Tag: stmu

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Railroads and the Making of Modern America: Documenting the Railroad industry on the backs of the slave trade.

Railroads and the Making of Modern America. http://railroads.unl.edu. Created by William G. Thomas III, Richard Healey, Ian Cottingham, Leslie Working, Nathan B. Sanderson, Zach Bajaber, Karin Dalziel, Keith Nickum, Brian L. Pytlik Zillig, Laura Weakly, Trevor Munoz, Dan Becker, Catherine Biba, Luci Bolwer, Karin Callahan, Sarah Dieter, Paul Fajman, Marco Floreani, Amy Grant, Erin Johnson, John Kemp, Kurt E. Kinbacher, Miles Krumbach, Dan Larsen, Steve McGuire, Lundon Pinneo, Cris Rasmussen, Anastasia Smallcomb, Nic Swiercek, Michelle Tiedje, Rebecca Wingo, and Robert Voss, The University of Nebraska Lincoln, http://railroads.unl.edu/about/index.php. Reviewed Jan. 2019.

It is said it takes a team to build a mountain. In reviewing Railroads and the Making of Modern America, a digital history project maintained through the University of Nebraska Lincoln. On a macro-level, Rail Roads and the Making of Modern America can be defined as a digital exhibit/tool, covering the socioeconomic, political, and cultural impact of the rail road between Nebraska and America’s slave trade. In discussing this topic, Rail Roads does a great job at maintaining a neutral point of view in providing objective content on the matter. At a more defined micro-level, you really begin to see the immense depth of this project. When visiting the site, a simple scroll of your mouse pad begins your journey as samples of content interchange on an automated slideshow.

Complimenting the automated slideshow, the home page, provides for the viewer easy access tabs concentrating on individual areas of this site. Tabs labeled “Data”, “Search”, “Topic”, and “Home” make it utterly impossible to get lost while navigating. I began maneuvering through this site simply by taking a quick glance at what each area had to offer. On a quick glance, I came across things photos, map, letters, reports, and contracts, mostly in relation to a specific rail road company or slave owner. In addition to these items were also more general documents specific to a region or route taken. Not isolated to any one area, these documents could be found within each area of study. An area not given much attention, was the adaptations for those with special needs or abilities. While each area of study contained an assortment of available content, individuals with special needs or abilities will need to find alternate aid to assist in viewing this site as no options are available for the filtering of these needs.

Aside from this, the content of this project is well organized and displayed. In general, the material housed here could benefit high school and college students in search of primary sources on this topic. Outside of classrooms, this source also has the potential to be useful for genealogy, with its capability to search for railroad employees. 

In reflection, the digital media pieces which stood out to me more than others as having the most potential included, an interactive map which allows the viewer to scroll through to a given event and connects it to an interactive calendar, so the viewer can connect an event. Another fascinating section documented the purchase of slaves to include surnames and quantities of slaves. Another area I particularly enjoyed was an element which use the rail road information to show an example of Spatio-Temporal Correlation Technology. For this example, you are given the option to view the map used from the view of elevation, population, or rail roads. For each of these, this example gives the viewer the option to scroll from 1869 to 1887 and literally watch the rail road system grow across the state of Nebraska. Finally, in what would be everyone’s favorite, Rail Roads and the Making of America has added to this collect several podcasts which allow for additional insight into some of the more detailed pieces to this story. As a bird’s eye view it is fascinating to watch the impact of the railroad in real time.

In conclusion, the work compiled for Railroads And The Making of Modern America is but a mere example of the heights digital history can go. In an age filled with up and coming tech savvy students, the need to maintain a higher level of engagement become more of a necessity. Railroads And The Making of Modern America does that perfectly.   

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Historia en Vivo | Living History: The Mission to Market Walking Tour

To connect with or learn more about N. Geremy Landin, please click the photo above!

Recently, The Western History Association had a conference in San Antonio, Texas. It was of no surprise to me that the participants of the conference were very interested in the history of San Antonio and the past of a city reborn.

