too funny (and I'm not even a Star Wars fan)

Thoughts on NIAHD (and Keio too)

I have been busily grading papers for NIAHD (I only have 2 left!!!) and setting up my online class (only NINE weeks to go!!!) so I haven't posted anything here in a few days. Trust me, I'd rather be sharing pictures with you than grading papers.

Keio starts next week and I am a little sad I won't be working for them again. I am not sad that i will have some free time and will be able to visit with some family and friends who are coming to Virginia and to possibly work on my dissertation- oh and to teach the online class of course- but I am sad I won't get to hang out with some awesome students (because if this year's Keio students and even half as great as last year's it is going to be a good time).

NIAHD was a great experience. It was very different from Keio- for me the best part of Keio were my amazing students but I didn't really get to know the students with NIAHD because I was kind of like a substitute teacher- but I still had fun and I got to see a lot more of Virginia. Virginia is an amazing place to study history- the 'field trips' were totally worth suffering through the incredible heat and humidity well, mostly worth it (seriously it is disgusting here this summer- we have yet another heat advisory today- my family and friends who are coming to see me don't know what they are getting into to- no one is going to want to leave my air-conditioned apartment- I certainly don't want to. Ever. So gross). I also got to work with some amazing people. I love american studies but it was nice to get back to my history roots. And the one useful thing about the disgusting weather is that I think it really helped the students realize how difficult life was for a lot of our ancestors- especially the millions of Africans who were brought here as slaves.

All that said, it is really nice to be able to sit on my couch, with my faithful dog snuggled next to a me, and to waste some time on the internet. (Inside. Where its air-conditioned).

Last NIAHD Field Trip

Our last trip was to Yorktown- the 19th century class started out there and the Colonial class ended there- so I got to go there twice. And I have been there before. So it was less than exciting.

I do have some pictures to share but not much to say. Sorry, I have kind of fizzled out here at the end.

The first two pictures are of the battlefield.







And this is the monument celebrating the victory at Yorktown.



We also stopped by the Yorktown Victory Center- I posted about it already (from the 19th century class' visit) but last time I didn't make it back to the encampment.

Mount Vernon

The last couple days have been crazy busy. One of the instructors had to leave unexpectedly so I had to take over his course- which, is why I have been busy.

I hadn't planned to go on the Mount Vernon trip, I have been there before and wanted to go someplace new- but I am so glad I went- it was a really fun trip. Plus, the last time I went we didn't get to go on the house tour because the line was too long and my friends had to get to the airport- so it was nice to see the inside of the house. Unfortunately, I can't show you any pictures of the inside of the house because they didn't allow us to take pictures inside.

The house tour was kind of bizarre- we all filed through in a very long line, staying between the ropes, and the tour guides kind of shouted tidbits of information at us from the middle of the rooms- all they needed was a conveyor belt to keep it all moving more smoothly. It was the Disneyland of presidential homes. Very strange. The goal was clearly to get as many people through as quickly as possible. I think the tours are very different during less busy times of the year- I'll have to go back during the winter.

The assembly-line fashioned tour aside, it is now my favorite presidential home. I have only been to three but Mount Vernon is my favorite so far. It's beautiful. If you get the chance- go see it.



Here are a couple pictures of the garden...















and of the Potomac.

Colonial Williamsburg- again

I spent the day in CW, again. It wasn't too bad though since we went to two places I hadn't been before- the Peyton Randolph house and the Great Hopes Plantation.

Peyton Randolph was a wealthy and important man- he was attorney general of Virginia and was the president of the Continental Congress but he died before they declared independence- they told us more about it him but my brain was fried by the heat (the humidity was brutal today) and I just don't care right now. :) But I'll share pictures. Oh, I should mention that much of the focus at this house is on the slaves, so we heard a little about Peyton Randolph but the interpreter focused on the slave experience and how they would have felt listening in on the conversations of men like Randolph and Thomas Jefferson when they talked about how the King was a tyrant who treated them like slaves and how men should be free....

This is Randolph's office.



Here are a couple guest rooms.





The family room...



The staircase....



The master bedroom....







The parlor...



And dining room....



The back of the house and the outbuildings...





(this building housed the kitchen and the slave quarters)





And here are pictures from around the plantation- which is near the visitors center- but a ways away from the rest of CW.















these guys are working on fixing the windmill- which has been without it's sails for a while- it could be another year before it's back together again.



The slave quarters



Pigs



Chickens

Colonial Williamsburg

Today I was with the Colonial group- they, not surprisingly, spend several days in CW. As I have been there numerous times and have shared probably too many pictures of it here I didn't bother with pictures today- sorry if this disappoints.

