NYC Reflection – Thank You

New York City was a nice place to be.  Many of us came were worried about how the people in New York were going to be.  We had heard many different warnings and most of them turned out to be false.  The New Yorker’s many times would ask if we needed and help and there were very few that did not want to help us.  I felt ok to walk around New York City by myself!  I don’t know if it was the fact that if I wanted go and do certain things that no one else wanted to do, or the fact that there are 40,000 police officers around that I just went.  The buildings themselves did not impress me as much, and I don’t know if it was because that is all I saw for some of the trip, they didn’t have the elegant stone architecture that I love on buildings, or it was because I had gone to Chicago the year before and had my fill.  It was probably a mixture of both.  I will say this; I would not want to live in New York City, anywhere else that might be negotiable.

                               

There were so many different time periods that we hit that it is hard to tell you what the best was because in one spot we could cover the revolution, the Civil War, the 1920s, and today.  All you really need to have is an imagination because what you see today might not have been there even thirty years ago.  As Ken Jackson mentioned on our long bus tour of New York, New York is not a “loser city,” which means that they do not dwell on the past, they are always looking toward the future.  This can be both good and bad.  Many people have a hard enough time remembering their history, but if we get rid of all of it how are you going to have the connection with it.   

What I thought was really interesting was the movement of the immigrants in New York.  When Ed O’Donnell took us to China town it was interesting to think that we were in a spot that almost 200 years ago the population was mostly Irish, and then around the 1880s the Irish moved to a different and better part of town and the Italians came.  Finally, because of all the persecution that they had out in the West the Chinese finally moved to the East coast.   They are slowly spreading out into other neighborhoods and they have strived.  This could be tied into other group movements, but on a more local scale. 

Ellis Island is the place that many of us were excited for, and was worth the wait!  Being able to see a part of history that many have never seen, and will not see for years was amazing.  With our visit I will be able to talk to the students and explain what these millions of immigrants when though, and to let them know that not everyone went through the island when they can, and that all depended on their class and what part of the country they came.  Being able to show that there were illegal’s that have been coming in to the country from other nations will show that this concept is not a new one and we haven’t figured out a way to deal with it.  Talking to my family, after we left the island, I did have someone go through Ellis Island.  I will be able to go and find their records, and show the students in the class how to do the same if they had a family member who did.

One theme that kept popping up for the entire trip was urban planning.  It was informational learning how and why New York laid their roads the way that they did as well as why certain zoning laws are in effect.  The students in Pueblo West would not understand the need for laws concerning the height or scale of buildings because we don’t even have a zoning law for sidewalks.  It would be interesting to see what kind of zoning laws and/or city the students would come up with.  It would be wonderful if we could see the difference between students from an urban community and a rural community would create their city.

The trip was wonderful and I am so glad that I was allowed to take part.  There was so much to see, even after we were released that I was happy that I was able to go home and have time to reflect.  I will say that I was a little disappointed in the Seneca Falls and Women’s Rights.  I just felt there had to be a little more, or that we didn’t have to rush.  The Erie Canal was nice, but I could have waited an anther hour and spent more time at the museum or Harriet Tubman’s home.  Once again thank you and I know that this trip will influence the way I teach many of the subjects that I cover in my classroom. 

Day #13 – Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga

Today was probably one of the only days that I was skeptical about.  First I do not teach before the Progressive Era, so I was wondering what I was going to take out of the day.  Our guide at Fort Ticonderoga did not impress me.  I know with lunch we had a shorter time at the Fort than we had wanted.  What my big complaint about the guide was that he just assumed that we knew about the battle.  I’m sorry, but the American Revolution and the Seven Year’s War is not my forte and I was more confused about what he spoke about than what he actually taught me. I did like how he explained how and why the fort was constructed with the different types of defenses, and the fact that by the time of the Seven Year’s War and the American Revolution Forts were more or less obsolete when fighting in a battle.  This could go on and explain why the Civil War and other wars emerged into the fighting styles that they had.  We could try to have the students make a conclusion by given them a group of weapons that were used during certain wars and ask them how they would defeat the fort with them.

I enjoyed our guide much more at Saratoga; he seemed more knowledgeable and more interested in the Battles of Saratoga.  I liked how the park service had shown where the Americans and the British lines were during the battle.  It did not leave you guessing too much, but I know that if I was by myself I would not have figured out what he explained.  I did not see the interactive map that was inside of the visitor’s center, but using an interactive map in class to show what the two sides of the battle were doing.  That way we could bring in the primary documents of the commanders and the soldiers to bring it to life. 

