A Local Life

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Mrs. W was our interviewee and she was born in 1943. She currently lives -------, where she also works. She currently works in the ------ Library and is the village Historian.

She was born during World War II. During World War II, women were heavily involved in the workforce and men were drafted to enlist in the army.

The U.S. was part of the Allied forces, which consisted of Britain, the USSR and France. The enemy forces, called the Axis Powers,  consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan. The U.S. got involved after being attacked by waves of Japanese planes at Pearl Harbor in 1941. The Japanese surrendered to the Allied forces after two atomic bombs were dropped on two major cities in Japan.

Korean War

The Korean War was familiar to Mrs. W because her babysitter suddenly disappeared one day. Years later she learned that he was actually in Korea, participating in the war. The Korean War was a fight to ensure that Communism wouldn't prevail.  The United States and South Korea fought North Korea until a truce was signed in 1953.

Vietnam War

After a long period of economic involvement, U.S. military involvement began when U.S. Destroyer ships were attacked by North Vietnamese forces. President Johnson ordered the U.S. to attack back. The U.S. wanted to prevent South Korea from taking over North Korea. This war was very controversial and many people felt that America had no right to be there. 

From this experience we learned that this era was marked by tension and confrontation. Mrs. W was hearing about all of these events in the news and she told us that she was unsure of what the future of America would be. Democracy wasn’t present everywhere and America wanted to show its dominance. America showed its dominance whenever necessary and the US won every way except for the Vietnam War. The American citizens had no choice but to hope and pray that their country would remain a democracy and that America would remain a powerhouse. Mrs. W made it throughout hard times and she developed a strong sense of pride in our country.

Our Own Rosie the Riveter

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary. 

Today is Monday....it's grocery day. After you get the kids off to school and do the daily household chores you head to the local market. On your way home you see a poster that catches your eye. It has a woman on it drilling and the slogan reads, “Do the job HE left behind. Apply US employment service.” You laugh at such a thing, “Apply for a job? You? Who has the time to work?” With all the chores to do and daily tasks that need to be accomplished: getting the kids ready in the morning, doing the daily and weekly chores, helping Mrs. Smith your elderly next door neighbor with her chores, getting supper ready, helping the kids with homework, getting them ready for bed. How could  you possibly add a job to that schedule? But then you remember that the electric bill is due on Thursday and you have absolutely no clue how it will get paid. Billy, your eldest son, does need a new pair of shoes. You look down and realize that you could use a new pair yourself. With all these things spinning around in your head you almost walk past your house. You go inside and unload the groceries. You sit down at the kitchen table and look at the stack of bills and wish that you had someone to help you. Then it hits you that the someone that used to help you is currently stationed across the world fighting a war that seems like it will never end. You start to cry but wipe away the tears angrily and refuse to give into self pity. You can do this, you have to for your kids, for your husband and for yourself. You start to write down a schedule of all of the things you do and decide that with a little help from the kids and Mrs. O’Neil down the street you can add a job to the schedule. You get up and grab your purse and go down to the employment office to see what jobs are available. During WWII this scenario was probably common. With a lot of the men away at war,  women had to step up and be a housewife as well as taking on a job. The poster that this lady saw was also a common sight. Rosie the Riveter was propaganda campaign by the government to get women to join the work force and support the war effort.    

For our Oral History Presentation my partner and I interviewed Mrs. P. She is a local resident and has lived here for twenty-four years. She has also been the village historian for thirteen years. Previous to working as the village historian she was a social worker for a local psychiatric center. As a women who lived during WWII, Mrs. P was effected by the war. She worked in three different industries: infrastructure, sales and agriculture. She said that she remembers the tough economic climate that followed the war. People were living in basements because housing was scarce. During the war houses stopped being built because everyone was focused on the war effort. 

During our research my partner and I learned three major lessons. First we learned to appreciate hard work. Today in our “I want it now and with no effort” world we find it hard to appreciate hard work, but during WWII people were willing to work hard. Sometimes they worked hard in their jobs in the factories but never got to see the end result because the tank they were building would only be used overseas. Second we realized the importance of spending time with the elderly and gaining knowledge through their life experiences. Today we look at the elderly like they have nothing to offer us but if we would just pay attention we would see that they have a lot to offer. They have wisdom that comes from experience and a lot of them have untold stories. As young American students we think that we should make more time to listen to them and enjoy their wisdom and untold stories...and maybe even a few good wholesome jokes. The third lesson we learned was the lesson of patriotism. Coming out of a long war that our generation got to see the beginning and the end of, I think that patriotism has been lost in the mix of life.  Patriotism was lost in politics. It doesn't matter what your political party or church says about the war-- to us, supporting our troops is so important.

