March 12, 2013 

Bloomers

Women’s Rights Movement Series, part 2

Continuing our discussion on the Women’s Rights Movement of the nineteenth century, today we highlight the efforts by advocates to change the everyday lives of women.  In particular, the clothes they wore.

One of the controversial aspects of the early movement was the introduction of “bloomers.”  Named after Amelia Bloomer editor of The Lily, but first worn by the Oneida community, these loose pants under shorter skirts drew intense negative attention from society. Often cartoons linked these garments to unsavory behaviors for women such as smoking and chastised those who chose to don them.

Cartoon: “Bloomer Costumes or Woman’s Emancipation” 1850s

 

Cartoon: ‘Woman’s Emancipation’ 1851

March 11, 2013 

Women’s Rights Movement

Women’s Rights Movement Series, part 1

The first week of our Women’s History Series focuses on the Women’s Rights Movement from 1848-1920.

Cartoon: “The Discord,” 1865, a marriage dispute over who wears the pants.
Husband: “Rather die! than let my wife have my pants. A man ought to always be the ruler.”
Wife: “Sam’y help me! Woman is born to rule and not to obey those contemptible creatures called men!”

 

Beginning with the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 and culminating in the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, women fought publicly for increased rights in the public and private sphere. Abigail Adams foreshadowed the beginning of the movement in 1776 in a  letter to her husband John Adams serving in the Continental Congress,

Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.

72 years later at Seneca Falls, NY, a coalition of women gathered to craft the “Declaration of Sentiments.” This document proclaimed that “all men and women are equal.”  The 18 “repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman” listed by the authors of the Declaration began by highlighting the lack of civic participation and ended with accusations that “He has endeavored, in every way that he could to destroy her confidence in her own powers, to lessen her self-respect, and to make her willing to lead a dependent and abject life.”  This document clearly defines the demands of women’s rights advocates and highlights the areas they would come to fight for well into the twentieth century: voting rights, marriage equality, employment opportunities, access to education, and ability to lead an independent life.

Stay turned the rest of this week for more documents, cartoons, and images to help students understand the early Women’s Rights Movement.

An excellent source for women’s history in the US is Ellen DuBois and Lynn Dumenil’s Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents.

Through Women’s Eyes by Ellen DuBois and Lynn Dumnel

Check out the remainder of the posts in this series:

“Bloomers” part 2

“Anti-Suffrage Cartoons” part 3

“The 19th Amendment” part 4

“Teaching the Women’s Rights Movement” part 5

March 8, 2013 

International Women’s Day begins Women’s History Series

Today is International Women’s Day and it marks the kick off of our Women’s History Series. Look for our postings on various topics in women’s history over the next couple of weeks.  Next week’s topic: The Women’s Rights Movement.

2649 YWCA 1919_dwnl

Poster: “YWCA…For United America…Division for Foreign Born Women,” 1919

 

For more information on International Women’s Day visit:

United Nations Women Watch: ”UN System Observances for International Women’s Day 2013”

International Women’s Day 2013 website

OxFam America: “Celebrate International Women’s Day”

International Women’s Day 2013 Events Search

February 26, 2013 

Revolutionizing the Recording Industry

“The Manufacture of Edison’s Talking Doll” in Scientific American 1890.

Well before the iPod and mp3’s became a staple of daily life, portable music was only available by the phonograph and tin sound recordings.  In 1877, Thomas Edison created the phonograph and by 1888 was on the hunt for a novel way to use his invention.  Seeing an untapped market in children’s toys, Edison thought to place tin recordings in dolls.  By 1890, these talking dolls were on sale to the public.  While they failed as a significant financial venture for Edison, they represent several firsts in the recording world.  The women hired by Edison to record voices for the dolls are some of the first recording artists, and the tins themselves represent the first recordings intended for mass sale—the birth of the recording industry!

“Talking Doll” manufactured at Edison plant, NY, 1890; men made body, women dressed it.

