The First American Movies
Description
Most of the early films of the silent era were seen as less than respectable, says Josh Brown of the American Social History Project.
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Yo, Ho, Ho and a . . . Bushel of Oysters?
Quiz Webform ID
22411
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quiz_instructions
With Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19th, students may be rolling their "Arrs." Popular media focuses on pirates pillaging at sea, but pirates didn't limit themselves to the open ocean. Consider these questions on oyster pirates, who made their living thieving shellfish in America's bays.
Quiz Answer
1. Oyster pirates were at the height of their trade during what years?
a. The 1700s, the Golden Age of piracy
b. The 1800s, prior to the Civil War
c. Approximately 1930 to 1940
d. Approximately 1870 to 1920
Oysters became a high-demand source of protein and nutrition following the Civil War. With the rise of industry and of shipping by rail, canneries and corporate oyster farming operations sprang up on both coasts, eager to supply the working class, and anyone else who wanted the tasty shellfish, with oysters shipped live or canned. In San Francisco, a center of oyster piracy, the boom years of the oyster industry corresponded, unsurprisingly, with those of the oyster industry—both took off in 1870, as the state began allowing major oyster farming operations to purchase the rights to underwater bay "land" (traditionally common property), and petered off in the 1920s, as silt and pollution disrupted the bay's ecosystem.
2. Which famous author spent time as an oyster pirate?
a. Jack London
b. Mark Twain
c. Ernest Hemingway
d. Upton Sinclair
At 15, Jack London bought a boat, the Razzle Dazzle, and joined the oyster pirates of San Francisco Bay to escape work as a child laborer. London wrote about his experiences in his semi-fictional autobiography, John Barleycorn, and used them in his early work, The Cruise of the Dazzler, and in his Tales of the Fish Patrol. The latter tells the story of oyster pirates from law enforcement's perspective—after sailing as an oyster pirate, London switched sides himself, to hunt his former compatriots.
3. What was popular working-class opinion on the oyster pirates?
a. Oyster pirates should be hunted down and captured, as they gave a bad name to common fishermen
b. Oyster pirates meant very little to the working class in bay areas; a few people admired or condemned them, but most people ignored them
c. Oyster pirates were heroes, fighting back against corporate ownership of underwater property
d. Oyster pirates pulled attention from more important issues, such as urban crime rates and public health
The working class romanticized oyster pirates as Robin-Hood-like heroes, fighting back against the new big businesses' private control of what had once been common land. Traditionally, underwater "real estate" was commonly owned—anyone with a boat or oyster tongs could fish or dredge without fear of trespassing. Following the Civil War, states began leasing maritime "land" out to private owners; and the public protested, by engaging in oyster piracy, supporting oyster pirates, scavenging in tidal flats and along the boundaries of maritime property, and, occasionally, engaging in armed uprisings.
4. On April 3, 1883, the comic opera Driven from the Seas; or the Pirate Dredger's Doom played to an appreciative audience at the Norfolk Academy of Music in Virginia. What Chesapeake Bay event did the opera satirize?
a. A successful raid against Chesapeake oyster pirates by Virginia governor William Evelyn Cameron, in 1882
b. The sinking of two dredgers' ships in February 1883, when the dredgers ran against rocks while being chased by overzealous patrol boats
c. The misadventures of a group of drunk oyster pirates arrested for causing a public disturbance in Norfolk in March 1883
d. An unsuccessful raid against Chesapeake oyster pirates by Virginia governor William Evelyn Cameron, in February 1883
The opera satirized Governor William Evelyn Cameron's second raid against oyster pirates in the Chesapeake Bay, on February 27, 1883. Cameron had conducted a very successful raid the previous February, capturing seven boats and 46 dredgers, later pardoning most of them to appease public opinion—which saw the pirates as remorseful, hard-working family men. His second raid, in 1883, went poorly. Almost all of the ships he and his crews chased escaped into Maryland waters, including the Dancing Molly, a sloop manned only by its captain's wife and two daughters (the men had been ashore when the governor started pursuit). The public hailed the pirates as heroes and ridiculed the governor in the popular media—the Lynchberg Advance, for instance, ran a poem comically saluting the failed raid.
