This semester is an odd one from the Public History standpoint. I'm not taking any history classes. This semester my courses are Advanced GIS and Archives. Two classes that finish up my coursework for the MA, but don't actually contain any history work. The archives class is an interesting one. In my time with the ALPL I've had dealings with the archivist and gone over various aspects of the collection and how they should be held in the library. These conversations dealt with both the audio/visual materials as well as the documentation and transcripts of the interviews.
For the GIS class I'm working on building my skill set, as well as putting together part of the project that will eventually build part of my thesis. I'm also working on my topic proposal and defense this semester. To say that it is an interesting semester is an understatement. I'm working in an archive, still waiting to start my job with the guard and doing an online class. All and all it 's a departure from my life for the first three semesters of this degree. What's all this have to do with my future plans as a historian, well that's a good question. If you had asked me before January 20th what I expected to do once I'm done with all this I would have told you that I was looking to return to what I saw as my calling, the National Park Service. In the wake of the Trump administration's policies and the response of my brothers and sisters in the Green and Grey. I'm not sure that there will be a place for me, not for my lack of a desire to return. But because I feel that the NPS will be under attack from this administration and the funding will remain scarce and jobs within the service will be hard to come by. I still hold out hope that my flat hat will once again grace my head, and that I will be able to introduce myself to the thousands of visitors that I interact with as Ranger Steve, the question remains when that will occur. Maybe, there will be a change in the forecast. I finish my Military obligation in 2022, by then there might be a place for me at one of the parks that are on my list. Maybe it will be a new park, or a park that I hadn't even thought of going to yet. But the Park Service remains close to my heart, and those that wear the flat hat are always in my prayers. Keep up the good fight fellow Rangers, I'll join you soon. -Ranger Steve
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![]() I have been a member of the Illinois National Guard for three years now, and until now I have been just a regular drilling member. But if the right opportunity came I have kept an eye open to move from just coming in to drill, to a more full time commitment with the guard, this winter just such an opportunity came knocking at my door. I have built relationships with a lot of people within the guard, people that significantly outrank me during our interactions in uniform, but outside of drill weekend would be considered my peers. This is one of the funny things about the guard, in that you can often have a dual relationship with people, because of where you stand in and out of uniform. I have two undergrad degrees (BA & BS) and I'm finishing up my MA this year, but I chose to not go to OCS, so I am serving as a SGT. Being enlisted, but with the education and professional experience that is equal to or above many of the Captains that I interact with makes for an interesting dynamic. This winter those relationships turned into a phone call asking if I would like to come out and work for the Guard full time, working on the centennial of WW1, and the state's commemorations for the next two years. They needed someone with a history background that was willing to come on and fill this slot, they also had to be a member of the guard, and the bonus was that I live in the town where the post would be so I don't have to relocate. This meeting was between full time officers on post, the officers in charge of various departments for the state's command headquarters, and the TAG, the Commanding General for the State of Illinois. To say that I'm honored to get the opportunity is an understatement, the chance to further both my military and civilian careers, and to work on such an important subject is amazing. The discussions that have come out of this, about the relationships that I can work to build between local history organizations, private foundations, communities within the state, and the National Guard is what public history is all about. For the last year and a half I've been working on becoming a better Public Historian, learning and discussing theory and best practices, and now as I'm working on my thesis, I get to apply all of this in my full time work. This job will also be a challenge, pushing me to grow in significant ways, I'm going to have to become excellent at time management, as this job is going to require a lot, and this semester I still have to finish two classes and propose my thesis topic. This job will also push me to be a better soldier, the daily life on post and being in uniform everyday will change my life in the military, no longer is it just a matter of making it through two days a month, now this is my full time job, and I have to take that very seriously. In my last post I talked about what kind of historian I am, and the events of the last month and the conversations that I have had confirm what I kind of knew already. I am a public historian, committed to the idea that good history rests on not only