For more information on Edison’s talking doll, check out this National Park Service article.  The National Park service also includes links to an original sound recording, as well as additional primary sources including Edison’s Laboratory notebook and  two articles “Dolls that Really Talk” from New York Evening Sun and “Talks with Wise Dolls” from New York Press.

Thanks to Edison, we experience toys and music alike in a whole new way!

February 13, 2013 

Valentine’s Day Recipe

Valentines day

For more information on the above ads visit the following links:

(starting from top left)

1. Ad: Middishade Blue Suit, ‘Correct at every tick of the clock’ 1928

2. Ad: L’ECHO of Paris, ‘New Dance Frocks’ 1928

3. Ad: Holeproof Hosiery Co., 1924

4. Ad: Spur Ties, ‘All tied for you. Husband, friend, or brother’ 1929

5. Ad: Jewelers’ Association, ‘Love Token for the Ages’ 1927

6. Ad: Packard, ‘Packard was born into the world of taste and refinement’ 1928

7. Ad: Johnston’s Chocolates, ‘Rudy Vallee autographs his photograph for the sweethearts of America’ 1931

February 4, 2013 

Connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific by rail: “un fait accompli”

This summer, with the help of the National Endowment for the Humanities, we will be looking into just what a big deal the first transcontinental railroad was. And we invite you to join us. Read on.

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE BEINECKE RARE BOOK AND MANUSCRIPT LIBRARY, YALE UNIVERSITY.

On the morning of May 10, 1869, railroad workers laid two rails opposite one another: one for the Union Pacific Railroad and one for the Central Pacific Railroad. When the hammer struck the final spike to hold the rails in place, a single route connected the East Coast with the West Coast by rail. Telegraph wires attached to the spike informed both coasts that the crowd gathered in Promontory, Utah witnessed the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.

As he commemorated the moment in poetry, Bret Harte wondered:

What was it the Engines said,
Pilots touching,–head to head,
Facing on the single track,
Half a world behind each back?

In that morning’s New York Times, the Wells Fargo company had already issued an advertisement for tickets or cargo on the railroad, boasting faster travel times than anyone had ever heard of, “Overland to California. Seven Days from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.”

transcontinental_railroad_ad

Indeed, completion of the railroad reduced transcontinental travel time for the average person from three to six months down to one week. It was a world-changing innovation. According to William Deverell,

the invention also brought about profound changes in the understanding of time and the relationship between time and space. To nineteenth-century observers, at first unable to adjust to the changes wrought by the machine, the railroad simply “annihilated time and space.”

 


Quaker Oats railroad cars crossing the Rockies, from ad booklet distributed at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, IL, 1893

If you are a teacher and you would like to join us this summer as we learn more about the Transcontinental Railroad, consider applying for a seat on The Transcontinental Railroad: Transforming California and the Nation, an NEH funded Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop.

Other railroad images in The Marchand Archive

More about this NEH Landmark Workshop

January 30, 2013 

Are you ready for some football?

Super Bowl Sunday is here! The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers will face off on February 3rd for the championship. Take this opportunity to get your students engaged with primary sources.  The Marchand Collection is home to some great nineteenth century images of American football that will get students excited about spotting the differences between then and now.

This 1900 photograph of a coal yard pick-up game would not be that far off from one of kids playing today. Except, of course, for the location. Why would children be playing football in a coal yard?

Working class boys in a coalyard football game, PA, (1900)

College football, New Haven, CT (1900).

Another way to use these football primary source with your students is to discuss changes to the sport itself.  Take for example, this 1900 photograph of a New Haven, CT college football game.  Ask students to identify how the uniforms differ from today. Then ask them to use what they know of Progressive Era changes at the turn of the century to speculate on why the sport started to change their equipment.

Finally, how might this 1897 cartoon help students interpret the shift?

