07.06.08
Posted in Doing History at 11:15 pm by Stephanie
I’ve long had this vague understanding that the origins of the word bedlam came from a psychiatric hospital in the English speaking world named Bedlam. Past that, I hadn’t any idea what it meant or where it was, so I dug into it a little bit. (The reasons for this digging are vague and have to do with a reference made in a very silly fiction book I’m reading at the moment.)
Bedlam is the nickname of the Bethlem Royal Hospital which was built in London. Its current location is in Beckenham, UK. Knowing this, it’s easy to see how the name Bedlam came about. Here you can read a bit more of the hospital’s history.
Best of all, the reason for this teaching site is this:
The prejudice surrounding mental illness and the stigma attached to those who suffer from it remains considerable. We hope that this resource will help to challenge assumptions and prejudices, encouraging students to become more informed citizens.
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06.30.08
Posted in Doing History at 4:09 pm by Stephanie
I’ve been using the StumbleUpon widget in my browser to find interesting stuff.
I found this 1903 picture of a flatiron building in New York City on Eyewitness to History in their photo of the week section. It reminded me that there’s one in San Francisco.
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05.03.08
Posted in UIS, Doing History, Books at 8:39 pm by Stephanie
The terms “hip” and “hipster” probably came from the jazz age in 1920s Chicago and can be defined as:
a fanatic of jazz, alcohol, and cabarets who defiantly carried a flask hidden in a hip pocket
Source:
William Howland Kenney, Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History 1904-1930, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 152.
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02.24.08
Posted in UIS, Doing History at 6:07 pm by Stephanie
For many years now, my friends and I have questioned the propriety of singing the national anthem before sports events. We never quite understood why this was such a tradition. Well, I’m here to tell you I now know the answer.
According to Gunther Barth in “Ball Park,” a chapter found in his book City People we can blame it on William H. Cammeyer, builder of the first enclosed baseball field in the country.
Cammeyer left his mark on the atmosphere of the ball park by playing at the beginning of a game a popular song, “The Star Spangled Banner,” which in 1916 by presidential order became the official anthem of the United States.
Let’s parse this some shall we?
- The national anthem did not became the national anthem just because Francis Scott Key wrote new lyrics in 1812 for a popular drinking song. Why this particular song with its peculiar melody was so popular is still a mystery to me.
- Cammeyer built his baseball field in 1862. “Star Spangled Banner” was a popular patriotic song of the time but still not the national anthem.
- By the time the “Star Spangled Banner” became the national anthem, the tradition of singing it before sporting events had been in place for 54 years.
So I think we can blame baseball for the tradition of singing the national anthem before sporting events.
Source
Barth, Gunther. “Ball Park” in City People. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980). 167.
(required text for “American Urban History,” Spring 2008)
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12.05.07
Posted in Doing History at 7:40 pm by Stephanie
In a show of what can only be called continued, and blissful, ignorance, Sherri Shepherd of The View continues to be an example of how American education fails its students. She makes a good case for more, and better, teaching of history and science.
But thank the heavens for Whoopi Goldberg, who gently tries to guide Sherri into a more educated path. Whoopi often fails because it is clear that Sherri will not be guided, especially when it comes to matters of her Christian faith.
And it all started with a discussion of Epicurus and his definition of happiness, which somehow evolved into a discussion of religion (or rather, Christianity) in which Sherri showed her ignorance again by saying nothing predated Christians. Further, she argued, the Greeks knew about Christians because they threw the Christians to the lions.
This is a teachable moment, but the student needs to be willing to listen. Yes Sherri, there was a time when the Christ hadn’t been born and Christianity didn’t exist and Epicurus predated Christianity.
I certainly hope there was further discussion backstage afterwards in an attempt to make Sherri understand the meaning of BC and AD, or as I prefer BCE and CE.
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10.21.07
Posted in UIS, Doing History at 11:39 pm by Stephanie
Now entering Week 10 of the semester and I am busily researching my paper for History of Islam due at the end of the semester. I was really excited and happy to spend most of my day reading one of the many books from my bibliography. It has been a very long time since that’s happened, usually I feel like I’m just slogging through.
My topic is Sufism and my approach will be a descriptive narrative using mostly secondary sources. I want to write about the origins of Sufism and its impact upon Islam itself. The book I am currently reading is J. Spencer Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders in Islam which turns out to be a book about the origins of the many different orders of Sufism. It wasn’t what I was expecting but it’s a good read anyway.
I choose this topic because mysticism always fascinates me and I remember copies of Idries Shah’s books about Nasrudin in the house when I was a teenager. I had no idea what they were all about and wanted to explore that. I am not reading any of Shah’s books for this paper but I am beginning to understand that Nasrudin is the clown found in all mystic traditions.
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10.13.07
Posted in Doing History, TiH at 10:34 am by Stephanie
Happened upon this about Columbus Day.
Columbus was not the first European to successfully cross the Atlantic. Viking sailors are believed to have established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland sometime in the 11th century, and scholars have argued for a number of other possible pre-Columbian landings. Columbus, however, initiated the lasting encounter between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
Notice the answer to the question of who got here first and why Columbus Day.
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09.20.07
Posted in Doing History at 5:17 pm by Stephanie
From boingboing comes this incredible story of a find that’s on display online at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The officer’s photograph album shows pictures of officers at the largest death camp. boingboing’s headline reads “… the banality of evil,” referring to the juxtaposition of Nazi officers relaxing and having a good time while feet away people were starving and being put to death. I think it’s a very interesting juxtaposition we should all take note of.
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02.01.06
Posted in Doing History at 5:16 pm by Stephanie
- TEMPERANCE.
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
- SILENCE.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
- ORDER.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
- RESOLUTION.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
- FRUGALITY.
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
- INDUSTRY.
Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
- SINCERITY.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
- JUSTICE.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
- MODERATION.
Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
- CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
- TRANQUILLITY.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
- CHASTITY.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.
- HUMILITY.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
Source:
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
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01.17.06
Posted in UIS, Doing History at 11:19 pm by Stephanie
I can tell already, this is going to be a fascinating class. This week’s readings are primary documents from the 17th century, while America had yet to be more than an escape for disgruntled Christians seeking religious tolerance and merchants seeking their fortune.
The first piece is 3 paragraphs from Descriptions of New York by Father Isaac Jogues. On the surface, they read as a bit of a travelogue but as an historian, one must delve into the details and search for the context. Why are these 3 paragraphs important enough to have survived into the 21st century? {Full Novum Belgium e-text or Project Gutenberg Narrative New Netherland.}
Here is what I do whenever approaching something like this:
- Read the piece and make notes. Make notes about why I’m making notes, explain to myself what my notes mean.
- Ask myself questions.
Who is Isaac Jogues?
Who is this Director General Fr. Jogues writes of?
There are references to “savages” and “incursions.” What happened to Jogues that he would write this way, or is this within the context of the time?
Who is Jogues writing to?
- Then I do some research
A Google search reveals many articles, but this one from the Catholic Encyclopedia has a lot of information about Fr. Jogues that opens some new lines of inquiry.
And just for fun, there’s a picture of the Father Isaac Jogues Monument
I keep taking notes on each new piece of information. This gives me a good feel for the context of the time and the importance of the person writing the primary document.
Google:
Father Isaac Jogues
Google Books:
Father Isaac Jogues
Google Scholar:
Father Isaac Jogues
Wikipedia:
Isaac Jogues
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