This was a wonderful trip, but I’m tired and I am done!

Day #12 – Seneca Falls, Stanton Home, McClintock Home, Seward Home, Tubman’s Home, and the Erie Canal.

Today was crazy, educational, and boring.  What I mean by this is we went many different places, we learned about many different subjects, who all seemed to come together at one point, and the bus rides were long.  I do wish we could have gotten to stay at a couple of the places longer, but it was a treat going on the boat on the Erie Canal.  Too bad we couldn’t have gone an hour later. 

Women’s Suffrage is the topic I have wanted to write my lesson plan on.  I was hoping that I would get more information on some of the key women from the beginning of the movement.  What I like was how they talked about the Declaration of Sentiments, and that Suffrage was not the only equality that women were looking for during their struggle.  Suffrage was their priority because they thought that once they received their right to vote their other items on their list would fall into place.  In class I do not cover the Seneca Falls era, but I do cover the couple of Decades leading up to the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, and I think that the students need to understand the people who were involved, how women were treated before, how the movement started, and what roads did different suffragists took to get the amendment passed. 

I was exciting to learn that McClintock and the Seward homes were part of the Underground Rail Road.  I really wish that we could have gone into the parts of the homes where they would have held the Runaway slaves.  Seward’s home was impressive.  I am actually glad that they were pack rats because it gave us a great sense of who they were, unlike many of the places and/or people who we have seen on our trips.  He had a great collection of items from around the world that were given to him from different heads of states, as well as during his trip around the world before he died.  The amount of work that the first lady and the Secretary of State’s wife have to do while their husbands were in the white house was more than they should have had to do.  They were not allowed to ask certain questions and would have to figure out how they would start a conversation by putting a picture or artifact into the room that would draw everyone’s attention. 

Tubman’s home was less spectacular than what I thought, but it could have also been because we had to leave within 30 minutes of getting there.  Her home showed how much she was admired by not only runaway slaves, but also by white abolitionists.  To give her 7 acres of land was a risky investment, and the fact that she was able to expand her land by 26 acres was curious because she couldn’t pay the mortgage.  I really haven’t heard Tubman’s story, but now I am going to have to read more about her.

The Canal was relaxing after a long day of running around.  To see how a lock really works was interesting, and now I can explain it to my students.  I might not teach about the Erie Canal, but I do teach about the Panama Canal, and it is the same concept. 

Day #11- Cooperstown

It was another long day, but it didn’t seem as over whelming as it had been the past few days.  We first started off at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  I have never been, but I had heard that it was a great place.  I had thought that we would do a little more with the educational side of baseball.  I thought that they would go into a little more than just showing the lessons on their website.  I have mentioned baseball in the classroom, but I really have just brushed by it and said, “This is the time when Babe Ruth played.”  I was just trying to get the students to see what was going on as far as sports were concerned in that area.  But most of my students would prefer me to talk about football or Basketball. With myself growing up as more of a baseball fan, it is surprising how little the students follow baseball, many of them think (and this could be up for debate) that baseball is no longer America’s Pastime.    

Looking at the lessons on-line I would be able to use a few of the lessons to get the students thinking about different topics such as Women’s Rights and Civil Rights.  Both lessons can show the inequalities that these groups had to go through.  In the Negro Baseball League’s section they had a timeline that showed what was happening during the Negro leagues as well as what was going on in the United States at the same time.  I’m kicking myself in the butt right now because I didn’t take pictures of the timeline, and I tried to look for it on the website but I did not see it.  I guess I could request it. 

The Fennimore Museum had some nice collections; I really enjoyed the dress exhibit as well as the Magnum exhibit.  The students are sometimes surprised when I talk about the way women dressed at the Turn of the 20^th Century; all they can think about are the girls now with their short shorts and being able to show skin.  They don’t realize what some girls go through to look the way that they do.  It is hard for them to imagine the girls trying to force their bodies to do something that they are not physically able to do.  This might help me explain it a little better.    

The Farm Museum was not my favorite of the trip, but it was nice and relaxing.  I did enjoy the gentlemen who showed us how the printing presses worked.  He had a Printing Press from the 1840s and the 1860s, and seeing the work that had to go into laying the individual letters has to be an art.