For more information
Oyster piracy highlights the class tensions that sprang up during post-Civil War industrialization. Big business and private ownership began to drive the economy, shaping the lives of the working class and changing long-established institutions and daily patterns. Young people such as Jack London turned to oyster piracy as an escape from the new factory work—and the working class chaffed against the loss of traditional maritime common lands to business owners.
For more on oyster piracy, consider Jack London's fiction on the subject. Full-text versions of The Cruise of the Dazzler, John Barleycorn, and Tales of the Fish Patrol are available at Project Gutenberg, which provides the full text of hundreds of out-of-copyright works.
The Smithsonian's online exhibit On the Water includes a section on the Chesapeake oyster industry, with a mention of oyster pirates.
The oyster war!
The oyster war!
The biggest sight you ever saw;
The Armada sailing up the Bay,
The oyster pirates for to slay.
With cannon, brandy, cards aboard,
They steam from out of Hampton Road,
The Govnor wearing all the while
A Face lit up with many a "smile."
But when the pirates hove in view
Quick to his post each sailor flew!
The squadron, with "Dutch courage" bold,
Sweeps like the wolf upon the fold.
They to the Rappahannock turn
To fight like Bruce at Bannockburn,
And give the oyster-dredgers fits,
Like Bonaparte at Austerlitz.
Sources
- Joseph Becker, "Favorite bed for small boats—Gathering and dressing oysters under difficulties," Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 47, no. 1219 (February 1879) (accessed July 27, 2009).
- Matthew Morse Booker, "Oyster Growers and Oyster Pirates in San Francisco Bay," Pacific Historical Review, 75, no. 1 (2006): 63-88.
- Ellsworth D. Foster, "A salt-water mollusk, highly esteemed as an article of food," 1921 (accessed July 14, 2009).
- Bonnie J. McCay, "The Pirates of Piscary: Ethnohistory of Illegal Fishing in New Jersey," Ethnohistory 31, no. 1 (1984) (accessed July 14, 2009).
- James Tice Moore, "Gunfire on the Chesapeake: Governor Cameron and the Oyster Pirates, 1882-1885," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 90, no. 3 (1982) (accessed July 14, 2009).
- Schell and Hogan, "Pirates dredging at night," Harper’s Weekly (March 1884) (accessed July 14, 2009).
- Schell and Hogan, "I demand the surrender of Sylvester Cannon," Harper’s Weekly (March 1884) (accessed July 14, 2009).
- James W. Tuttletown, "Jack London in His Short Stories," The Hudson Review, 47, no. 2 (1994) (accessed July 14, 2009).
- Lissa Wadewitz, "Pirates of the Salish Sea: Labor, Mobility, and Environment in the Transnational West," Pacific Historical Review, 75, no. 4 (2006): 587-627.
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Smithsonian 2.0
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What happens when America's largest museum complex gets on board perhaps the greatest communications revolution? During a two-day interactive gathering, January 2324, 2009, 30 activists in the digital world joined Smithsonian curators and other museum specialists to explore the intersection of Web 2.0 technologies and the Smithsonian's 19 museums and National Zoo.
The event, Smithsonian 2.0: A Gathering to Re-Imagine the Smithsonian in the Digital Age, addressed a primary question—how to make the vast resources of the Smithsonian more digitally accessible. Concurrently, experts discussed how Web 2.0 technologies influence the dissemination and interpretation of museum collections and how this dissemination affects the functions of historians and curators.
As the description of the gathering asks,
How does the Smithsonian effectively serve its growing virtual visitors? How does it deliver to those visitors the 137 million artifacts, works of art, and scientific specimens in its collections along with the expertise that goes with them? How does it do so in an engaging, educational manner that evokes the power and inspiration of its finest exhibitions and presentations?
The Smithsonian's target audience in the digital age is the teenage through college demographic, most of whom will largely experience and use the collections and educational resources online.
Michael Edson, Director, Web and New Media Strategy, at the Smithsonian, encourages a vision of a Smithsonian Commons, a concept rooted in the "democratization of knowledge and innovation" and broadly defined as a "set of resources maintained in the public sphere for the use and benefit of everyone." And what are the benefits to a museum? Edson points out that ideas don't stand alone, but are built on the ideas of others. A commons, perhaps much like the collaborative classroom, provides access to the raw materials of innovation and encourages networking and creativity in their use. (Edson's PowerPoint presentation is online on Slideshare with an accompanying full-text version).
