Background: Civil War Photography
Description
Wes Cowan of PBS's History Detectives discusses the work of photographers during the Civil War, including how photographers manipulated reality in constructing their shots.
Custer Memorial [OH]
Description
The Custer Memorial consists of a bronze statue at the site of George Armstrong Custer's birth, the foundation of the house in which he was born, and an exhibit pavilion. George Custer (18391876), known as a daring cavalry brigade commander of the Civil War, and his division blocked General Robert E. Lee's retreat during the Appomattox Campaign. Post Civil War, within the army, Custer was defeated and killed in the Indian War's Battle of Little Bighorn (1876) by a Native American coalition (primarily Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho) led by the Sioux Crazy Horse, Gall, and Sitting Bull.
The memorial offers an exhibit pavilion.
Fort Laurens [OH]
Description
Named in honor of Henry Laurens, then president of the Continental Congress, Fort Laurens was built in 1778 in an ill-fated campaign to attack the British at Detroit. Supplying this wilderness outpost was its downfall, as its starving garrison survived on boiled moccasins and withstood a month-long siege by British-led Indians. The fort was abandoned in 1779. Today, only the outline of the fort remains, but a small museum commemorates the frontier soldier, presents a video giving the fort's history, and displays archaeological artifacts from the fort's excavation. The large park surrounding the museum is the location for periodic military reenactments. The remains of the soldiers who died defending the fort are buried in a crypt in the museum wall and at the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution.
A second website covering the site, the Friends of Fort Laurens website, can be found here.
The site offers a short film; exhibits; and occasional recreational and educational events, including living history events.
Grant Birthplace [OH]
Description
Ulysses S. Grant was born 27 April 1822 in picturesque Point Pleasant near the mouth of Big Indian Creek at the Ohio River. This restored one-story, three-room cottage, which was built in 1817, was next to the tannery where Grant's father worked. The small cottage is furnished with period items. At one time the birthplace made an extensive tour of the United States on a railroad flatcar and was also temporarily displayed on the Ohio State fairgrounds.
The site offers tours.
Fort Jefferson and Monument [OH]
Description
Fort Jefferson Park and Monument mark the site of an advance outpost of General Arthur St. Clair, built in October 1791. It was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State. One of a chain of defensive forts built to protect army supplies from Indians, it served as a supply base throughout the campaigns of General St. Clair and General Anthony Wayne. It was abandoned in 1796. The monument is made of faced granite field boulders, six feet square and 20 feet tall. No part of the fort remains.
The site is open to the public.
Battle of Carthage State Historic Site [MO]
Description
The 7.4acre Battle of Carthage Historic Site preserves the location of the Battle of Carthage, one of the earliest engagements in the Civil War, fought 5 July, 1861. The site includes a portion of the battleground, as well as the site of both the Union and Confederate camps. The battle itself, a Confederate victory, was led by Union Colonel Franz Sigel and Confederate Governor Claiborne Jackson. In this skirmish, Sigel attempted to prevent Jackson's men from banding together with other nearby Confederate troops.
The site offers an informational kiosk.
The Origins of the Service Flag
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Question
Our church has a World War I service flag with 16 stars. One has a gold star. Two have gold crosses. What do the gold crosses mean?
Answer
Following America’s entrance into World War I, families of servicemen began displaying flags to show support for their sons and husbands fighting in France. According to the Blue Star Mothers of America Organization, the service flag was designed and patented by Army Captain Robert L. Queisser of the 5th Ohio Infantry, who had two sons serving in the war. (1)
The display of service flags became extremely popular during World War II.
Service flags were an indoor, wartime flag, generally about a foot in length and usually suspended vertically in a window for public viewing. Many of these flags were handmade from cotton or wool by mothers or spouses. Businesses and churches would sometimes display larger flags in order to recognize the service of employees or members. A blue star represented each family member in active service. In the event of a service member’s death, the blue star would either be covered or replaced with a gold star, sometimes surrounded by a laurel wreath. A gold circle signified distinguished service. Gold crosses set inside a blue star signified that a family member was wounded. A red star represented a captured or missing member. So it appears that your church’s service flag denoted 16 members serving in World War I, with one killed (gold star) and two wounded (gold crosses).