Death as “the twelfth player in every football game,” drawing (1897)

December 4, 2012 

Let’s Go Shopping…19th Century Style!

As the holiday season gets into full swing, engage student’s shopping preoccupation with nineteenth century department store ads and photographs.  The Marchand Archive holds dozens of intriguing posters that will get students thinking about the differences between department stores then and now.

Take for example this 1885 ad for Hill Brothers Millinery Goods storeroom.  Perhaps students notice how well dress the shoppers are.  Maybe they recognize that all the sales associates are men.  Or even, notice the differences and similarities with today’s stores layout of goods.  No matter what draws them in, they will soon forget they are engaging in a historical conversation!

Ad poster for Hill Brothers Millinery Goods salesroom interior, New York City, 1885

Search here for more examples!

 

November 16, 2012 

Lincoln: The Man and the Movie

Abraham Lincoln, 1860.

The eternal teacher question: How do we get students interested in history?  Engaging with students in diverse and creative ways is something teachers work to do on a daily basis.  Taking the (let’s face it) sometimes dry facts of our textbooks and turning them into interesting and witty lessons that will inspire students, can be tiring, challenging, and downright frustrating.  Why not take advantage of popular culture moments!

From the Official “Lincoln” Website

 

 

For example, today the Steven Spielberg movie “Lincoln” appears in theaters and offers a great opportunity to take a closer look at the Civil War.  Connecting history with popular culture is an opportunity to open student’s eyes to the broader impact of historical events.  What better way than a new movie to get students thinking of history as exciting and relevant rather than boring and outdated.

Daniel Day-Lewis takes on the iconic role that depicts the last few months of Lincoln’s life, the decisions he made in regards to the South, and the difficulty of those decisions.  But, will our students appreciate what led to these important moments?  Will they understand the roots of the War before heading to the movie?  To help them get more out of their cinematic experience, turn to the late Roland Marchand for inspiration!  Over the years, Marchand created a variety of lessons based on primary documents for his university classes. Particularly useful to pair with “Lincoln” is Marchand’s lesson “Lincoln and the Outbreak of War, 1861.” In it, students analyze the events in the first weeks of Lincoln’s presidency to determine his role in the conflict.  The high school version provides a “Cast of Characters” and their voices to help students write a history of the Civil War.  For middle school, students examine a collection of documents designed to help them understand Lincoln’s role.

Union recruitment poster, April 1861.

Teachers can supplement this trove of written sources with images from the Marchand Archives.  Notices announcing the Union’s dissolution, recruitment posters, and paintings of important battles provide fodder for discussion.  For what reasons did individuals go to war and continue to fight? How did politicians express these ideas expressed to the nation?  What impact did battles have on local communities?  On the nation?

Together, the document based lessons and the images, provide students with a solid background to help them better understand the movie.  But more than that, analyzing historical sources helps students develop and hone the skills needed to become critical examiners of how history is interpreted through popular culture.

November 14, 2012 

Thinking Through Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday is fast approaching and now is an ideal time to investigate how we think about the original event.  A versatile image available in our collection is the 1914 postcard by Jennie Brownscombe, “The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth.”  This beautifully crafted and intricate image can serve either as an opener or final assessment.

Jennie Brownscombe, “The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth,” 1914.

As an opener for a lesson related to the Pilgrims, establishment of Plymouth, and interactions with local Native Americans have students engage in analysis using a strategy such as “Toolbox” described on page 3 of this Colonial Diversity lesson. After examining additional sources, such as this set at the Library of Congress, students can return to the Brownscombe image to discuss “Is this a realistic interpretation of the first Thanksgiving? Why or why not?” Requiring students to provide evidence for their choice provides an opportunity to strengthen the skills described in Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects related to reading a variety of sources on a topic (Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6–12 RH1 & 9, pg. 60) and writing arguments supported by evidence (Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12 WHST1, pg. 64.)

What primary sources do you like to use around Thanksgiving?

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