As part of a course at St. Mary’s University, Dr. Teresa Van Hoy gathered a group of her brightest minds as well as a grad student (that would be me). Dr. Van Hoy engaged these students in research at the level of a graduate

Photo of Casa Navarro courtesy of Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas

student’s course. These students learned about everything from the battle of The Alamo, the historic Market Square, Casa Navarro, as well as La Villita and The Arneson Theatre. History of these past lives for the places that we were treading upon for the sake of history is important. The major history of the west was highly influenced by the past of Texas and the past of the Spanish settlers of the time.

Pierre, the undergraduate history major, explains The Alamo and the history captured in the historic shrine. Photo courtesy of Gateway Photography

The Alamo is probably one of the most mentioned historical sights of the city in terms of tourism and engagement but the truth of the matter is that there are so many places that are filled with love, hate, energy, and resentment. These places are the true places that affect lifestyles and changes in culture and security and these were those places that the students were talking about.

La Villita, for instance, was a very familiar sight for a local leader, Anthony Delgado, this sight was was more than an artists’ grounds or NIOSA fiesta sight. This compound is holy ground for Anthony. “La Villita” was the land previously owned by his ancestors and Anthony ensured that his history and his family’s past have stayed alive. As the previous president of the organization, “Los Bexarenos,” Anthony knows what it means to be a direct descendant of a people of strength and resilience. Throughout Anthony’s talk, the somber feelings of disbelief and wartime angst began to fill the audience with feelings that some could say only a San Antonian could know.

Photo of Anthony Delgado (former leader of Los Bexarenos organization) presenting the La Villita Historic sights to conferences goers of the WHA conference.

The tour continued and different important topics were discussed and thrown in along the way. There was color-commentary from the beginning until the end and some of those fun-facts just grabbed the attention of the audience. The interesting part of this living history was that history was being created just in the activity itself. Each participant was some sort of scholar of history or fan of the city and learned something new that they had not yet heard before. Up until that day I had not heard of Los Bexarenos. The knowledge was highly appreciated and the “tour in the rain” seemed to be the best part of any scholar’s visits to The Alamo City.

By no surprise, the students, including myself, were introduced to many scholars and writers. These people have continued to keep interest in the students and the leaders of the tour. Recently while sorting through emails, I found correspondence about visits to museums, programs, and schools nationwide as a result of this great tour opportunity.

The Mission to Market Walking Tour was a great opportunity, to say the least. The connections built, the memories made, and the history learned was worth the trot through the pouring rain.

Students from the Texas history course at St. Mary’s University, taught by Dr. Van Hoy huddle together to talk about Henry B. Gonzalez, an influential San Antonio leader. Photo courtesy of Gateway Photography.

Public history is a program at St. Mary’s University, but it is more than that. Public history students are able to take part in these types of programs due to the efforts of the program and the leadership guiding it. The students that are growing due to this program are more than the average graduate and undergraduate student. This cohort is learning to work with and engage the community. In my time as a student (5 years now), I have not felt so empowered until now. I can see the work that is being done, as well as the influence it has on local perception.

The walking tour sure was an opportunity of a lifetime. The walking tour was more than just an opportunity, but a necessary component for the careers of many students and conference-goers. The memory is now an internal archive of a project that became part of a class and a group of students’ journey.

 

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History, Technology; The Blog and The Passion

to contact this author, click the photo above!

Publicly Historians? Publicly Modern Historians!

Interestingly enough, I have not been a “blogger” for very long but I can tell you this much, as a new student in the Public History program at St. Mary’s University I have grown to be many different things including a blogger. The students in the program have become bloggers, twitter-storians, Slack-ers, and have even hit the nail on the head with the Planner application as planners, innovators and do-ers. History, by the perspective of many, is this old dusty subject that student have to take in grade school. There is an understanding that the topic continues in some people’s lives through writing, and publications of research. The public knows of historians that work in libraries and museums pulling things of historical value out of an old vault or collection.

