Last Mandatory Post

This is my last mandatory post for HST 480 while I'll probably continue I wanted to wrap up my experiences from the class. The most important thing I got was history does not matter unless it is shared. This can be through a museum or in a classroom, or grandmama passing down stories of her past. History must be shown if it is not it does not exist.

I'll never look at a museum the same way again. As our group prepared and designed our project I gained so much more respect for the workers. We dug and dug and dug and still did not dig enough. We found almost everything we could and it still did not seemed enough. Then to top all off I have to analyze everything differently at a museum. I kind of touched on this when I discussed my trip to Milwaukee but I had to judge everything. I had to analyze every little detail and determine what audience they were going for and does the exhibit talk to me.

Also, I want to thank all my classmates. I wouldn't have survived without you. There is no way I could have done everything we did in that class without you.

And finally, thank you Professor Knupfer. As much as I complained about everything it was rewarding. I developed new skills and new ways to analyze everything.

Hopefully, we can still all say hi to each other and hopefully we will work together one day.

Peace,
Brandon

Promotion

It's one of the few times I'll promote anything but here I go. The Mitten Mavens the Lansing Roller Derby League is having a fundraiser at Noodles and Company on May 5th from 4-9pm. By mentioning the Mitten Mavens 25% of the sale will go to the Mitten Mavens. Please support these women as they do what they love.

Heritage or History?

Grace Kelly's Gowns. You decide. I found this on Yahoo News.

London Museum Showcases Grace Kelly's Gowns

What is Worth Preserving?

Today I contacted WILX and WLNS to find video archives for our I-496 project and the response I got was "absolutely not". WILX mentioned how they could go back to 1989-1990 but no further. This led to the discussion what gets preserved and Akikwe one of the many and talented students in our class mentioned on the Library of Congress is going to preserve the Twitter Archives. It was funny she mentioned this because I just found the link on The Drudge Report that linked to a Wired article.

Twitter and the Library of Congress

One More Thing...

about the Milwaukee Public Museum. If the purpose of the museum is to learn. Why does it cost an additional $14 to see the Dead Sea Scrolls. I mean I can understand a little extra for a special exhibit but $14. That additional fee forces the exclusion of many people who cannot afford or does not believe it is worth $14 to see this historical document. I wasn't going to spend $14 on it.

Blogging from Milwaukee

After spending hours upon hours at the State of Michigan Library I made the trek to Milwaukee. I could not believe how much we actually made it through at the library. While some sources had little to no relevance we still needed those to help guide our path. We all still had to take one book home for homework it could have been a lot worse. Their was now way I could ever conceive of getting through all of those volumes on my own.

Now, as I sit here at the Milwaukee Public Museum I just want to say what a great job they have done recreating items. I walk into the rain forest and the floor is simulated to look like the ground in the rain forest. The stone roads through the European villages section. The recreating of the rain forest, homes, businesses, and pretty much everything else was amazing. However, the layout troubled me. One moment I was in the rain forest and the next I was seeing stuff about biochemistry. The continents of the world blended together. They had too much going on. And the captions were another issue. Some were over labeled other exhibits lacked context. I had a hard time trying to understand how everything connected together. Overall, I had a very mixed experience at the Milwaukee Public.

Now I must go and take part in my favorite activity, shopping :)

Boy, Have I Been in a Blogging Mood Today

This will probably be my last post before the Invasion of the State of Michigan Library tomorrow but I just want to say how helpful the librarians at Michigan State University. I come with this off the wall topic on Michigan Statehood (they were taken aback by it, because seriously how many people truly do research Michigan Statehood when they are 21). Even though I caught them off guard they quickly found two great sources and could not have been friendlier. For that I'm thankful. Now I feel even more confident on my final project and I'm definitely going to stick out with the founding of Michigan and the Toledo War.

Final Project

While I'm still undecided on what topic I'll take I'm still fascinated by the Toledo War. I was going through the Ohio Standards and was amazed they didn't mention statehood in their standards. They don't even have a year of state history like Michigan does. This amazes me.

