History on Tap

Congratulations to Heather McCormick at James Hurst Elementary!  Heather has been chosen to serve on the 2009 SOL Assessment Review Committee for USI.  This year, the committee will meet in Glen Allen, VA.  Way to go Heather, we’re glad you’ll be there representing Portsmouth!

Here’s an interesting story in today’s Huffington Post about the discovery of a  copy (dating to 1944-45) of a list f 801 men Oskar Schindler saved during the Holocuast.  It belonged to the author of Schindler’s List, Thomas Keneally, and was used by Keneally when writing the book.

Life has recently (as in the past couple of days) published never before seen photographs taken in Memphis on the day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination.  A Life photgrapher and reporter happened to be in assignment in Alabama and rushed to the Lorraine Motel after hearing the news.  They had unrestricted access to Dr. King’s room, the motel, and surrounding area, which enabled them to take these photos.  The site includes a short description for each photo from the photographer, Henry Groskinsky. 

(Note:  It’s probably a good idea to preview the photos before showing them to students-a couple of them show people cleaning up the balcony where Dr. King was shot.)

Congratulations to Lani Wilson from Churchland Elementary!  She was chosen to participate in the Jamestown Yorktown Teacher Institute in July.  I look forward to hearing about her experience and seeing what new ideas she has upon her return.  Congrats Lani, enjoy the institute!

We got started a little earlier today, so I didn’t get up and wander around the grounds like I did yesterday morning.  We recevied a “We the People” textbook, and then had a couple of lectures before lunch.  After lunch (and a discussion period) we went on the archaeology tour, which I have been looking forward to.  One of the Montpelier archaeologists took us around to several sites and explained what they discovered, how they’re using the information to interpret, and a little bit about the process.  They were no active excavations going on (which I really was hoping to see) but it was interesting nonetheless.  They even have a weeklong program where you can come work on an active excavation.  I’m looking into that. 

We had another lecture/discussion after the tour, then early this evening a wine and cheese reception before dinner.  Dinner was delicious, and we ate out on the patio to enjoy the nice weather.  A few of us wandered up to the house after dinner to take a look around.  I was hoping to get some nice shots of the house and garden temple, but I don’t know how to work my camera well enough.  It was a great experience though.  We checked out the garden temple, then sat on the steps of Montepelier and talked.  A few more from the group joined us, and we decided to walk over to the Madison family cemetary.  We looked around there for a bit, then headed back to the steps.  It was very pretty with the nearly full moon over the house. 

One thing that is driving me crazy (and I’m not the only one) is th cold storage under the garden temple.  You can see part of the door (it’s been bricked up) but it’s there.  But there is no excavation going on there, and from what it sounded like, no plans in the near future to do so.  I’m sure there are tons of interesting things down there, and no one’s touched it?!?  I’m sure excavation is being done in a very systematic way, and I believe our tour guide told us there were only 5 or 6 archaeologists employed here, but this just seems like it would be a top priority.  It really does drive me crazy though.  I want to know what’s down there. 

Tomorrow is our last day, we’re finished at 2pm.  We have a horticulture tour in the morning, one more lecture, evaluations, etc.  Malinda and I plan to hit the gift shop before we leave and then head back home.  Tonight was a great night though, I just wish I knew how to work my camera.

Today was our first full day at Montpelier.  I got up early to walk around the grounds a bit before breakfast.  It was very nice, I could easily spend an entire day wandering around the 2700 acres.  I took a few pictures this morning, which was easy considering there were no tourists or anyone else around to get in the shot. 

We had a couple of lectures today, but the highlight was the tour of the house itself.  I didn’t realize the house was still in the process of restoration.  The National Trust (I may have that wrong) didn’t even acquire the house until 1984.  Then they had to research to discover what it was like during Madison’s time, do some deconstruction, and they’re still working.  The estate is still a working farm, they have retired race horses here. 

My favorite spot is Madison’s Garden Temple.  It’s very pretty, but also very practical.  There is a cold storage underneath the temple. 