the scholarship of people such as myself, but the community members and stakeholders that I partner with. Good history rests with the meaning that is created when stakeholder, visitor, historian, and others come together, to take the stories of the past and root them in the ways that they speak to the present. The next two years will be filled with many challenges, professionally and personally, as I work to finish my degree, and give proper honor to the men that left Illinois to serve one hundred years ago, as well as to connect those men to the communities they resided in, and the residents that live there today. This challenge is one that I'm looking forward to, and I only hope that I do the men and women of Illinois proud. ![]() This question came from the last class meeting of the semester in our readings seminar. The source of the question was a guest speaker that currently teaches courses in Virginia. His question was based in the framework that this course is a requirement for MA students of all focuses, it was taught by a Public History professor, and that its focus was on Urban History. The speaker was an Urban Historian & Public Historian, that also worked to teach courses in American HIstory as well. So the question was seeking to understand the people that chose to take that class, were we Americanists, Public Historians, Urban Historians, or another kind of historian. Most often I would classify myself as a Public Historian, as much by my career choices as anything else. My career has been in the practice of public history. I have worked at state historic sites, and the National Park Service. When not practing my craft in areas consisdered public history I have worked as a classroom educator. Which in my mind is still a form of public history. I worked with students at the primary and secondary level, far from the gates of academia. My interest primarily lies in the United States, but I am far from an Americanist. And I have a love for the history of my home city, Chicago. And the topics that most often draw my interests are located in the urban environment. This is primarily due to my love of the built environment. I'm facinated by historic preservation, and the infrastructure that allows a city to operate. So then the question becomes where do these interests intersect, and what kind of historian am I? When I come back to it, my methodologies, and my beliefs about what the role of historian are end up as the formative basis for my decision. I place myself as a Public Historian, one that has a significant interest in the urban and built environments. Which makes me a Public Historian of the Urban world I guess. Maybe that works and maybe it doesn't, but as I work towards finishing the MA and planning what comes next that's what I'l go with. It's that time of year, the last week of the semester, aka the Danger Zone. I mentioned it in class today and was greated with groans from my fellow students that all feel similar. That this semester has been a weird one, and that it never really felt as though the ball got rolling and we hit a stride. Throughout the entire semester I felt as though I was constantly trying to start things over. I don't know if it was my motivation level in the office, the three classes that I was taking or a combination of just general wear and tear this semester but I'll be glad that it's coming to a close.
On positive notes, I finished up the website, and while I planned to blog the process, none of that happened here. So you get to jump from the idea to the finished product without any work between. Wish that had been my experience, but here it is: historiccedarpoint.weebly.com The website is actually pretty good, and I'm hoping to continue it as I go along, I have a few ideas for how to keep adding to the content and bringing some new discussion into the page. I'm kind of a dork, it's okay I own it. While I have many scholarly interests and spend a lot of time in investigative study of serious historical themes and developments, I still have a soft spot for roller-coasters. This semester is a stressful one, putting together a thesis topic and crafting a proposal to defend, getting ready for the last two classes that I need to take in the spring, and gearing up to create my thesis in the summer and defend it. With all this stress I needed an outlet to let my more lighthearted side fly, thanks to a digital history class this semester I have that chance. I need to create a site for a topic of my choosing. While I could have created another part to my thesis, I decided instead to use this as a chance to talk about roller-coasters, Cedar Point amusement park, and history. The page will use pictures of the park over the years to discuss the history of amusement in the United States, and to understand how a small beach park in Ohio turned into the "Rollercoaster Capital of the World" that it is today.
So if you like history, ohio, beaches, or just love rollercoasters feel free to check out the page as it develops. UIS Blog post for HIS 515 Historic Cedar Point Page It has begun, the process that's slowly moving me towards defending my thesis and graduating in August. I've spent some time thinking about what I would like to dedicate the next issue of my life to and while two topics have come forward, one seems to be in the lead. The following is an early statement of purpose that I'm working from in crafting what will eventually turn into my thesis, or so I hope.