Transfiguration in History Nation (caution: bloggers in the making)

My colleagues, the fellow students, the professors and the undergraduate students around the Department of Public History at St. Mary’s have begun transfiguration to a new type of historian. The world is changing and we are changing with it. Looking at some of the applications that I shared up above here, I would think the main pivotal platforms are this blog (Publicly Historians), Twitter, and Slack. These three applications have helped re-innovate the way we think and work together in teams and as classmates. The applications started as a requirement to learn a new method of communication and dissemination of information but have since turned into a more preferred method of communicating and sharing than I originally imagined. Blogging however seems to be that one that has given me a new perspective on the capacity of a historian that is different than the traditional historians we have met in the past. Looking through our blog site has been interesting for me as I was considering this topic to. There are blogs that talk about the “mummy brown” paint color to the “Esperanza Peace and Justice Center” and even a blog on a historical project going on in the Westside San Antonio region. The students have jumped past just thinking about the topics themselves in relation to the course but they have also delved into some topics that are just interesting altogether and tried to incorporate the public history aspect of our field into their accounts. becoming a blogger in this day is important though. I have seen and heard of information being researched and written about and then nobody sees it or reads it. I’ve typed out a well thought out blog and attached some great photos and within a few minutes of posting might have a comment or a retweet and the feeling is great. The information that I spent time to gather information and share it shared within moments and at that time I know my research did some immediate good.

Not Just Procrastinators but “Slack-ers”

Now, you might be wondering what Slack is and believe me, I was wondering too. Slack is a platform used by different organizations as a collaborative online workspace. The neat thing about slack is that it works across most platforms including iOS (i-Phone), Android, Mac, Windows and Linux. It is user friendly and is pretty vibrant in color. The platform is pretty simple to use at first and only gets easier after you’ve had your first few conversations. Why is any of this important to the modern-day historian? Well, we are able to not just have a group message type conversation, we are able to schedule events, participate in polls, have side conversations with each other and create our own workflows with the application. We can share resources and blog ideas as well as just pertinent information in relation to the program with each other. We even have fun with it sometimes and share memes and other funny side notes.

P-interesting Huh?

So by now you may have though, “well Geremy, I am not a historian, so why does this matter to me?” It turns out that everyone isn’t a historian (big surprise there) but everyone is effected by these new methods. It could be in 10 years or it could be tomorrow that someone somewhere needs to know something about a topic that we are blogging, tweeting, slack-ing about and we now have these conversations and research topics posted somewhere that can be searched and can be used for future research. It is something worth caring about. The work we are doing is going to change the way historians conduct research in the future. The historian of the future will no longer Face-books all day long but could be searching one of our four-squares of informational platforms.

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And a Grito Filled the Air

Click the photo above to learn more about connecting with this blogger (Norbert “Geremy” Landin)

A developing population can grow out of the past or it can grow with the past in mind and in sight.

Laugh, smile, and cry seem to just be those emotions present at events like these. The interesting thing is what brings you to attending events usually has something to do with someone inviting you or an event reminding you of it an hour before on some social media platform but when some kind of event just pops out at you from the side of the road then what choice do you have but to stop?

Photo courtesy of Gateway Photography: 7 Year Old Boy Singing at The 4th Annual Mariachi Festival at Mariachi Connection Inc.

I stopped promptly, opened a window and a grito filled the air. Chances are that if you are from San Antonio or even from Texas then you know what a “grito” is but in case you aren’t a local of the region, a grito is a cathartic joyous yell according to an article by Brenda Salinas with NPR called “In Mariachi Music, A Distinctive Yell Speaks To The Soul“. It wasnt the first time I had heard a grito and it definetely wont be the last time that a grito filled the air.

That following weekend just happened to be the 16th of September and the recollection of the Grito de Dolores or the Cry of Dolores came to mind right away.

Continue reading “And a Grito Filled the Air”

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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly — Past, Present, and Future

Finding your love for your hometown is something that you gently fall into. When you’re there, its easy to hate it — you can see up close the flaws and shortcomings that you learn to live with. It seems often that things will not change. That every weekend, there will be nothing to do, that the construction will never end yet the roads will never be fixed. My hometown, Corpus Christi, is precisely like this. And yet, after taking a walk in San Antonio’s historic West Side, I began to reflect on the historical architecture present in Corpus, and it is in this reflection that I realized how little I knew. Thus, I began to dig a bit deeper into the architectural monuments I so easily took for granted.

