from an author you might be familiar with.
Some of our greatest battles occurred during severe thunderstorms. Here are a few….check out the links for more information.
1.Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly)- took place in Chantilly, Virginia on September 1, 1862 during the Civil War. Out numbered 3 to 1, in the dark of night, with a terrible storm all around them…first [Union] General Stevens, then [Union] General Kearny were both killed in action. Stevens [was killed] while actually leading a charge up Ox Hill towards Jackson’s main column on Little River Turnpike, and Kearny [was killed] while riding his horse, alone, into a cornfield trying to determine where the Confederates were and where to send his men….after Stevens charge had been repelled. Stevens charge and Kearny’s rallying ride held the Confederates in check for the night, and gave the rest of the Union army enough time to escape. Congress later named a special medal for honor and valor after Kearny…the Congressional Medal of Honor.
2.Battle of Nanshan-occurred during the Russo-Japanese War on May 25, 1904 outside the present-day city of Dalian, Liaoning, China. During a heavy thunderstorm, the Japanese Fourth Division attacked the walled town of Chinchou (modern-day Jinzhou), just north of Nanzan hill. Despite being defeated by no more than 400 men with antiquated artillery, the Fourth Division failed on two attempts to breach its gates. Two battalions from the First Division attacked independently …finally breaching the defenses and taking the town. With his flank thus secure, General Oku could then commence the main assault on the entrenched Russian forces on Nanshan hill. The Japanese infantry was assisted by a prolonged artillery barrage from Japanese gunboats offshore.
3.Battle of Kursk- was an important battle that took place between the Germans and Soviets from July to August, 1943, during World War II. The battle occurred at Kursk, in Western Russia….[The battle involved] more than 2 million men and 3000 tanks. Kursk has been called the greatest tank battle in history and cost Germany more than 100,000 men and irreparable losses to its previously invincible tank divisions. From this site...the ground was waterlogged, and the weather during the battle featured occaisional thunderstorms….some hampered movements and the roads were in very poor shape.
4.Battle of Monterey Pass-occurred on July 4, 1863 during the Civil War. This battle is one of the most confusing battles of the Civil War and occurred during the retreat from Gettysburg ordered by General Robert E. Lee…Darkness set in during a blinding rainstorm. The Confederates wearing gum blankets, were mistaken as Union troops by General Kilpatrick’s Union calvary and were mixed in with the Union troops.
5.Battle of Evesham- happened during England’s Second Baron’s War and resulted in the defeat of Simon de Montfort against Edward I. The battle began around eight in the morning as a severe thunderstorm began. The battle was a massacre with Simon de Montfort body severely mutiliated….his head, hands, feet, and testicles cut off.
6.Battle of Oriskany – fought during the American Revolution near Oriskany, New York on August 6, 1777. Wikipedia advises this battle was one of the bloodiest battles in the American Revolutionary War and a significant engagement of the Saratoga campaign. It also has the distinction of being one of the few battles of the war where almost all of the participants were North American: Loyalists and Native Americans fought against Patriots in the absence of British soldiers…A violent thunderstorm caused a one-hour lull in the battle.
7. Battle of the Hydaspes River – involved Alexander the Great and his men in 325 BC. Alexander wanted to enter India, but this battle proved it would not happen. The Hydaspes was the last major battle fought by Alexander. Although victorious, Alexander’s exhausted army mutinied and refused to go any further into India.
8. Battle of Messines-was fought during World War I in June, 1917. One of the key features of the battle was the detonation of 19 mines immediately prior to the infantry assault, a tactic which disrupted German defenses and allowed advancing troops to secure their objectives in rapid fashion. The attack which was a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele…At 3:10, the order was given across the line to detonate the mines, which totaled 600 tons of explosives. Of the 21 mines laid 19 were exploded. General Plumer remarked to his staff the evening before the attack, “Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography.”…The crest was blown off the Messines-Wytschaete ridge. Audible in Dublin and by Lloyd George in his Downing Street study, the combined sound of the simultaneous mine explosions comprised the loudest man-made explosion until that point. Of the two mines which remained undetonated on 7 June, the details of their precise location were mislaid by the British following the war, to the discomfort of local townspeople. One of the mines was detonated in a thunderstorm on 17 June 1955: the only casualty was a dead cow. The second mine remains undetected, although in recent years its location is believed to have been pinpointed. No-one has as yet attempted its recovery.
