HIST 813 Primary Sources 30 September 2005

This week I spent some time exploring The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Here, many legal and historical documents are digitized. They are grouped by century. I spent a lot of time looking at those from the 20th century. Some of the most interesting were the following:
* Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Risk of Outbreak of Nuclear War Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics - September 30, 1971
* Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Viet-Nam, July 20, 1954
* Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, April 22, 1968
* Annual Messages of the Presidents of the United States
* Arbitration Convention Between the United States and Austria-Hungary; January 15, 1909

I bookmarked this site for future use and shared it with my colleagues teaching American History and American Government. I think it is really beneficial when kids can actually READ some of the treaties and agreements made instead of just memorizing the names of them. It also helps them understand WHY the United States makes some of its decisions.

HIST 813 Primary Sources 24 September 2005

As I continue my journey through the Library of Congress, I stumbled upon The Learning Page. Wow! There are so many activities there that have already been put together. Many use Shockwave and are interactive. They all use primary sources by subject. There is also a section that helps students with copywrite issues and how to analyze a photograph and primary source citation. I spent so much time looking through all of the activities. This is definitely a source I will use. I really think my students will enjoy doing these. It is a really great way to introduce using primary sources to students.

HIST 813 Primary Sources 16 September, 2005

My exploration this week to me to Cornell University's Library which has a wealth of great primary sources, historical journals, and other journals (Harper's Weekly for example) in digital form. The URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/about/digital_collections.html

Some of the Categories within their collection are:
Historical Monograph Collection

Labor Photos Database These are photos from 100 years of labor issues.

Making of America (MOA) In this one, I found the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion" and so much more!

Samuel May Anti-Slavery Collection This one includes over 8,500 of the important pamphlet and leaflets relating to the anti-slavery struggle. Things such as sermons, local Anti-Slavery Society newsletters, poetry anthologies, and Freedmen's testimonies.

Witchcraft Collection

UtopiaUtopia is a database of images of European Renaissance art, primarily from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

It will take me a very long time to navigate all of this, but this is one that should be more known to researchers.

Richmond Chapter 4: Trails and Early Transportation

This chapter was about the early trails that crisscrossed Kansas. When writing about the Santa Fe trail, Richmond included some comments made by William Becknell (The Father of the Santa Fe Trail) and Josiah Gregg, (the first historian of the Santa Fe trail). The comments were very graphic when describing the hardships of the trail. My students would enjoy reading these accounts. Gross things get their attention.

Richmond goes on to tell of the route of the Santa Fe trail through Kansas. I could see my students creating a travel brochure encouraging people to travel the trail. They could collect pictures, maps, and other information about the stops along the trail. This would be a great place to include “comments” (primary sources) of those who have traveled the trail. Plus, it is a lesson in persuasion.

In his coverage of the Oregon-California trail, Richmond includes a drawing of a “wind wagon”. This would be a great visual to show students and to discuss the ingenuity of the time. Again, the diary entry that is given is a great source of information. Students could use these primary sources to plan what they would need on their own journey. Perhaps another activity would be to have students create a board game using the situations they read about in a diary such as this.

Obviously, my students would be interested in hearing about the importance of Leavenworth to this time. Richmond gives examples of how Leavenworth was an important town of that time.

HIST 813 Primary Sources 9 September 2005

I began this week by reading over the suggested items on website credibility and History on the web. In one of those I was reminded of just how easy it is to alter photographs or other historical documents to create one's own version of history. The Stalin/Trotsky example shows that this sort of thing is not new. I really need to spend some time going over the importance of website credibility with my students before beginning any project that involves online research.

From there I moved on to The Library of Congress and explored their teacher resources page. I really like how they give examples of how to use specific primary sources. Often, I will come across a primary source that I really want to show to my students, but I don't really have great ideas on how to present it and how they can manipulate the source to increase historical understanding. I will refer back to that section quite a bit.

Preliminary Paper

Lynching in Leavenworth: The Fred Alexander Story

General Topic:
Racism and lynching in early 20th Century Kansas (specifically NE Kansas, but I will look at reaction to this event from newspapers throughout Kansas and the U.S.)

Possible Primary Sources:
Kansas Newspapers: Lawrence, Topeka, Leavenworth (3), Wichita, Parsons, and possibly others
U.S. Newspapers: KC Star, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times (it was an AP story, but each reported it with their own bias)
photographs/drawings of the people involved
Leavenworth police report (unsolved cases)
LV county jail records (NARA Central Plains Region)
Leavenworth city directory
U.S. Census Records
Military enlistment records
Coroners Inquest
Leavenworth city map, 1901

Possible Secondary Sources:
books
Looking Back: Leavenworth County History
In Search of the Racial Frontier
A city divided : the racial landscape of Kansas City, 1900-1960
Bleeding Kansas : contested liberty in the Civil War era
Kansas: A Land of Contrasts
Kansas: A History of the Sunflower State, 1854-2000
Still looking for others
websites
www.historicaldocuments.com/boodredrecord.htm
www.faculty.washinton.edu/qtaylor/courses/322_aah/332_man_chpl.htm
others

Outline:
Introduction
History of Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Contrasting attitudes towards race such as Leavenworth and Lawrence
Thesis: The early history of Kansas has led to conflicting views on race. These views have led to inexplicable violence. Kansas is schizophrenic when it comes to race issues.

History of Kansas
Bleeding Kansas
Etc
The incident—the lynching of Fred Alexander
The presentation of facts to the public
Different interpretations
Anti-lynching movement
Conclusion

Richmond Chapter 3: Indian Removal and Christian Missionary Efforts

This chapter dealt with the attempts of the whites to bring Christianity and civility to the Natives while removing them from their homeland for white settlement. Despite the obvious use of this information (debating the issue of Indian removal), I see taking this information and using it in another way. I would like to answer the question, “what happened to those natives that were educated in the missions?” Richmond vaguely alludes to the fact that it had little influence, but I would like to find some evidence regarding this. Where could I go to find personal accounts? Do they even exist? I suppose one place to begin would be at the mission’s historical sites. Perhaps the activity could be one where my students attempt to find the answer to that question.

Richmond Chapter 2: Exploration of the Great Plains

Chapter 2 of Richmond’s book tells of the early expeditions to Kansas and surrounding areas. It is interesting to read all of the primary accounts of the first impressions of early explorers. Also, there were so many things that happened that could have altered Kansas History entirely. For example, the defeat of Pedro de Villasur by the Pawnee in Nebraska led to diminished Spanish influence in the area (including Kansas). Had this not happened, how might Kansas be different today?

I definitely would use the primary accounts from this chapter in my classroom. I would also locate others so that my students can form their own interpretations. I have a number of transient students (military families) that I could pose the question, “how are their first impressions similar or different from your first impression of Kansas?” Also, I would lead a discussion about Pike’s recommendation to have the U.S. border stop at the Missouri river. How might that have changed Kansas History.
Because my school is near Leavenworth, I would definitely discuss the Lewis and Clark camp near Fort Leavenworth. If possible, a field trip to the area would be an incredible way to make the topic personal to my students.