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