9. Battle of Puebla – Ever hear of Cinco de Mayo? This battle occurred on May 5, 1862 between Mexico and France. At some point during this battle heavy rains created a quagmire on the field. Learn more here.
10. Battle of Rain – this battle occurred during the Thirty Years War and is also referred to as the Battle of Lech….I included this battle only to be cute. No rain fell from the sky, but the battle did take place close to the city of Rain, Bavaria. Read about it here.
11. Battle of the Clouds – this battle is also known as the Battle of Warren, Battle of Whitehorse Tavern, or the Battle of Goshen and was fought on September 16, 1777 close to Malvern, Pennsylvania. Moments before a British attack a torrential downpour ensued. Washington and the Patriots were severely outnumbered and tens of thousands of cartridges were ruined by the rain. Washington opted for tactical retreat. Bogged down by rain and mud, the British allowed Washington and his army to escape.
12. Battle of Agincourt- October 1415…Having invaded France, Henry V met a formidable army at Agincourt, a village in the north east. The odds against him seemed hopeless—his troops were exhausted, hungry, suffering from dysentery and hopelessly outnumbered by the enemy. Their plight grew even worse the night before battle, when rain pelted down and, with very little shelter, the English were left soaking wet. Visit the link to find out who won.
13.Okinawa- 82 days of battle between the United States and Japan from March to June, 1945 with one of the highest number of casualties of any World War Two engagement: the Japanese lost over 100,000 troops, and the Allies (mostly United States) suffered more than 50,000 casualties. The much talked-about “plum rains” of Okinawa were to set in and continue day after day. Mud was to become king, and it was impossible to mount large-scale attacks during and immediately after the storms.
The History Carnival posted this past week over at Diapsalmata. Once I finish this post I’m putting my feet up and heading over there to click through all the great reads. Yes, I’m a little late getting around to it, but in case you are unaware I had surgery again a couple of weeks ago, and s-l-o-w is the word I live by these days. :)
A few months ago the folks over at OpenSalon.com contacted me and asked me to set up a blog over at their hub. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do over there, but after copying my efforts here a few times I finally decided to focus on current events.
Sounds appropriate for a social studies teacher, doesn’t it?
At any rate my offering over there this week is titled A Real Apology and it focuses on my thoughts regarding a formal apology for slavery and an apology made just this past week from a former member of the KKK to U.S. Rep. John Lewis this past week. You can find the post here.
Finally, this past week Jennie, over at American Presidents Blog posted a picture for readers to identify. When she went to gather up her information to write a post to identify the man she discovered I had already written a post about him….former White House Chief Usher Ike Hoover… and published it here at History Is Elementary. Jennie’s a smart lady, a busy educator, and an even busier wife and mom…rather than reinvent the wheel she asked me to republish my post at American Presidents. I was happy to do so.
Ike Hoover is an example of great Americans that are behind the scenes…in Ike’s case he was behind the scenes for eight different presidents. In case you missed it on its first run you can read more about him over at American Presidents Blog.
Finally, I was sad to learn last week the folks who have run the Thursday Thirteen blog meme for the last several months have had to take the site down leaving many die-hard fans saddened. A few fans are continuing on with their regular Thirteen list, and I plan to do so as well. Even though I try to present an academic offering here I liked the idea of participating in Thursday Thirteen because the concept fit well with historical topics where I could relate thirteen facts in a very basic cut and dry fashion. Plus I liked the idea of reaching out to the non-history, non-educator crowd in an effort to show them history can be interesting and can be……should I really say it? FUN!!!!!!! Look for a Thirteen list later this week involving weather and war.
As a born and bred Southern woman with a long line of dirt poor farmers in my past, and as a teacher and writer of history charged with presenting the truth, I often find myself in the sticky conundrum of a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation regarding historical events as well as the social/cultural ideals that still haunt and permeate my southern homeland.