Heritage Park

Just as the name would suggest, Heritage Park showcases twelve Corpus Christi homes of historical significance, dating all the way back to 1851 (The Merriman‐Bobys House). Between them, one can see architecture ranging from Victorian to Colonial, speaking to the diversity not only of the structures themselves, but the long-gone inhabitants that are a testament to the diversity of the Bay Area. Members of the NAACP, co-founders of LULAC, Mexican-Americans, Irish-Americans, African-Americans… the whole array can be seen represented in Heritage Park, not for the superficial reason of ‘inclusion’, but because the original owners of these homes made their mark in the coastal bend community.

What pains me about Heritage Park is that very little work has been done in terms of bringing this fascinating history to the public. A quick search for ‘Heritage Park’ reveals that the historic site has no website, no social media — hardly a trace! It is only within the last few days that I learned the park itself was used for anything other than special events. Sure, most Corpus Christians know of the historical site, but of its history? What a tragedy! Most of the online reviews are about the types of pokemon you can find there on Pokemon Go! All this to say, taking this Public History course has allowed me to appreciate Heritage Park much more, and additionally it has allowed me to realize how desperately it is in need of a good public historian.

The Art Museum of South Texas

Any art museum houses hundreds of individual pieces of breathtaking art. But can the building itself be called art? Only naturally. At the Art Museum of South Texas much care has been put into the architecture of the two buildings — one from 1972, one from 2006. The original building, crafted by Philip Johnson is a love letter to the region, constructed of shells, sand, and concrete (a.k.a. shellcrete) and fashioned into a castle reminiscent of adobe style homes, perfect for keeping the sticky heat and humidity away from the precious pieces within. Much of this I knew, as my mother was once obsessed with the structure of the museum, pulling out her little architecture book and flipping to the page that featured our hometown museum any time it would come up in conversation with our guests.

South texas Museum of Art
The two buildings of the South Texas Art Museum coexisting!
In 2006, Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta was brought in to design a new addition to the museum, and that, he certainly did. Where the original building was old school adobe, the new building was the definition of modern, complete with black pyramids on the roof and a hot pink accent at the entrance. My mother was livid, but I personally think the two styles compliment one another, the old and the new, the rounded and the decidedly sharp. If you pay the museum a visit now, you’ll be able to see the two together, and appreciate each artist’s input. Don’t worry, student entry is a measly $4!

The Harbor Bridge

Of all the interesting and historic architecture in Corpus, however, there is one thing that stands apart — the iconic Harbor Bridge, and its skeleton-like silhouette. Finished in 1959, it stands at 243 ft. tall. (You can see more specs here. ) But despite its iconic status and sixty years of service, the end is nigh for this beloved Corpus Christi monument. My grandmother would describe how she used to take a ferry boat across the channel that the Harbor Bridge connects, and that the bridge brought that era to an end. Nowadays it seems as though the bridge will now be left in the dust, a plan for a new bridge already being put into action, its completion expected in 2021.

Corpus Christi Harbor bridge, lit up in rainbow LEDs
The CC Harbor Bridge, lit up for pride month. Captured by my awful camera
Ordinarily, I am very much “out with the old and in with the new”, but there is something uniquely nostalgic about crossing the bridge to go to the beach or the Texas State Aquarium. Ask any resident, and they’ll express their sorrow about the loss of the bridge, although it may be for the best. The new bridge will be significantly higher, allowing cruise ships and larger shipping vessels to enter the Port of Corpus Christi. I do hope I’ll be in town when its time to say our final goodbyes, but if not, I’ll know its in a better place — bridge heaven.

In conclusion, I prompt my readers to think about the architecture of their hometown, wherever that may be. There’s no town too small or city too big not to have key buildings that made an impression on you, whether you hung around them very much or not. Leave a comment telling me where you’re from and which buildings remind you most of your life growing up, or which you consider ‘classic hometown’.

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Abriendo Caminos

Hi there!