Catch up and contribute to the discussion which continues on the Smithsonian 2.0 blog and, among others, currently includes ideas from Lee Rainie, Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Bruce Wyman, Director of Technology, Denver Art Museum, and other responses and referrals to papers and resources from public historians in the Smithsonian and other museum venues.
Photos from the conference reside on Flickr, and discussion also continues on the Facebook group, Smithsonian 2.0. The Washington Post reported the event.
(Smithsonian resources for educators link from the conference website as well.)
United States Lighthouse Society, Chesapeake Chapter [VA]
Description
The Chapter focuses on implementing the U.S. Lighthouse Society's goals in the Chesapeake Bay area, particularly with regard to the lighthouses and lightships of Virginia and Maryland: It seeks to preserve and restore existing lighthouses and protect, preserve, and disseminate lighthouse history.
The chapter offers educational programs (specifically, speakers available for school presentations).
Lloyd Historical Preservation Society
Description
The Society's mission is to protect and preserve the historical heritage of Lloyd; to support all individuals, groups or agencies that sustain this goal; and to educate and share this historical heritage with the citizens of the Town of Lloyd. It works to protect and preserve local historic sites and materials, educate residents and students on local history, create a museum of local history, preserve the area cemeteries and their history, publish articles of local historic interest, conduct tours of historic sites, record reminiscences of Lloyd citizens to preserve local history, and discover and document the community's past to enrich the town's future.
Hunterdon County Historical Society
Description
The Hunterdon County Historical Society's library has been in existence since the Society was founded in 1885. In 1963, through the bequest of the late Hiram E. Deats, over 3,000 items were added. These included his personal library and notes on the places and families of Hunterdon County. Today, the library consists of 5,000 printed volumes, manuscripts, newspapers, maps, broadsides, and photographs gathered and preserved since the Society was founded.
The Library is housed in the Doric House, an 1846 Greek Revival structure furnished in authentic Hunterdon antiques of the period.
The House offers tours by appointment and access to the Library.
Wyckoff Garretson House [NJ]
Description
This classic early Dutch home on South Middlebush had been disguised for 276 years when the Meadows Foundation started its research and restoration. It will become the Meadows Foundation’s only house museum, with authentic exterior and interior finishes.
The house offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.
Franklin Heritage Museum [NJ]
Description
The Franklin Heritage Museum presents the local history of Franklin, NJ via historical photographs and artifacts. The museum is housed within structures which once belonged to the Franklin Mine's New Jersey Zinc Company.
The museum offers exhibits.
Choosing to Participate Online Workshop
Description
From the Facing History and Ourselves website:
"Educators are invited to join this free online workshop designed to introduce the resources and interactive features of Facing History's newly revised website, Choosing to Participate.
Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves is an engaging interactive multimedia exhibition that has won national praise for encouraging people of all ages to consider the consequences of their everyday choices and for inspiring them to make a difference in their schools and communities. The exhibition focuses on four individuals and communities whose stories illustrate the courage, initiative, and compassion that are needed to protect democracy and human rights."
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
Facing History and Ourselves
Phone number
6177351643
Target Audience
Middle and high school educators
Start Date
Cost
Free
Duration
Nine days
End Date
Lincoln and New York
Description
From the Lincoln and New York website:
"This course introduces teachers to the scholarship behind the new Lincoln and New York exhibition at the New-York Historical Society, including the history, legacy, and memory of Abraham Lincoln's career. Beginning with a survey of Lincoln's biography to provide context for further learning, participants will then explore Lincoln's politics through three foci: Lincoln the candidate, Lincoln the president, and Lincoln the martyr. Through document and object analysis, case studies, use of online resources, and new documentary-making software, participants will examine key moments in Lincoln's short life, the effects his actions had on New York, and the effects New York had on his actions. Participants will receive scholarly resources and reproductions of primary source materials."
"Teachers wishing to receive professional credit must register online with the New York After-School Professional Development Program; visit their website: https://pci.nycenet.edu/aspdp/. Teachers who do not wish to receive credit may register on Ed-Net, available at http://www.nyhseducationdb.org/login.aspx."
NOTE: The dates for this program are not yet set. It will take place in Spring 2010.
Contact name
James Keary
Contact email
Sponsoring Organization
New-York Historical Society
Phone number
2124859264
Target Audience
PreK-12
Course Credit
30 hours professional development
Contact Title
Administrative Assistant