I’ve written here before regarding the yearly pattern of Open House at the beginning of the year when I inevitably have white parents wanting to know if I teach the truth about the Civil War, and I have just as many black parents wanting to know the same thing.
Basically they want to know if I’m going to teach their children whatever it is that they believe regardless of the truth.
Some want to make sure I teach that the issue of slavery and only the issue of slavery caused the terrible split in our country that resulted in so many lives lost and the destruction of so much property….not to mention rifts that continue even to this day.
Others want to make sure I’m someone who really knows the truth…the war was all about economic differences and that damn tariff.
Both sides have a point…both sides are right.
The Civil War was not caused by one single thing, but a list of many different things.
Some get too caught up in the romanticism of the Lost Cause moping about as if they are Ashley Wilkes while others are Big Sam or Pork (refer to Gone With the Wind if these names aren’t familiar to you) still looking for the forty acres and a mule. Those romantic types find it hard to accept and qualify the facts that slave holding was not a charitable occupation taken on by well meaning whites. It was a horrendous and nasty business that resulted in splitting families, forcible rape at times, unwanted and sometimes unaccepted bi-racial children, and a long list of other social by- products that sadly in some cases still exist today.
Not only do we wrangle over how Civil War issues are taught….we wrangle over how they are remembered as well. Some feel those in the South are wrong to erect monuments to Confederate dead….name schools and other buildings after slave owners…while many strongly advocate for their rights to remember Southern officers, officials, and leaders.
While every aspect of an event should be analyzed by students in a history class, at what point do educators move from presenting material to be analyzed in a fair and equal manner to presenting material that is compromised with personal viewpoints or too much information leaning towards one side?
At what point do we sacrifice true and honest historical remembrance for what we think we believe…for what we want to believe….for what might fit a certain modern agenda without thinking about the context of the times?
Finally, I have to ask….when we depend upon those maintaining historical sites to provide locations for students to learn about history where the history actually happened are we making sure those sites present a whole story or are we satisfied with just a story that sounds nice to make some people feel better?
During some recent research I stumbled upon a situation in Georgia during the 1840s that split the United Methodist Episcopal Church into northern and southern factions. The cause of the split was opinions regarding slavery.
The location in question is Oxford, Georgia….a place Dr. Mark Auslander discussed in his paper, Paradoxes of Blood, Law, and Slavery in a Georgia Community (2001). Oxford , as Dr. Auslander refers to it, is the birthplace of Emory University. The grounds are now the home to Oxford College and is a designated “shrine” of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In his paper, Dr. Auslander, goes on to relate the tale of James Osgood Andrew, first president of the board of trustees of Emory College, who was at the center of the split in the Methodist Church in the 1840s. I have written more about the church split over at Georgia on My Mind in my post The Methodist Split According to Andrew.
From that particular post I relate:
We end up with a clergyman who finds he owns slaves but didn’t purchase them…yet he can’t free them because he will then be in violation of state law and subject to fines and arrest. He could sell the slaves under his ownership, but they might wind up in a worse condition with a with a master who would treat them poorly…as if being a slave wasn’t poor treatment enough. To make matters worse Bishop Andrew then becomes the focus of the split of the Methodist Church.
Bishop Andrew did lead the Southern churches in their split. Later he became the first bishop of the newly formed Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During the Civil War he resided in Alabama and retired from his post in 1866. Bishop Andrew is buried in Oxford, Georgia and is remembered as the namesake for Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia.
Dr. Auslander’s paper zeroes in specifically on one particular mulatto slave Andrew inherited when she was twelve years old named Kitty. Today, visitors to Oxford can visit Kitty’s gravesite located in the long segregated white cemetery where many white citizens insist Kitty is the only person of color buried in the cemetery. In fact, the memorial headstone placed there was done by an all white private foundation and is known as “Kitty’s Stone.” Per Dr. Auslander’s paper the stone was updated in the 1990s.
