2005 - "Becoming American: Trade, Culture, and Reform in Salem, Massachusetts, 1801-1861"

We were very fortunate to be selected to attend this workshop. It was the second year that we were able to visit New England for a workshop sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and we enjoyed our experience immensely. In addition, the hospitality of Salem and, particularly, the educators and staff presenting this workshop provided us with a great historical experience and wonderful accommodations.

We both learned a great deal about incorporating art into our teaching about American History. This included literature as well.

I will be writing more soon.

2009 - War of Invasion—War of Liberation: Occupied Nashville and the Civil War and Emancipation in the Upper South

This workshop was sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University. The way that we came to be selected for this workshop is important for you to be aware of, because it suggests a lot about Dr. Bob Hunt, the Director of this workshop, and Jan Leone and Rebecca Conard, the Directors of the workshop we attended at the Hermitage in 2004.

We had applied to attend two workshops, but we were not selected to attend either one. It was reasonable that we were not selected, I guess, because we had already attended eight workshops in previous years, and it does make sense to "spread the wealth around." However, we contacted several directors of workshops we had attended previously; fortunately for us, Jan Leone and Rebecca Conard saw our email on a Sunday evening, and they talked with Dr. Robert Hunt. By the following Tuesday morning, we were officially selected to attend the workshop. We mention this because it demonstrates how "real" these three people are; they could have ignored this request on our part. We have all the respect in the world for these friends of ours. Of course we did not get into the workshop and cause two other candidates to be excluded; Dr. Hunt would not have allowed that. We were just lucky that two slots were available.

We feel that every aspect of the workshop was worthwhile and will change the way that we teach about the Civil War. While the South took a path we cannot condone, it is easier to have compassion for the Southerners, especially the civilians, and to realize that the aftermath of the War did not bring to former slaves the freedom that was envisioned by many abolitionists.

The sites were all very valuable and steeped in the culture that we were studying. Travellers Rest was especially appropriate, what with its beautiful setting and lush magnolia trees, because it continually reminded me of the reasons we were here. Maybe the most valuable insight we gained was during "down time" one evening when Dr. Hunt was gracious enough to accompany any workshop attendees who wanted to visit Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the site of Middle Tennessee State University. While there, we toured the town square and viewed the Confederate Memorial; its prominent place in the community does impart a feeling for the importance the people in the community place on "the lost cause."

The three military sites we visited all served the purpose of making it clear that the Civil War was deplorable in the devastation it caused to Americans of every region and background. The cemeteries especially were poignant, because in many cases the graves represent people who not only made the ultimate sacrifice for their beliefs, but also are unidentified, and so their loved ones eventually died not knowing what had happened to them.

It was evident that Dr. Hunt, while gracious and very approachable, was also very passionate and informed about the entire topic. The visiting scholars, including the presenters from the Tennessee State Archives, were all very knowledgeable and professional, as were the rangers at Stones River and Chickamauga battle fields. The visit to Murfreesboro one evening was very special also, because I saw the town square and the prominence of the Civil War monument, and that helped us understand the central role of the Civil War in today's southern culture, and the role women played in assuring that their legacy would not be forgotten.

While the housing arrangements never take precedence over the workshop itself, the motel was very convenient in that many restaurants and shops were within walking distance. The groups we were put into for lecture and study sessions worked out well. There was never anyone who seemed disruptive or condescending, and that made the workshop experience very enjoyable in and of itself.

Lesson Plan Material - War of Invasion—War of Liberation: Occupied Nashville and the Civil War and Emancipation in the Upper South

When we visited Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, on the last day of our workshop, we had the privilege of touring the very ground where so many soldiers died.

We were able to purchase t-shirts with the likenesses of the opposing commanding generals - Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General William Stark Rosecrans. Under their likenesses were the words "Men of Valor! Men of Honor!" It would be interesting to have students read primary source documents and come to conclusions about whether it is valid to suggest that the opposing soldiers, as well as the civilians in the area of the fighting, would ever consider that the "enemy" soldiers were honorable, even after 146 years.

After I had posted this, I sent a note to the director of this workshop; he was gracious enough (as always) to send a reply regarding his own thoughts on this matter:

Viz. the item about valor. Genuine soldiers on both sides were generally willing to credit their opponents with valor, or courage on the battlefield. Nineteenth-century war had moved to a point where it was considered an element of the civilizing process, if a dark one. In order to ensure that war became part of the larger nation-building process, it became part of the culture that prisoners of war were to be captured rather than killed or enslaved (as previously), and it became part of the process to limit killing to the "sporting chance." As part of this, one was almost required "to respect" uniformed soldiers on the other side, along with enemy female civilians if you were the army in enemy territory.

And, truth be told, the balance of the evidence is that uniformed soldiers on both sides held to this standard during the war and after. It was simply obligatory--as a measure of your OWN moral worthiness--that you always referred to your uniformed foe in proper terms of honorable respect. Now, the enemy's cause as a whole you could denegrate with all the vehemence of an evangelical Protestant. Moreover, various other unworthy people could be readily ridiculed and attacked. Confederates, for example, never accepted the legitimacy of the USCT (United States Colored Troops), during the war or after. Union soldiers, for their part, openly referred to the fact that they had executed enemy guerilla fighters on the spot.

Southern/Northern civilians didn't have to abide by the same code, by the way. The famous Lost Cause that emerged after the war (as a defense of the Southern war effort) in the 1880s and '90s was a broad-based Southern cultural movement promoted by everyone from women's groups to ministers. According to the promoters of the Cause, Sherman and his men were mere vandals, unworthy of the name soldier. Moreover, during the conflict, the women of both sides were intense in their denunciation of their respective opponents. Item: after the war, Northern women were heavily behind the effort to create the national cemeteries--like Stone's River--because they could not stomach the thought that the bodies of their sons, husbands, or fathers were being left in Southern soil to be desecrated by morally degenerate former Confederates.

Feelings didn't die easy here. r.

2008 - "A View from Mount Vernon: Shaping the Constitution 1783-1789"

Although we have enjoyed every workshop we have attended, we were most enthusiastic about this one, since we visited Mt. Vernon every day. It was very exciting to tour a lot of places where George Washington and his guests actually spent time discussing serious matters of state.

We were given the privilege of listening to world-class scholars discuss the issues and challenges which plagued our early American leaders.

It was also quite a sight to see families visiting Mt. Vernon on days that were extremely hot and humid, to the point of making it difficult to even imagine exerting myself. It's inspiring to consider that families decided to spend what was honestly a very uncomfortable day walking around Mt. Vernon, rather than going to a water park or visiting someplace with air conditioning.

The facilities at Mt. Vernon were great for our historical research, and included a visit to the archives area, where we were allowed to handle (under close scrutiny, of course) historical documents.

One aspect of this workshop that was really inspiring, was an evening reception on the piazza overlooking the Potomac River, with the estate directly behind us. It was a bonus that we had not expected when we started our workshop, and we learned that a benefactor has donated the funds to make this evening possible.

Lesson Plan Material - “Encounters and Change: Expanding Perspectives on Natives and Colonists in 17th Century Plymouth"

Maybe this is helpful; maybe it is not. It's just anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth:

In 2004, we attended the workshop listed in the title above. We were listening to a lecture from a renowned Pilgrim scholar, when someone asked why the pilgrims always wrote such wonderful accounts of spring and summer, but never about fall. When the scholar indicated that he did not know, a fellow attendee suggested that maybe the pilgrims viewed spring and summer as seasons of hope, but fall was a reminder that they had better put up as much food for the winter as possible or face a grim season of starvation.

Maybe this would be valuable to have high school students think about.