Day #10 – Theodore Roosevelt’s Home

Today we went to Sagamore Hill, which is the home of Theodore Roosevelt, one of our more colorful presidents in America’s history.  The Property that the home was on was breath-taking.  I could have just sat there and looked at the landscape all day.  Once again we were not allowed to take pictures in the home.  When entering Roosevelt’s home you just feel like you are walking into a home of someone great.  The wood walls the animal heads, rugs, tusks and openness showed that person who lived there was very intelligent as well as very active.  Most of the game that was around the house was shot my TR himself.  85-95% of items in the house were original, which for some of the homes and places we have been to that is a real treat. 

Sitting around the dining room table was a huge deal for the Roosevelt family.  To know that there were big named people in politics and other fields it would be hard not to learn from the people who sat at the table.  The children were the ones that would have to lead the conversations at dinner.  By meeting so many people and having these conversations the children felt that this was the best education that they could have.

Roosevelt made sure that he had his own area of the home, which he called his “Gun Room.” Only people who were invited in would be allowed to enter, this even included the children.  The Boys would be allowed to knock and ask if they could enter, and then they would only be allowed to grab a gun.  With Roosevelt wanting the boys to learn so much why wouldn’t he make it more of a study room?  But I guess with his library of over 6,000-12,000 books the kids would have access to all kinds of books that were not in his library. 

One point that Roosevelt made sure that he did, and I know that many people really cared about was the fact that he would make family time in his hectic schedule.  The more and more that I hear about this man, the more I like and want to learn about him.  

When going to the grave site I did not realize that he had received the Congressional Medal of Honor.  But it wasn’t until 2002 that Clinton presented the medal to the family.  Looking at the MOH website Theodore and Theodore Jr. both received the medal, and Theodore Jr. if I remember right is buried in France with thousands of other Americans who fought during the Normandy Invasion.

I think the one lesson that I could teach my students about Theodore as a man is that he never let anyone tell him he couldn’t do it, and he pushed himself to the limit.  He became an athlete with asthma, a big game hunter, President, Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, Medal of Honor Recipient, and was a great scholar and writer, what didn’t this guy do?  That would be the idea of goals and the ways to pursue them.

Day #9 – New York Historical Society and the Museum of Natural History

Today turned out to be the day where I was completely out of it.  Once again we were able to see artifacts that are currently closed off to the public.  They are currently renovating the Museum and have everything pretty much closed off.  The Program that they put on was really nice.  We focused on the subject of slavery in New York.  They gave us a binder of primary sources as well as teaching materials that could be used in the classroom. New York happened to be one of the last of the Northern states to emancipate their slaves.  But then they were not just free, they were slowly given their freedom once they turned the age of 21.  So there were many people in the United States that did not want the slaves to be emancipated, because, just like the South, the Africans were a cheap source of labor and they did not want to have to change their way of life and economy.  There were also many that would not condole slavery but did not think that they should be equal.    

The Activity about just looking at an artifact and having us try to explain what the artifact or the picture might be or mean is a really nice activity.  The fancy toilet was a little weird for me, but like someone said, the students would just love that and they would never guess that.  I have not done much picture/painting/artifact analysis in my classroom, but by doing these mini workshops I am starting to see that I can be comfortable doing these activities in the classroom.  I will take that little handout and use that to help me look at a picture and see what I want to get the students to understand. 

Interpreting the primary documents in a jigsaw style activity was interesting because you have to try to figure who this person really was without having the whole story.  By the time it got to my group, we had no idea that the person went by another name or any other information.  Being able to bring the images and the audio into the classroom is great to get the students to think and come to their own conclusion.

The Natural History Museum was massive.  To think that Theodore Roosevelt brought some of the animals back from Africa to help fill up some of the artifacts was real interesting.  I didn’t get to all of the exhibits, but I did run through the dinosaurs, the South and Central American People, and the African People’s exhibits.  There is no way that anyone could get through all of that in one day. 

The Yankees Game was so much fun, too bad it wasn’t in the old stadium.

Day #8 – Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island was one of the best days that we have had on the trip.  To be able to go into an area where no one else is allowed to go is so much fun and interesting.  Jessica was a great person to have for a guide as well as show us how we can use artifacts in the classroom.  I liked the activity and how you can picture these people coming off of the boat all nasty, tired, hungry, scared, and frustrated and then having to be checked over.  To be treated by the best physicians in the United States would have been wonderful, but it probably would not always be a wonderful experience because it seemed like it would not be a short stay for any of the patience.  The contagious and infectious ward was with patience and the nurses not being able to leave must have been boring. To see that approx. 98% made it to the mainland there must not have been contained. 