Dr. Auslander relates…..in the standard white version of the story, Kitty was inherited by an unwilling slaveholder….after she voluntarily refused manumission (conditional on transport to Liberia) at age nineteen in 1841 she was allowed by her benevolent owner to reside in a house that he built for her, adjacent to his own house. There, he alledgedly told her, “you may live as free as I am.” In time, the story goes, she married a free African-American man [by the name of Nathan Shell] and bore him three children before her death in the 185os.
Dr. Auslander explains that there are other tourist hotspots regarding Kitty including …the carefully restored house, in which Kitty alledgedly once lived…renovated by a predominately white local historical society. Both the home and the cemetery are often spoke of , by whites, as the most important historical sites in the county.
In white versions of the story, Kitty refused manumission when it was offered to her in 1841 and was allowed by her master, Bishop Andrew to reside in her own small cottage behind his mansion in de facto freedom. There, it is said, Kitty “looked after” local children, white and black, and treated them with warmth and respect.
Dr. Auslander further relates:
Not surprisingly, African American families in Oxford have a rather different relationship to the Kitty legend. My oldest African American informants recall hearing from the “old people” of the community that Kitty was Bishop Andrew’s coerced mistress, and that Andrew was the covert father of her children, whom he never acknowledged.
Some profess to be bored by the whole business, which they regard as a puzzling (or, at times, offensive) white obsession. Still others critique local white fascination with Kitty and with the restoration of her small house (referred to as “Kitty’s Cottage” by most local whites) as an attempt to paper over the horrors of slavery and evade the full accountability for the city’s antebellum slave-owning history.
Yet for all the manifest contrasts in white and African-American renditions of the narrative, and their strikingly different responses to spaces in which the story is memorialized, are these mythic accounts entirely distinct from one another?
In addition, many African American women and men with whom I have discussed the matter express a desire to see the matter closed, once and for all. A middle aged African American woman sighed, when the Kitty question came up, “Isn’t it time we all talked about something else? We have to get beyond all that”…An older African American man grew very quiet when the conversation briefly turned to Kitty. ….He noted softy, “Sometimes, you know, the dead just need to stay good and buried.”
Finally, Dr. Auslander discusses those in the African American community who are intensely interested in researching, uncovering and broadcasting the “true facts” of the Kitty case [stating that they] find themselves facing fundamental challenges of space and geography. Many note that whites have in effect, colonized the only places where Kitty’s story could be retold, especially her cottage and the supposed gravesite. As one African American woman remarked,”Ok, let’s say we really could prove everything about Kitty and Bishop Andrew, with DNA or whatever. Where in Oxford would we ever get to tell the truth? Put on a display? Where is there? You tell me.”
Since the 1930s, her “cottage” and grave have come to function as veritable pilgrimage sites for thousands of Georgia’s white residents, including weekly busloads of schoolchildren brought in for “educational visits” from throughout the state.
One female tour guide observed to a group of schoolchildren, “You know, Miss Kitty was loved by Mrs. Andrew as if she were her own flesh and blood. And Kitty felt the same way about the Andrew children. That’s the way it was in those days, people just took care of children your age, they could just go in and out of people’s houses like they were in their own, and be fed, and loved and looked after. That’s the way things are supposed to be. But is that how we live now?” As one white woman noted, “Kitty’s story reminds us how families used to be, and how things still should be.” Since the late 1990s, many local white families have volunteered time, money, and effort to help restore Kitty’s former residence (a process that has so far, has not included any African American residents of the town.)
Somehow I don’t think Kitty’s Cottage is a place I would put on my list of approved field trips for my students unless I prepared them in advance to challenge the docents in their interpretation of slavery regardless of the bonds that might have and did sometimes develop between whites and blacks. I would also prepare my students to challenge statements made based on historical facts to back up so called stories no matter which side was painting the picture.
Where are the letters? Where are the diaries and journals? Where are bona fide interviews?
Most importantly……where are both sides of the issue?
In a few days a man with African American roots will become the next president of the United States….a very historic event.
However, a few short (at least to me) forty-six years ago the life of a black woman in Charles County, Maryland was worth a fine of $500 and six months in jail.
That's it.