From da Gama to the Afrikaans

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors. As such, this writing reflects their perspective alone; historical errors or discrepancies are also their own. Names have been shortened or changed to protect individual privacy where necessary.  Note: the interviewee's words appear in red.

“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

― Desmond Tutu

"Africans: A people of beastly living, without God, law, religion, or common wealth”

― Richard Hakluyt

"Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate.

We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.”

― Desmond Tutu

           

From the excursions of Portuguese captain Vasco da Gama in 1497, to the footprints of the Dutch native Boers in 1652, apartheid would slowly begin to develop in the womb of the “unknown,” and in the name of the “undiscovered,” stretching itself across nearly a five-century period.

Now, what exactly is apartheid?  A term with Afrikaans origins, apartheid, or “apartness,” is the political system of racial segregation peculiar to the Republic of South Africa.  This policy was officially included in the Afrikaner Nationalist Party (ANP) platform in 1948, catapulting the ANP to power for the very first time. 

Cassandra M. Bruyns, a native of Cape Town, South Africa, born in 1947, and a Freedom Fighter against the apartheid system, sat down with Team Freedom Fighters, students from ------, ---------, ---------- NY, to explain what it was like being a South African against injustice and segregation in the age of apartheid.

At this monumental time in South African History, the Chinese were considered “white,” Japanese were called “non-whites” or “coloured,” darker skinned peoples of any ethnicity were considered “black,” and caucasians were thought to be superior.  They were divided into many different classes, and the country was totally overtaken and controlled by a regime that established a system wherein race and ethnicity was the cornerstone of all social and political life.   

Was apartheid a political strategy, or was it a call for genuine separate development?  We may never know, but its original purpose was separation of all races.  Apartheid held no bounds.  This meant it not only included a separation of whites from nonwhites, but also nonwhites from each other as well as from Bantu peoples (9 groups of native South African blacks who make up 75% of the population).  No intermingling of “colors” in a sense.  

“You could not mix with other races, you were kept apart in homelands, you were kept totally apart.  You had to go to separate schools…they used to have two bridges going over a railway, one for the whites, one for the nonwhites, and that was not a choice that was law,” said Mrs. B in regard to the different elements of apartheid.  To be more specific, those who were distinguished as nonwhites were widely known as Coloured, (people of mixed black, Malayan, and white descent) and Asian (mainly of Indian ancestry).  Blacks and Coloureds were denied entry into many public places, were unable to live in areas where whites were the “majority.”  Their areas of employment and residence were limited and blacks were also unable to vote or own land.  The destruction of African family occurred very rapidly due to privileges and unfair treatment amongst siblings and parents who were all different skin colors. Mrs. B expressed a time when apartheid hit home: "My mother was a mixed woman but she was very white.  I have a brother that looked like her and a sister that looked like her and along came a bus…my mother got on the bus with my brother and I couldn't get on.  I was not fair skinned enough…and I have been fighting it ever since."     

Born in the heart of this oppression, Mrs. B explained a firsthand encounter with the horrors of her own homeland, “Where the bus came along, there was a black old lady standing with crutches with one leg and it was hot!  The bus came along and they used to have these bus inspectors.  They were checking what the drivers were doing and whether they were keeping the law, whether they were letting the right amount of people on…This inspector was related to me, he jumped off the bus, this inspector, and he wouldn't let that black lady on the bus because there was no space…she had been standing there for hours and hours.  I wanted to take her crutches and hit him.  And that's when they had a big scene and I had to leave because I got that angry.” 

        

A young well-educated political activist, and lawyer, born the son of a highly placed tribal advisor in rural Umtata, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela began campaigning in the public eye for the rights of Blacks in South African, as early as 1944, when he joined the African National Congress.

“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw,” said Mandela, in his autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom. Being that Apartheid was a governmentally sanctioned decree, underground anti-apartheid groups such as Umkonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) headed by Nelson Mandela, and the Anti-Apartheid movement of Canada (AAMC), were formed in an effort to combat this legal type of segregation. The majority of the opposition against the South African government was fought with non-violent methods, intelligent thought and peace.  However, in 1964 after Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for acts of treason and sabotage against the government, many Africans turned away from their peaceful resistance. 

“So when I came there (Canada) and there were people over there (South Africa), we were talking to them, and they started grouping in the streets and it became more violent and more violent and then it became so violent.  So many people lost their lives that the international community had to step,” said Mrs. B in the Team Freedom Fighters interview.  The government too became violent in response to the post-Mandela imprisonment revolts. In 1976, five hundred black students were shot during protests, and in 1977 and 1980 black leader Steve Biko (1946–1977), and trade unionist Neil Aggett were killed while in police custody.  By then, Mrs. B had already fled South Africa to Canada due to the governmental opposition, and many Africans who left the country at the time were issued “exit permits.”  Exit permits would entail loss of citizenship, and criminal penalties if the person returned to South Africa. 