Geremy Landin photo

My name is Norbert Geremy Landin, but I usually go by Geremy! I am way too excited about this unexpected Master in Public History program and the future that is to come because of this program. I had no plan on going to St. Mary’s for my masters degree much less in Public History but as I walked along the empty summer halls at St. Mary’s, I was invited to take a look at the program, and here I am a few weeks later.

The goal here is to attain this degree and the knowledge to succeed while working with the City of San Antonio or in organizations like the San Antonio Fiesta Commission on large scale projects and events as well as building a network and relationship with the people that are in these fields and do these things already. I am hopeful that the public history program will help me with these goals for sure!

Papel picado is also known as perforated paper; it is used to decorate the city and homes during Fiesta inside and outside buildings
Fiesta Papel Picado

Lately I’ve reflected on the ideas that brought me closer to believing that I could achieve something in a program like public history and I couldn’t think of a better example than the short film/documentary that I was tasked to complete for Dr. Teresa Van Hoy’s Civilizations course. That documentary was the first time I felt like I had complete freedom of creativity and decision making in a course of that magnitude. Now I’m here in the place where I belong; learning alongside people of different backgrounds and understandings of history.

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Like a Kid in a Candy Store

The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

It’s a safe bet that just about everyone remembers key locations from their childhood. Perhaps it was that park down the street that you’d visit every Friday, or that ice cream parlor you’d stop at any time your report card proved up to scratch. Your childhood bedroom, your best friend’s house, your fourth grade classroom… In some way all of these places shaped you into the adult you were destined to become. For me, one of these essential places is the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

Every summer, my parents would buy a family membership to this beloved museum, and every Sunday my older sister and I would turn up to browse the museum and take part in the weekly kids treasure hunt.

My older sister and I, a mere decade ago
We’d gaze wide-eyed at the sea life exhibit with all of its shells and ocean gems. We’d play on the pirate ships floating at docks (arrg). We’d each pick from the geology exhibit which gems we’d wear if we were queens. What we liked best, however, was proving our historical insight during the weekly treasure hunt. Given a list of clues, we would track down the artifacts and answer the questions that would accompany each hint. We wouldn’t always win, but the joy of eagerly perusing the exhibits was impressed upon me for life.

And now…? Well, in many ways I’m still just a kid on a treasure hunt, trying to prove myself as a valid player on the academic and historical field. I’m still young, still foolhardy, and still every bit as fascinated as I was back then. As for the museum itself? Sadly, Hurricane Harvey did a number on the building’s structure, and it was closed for repairs and renovation for the better part of year, though thankfully, it recently reopened.

I’ve got to hand it to the CC Museum of Science and History for revamping their exhibits year after year and being a pleasure to visit even now, after I’ve been hundreds of times. If you ever find yourself in Corpus, I certainly suggest you pay them a visit. It’ll be worth the extremely affordable admission fee of $10.95. Plus tax, of course.

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Back to the future…or the past?

Greetings friends, classmates and anyone and everyone who stumbles upon my humble first blog post!  This photo below serves as a great example of my pursuit of the study of history.  At this point, I bet you are wondering how that photo got taken.  Before you start lecturing, no, I did not take this while driving!  The story is much more interesting and fun!

Road to the past or the future?
Speeding into the past…or the future?

It all started with a trip back home from Port Aransas. My wife and I were returning from a relaxing beach trip in 2013 on Labor Day weekend.  As we were leaving Port A ready for the long drive home, my attention was drawn to a Delorean gassing up at the convenience store.  For anyone who is a fan of the Back to the Future movie trilogy, you know how rare it is to see an actual Delorean with the doors up and parked.   The driver had a smile from ear to ear and was taking pictures with a couple with the doors wide open.  I leaned over to my wife and asked her to pull over so we could get gas and also maybe get a picture with the Delorean.

Missed opportunities and second chances

Now my wife was not feeling well and was ready to get home so she declined to stop and we continued on down the road. We have all had an experience where we were really excited about something and then in the blink of an eye you miss an opportunity. With my study of history, it has mostly been walking into a book store and finding the perfect book to read and then reluctantly setting it down before exiting the store promising to come back later and buy the book.