The topic that I would like my thesis to address is the displacement of people along the interstate corridors in the city of Chicago during their construction in the post war years. This topic looks to answer the following questions. First, who were the people that occupied the areas targeted for clearance to make way for the construction of the interstate system in Chicago. How did these people embrace or fight against plans to clear their communities to make way for construction. What was the makeup of the communities in question, and what economic status did these communities enjoy. Finally, What was the fat of the communities involved, did they successfully resist change, or were they overcome by the forces that sought to clear the land in preparation for construction. This topic combines my love of history with that of the city of my youth, and the infrastructure and urban planning that intrigues me. It also works to understand the relationship between the forces of urban renewal and the communities that those policies directly impacted. This early statement is rough, and serves as a very small step towards the thesis that it will eventually become. But I'm interested to see how these ideas develop in the coming weeks as i finalize this and work towards meeting with my committee and defending my proposal. A major challenge for understanding historic homes is understanding the ways in which the homes have been modified for use over the years between their original construction and today. A trip to the library can offer you a variety of sources on the ways to identify the time periods of various parts of your house based on the method of construction of various parts of your home, the type of materials used, the size and shape of elements or the inclusion or exclusion of elements. This project is studying one of those elements that is present during a time period, but by the end of that era they have disappeared from houses. The search for information on these elements showcased just how strongly the Lincoln Home conforms to its Greek Revival style. The picture on the top left is the template for a Greek Revival; Home, the top right is an image of the Lincoln Home. All of the major elements of the Lincoln Home are present on the diagram, and the book that it is from notes that the entry may be present or not depending on the style of house. In the Midwest the book notes that the porch is often omitted. The book in question is A Field Guide to Early American Houses which studies the style of the nineteenth-century and makes use of those templates to find examples of home and how you can best identify them. The Lincoln Home is full of these elements, doors and their frames, two staircases, the windows and their layout, as well as the wood stoves and one open fireplace. These elements are all original to the time the Lincolns lived in the home and showcase the craftsmanship of Springfield artisans. But the Lincoln Home is an anomaly, it has been preserved from the time of Lincoln The other homes that share the space with the Lincoln Home are more likely examples of what books such as this are discussing. Used and reused, modified, moved, expanded and reoriented to fit the needs of each generation that used them. The National Park Service has studied the homes and worked over the years to restore them to an appearance that just maybe Lincoln would have recognized if he toured the neighborhood today.
The purpose of the transom window lends itself to the title of the final project for the class American Material Life. Historic homes made use of the transom for a variety of reasons but of the examples given, the inclusion light and air into spaces with limited access to those resources. The men and women of the victorian era underwent great changes in technology that dramatically shifted the shape of their spaces.
![]() As the first semester of grad school comes to a close the final project of the class American Material LIfe is focused on an aspect of material culture, for me this is the Transom window. The class has discussed various aspects of culture, some have taken my interest more than others, food for example got my attention. The class is asking for a paper analyzing the transom window, along with that paper this blog will also have a number of posts discussing my process and research as well as some of the findings that I come to as I look into the history of the transoms and their place in the Victorian Home. These windows are overlooked by most people that encounter them, they are outside of our culture today, but still found in many old homes. What role did the transom play in the lives of people within the Victorian Era, were they just a tool to ensure that their homes were warm or cool? Did the transom help the Victorians to use their homes in a more effective way? What aspect of culture if any did the transom window play? This project will explore these questions and try to understand what role the window played in the lives of the men and women of the nineteenth century, as well as to explore one specific set of windows in one very special house. The Lincoln home has a set of transoms on the second floor, they will be the primary focus of the project and future posts will look to better understand those windows.
Today I went to the Lincoln Home National Historic Site to do some research on the transom windows inside the Lincoln Home. During my time there occasionally there would be a question about the windows on the second floor of the home. Today these objects are kind of a curiosity, no longer do we need windows above our doors to help circulate air throughout the house. Questions ranged from "what are those things above the doors" to "why are they swinging from the side" to "my school had windows like that, why are they inside of Mr. Lincoln's house." During the tours I would try to answer these questions but rarely had what felt like a good answer for them, so when the opportunity came up to do some research for a grad school project the Lincoln Home transoms were a good fit. The windows in question are above the interior doors on the second story of the LIncoln Home, they are all facing the rear hallway, Mary's Bedroom, the Boys; Room, the Hired Girl's Room, the Trunk Room, and the door to the Rear Stairs each have a transom above the door. Two of the transoms are still operable today, Mary's Bedroom and the Rear stairs can still be operated. In order to understand the windows the search for information must not only ask about the windows themselves but also about Victorian attitudes on air circulation and the benefits of ventilation to personal health. In many ways the search for information on the windows is limited by their place in society. Many old homes have them and most of the time people see the windows without taking time to think about them very much. This project however will seek to find a context for the windows found above the doors in the next old house you visit. |
The Ranger SteveThough I'm no longer found underneath the Flat Hat of the NPS I still find myself identifying as Ranger Steve more often than not. Archives
January 2017
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