I Think I see the Light

I'll know more tomorrow but I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel on the I-496 Project. I feel tomorrow will be a great day when a good chunk of the research team invades the Library of Michigan to hopefully find many of the loose ends that we are looking for.

Why does everything have to happen at the end of the semester?

Everything is coming up at once and it is annoying me. I have to multitask just to keep up with everything. While I feel like we are making progress with the I-496 Project it just seems their is always something more. This is why I have not been able to dedicate my time to the individual project which is taking on so many different directions. I know I'm doing a lesson plan that was originally going to be on the Toledo War but while researching that I would like to compare and contrast Michigan's and Arkansas's admittance into the United States. With that being said I was researching the Democratic Republic of the Congo for another class and I would love to do a lesson plan on the DROC and the United States during the Cold War. With exams coming up in my ISP class (Psyhics) and my English Final Project and my Independent Study I just don't know how I'll get it all done. However in the words of one of my idols Tim Gunn "Make it Work." and that I will.

Rant on the I-496

I am so confused right now and I have no clue what we are doing. I don't know what the other people have posted because I don't have the access. I really don't know what direction the project is going in. I am so confused because this to me has no structure and I work on structure. I feel like some of things I've found were never releavant.

Productivity

Today I went with an amazing group of classmates to the Library of Michigan to research our I-496 Project and boy we got a lot accomplished. I don't know how much of it was related to our GM connection but we found a lot of great resources in the forms of newspaper clippings. While it was a great experience to see many of the old headlines it was also great learning about Michigan. While I only got to see it through Lansing roads and Interstate 496 it was still an experience. I hope we found things that we can use but if not it was still great learning about the area.

General Motors and I-496: The First Post of Many

As you know we are building an exhibit on I-496 and I was placed on the Research Team. Within that team I was given a more specialized topic and that was General Motors (GM) role. Me being an Africanist I really had no background knowledge on General Motors or the automobile industry. The first book I read on the topic was Billy, Alfred, and General Motors written by William Pelfrey. This gave me great insight on not only the growth of GM but also the growth of the automobile industry. The free wheeling style of Billy Durant (who looks like a professor I had at MSU named Barry Stein) and the rigid Alfred Sloan. Both of these men made great strides in the automobile industry with Durant building GM and Sloan saving GM.

Stupid time to ask this question but...

I just drove the entire stretch of I-496 for the first time and guess what it goes a lot farther than the neighborhood we are discussing. A lot of land was used and why are we only focusing on this one neighborhood? I realize it was the largest black community in Lansing at the time but I-496 impacted so many more people. This leads me to a lot of questions about our exhibit. Why are we only including one neighborhood? Did the people in Eaton County get treated differently than in Ingham county? What was destroyed out past this community to build I-496? I know if we included everyone are exhibit would be to huge with too many focal points. However, with a narrow scope of the project I don't feel that we can tell an accurate complete story.

RESOURCE ANNOUNCED

Thank you C-SPAN. They are releasing all of their footage online for free. This is great for historians. It makes digging through all of the political footage you want so much easier. I haven't had to chance to dig but I can't wait. Why wasn't this done over spring break :(

C-SPAN Video Archive
New York Timess Article

Curriculum Again

Who gets to decide history? In Texas it is the State Board of Education who has just passed sweeping legislative changes to its history, economics, and sociology curriculum. This has national impact because Texas is one of the nation's largest textbook buyers and as a result the textbooks are impacted across the nation. Many of the changes promote a more conservative and heritage based of American History. It wants to show that the Founding Fathers did not necessarily want a secular nation. It will also include the Black Panthers and not just Martin Luther King Jr. The conservatives are claiming their adding balance to the liberal education system while the liberals are claiming a rewrite of history.

Who is right? Who should decide what is taught? Below are links to the New York Times Article and the Houston Chronicle article.