As we continued to drive into the distance toward home all I could think was that I would never get an opportunity like that again. How often do you see a great opportunity and let it pass by or in this case drive right past it?  For the next hour or so, I wondered how many years it would be before I got another opportunity to see a Delorean.

You know the  point when you are making a long drive back home and all you can hear is radio station static? That’s the point at which I looked into the passenger side mirror to see a car coming in pretty fast. Yep, you guessed it. It was the Delorean. (I’ll tell you how fast it was going later…) At this point I knew this was my moment. As the Delorean sped up, I asked my wife to follow suit beside the car so I could get the perfect picture. I snapped about five photos from my phone, some were blurry but this one photo above captured it perfectly.

Now you are  probably wondering what this has to do with a public history blog. Surprise! I tricked you into reading about history in your spare time. (Muahaha!) When it comes to hearing or telling stories, I’ve often noticed that there are missed opportunities and second chances.  This blog will take the opportunity to share a few stories and online resources that just might spark your curiosity and give you a second chance at learning and loving history. I promise not to make you memorize any dates and there will not be a quiz! Yet…

Telling your story or writing your story? 

So often, I have heard friends tell me how they have thought history was boring but I’ve also noticed something else. If you ask enough good questions, you will find someone’s passion and realize what stories they are interested in. We all tell stories, we just don’t always realize which stories are most important to us and why.  What is your story? Do you know it? Do you actively write the story of your life or do you tend to let others write it for you? How will the story of your life be told by your grandchildren and future descendants?

For as long as I can remember I have always had a passion and interest in history. I’m sure there are points in your life where you can remember an opportunity that passed you by. This blog intends to capture some of those moments and tell or highlight some stories along the way that need telling. I hope that this blog challenges and engages you to think about history in a different way and find your interest whether it’s in a museum, a park, a book, an online resource or maybe even just a phone call to your abuela or meemaw.

Join the ride. Jump in the Delorean! 

Thank you for taking the time to read my first post and know that along the way it will be a wild ride with some ups and downs and maybe an occasional lead foot to catch you up to speed on some stories that you may have missed out on. I promise to try to make it fun and engaging.  I will spend some time sharing my critical thoughts on the past while occasionally using technology to share a new perspective on history.  Some of my favorite topics for potential future blog posts include, San Antonio history, Texas history, Marianist history, history podcasts and maybe even reviewing a book or two in the future.

Please leave a comment about your personal interest in history below and maybe that will help me find some fun topics to write about. If you could jump into a Delorean right now, what era and location of history would you go to and why?

Also, please share this first post on social media so I can get a few new readers and comments!

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The Van Hoy Interlude

Photo of Dr. Teresa Van Hoy visiting the St. Mary’s University Public History program!

Having Dr. Van Hoy visit today was a great way to re-awaken an interest in history that has been dormant for a few years. She brought in a great perspective to the class by sharing some great stories and personal testimony about her time as a historian. Dr. Van Hoy helped bring together the history that we are making now with the history from the past. Danielle, a fellow student in the course, was a main source of interest for this visit.

Danielle Garza featured in the “Faces and Voices of History” article

Dr. Van Hoy spoke to us about her previous experience with the history department and how she was able to include her experiences from her history as a student to her future experiences as a future public historian. We ended our visit with Dr. Van Hoy by taking some shots that we can later include on our curriculum vitae and LinkedIn profile. Hopefully we can continue to bring these shared experiences into the classroom. I know they can definitely share some insight and theory to the history that we will be contributing to in regards to this program.

I’ve included some photos with this post. I plan on using my art of photography within this field as we progress into other areas of history. I think that using the areas of “expertise” in your favor is extremely important. “You will all bring something different table in this program,” Dr. Van Hoy stated, and I completely agree with this. Dr. Wieck has made it clear that her expertise that intersects history and technology shows in her work and we should be able to intertwine these trainings and previous works within out time in this program.

Discussing these topics and ways to loop into the public history we are learning was a great way to shed some light on the possibility of what work we can do on a local and state level as well as a national level.

Now let’s just stay on this with the same momentum and we’ll see what happens!

Stay tuned!!!

 

 

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