Yet still, Nelson Mandela’s dedication and commitment to anti-apartheid during his imprisonment would later spark a political revolution out of which many leaders would rise against apartheids strongholds.  “I was angry, angry, until they had the truth and reconciliation and I thought, that's me, those are my people talking, Reverend Tutu is my people talking.  That is the only way to get over it, forgiveness. I was losing my faith yes, I still have moments where I get very angry because of racism, but I go back to that thought, forgiveness.  Forgiveness will always heal everything,” said Mrs. B.  Ideals of “peace as a weapon,” would again spring forth as religious leaders like Desmond Tutu were in the peripheral.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born on October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, South Africa.  He was born a Methodist, but later became an Anglican when his family changed denominations.  When the Tutu family moved to Johannesburg, South Africa, Desmond, now age twelve, met Anglican priest Trevor Huddleston, who was strongly against apartheid and became a role model to Tutu.  Their meeting would plant a seed within Tutu out of which would grow a deep passion for equality amongst all peoples. 

Thirty-five years later, Tutu’s recognition as a critic of apartheid became internationally know when he was appointed first general secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1978.  Later, he was elected the archbishop of Cape town, making him the first black person to head the Anglican Church in southern African history.

“So Desmond Tutu and Mandela, along with others from the ANC started a big huge court case, it's called the Truth and Reconciliation case.  What they did is they tried all the white South Africans that they knew had committed atrocities and they healed it with forgiveness, it’s true, it's absolutely true…People give Mandela the credit but Reverend Tutu who did it…He was the one who rallied the people throughout the world…and this is something that we, as Christians, I'm catholic, but as Christians have to learn that forgiveness does work, it does work, all people are equal...”  Forgiveness became a force undefeated, developing into a powerful political committee known as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), fully backed by Nelson Mandela and chaired by the archbishop.  

 

TRC was part of the political compromises made during the negotiations that ended apartheid.  Their job was to investigate the different cases of human rights violations that were committed between 1960 and 1994. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was the first truth commission to offer amnesty to individuals who fully admitted their involvement in crimes that were view as being politically motivated.   

Desmond  Tutu and Nelson Rolihlahla Nelson had achieved the unachievable.  They had delivered the gift of peace to the doorsteps of the unmerciful through the political powers that be, to a country that has seen oppression age well over five hundred years before even being considered a universal immorality. “Forgiveness does work! It does work!” said Mrs. B.  And forgiveness covers a multitude of sins.    

“If we would only believe, that which we desire to achieve would find its way into our midst.”

 –Team Freedom Fighters

  

Victorian Kitchen Remained Untouched for 60 Years:


This is my absolute dream come true. I cannot calculate the level of joy and fascination I would have experienced had I made this discovery. The nerdy interest and excitement I feel simply reading this story and seeing the pictures are off the charts. For more, click on the link above, or just click here.

To tempt you further, here is a picture:

History Comics

This doesn't bill itself as a history comic, it just happens to be one.

I find it quite funny.

Find more comics at Married to the Sea.

A Student's Thoughts on the Importance of "The Birth of a Nation"

Below is the astute and very well-written perspective on a film called, "The Birth of  Nation" which debuted in 1915. Here is the trailer:

What this trailer does not do well is express the racially loaded tones and scenes of the film. For more on that, see the clip to the left.

One student wanted to content with this film, discussing the ways it acts as an important primary source document -- not of the Reconstruction Era, but of the time in which it was produced and became wildly popular. Here is their work: 

              Film has become an essential component in the understanding of history.  As opposed to other artifacts, films have the ability to visually preserve live action events.  Visual evidence has proven to be important in history since it can be more explicit than other forms of evidence; visual evidence is hard to ignore.  Films have the ability to make a record that better captures the values of a society than any other media.

 “The Birth of a Nation” has forever encapsulated the shameful racist history of the United States of America. “The Birth of a Nation” is one of the best examples of how a film provides additional understanding to historical events.  “The Birth of a Nation” was originally used as a recruiting tool for the Ku Klux Klan but now serves as an educational tool that gives deep insight to the racist ideologies of early 1900s America.  If there was ever any doubt of racism being a major part of the history of the United States of America, “The Birth of a Nation” demolishes those doubts. 

“The Birth of a Nation” is truly a charcoal smudge on the American flag, as it encouraged racism.  Racially prejudicial scenes were explicit and plentiful.  One memorable scene features a Southern white family being saved by the Ku Klux Klan in a heroic fashion from predacious “blacks.”  Scenes from the film reveal how a good portion of the population of the United States felt towards “black” equality.  This film was designed to make the “white” American viewers in 1915 more inclined to hate “blacks” who are becoming freer through political provisions.