Malinda and I also made it out to the Madison family graveyard today, as well as the slave cemetary.  The slave cemetary is not well marked, and only has around 30 graves in it.  They believe that the other unmarked cemetaries they found around the grounds are other slave cemetaries. 

I did find out today that the ladybug problem is not just in my room.  Several people have dozens of ladybugs in their room.  During the house tour today, in several windows in the  mansion, there were dozens of lady bugs.  I’m trying to be careful, but they are everywhere. 

Tomorrow I’m very much looking forward to the archaeology tour.  There are several spots that are being excavated now.  I would love to work on something like that.   They’re also going over the class set of textbooks that we’ll be receiving tomorrow.  I hope Malinda has enough room in her car to get all of this stuff back home! 

James Madison’s Garden Temple (and cold storage.)

Malinda (6th grade at Churchland Elementary) and I were selected to attend a weekend seminar at James Madison’s Montepelier, in Orange, VA.  This weekend we are focusing on the founding of the Constitution. 

The drive up was pretty uneventful, although we got quite hungry.  This of course occurred after we had passed any halfway decent place to grab food.  We finally happened upon a Tastee Freeze and that had to do.  (I had a hot fudge cake, Malinda actually ate lunch.)  The Tastee Freeze in itself was an experience, it wasn’t a culture shock exactly, but we are definitely out in the country.

After Tastee Freeze, we headed down the curviest road I’ve ever been on, and eventually made it to Montpelier.  I’ve never been here, Malinda has been several times.  We had to check in, then they showed us to our houses.  (Everyone is staying in Constitutional Village, which is made up of 4 or 5 restored farmhouses.)  The view from our front porch is quite pretty. 

The houses have full kitchens (they provide snacks) and nice living rooms.  All of the furniture is pointed at a wall, there are no televisions.  Some of us have to share rooms (I do, but we also have a private bath, which is nice.)  I’m not sure if it’s just our room, or if it’s all of them, but ours has quite a collection of lady bugs on the ceiling.  I’m afraid I may swallow several of them in my sleep. 

Dinner (as well as lectures and all meals) was held at Lewis Hall, down the road from the houses.  Dinner tonight was BBQ.  Four different types of BBQ.  I’m not a big fan of BBQ, but I did alright.  (I did manage to restrain myself from getting dessert, since I had that hot fudge cake already today.  And I’m not running this weekend at all.  Didn’t even bring my shoes in fact.)   We met a couple of people from Hampton at dinner, as well as a gentleman from Raleigh. 

After dinner we had our introduction/opening lecture.  I had quite a hard time paying attention, as I think most people did.  We were all tired from working, then driving.  I did jot down some notes, but it was difficult. 

There was a group that went up to the mansion tonight, I wanted to but I think I’ll go tomorrow evening instead.  I didn’t bring my camera to dinner, and I’m rather tired, but before bed I have to do quite a bit of reading to prepare for tomorrow.  So several people asked if the guy in charge would take a group tomorrow night as well, to which he agreed.  I am excited to see the mansion after hours.  (Although I don’t think this means the inside of the mansion after hours, just the grounds around the mansion.) 

Now I’m going to read and hope I don’t swallow any bugs in my sleep. 

Our room!                                                                                                         Our living room, sans TV.

CNN.com has a great article today about the role played by slaves during the Civil War.  They discuss William Jackson, a slave belonging to Jefferson Davis who spied for the Union.  They also mention Harriet Tubman and Robert Smalls.  This goes along particularly well with USI, but in general is great information to share with your students.

A couple of links have been added to the blogroll on the right sidebar.  They are “Encyclopedia Virginia” and “Virginia Memory.”  They each contain a wealth of information and would be very helpful in VA Studies.  They include photographs and lots of primary resources, a today in history, and many other features.  They are reliable sources in partnership with the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

Life and Google have partnered to archive all of Life Magazine’s photos. 

“Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.”

Photos are organized by decade, people, places, events, sports, and culture.  This is a great resource for teachers and students.