The woman was Hattie Carroll and her fate was sealed the night of February 9, 1963, when she reported for work at the Emerson Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland.
During her work shift a young white tobacco farmer was attending the white-tie Spinsters’ Ball at the hotel. Apparently Ms. Carroll didn’t deliver Mr. Zantzinger’s drink fast enough , and he ended up hitting her with his cane. The cane ended up being nothing but a 25-cent wooden toy, but others who were hit with the cane that evening testified the blows were severe. Ms. Carroll was hit on the head and shoulders as Mr. Zantzinger hurled racial epithets I won’t repeat here.
From a Time magazine article:
“I’d been smacking- tapping- waitresses on the tail, and they didn’t say anything. I was just playing,” Zantzinger told the jury in Hagerstown, where the case was tried.
“I had no other purpose than to have a good time,” Zantzinger testified. “The last thing I intended was to harm or injure anyone. I never even thought about it.”
An article in the same Time magazine from February 22, 1963 states that not long after Ms. Carroll was hit she told co-workers, “I feel deathly ill, that man has upset me so.” She collapsed and was hospitalized. Eight hours after the assault the mother of eleven was dead. Though the autopsy did indicate she had hardened arteries, an enlarged heart, and high blood pressure, the report gave brain hemorrhage as the cause of death.
Mr. Zantzinger testified he remembered nothing, but admitted he had been extremely drunk. Initially he was charged with murder, but the charges were reduced to manslaughter and assault. The Time article goes on to state that the reason for the reduction in the charges were based on the idea that it was Ms. Carroll’s stress reaction to Mr. Zantzinger’s verbal and physical abuse that led to the intracranial bleeding, rather than the blunt-force trauma from the blow ….a blow that did not leave a mark.
In a second Time magazine article, titled Deferred Sentence, it was reported Mr. Zantzinger received a sentence of six months, a fine of $125 for the assault on the other hotel employees and and a $500 fine for the death of Ms. Carroll. The article goes on to state that the start of Mr. Zantzinger’s prison sentence was deferred giving him time to harvest his tobacco crop.
During the 1960s it was articles like the Time articles I’ve referred to here as well as the film clips shown on the nightly news that got the word out regarding the continued inequality that existed in the South.
Popular music also had bearing on getting the word out.
A young 20-something Bob Dylan was greatly moved by the death of Hattie Carroll. So much so that sitting in a New York City coffee shop he penned the following words:
William Zantzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'. And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him As they rode him in custody down to the station And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder. But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,T ake the rag away from your face. Now ain't the time for your tears.
William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him And high office relations in the politics of Maryland, Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling, In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking. But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears, Take the rag away from your face. Now ain't the time for your tears.
Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen. She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage And never sat once at the head of the table And didn't even talk to the people at the table Who just cleaned up all the food from the table And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level, Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane That sailed through the air and came down through the room, Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle. And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger. But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears, Take the rag away from your face. Now ain't the time for your tears.
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded And that even the nobles get properly handled Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom, Stared at the person who killed for no reason Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'. And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished, And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance, William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence. Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears, Bury the rag deep in your face For now's the time for your tears.
The song was released on Dylan’s These Times They Are A-Changin’, and soon after he wrote the song he sang it live on the Steve Allen Show. Here is a clip of the Steve Allen appearance:
I became aware of this story from the era of Civil Rights due to this article I caught over the weekend.
Seems Mr. Zantzinger passed away on January 3rd.
I think it would interesting to provide the lyrics for students and allow them to go on their own fact-finding mission regarding unraveling the story Bob Dylan presents and then arguing the merits of Mr. Zantzinger’s case.
With the new year I thought it was time to begin a new Wordless theme….great online videos depicting historical themes.
I must give credit to this first video to my husband. He sent me a link to it in an email, and gee….it only took me several weeks to finally getting around to looking at it.
The photographs are the work of Otto Bettmann and Charles Ebbets….more about them later.
Enjoy!
BTW…Once Upon a Time in America is one of my favorite movies.
Take a look at all the folks participating in Wordless Wednesday here.