Going along with the tenement house I could have my students go through a mock exam and pretend that they have some of those diseases that the immigrants did bring to the United States.  And then have them end up in a tenement home after they filled out a ledger with all of their information.  I think that type of activity would be fun and the students would be involved and be able to feel what it would have been like to be possibly their grandparents or great-grandparents.  I would also explain that some immigrants also went through Castle Gardens, which I had never heard of until this trip to the island.  There is always a misconception that immigrants only came through Ellis Island, but they entered the U.S. from all up and down the coast, but the main port would have been through the island, and the immigrants that did get processed though the island were the third class passengers from the ships. 

Along with a simulation it would be nice to have the students see if they would be able to find their relatives who came to the island.  This way they would have to talk to family members to, at the least, learn the names of their family members, to see if they traveled though Ellis Island.

The Statue of Liberty was just a sight to see.   This great symbol of the United States out in the harbor right off the coast of Manhattan.  The Ferry Ride was peaceful, but made sure that we would get great pictures of the statue.  We were not able to get under the statue, but walking around it was just wonderful.  There was also a film crew at the statue and it turns out Matt Damien was there.  I did get to see him as he rode off on the ferry to New Jersey.

Day #7 – Lower East Side, Tenement Museum, Triangle/NYU,

Today was our last day with Ed O’Donnell.  It has been a real treat to have him show us around New York City.  He was very knowledgeable and he did not have to refer to his notes to tell us about certain buildings.

The trip to the Lower East Side was fun and showed the changing of the city from German and African, to Italian and Irish, and finally to Latinos and Chinese.  The idea of having the buildings represent the mood for the tourists was very interesting.   The Lower East Side was usually the first stop for immigrants that went though both Castle Gardens and Ellis Island.  Once they were able to scrape their living in the Lower East Side they would find a new neighborhood which is why the ethnic groups changed so much over the years. 

We first stopped at the cross-section where Five Points would have been.  Five Points were first brought to my attention during the Movie:  Gangs of New York.  It is interesting to see that these places that students see in the movies can actually exist.  Today there is really no reminisce from the draft riots, but to be able to show the students what it looks like today is awesome.  My question is why were the artifacts from Five Points in the World Trade Center?  Was there a research lab or something?  It just doesn’t make sense to me that they would be in that type of building, but then again, there have been many stores that I would have never thought I would see in a skyscraper.

Walking through town I could picture how many people lived there and how dark and dingy it could have been with all the waste and people around the areas.  The older buildings that make up a continuous block I could picture hundreds of people living and workings in them, and when Ed explained that there are sweat shops still working in certain areas of the cities it just blew my mind.  The Question about whether or not to close sweatshops can bring up a great discussion in class.  My kids say that they could do without certain material goods, but after being around them, they could not. 

The ideas about Anti-Semitism rising during the immigration shows that the United States really does not ever go away because people want to have it their way and they will always find a way to degrade or put them down.  It never crossed my mind about why there were so many Chinese who ended up in New York, but it is the opposite of why some Irish and Italians headed west to get away from discrimination.  The Quota System would end up halting the flow of immigrants from the West to a halt. 

The Tenement Museum was one of the places that I was most looking forward to seeing over the trip I really wanted to be able to show and explain to my students how small the rooms were and that it was not always just for sleeping, but also a work place.  I really wanted to take a picture of my group in one of the rooms just to put the size of the rooms into perspective for the students.  It would be creative to have the size of one of those tenements marked out onto the floor of the classroom and see if the students would be able to function with 8-9 people in two of the rooms with a bed, stove, couch, table, etc.  The tenement they had seemed a little too nice compared to the ones that we see in the pictures, but then again a museum is not going to let one of those rooms turn to dust to impress a history nut. 

After the Museum, I found my way to the Campus of NYU, and after taking a wrong turn and finding my way to a bunch of sex shops (No I didn’t go in them), I finally made my way to the spot where the Triangle Fire happened.  Matt was right all there was on the building was a small plaque, but to where it stood, and to imagine that there were women jumping for their lives, and realizing that there was no buildings connected to it just hard to believe.  The road that I was walking on was also cobblestone.   I then made it to the bookstore and got some books.

Day #6 – the Brooklyn Bridge, African Burial Museum, Central Park, and Mary Poppins

Today was another great Day with Ed O’Donnell we first started with the walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge.  From Reading The Great Bridge and seeing pictures, I knew that the Bridge was massive in size, but to see it up close it was breath taking and the view from the bridge was beautiful.  I liked how the Bridge was constructed, with the people in mind.  The fact that the people do not have to walk or compete with the traffic and the people can look around at the East River and the surrounding areas.  I know the bicyclists were a little scary at some points, the overall walk was great.  Unlike some of the other in the group this was the first time that I had stepped foot onto the bridge itself.  Pulling this into the classroom I can show the movement from the urban to rural areas.  This could also be pulled into the idea of new transportation and the fact that the people did not have to live where they worked, and the whole idea of urban planning that we have been talking about for most of the trip. 