“The Birth of a Nation” captures the feelings of an attempt of revisionist history.  Director, D. W. Griffith wanted to revise certain aspects of political happenings during the early 1900s.  In an attempt to thwart “black” progress, Griffith produced animosity towards “blacks” through pure revisionist attempts at history.  For example, “The Birth of a Nation” showed “blacks” as the aggressors in the American Civil War and showed the Southern plantation owners as purely defending themselves.  Like many racist Caucasians, it seems that Griffith was scared of losing political and social supremacy over “blacks.”  The early 1900s saw a dramatic change in the political standing of “blacks.”  Books such as The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois, landmarked the fact that “blacks” wanted to be treated more fairly and were not going to take “no” for an answer. 

The reason that such an immoral film is considered one of the “greatest” American films ever made is for its ultimate failure in its attempt at revising history.  Instead of making all Americans believe racist ideologies, “The Birth of a Nation” made future citizens question the motives behind certain political writings, music, and/or films.  The film reminds society of the racist environment and ideologies that once ruled America.

 “The Birth of a Nation” has proven that cultural values and opinions change overtime.  A good example is the opinion Americans held during World War II and the opinion Americans hold now regarding World War II.  During World War II the majority of the American people felt it was a necessary war in which America was the “hero” but after almost seventy years many American’s acknowledge the strategic path America took during the war that ensured economic prosperity after it.  “The Birth of a Nation” gives perspective on how historical events are viewed differently when taken out of context, or viewed from various vantage points.

“The Birth of a Nation” ironically teaches a viewer the unintended lesson to be aware of historical reversions made by special interest groups though it originally tried to accomplish the opposite.  Will Americans have a totally different view on what America’s objectives were with its “War on Terror?”

College students foolish?

Recently, some politicians made some grandiose statements about college students; they are "foolish" and they "vote with their emotions." I passed out a few articles on the topic, which you can read here, here and here. I am posting some of the responses below.

The first response is from Mr. A, from my United States History 1865-Present class:

                    If New Hampshire's new Republican state House speaker William O'Brien is granted his wishes of limiting the voting rights of college students, the United States would be set back four hundred years.  To say that only young adults vote on emotion is an insult since voting and emotion seem to go “hand in hand.”  For instance, George W. Bush ran his second campaign completely on emotion; Bush won his second election because Americans sympathized with his response to the September 11 terrorist attacks.  In a Matt Lauer interview in 2010, Bush said, “while my emotions might have been similar to those of most Americans, my duties were not;” an admittance that emotions drove many of his actions and those of citizens during his regime (MSNBC.com). 

                  Now if you look at almost any presidential election prior to 2008's when Barack Obama was nominated, young adults had virtually no effect in the voting process.  Now that young adults are voting and making a political difference, conservatives like O’Brien are on the defensive.   O'Brien even went as far as to say that college “kids” are “foolish” and vote based on their “feelings.”  O’Brien’s statement is completely unfair and makes little logical sense as it can be seen throughout American history that many voters, regardless of age, elect candidates based on emotions.  If emotions did not play a key role in the election process then why would “image” matter so much?  Why would people even care if the president was divorced or married?  Presidential elections prove that the majority of votes a presidential candidate gets are based on the emotions he or she brings up in the voting citizenry.  Presidential candidates kiss babies on campaigns not for their love of everything cute but for the emotional feelings people attribute to the touching image of a potential candidate and being kind to a baby.  If emotions did not play a big role in elections then the next presidential candidate to run for the either party should start to kiss strippers instead of babies and should visit strip clubs instead of elementary schools.

                  Another concern that comes with limiting the people who are able to vote is that it gives an unfair advantage to a special interest group or groups. The poll taxes of the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, which almost exclusively limited voting to white males, resulted in decision-making political power almost exclusively benefitting white Protestants.  If young adults are not allowed to vote and have a say in laws enforced on them then the age of being considered an adult should be changed.  If at eighteen a person is too “foolish” to vote then they should be considered too “foolish” to go fight in a war and take lives.  If the day comes when a young adult of eighteen years old is not allowed to vote but is allowed to sign up to fight for the army, it would prove the corruption and hypocrisy of the United States government. 

Many young adults have proven to be less “foolish” and more productive than their older counterparts.  Take Mary Shelly for example.  She wrote one of the greatest books ever written when she was only eighteen years old.  On the other hand, look at the “foolish” acts Seinfeld's Kramer or Charlie Sheen have committed. Perhaps some people who are young are “foolish” and some who are older are not responsible. It is an insult to young able adults everywhere to say that their thoughts should not be taken seriously due to their age and not their merit.

"Excerpt: Bush in His Own Words on 9/11, Iraq - Books - Biography Memoirs - TODAY.com."TODAY.com: Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales - TODAY Show Video, News, Recipes, Health, Pets. 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 02 Apr. 2011. <http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40075575/ns/today-books/>.

I hope to post more excellent responses soon!