As a form of review I often throw a couple dozen vocabulary words up on the board and ask students to write the words down in column one and in column two identify the word by the historical era it best belongs to. Students need to be able to explain to me, to the class, or to a partner why they wrote down the particular historical unit as their answer. Depending on the capabilities of the group or the needs of certain students I might also list all of the unit names we had discussed up to that point as a memory jogger. For example, if I wrote the word Constitution on the board I would expect my students to correctly identify the historical unit as “Building a New Nation” while the vocabulary word potlatch would match up with “Native Americans.”
Let’s see how well you do…..the units are Native Americans, Exploration, Colonization, French and Indian War, American Revolution, and Forming a New Nation. The vocabulary words are circumnavigate, liberty, artisan, origin story, Ohio River Valley, and James Madison.
Commence to matching them up.
So, how did you match them up?
Here’s the best way….Native Americans/origin story, Exploration/circumnavigate, Colonization/artisan, French and Indian War/Ohio River Valley, American Revolution/liberty, James Madison/Forming a New Nation.
What about the word secession?
Which unit of history would it best go with?
The Civil War…right?
What if I changed the direction for the activity from which is the best unit to match the word up with to which historical period or unit is the earliest time period the word could fit?
If “that” was my direction then the Civil War would NOT be correct.
Nope….in fact the time period right after the American Revolution would be the correct historical time period.
In April, 1784 the state of North Carolina gave the new United States government control of 29 million acres between the Mississippi River and the Allegheny Mountains (Appalachian) due to the extreme amount of debt the new nation found itself under.
This action, however, did not please many of the inhabitants of the area who did not want to suddenly find themselves as Spanish or French colonists should the Confederation government of the U.S. decide to sell the territory for debt relief. Apparently the legislature of North Carolina also became a bit wary as to what the national government would do with the land, so they took their offer off the table.
By August, 1784 the people living in this area had had it with the uncertainty of their fate. Were they citizens of North Carolina? Were they citizens of a new colony? The people declared they were free from North Carolina, and on May 16, 1785, a delegation asked the U.S. Congress for statehood. Their proposed name was Frankland.
Under the Articles of Confederation that governed this nation at the time a two-thirds majority of states had to vote in favor of statehood….they fell short with just seven states voting in favor. Frankland’s leaders even opted to change the name to Franklin, after Benjamin Franklin, in hopes that members of the confederation congress would go for that, and the fact that the U.S. government did not officially declare them a state did not deter them.
A constitution was adopted, a government was seated at Greeneville, and John Sevier was elected governor. The “state”, however, could never support itself and since it was not officially recognized by the U.S. government, and because it ignored the fact that North Carolina controlled the territory, Franklin could not benefit from any military assistance.
North Carolina troops finally moved in when Franklin’s “government” refused to accept North Carolina’s offer to waive back taxes. One battle ensued at Colonel Tipton's farm in present day Johnson City, Tennessee.
After failing to garner a loan from Spain (which is ironic since so many citizens had not wanted to be beholden to the French or the Spanish), John Sevier finally turned himself into North Carolina authorities in February, 1788. His only punishment was to declare an oath of allegiance to North Carolina.
All differences between the state of North Carolina and the want-to-be state of Franklin were forgotten by the citizens of the territory when Native Americans began to heavily attack the white Franklin settlements in March, 1788. The citizens of Franklin were more than ready to declare they were in fact North Carolinians.
By 1790, the territory that had once claimed to be the state of Franklin was ceded by the government of North Carolina once more to the national government where it would become part of the Southwest Territory…..and would later become part of Tennessee where it remains today.
It’s not unusual for citizens to suddenly change the name of a proposed state or county to something that might be more favorable to those voting….see another article I wrote here.
The Battle of the Bulge which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945 was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated. More than a million men fought in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The German military force consisted of two Armies with ten corps (equal to 29 divisions). While the American military force consisted of a total of three armies with six corps (equal to 31 divisions). At the conclusion of the battle the casualties were as follows: 81,000 U.S. with 19,000 killed, 1400 British with 200 killed, and 100,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured.