New York Times
Houston Chronicle

Stuart Dunnings II

Stuart Dunnings II passed away on Wednesday due to natural causes. He is one of the men interviewed in Matt Miller's article which is assisting us in our I-496 Project. He was the first Lansing's first black lawyer and an important part of the legal community. Below is the link to Christine Rook piece about him from the Lansing State Journal.

Report

Curriculum and the Textbook Debate Again

Earlier in our semester we discussed the various curriculums in the United States. This article from the AP looks at the most popular science textbooks used for homeschools and dives into the debate of evolution and creationism. Established educators disagrees with the books and their anti-evolution beliefs. Is it important to show both sides of the debate. If a person understands both sides they are more rounded and I believe will feel that their side is correct after examining both sides. However, this means both sides need to be taught. Not just creationism nor just evolution both need to be in the classroom. For more on the article click on the link below.

Dylan Lovan's Article

More Smithsonian News

While looking at my favorite celebrity gossip website TMZ they had this article about the possibility of O.J. Simpson's acquittal suit being donated to the Smithsonian. The Smithsonian said they would not take the suit but it is interesting to determined what is history and what should be preserved.

Smithsonian Post

Thanks but no Thanks

Enola Gay Controversy Continued

A few weeks ago I published a post about the Enola Gay Controversy. Now a new book on the bombing Hiroshima has been put on hold due to some inaccuracies. Just more drama for the Enola Gay and the Hiroshima bombing. Below is the link from Yahoo News written by Hillel Italie of the Associated Press

Article

Boy am I confused

As I sit hear reading this book Urban America by John McDonald(the book I was supposed to read) and trying to determine the usefulness of it I couldn't. I don't know how useful this book would be because I don't know what I'm looking for. Until I know the way our project is going to shape up I don't know if it is useful. The informatation is great and the book is informative but I do not know if we can use it. A full report will be up on by Friday :)

Connection to I-496 Project

As many of you know my class is currently working on a project showing the development of I-496 and the effect it had on the largest black community in Lansing at the time. On Thursday Lansing State Journal reporter Matt Miller came to speak to our class and he said that the Friendship Baptist Church of Lansing was one of his major sources to get information. However, in the latest Lansing City Pulse the Friendship Baptist Church is having some internal disputes. It might not connect to our actual project but it is very informative and hopefully will not provide a road block to our research. Below is the article by Neal McNamara.

Schism?

The Interstate 496 Residential Relocation Survey

I was suppose to read Urban America Growth Crisis Rebirth by John McDonald but the copy at MSU was checked out and I was not able to get a copy of it from Washtenaw Community College to today so instead I read the The Interstate 496 Residential Relocation Survey by Bruce C. Brown. I'll have the other read by Monday but until than you have to settle for the relocation survey report. This is background information for our class project to a public history display that will be presented to the Michigan Historical Center. Enjoy the synopsis.

The Interstate 496 Residential Relocation Survey was published in March of 1965 by Bruce C. Brown. The survey took place from December 1, 1964 and was completed on January 25, 1965. The goal was to have every person interviewed. All the interviewers were women and the goal was to specifically look at relocating families to assess the magnitude of problem and recommend other areas to study. It shows the struggle went through to get this survey started. No group was entirely happy that this was taking place. The people involved were the Lansing Realtors, City of Lansing, Michigan State University, and the NAACP. 357 out of the 432 homes were interviewed the other 75 were “not home.” In the supplement it was revealed 81 additional families responded due to circumstances not revealed and 75 were not contacted at all. On January 27, 1965 Brown and the interviewers presented the data in front of the City Hall. What was revealed was (1) people were happy someone was interested in their plight, (2) Retired people would rather rent when relocated then own, (3) Most minority groups felt that Human Relations committee was going to help them relocate, (4) Older people renting parts of their home worried about the possibility of being able of duplicating the income-producing property when relocated, (5) Many felt they were underpaid for their homes, (6) The concern over quality affordable housing, and (7) The exploitation of high rents for poor housing. The final conclusions were (1) Coordinated and Progressive approach to housing in City of Lansing, (2) Housing directed at retired and welfare recipients, and (3) Housing agency established for purpose of aiding relocation efforts.

