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
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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.
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.![]() It's been three years since I was in the Green and Grey of the National Park Service. That means that I am close to having my uniform hanging up in my closet as I wore it in my duties as an Interpretive Ranger. Growing up if you would have told me that the National Park Service would be the job that most identified with me, or that I would make the choices that I have in order to return to that life I would have thought you were crazy. Young Ranger Steve had many things he wanted to be, and none of them included wool pants or a straw hat. This blog is an offshoot of just one of those decisions, Fall 2015 marked my return to school, this time to pursue a Master's Degree in Public History. In the class discussions this year there has been talk of the value of a digital presence in history, and my final project for the class American Material Life needed a home, and so this blog was born. This space will be a place for posting things that discuss public history, as well as history as a whole, the internship at the Oral History project and its contributions to history, the life of a grad school student, and there may even be a few glimpses behind the curtain to see a couple other things that are a big part of my life. |
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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