The display of service flags became extremely popular during World War II. One of the most well-known service flags served as a striking backdrop for a patriotic poster honoring the Sullivan brothers, all five of whom perished at sea with the sinking of the U.S.S. Juneau. Though the popularity of the service flag waned in the post-World War II years, it regained some of its popularity in the wake of 9/11 and the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, Today, the Department of Defense has specific regulations for manufacturing, selling, and displaying the service flag. For example, vendors must obtain a license to manufacture the flag; its ratio of length to width must be the same as the national flag, and display of the service flag at a residence is restricted to immediate family members and only during wartime.
For more information
Kerrick, Harrison S. The Flag of the United States: Your Flag and Mine. Columbus, OH: Champlin Publishing Company, 1925.
Institute of Heraldry, Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. “Frequently Asked Questions-Service Flag and Service Lapel Button.” Accessed August 21, 2012.
Bibliography
1Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. “About the Service Flag.” Accessed August 22, 2012.
Teaching the Emancipation Proclamation on Constitution Day
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Are you ready for September 17? The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is. This year, the NEH will celebrate Constitution Day by honoring the Constitution together with another pivotal document from U.S. history: the Emancipation Proclamation. With the Proclamation's 150th anniversary approaching, Constitution Day is the perfect time to compare and contrast the promises made in the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation.
From the NEH's Emancipation Resource Portal, you can access resources and learn more about planned events. Highlights include:
- A live, streamed performance on Constitution Day. A panel of Civil War scholars will "recreate the national scene and the dilemmas facing Americans on Sept. 22, 1862." Students will be able to submit questions via Twitter or email. (Register your "watch party" here.)
- A contest asking students to interpret a primary source from the Freedmen and Southern Society Project or Visualizing Emancipation. (The contest is limited to students 18 years of age or older, but consider adapting the contest concept for your own school or classroom.)
- Related lesson plans from EDSITEment.
- An interactive timeline of emancipation from 1850 to 1877.
For more on the Emancipation Proclamation, check out materials highlighted here on Teachinghistory.org. Watch 8th-grade teacher Jason Fitzgerald introduce his students to the Proclamation using letters from Civil War soldiers. (Download the letters here as you listen to historian Chandra Manning analyze their contents.)
Or join historian John Buescher in this Ask a Historian as he considers what makes a document a founding document. Is it a document that stands for part of what the U.S. represents? A document from the country's founding?
As your students prepare for Constitution Day, the NEH's theme gives you the perfect chance to ask, "In what ways are the Constitution and the Emancipation Proclamation both founding documents?" Analyzing them together gives students a unique opportunity to explore the changing definition of "We the People."
The Impact of the Cold War on US-Cuban Economic Relations, 1946-1952
Description
According to The Library of Congress Webcasts site:
"Historiography on U.S.-Cuban relations has tended to cast an aura of inevitability on Fidel Castro's Revolution—as well as on Cuba's clash with the United States after 1959. Indeed, much of the historiography suggests that it was Washington's hegemonic approach to Cuba that was responsible for creating the structural disequilibrium that made revolution and the rupture of bilateral relationships inevitable. In this talk, Vanni Pettina argues against this view, maintaining that the US-Cuban relationship during the 1930s and '40s was marked by a reciprocal cooperative attitude that favored the island's democratic consolidation and economic development. The tremendous impact of the Cold War on US-Cuban relations played a crucial role in destroying the equilibrium of earlier decades, destabilizing the island's political system, and creating fertile ground for the crisis of the 1950s."
Presidio of San Francisco [CA]
Description
The Presidio of San Francisco has served as a barracks for 218 years, and has been occupied by three countries. Now, visitors can enjoy the stunning architecture of the Presidio, as well as see the historic airfields and national cemetery also located in the park. In addition to the impressive history and culture of the Presidio, the park also serves as a haven for endangered species and features beautiful and expansive views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the city of San Francisco, and Marin County.
The site offers historic information about the Presidio, visitor information, a photo-gallery containing 92 photographs of the Presidio and its surrounding grounds, and resources for educators, including an interactive field trip planner and educational online games for students.