Michigan Central Railroad Mason Depot

Wow what a waste. I saw nothing historical at this place located at 111 North Mason Street in Mason, MI. Yes there were old train tracks and yes there was an old train call but the sight itself had nothing historical. This train depot is now a restaurant and I wasn't able to get inside at the time I went but still I would never take my class there because I saw nothing in it myself. It is preserved just to be preserved. The marker they have signifying an historical place never had any historical information just that is was an old train depot. I'll post pictures later.

I-496 Research Project

We were asked to come up with three questions on why I-496 was built where it was. While there are many questions to be asked I thought these three were the most important.

1. Why was I-496 built in that specific location?
2. What impact did I-496 have on surrounding businesses?
3. What happened to the people that were relocated?

The first question is the one I believe is the most important. The why is always the most important. This allows us to delve into what truly happened. It will give us a better picture on what happened before I-496 was built and the need for it.

The Enola Gay

I feel guilty that I haven't posted about this sooner but I still really do not have a full understanding of the situation. The Enola Gay was the bomber that dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima as one of the final actions to end World War II. This event was to commemorate the 50th anniversary and was to be exhibited at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. However the Air Force Association (AFA) protested it because they believed it was to critical of the United States. This leads to many questions with the most important one being should we cover up bad history. This is the history that is negative of the United States. Should we only highlight our successes. I believe the answer to this is no. Personally, I've learned more from my failures as a result by only focusing on the positives we will never learn. We will take for granted our success and we will not realize that we have failed. This proves museums are for heritage and not history or this exhibit would not be cancelled. Below is a link for an AFA Report on the Enola Gay and why they were against it.

Air Force Association and the Enola Gay Adobe is required

Lost Worlds: The Real Dracula

I was tired of waiting for the History Channel to air history on their network so I rented a DVD. The Series Lost Worlds. It's tag line is explore the past rebuilt in stunning detail. Using historians, archeologists, and local people they take a time in history and explore it. Using computer animation they recreate images as they were perceived to be at the time of the event. It also uses reenactments and situation room styled maps to put the full picture together. This is not the standard of the History Channel. They do not just have the talking head historians lecturing on this happen and then this happened and so on and so forth. This is how I think history should be. Taking multiple disciplines and combing them to create the best picture possible. This picture will of course change but for the moment Lost Worlds makes history comes alive. To see the buildings and the sights allows the audience to get a better picture. When you can see it, the history becomes real and not a story in the past. Below is a clip from the episode The Real Dracula the story of Romanian prince known as Vlad the Impaler.

Alaska's History Education Standards

While reading through these standards it made me realize how state focus their history is. All there standards begin with Alaska then the time period. This is partly because Alaska became part of the United States in the 1950s. Most of their history was outside of the United States. However, their standards do not include American History in general or general World History. State pride is something Alaskans take seriously. (This is why Sarah Palin has gone rogue :) ). These standards are pretty specific but they give the teacher room to add too them and fit them into your curriculum. More importantly thing in the standards is that history does change when new evidence is discovered. This is important because it shows students history is not finalized and that it can change.

I can guarantee if I was to teach in Alaska after my time at Michigan State I would not be prepared because I get nothing on Alaskan history at Michigan State. It might be thrown into one of my classes but it is how Alaska became apart of the United States.

To see the standards you can go to the link below.

Alaska State Standards

History Channel

I sat down today to watch the History Channel to review a show. Guess what? There was not any show about history on today. It was all reality shows. How can the History Channel not have a history show on. I flipped through the schedule for tomorrow to see and still no history. What gives?

Boy, Was I Wrong?

I fell into the trap that most people do. I figured Ken Burn's The War was border line history it was not an official history source. I thought without the talking head historian it could not be a history program. I never considered the script could be history. It was written by Geoffrey C. Ward. He won National Book Critics Circle Award and the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians both for his biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is an historian. Now while we still need to take the series with a grain of salt due to a lack of sourcing it is still a party of the history spectrum.