They are trying something new at CW- when they take you on house tours the interpreters (the costumed people) are 'in the moment.' So instead of basically lecturing the tour group on the history of the house they told us what day it was- July 12, 1776- and pretended it was that day throughout the tour. The girl at the Governor's Palace was really cute- she was supposed to be a servant, I missed the beginning of her talk because I was dealing with some student issues but I think she was acting like we were other servants there for the day to help with a ball they were hosting that night. She acted like she was sneaking us around the house because the family was out and we were in rooms servants wouldn't normally be allowed. Unfortunately the students weren't as into it as she was- they were all very polite but I think the whole thing made everyone a little self conscious. I also felt kind of bad for the poor couple that was stuck in a group with us.

The tour of the Capitol was also 'in the moment' but it seemed closer to other tours I have taken of it- the interpreter there told us all about what had been happening in the last year.

We also went to the Wren Chapel and listened to a sermon by Reverend Camm (he was the President of WIlliam & Mary at the time of the Revolution and was a Loyalist- he was ousted from the college and returned to England in 1777) and then had the opportunity to ask him questions in the classroom. I guess he was also 'in the moment' because one of the students asked him about something Lord Dunmore wrote (I couldn't actually hear the question) there was a long pause and the Rev answered that he hadn't written that yet. This got a laugh. It was kind of fun to listen to him talk- the interpreter has clearly been playing this role for a long time and enjoyed debating independence with the audience. I was a little surprised by how many people were at his talk- since it really was like a sermon.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole 'in the moment' thing- but I must say, regardless of how you feel about interpreters at these different sites you have to admit that they are teaching people a lot about history- and it's rather surprising that so many people spend their summer vacation learning about history.

Swing Shift Cinderella

This is a bit long- but I am fascinated by the use of wolves in cartoons during WWII to represent sexual aggressiveness. (Sorry- I've got my dissertation on my mind....)

Fort Monroe

Yesterday we went to Fort Monroe. I don't have much to say about the trip other than I'm glad I got to go on this one (but I do have lot's of pictures)- I think Fort Monroe and Tredegar have been my favorite so far. I'm not exactly sure why.

Fort Monroe is in Hampton- it was built between 1819 and 1834. It is at the point where the James and York come together- which is obviously an important spot when you think about protecting the Hampton Roads area- well the whole peninsula really. The English built a fort there in 1609- Fort Algernourne. The decision to build Fort Monroe came about because of the War of 1812 and it is the largest stone fort in the United States. Since we visited it as part of the Civil War class I should mention that the Union held the fort throughout the war- if I am not mistaken the Confederates didn't even bother trying to take it. It is also were Benjamin Butler made his famous contraband decision after three slaves escaped from their masters and went to the fort- their masters then came over the water under a white flag and asked for the slaves return- Butler refused and called the slaves contraband- he had come up with a legal excuse to keep the slaves (he was a lawyer and a political general- which means he had no prior military service and got the post because of his political connections). This opened the floodgates and soon slaves were escaping by the hundreds.

The Army still runs the fort today- it is a training facility- but it is going to be decommissioned soon and returned to the state. This makes me a little nervous since it is prime real estate and could be turned into condos but hopefully they will preserve the fort.



These are the stairs up to the parapet.





We also walked through the wall- I am not sure how to phrase this- we were basically inside the walls of the fort.





And here's the moat. There's just something cool about a moat. I want to live somewhere that has one.



Here we are on the top of the fort- where there is a pet cemetery- crazy right? - the whole parapet is interspersed with headstones for beloved pets.



Here is a view of Saint Mary's church from the top of the fort.



And one of the houses inside the fort.







I believe these are called casemates- I could be wrong- they are where the big guns that protected the fort used to be. There was a headstone between each but I don't think you can see them in the picture.



These are some signs found on the parapet-


















And the view of the water...





Pictures from inside the fort...





(the word park is covered by the tree branch in this picture)



I don't know why- but this amused me...



This is the famous Lincoln Gun. You probably can't tell how big it is from the picture- to give you an idea of it's massive size, it would take 150 horses to pull it. And I love these trees.



We then went into the Casemate Museum- which is housed in the walls of the fort. It was kind of fun because they have mannequins all over the place- which also amused me.





Jefferson Davis was imprisoned here for a short period- here's his cell.



And a picture of the flag they hung in his cell.



And a bird that has taken up residence between the barred windows.





I think this is supposed to be his wife.



And this is his pipe- one of the RPAs said it is very badass.