You can find more of my World War II postings here.
Other bloggers are participating in Wordless Wednesday today….you can find them here.
The White House has endured a few fires over the years, but one particular fire occurred during the Christmas season, and the Oval Office received some major damage.
I recently finished reading Towers of Gold: How One Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California by Frances Dinkelspiel, and I have to say I’m a bit jealous. Isaias Hellman is the great-great grandfather of Ms. Dinkelspiel. It’s not just anyone who can claim ancestory to a man who almost single-handedly birthed the state of California. While I’ll admit that it took many, many people to birth the great state of California….Isaias Hellman’s contributions cannot be denied.
The book is well written. It kept my interest with stagecoach robberies, an assassination attempt, bank runs, the 1906 earthquake, and is the final product of eight years of research during which Ms. Dinkelspiel poured over more than 50,000 archival documents.
Isaias Hellman isn’t just an American who should be taught about in a course including California history, but he should be included in courses that include early immigration, growth of the west, growth of early cities and towns, Jewish contributions to the making of America, and 19th century financial American History.
So, just who was Isaias Hellman? Well, you really need to read the book for a clear picture, but here are a few facts:
1. Isaias Hellman was a Jewish immigrant from Reckendorf, Bavaria. He immigrated to Los Angeles in 1859, a few years after California being admitted to the Union.
2. In fact, at the time Hellman reached California the U.S. territory was still heavily entrenched in Mexican culture…..Pueblo type buildings and the rules of Spanish society were the norm.
3. Today, Hellman is thought to be one of the greatest Pacific Coast financiers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Library Journal advises [Hellman] is attributed with stabilizing the financial panic of 1893 in Los Angeles by stacking $500,000 worth of gold coins on the counter of the Farmers and Merchants Bank in plain public view, hence the title of [Ms. Dinkelspiel’s] book.
4. He founded one of the territory’s first banks which later became the Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank. Ms. Dinkelspiel advises at the height of his power in the early 20th century, he controlled more than $100 million in capital and served as president of 14 other banks. 5. Because of his financial backing Hellman was instrumental in developing at least seven other industries that shaped California: transportation, oil, electricity, land development, water, wine, and education.
6. He controlled the California wine industry for almost twenty years, and helped develop the famous Pacific Electric red cars that crisscrossed the Los Angeles region. Hellman was also involved in agriculture raising oranges, walnuts, and lemons at Rosemeade…the Hellman Ranch.
7. Hellman was the president of the first synogogue in Los Angeles.
8. He was very involved in the founding of the University of Southern California by donating land the college sits on today, and he served as Regent for many years for the University of California.
9. Following a move to San Francisco, Hellman opened Union Trust Company, the first trust company in California. He also was involved with the Nevada Bank which later became Wells Fargo Bank.
10. During tough times it was Hellman that kept Californians moving ahead. Following the 1906 earthquake Hellman ran the Wells Fargo Bank out of home when the building that housed the bank was damaged.
11. Sugar Pine Point State Park at Lake Tahoe was originally a Hellman home before it was donated to the state.
12. San Francisco Magazine states visionary financier Isaias Hellman was the Warren Buffet and Alan Greenspan of early California rolled into one. He arrived in Los Angeles as a practically penniless, 16-year-old German Jew when there were only 300 other Europeans in town. Three decades later, he controlled much of the booming city’s capital, land, and public works….Hellman starred in so many aspects of the state’s phoenixlike rise between the Civil War and the Depression that he became our Zelig, only with a really thick portfolio.
13. The San Francisco Gate states the book is a carefully researched and superbly written memoir…Dinkelspiel’s biography not only brings to life the transformation of California into the state with the strongest economy in the nation, and the outside personalities that forged it, but rescues from the proverbial dustbin of history the remarkable life and achievements of a man whose energy, creativity, resourcefulness and love for his adopted country had been all but forgotten.
If you are looking for a great biography to read then I suggest you give Towers of Gold a try.
Other bloggers are posting their 13 lists today as well. You can locate them here.
Today is Progress report day. I hate progress report day. My students hate progress report day. We hate it for different reasons however.