Is Oral History Valid?

In class we recently watched the Ken Burn's Docuseries The War. This series chronicled World War II from the perspective of four small towns in America. This film utilized no historians. All of the information used relied on oral history. This led to a discussion is oral history, history. I've came to the conclusion it is an aspect of history. This is one perspective on what happened. While it utilized no historical sources it utilized people who were actually there. Even if it had historians much of the documents on World War II are not available. Oral Histories cannot be discounted but they should not be the only source. But let's also remember what Voltaire said "History is a collection of agreed upon lies." This series just add to our story.

Do I Really Care About Heritage?

While reading The Heritage Crusade and the Spoils of History by David Lowenthal it struck me that I don't connect myself with my heritage. I barely know my family as it is and I can only go back two generations before I have no clue who anyone is in our family. I am at a disconnect. I love my family but I don't want to inherit their legacy. However, in a generation of hoarders (myself included) we cannot let our legacies go. I have more books than any normal person has but I won't let go of them because I want my children to read the same books I did. I still have every assignment I have ever done since Kindergarten. How can a person on one hand feel such a disconnect and non-wanting of his families heritage but won't let go of his? I don't know but I'll be looking for that answer.

Six Men of Wood

Cavalcade of America was a radio and television show in the 1940s and 1950s. Six Men of Wood was an episode that focused on a family and how they survived in the Great Depression. In the beginning the family is shown in the Roaring Twenties. The mother's main concern was with such a successful father the kids will never learn the value hard work. The father decides to teach them carpentry skills and each kid had to build something. The kids ran out of supplies and sold some of their furniture and the mom was upset. What would the neighbors think that they have their kids working? The neighbors ended up loving the furniture and thought nothing of it. Then the depression hits. The father loses his clients and the family decides to downsize. The kids then begin their furniture business and that is how the family survived the depression. The last image is the three oldest sons announcing there wives were all expecting.

Cavalcade of America is a great example of making history accessible to a wider audience. It should not be a person's only source for history but it is a great way to get people interested. The main problem I had was it was extremly positive. The only hardship was the lack of jobs but they built their own successful business. It was a complete Horatio Alger story. They went from riches to rags back to riches. If this was used in my classroom I would make sure to show a wide picture on what happened. Hopefully shows like this get people interested but I hope they do not rely on this as their only source.

STAY TUNED...

for my review of Cavalcade of America: Six Men of Wood

Is there something wrong with history?

The truth is I don't have an answer. I can see the argument on both sides. As I read Allen Brinkley's Historians and Their Publics and Ian Tyrell's Historians in Public it made it even more confusing. One of the main reasons for the downfall of history in the public is specialization. However, I don't see that as a problem. I am an Africanist. I do not want to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. I still read and try to understand all types of history but I focus on Africa. The problem is when it becomes a distraction. When all you do is focus on your specialization and fail to integrate it into other histories that is when there is something wrong with history.

However, history books are not usually my first reference point. History books are dry and boring and are not geared towards me. Historians have not grown with the times. In the time it takes me to read ten pages I could have gone online found the fact and saved time. History books are not concise and tend to over analyze. I watch the History Channel all the time because it is entertaining and integrate facts. Historians need to learn to adapt to a younger audience with the new technology because historians are no longer the only source for history.

Introduction

This blog is designed to find my audience. Who do I speak to, and what is the best way to do it? This is my journey, with the help of History 480 at Michigan State University with Professor Peter Knupfer. Below was our first assignment. Find a historical site and asks questions the general public would ask and what questions would a historian ask. Please remember comments are always welcomed to help me on this journey.

Raynor House

What questions would a visitor ask?

Who was John Raynor?

When did he come to the area?

Why is he important?

What questions would a Historian ask?

What is the importance of this building to the community?

What impact did John Raynor make?

Why did he settle in this area?

Who owns the house now?

(Edited January 14, 2010)