The African Burial Museum was interesting.  One is that there were NO white park rangers.  Was that a stipulation for the museum, as well as having Howard University study the archeological findings after the site was discovered?  Normally, when I think about Slavery in America I immediately think about the South, but getting the understanding that New York had the biggest population of slaves in the 1750s and had a highly profitable slave trade market helps me put into perspective what it was like in the North.  This could also help the students understand that before the Civil War there had been many people in the North who had owned slaves, and did not think that African Americans were equal to them.

Another great feature about New York: Central Park.  Our journey through the park took us out of the city and into a new setting.  Olmsted and Vox, the designers of the park wanted a place for people to relax and enjoy their time away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  I knew that it was pretty much man made, but I did not realize how many restrictions that Olmsted wanted to put on the park.  The park is another addition to the urban planning.  There is a need for the park, and in Colorado we might not see the immediate need for a park when there are open spaces everywhere, but walking through the Financial District, you do see a need for nature, relaxation, and AIR!  The students can debate about there could be other reasons why there would be a park, or no park.

I went and saw Mary Poppins, this was my very first Broadway play, and I loved it.   The architecture on the walls was stunning.  The one not so great part about my experience was that I had about 50 kids sitting around me.

Day #5 – the Financial District

Today was great!  Walking around the financial district was very informative.   Foley (?) Square is where all the federal Buildings are located.  Right in the middle of the government buildings lays an African Burial Ground.  In 1991 a building was going to go up, but first they had to dig for the foundation.  I guess before a building is allowed to be built there has to see if the area will have any historical significance and the have to also do some scientific checks as well.   Turns out that about 17 feet down they found 450 skeleton remains, and the building could not be built.  These skeleton belonged to African Slaves they were buried sometime in the early 18^th century when New York was one of the Biggest Slave trades in the Americas.  Using this in the classroom I could show artifacts or pictures of Artifacts and have the students come up with a conclusion about what they were used for, or where they were from.  We can discuss what these artifacts tell us about the person, and depending on the grade we could look at the bones and try to g=figure out what it was like for a slave in the 18^th Century. My fiancé has one of the symbols tattooed on his arm that was etched into the wall.

We saw some buildings that were made out of cast-iron instead of Stone or iron.  They could only be built to a certain height, but there could be bigger windows.  Even at the turn of the 20^th Century men were trying to build higher and higher, and at one point the Woolworth Building was the tallest until the Chrysler building topped itself off with a 60 foot spire out reaching the 40 Wall Street building. 

St. Paul’s Chapel was built in 1766 and is the oldest building in Manhattan.  It holds one of two cemeteries in the Financial District.  It was an Anglican Church and turned Episcopalian after the United States was its one nation and they tried to break all ties with Britain and the Crown.  During 9-11 the Chapel allowed the firefighters to come and rest, eat, and pray while they were trying to save the people from the terrorist attack.  A special pew is reserved for the firefighters.  Not to mention that George Washington’s Pew is also located in the Chapel.

Just down the street is Trinity Church where Alexander Hamilton and his wife are buried.  Hopefully I can get back because we did not get to go inside.

In 1886 was the first ticker tape parade which was for the completion of the Statue of Liberty.  The Ticker Tape Parades were held on Broadway and all along the streets there are dates with names and events when the ticker tape parades happened.  Looking around at Broadway you see that the skyscrapers were very close together and after the construction of the Equitable Building the City of New York decided to create ordinances that would allow airflow and light into the area.  That just means that the builders have to work with the little area that they have, and that is why the Flatiron Building is the way it is because that is the piece of land they had.  Along with the urban planning lesson that I mentioned on day #2 along with the 5 zoning laws the students could also look at the height of the buildings as well. 

The New York Stock Exchange was different for the fact of all the security; I would have really liked to have at least gone into the entrance just to see the hustle and bustle of the trading floor.  The fact that the road had been closed to cars was very interesting.  It makes it harder for a car bomb.  Another was the J.P Morgan’s bank was across the street facing Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated and where the nation’s capital was located until at least a year later. When talking about the stock market crash of 1929 I will be able to explain that the road is not very big next to the stock exchange.  I would be able to compare and contrast the before and after pictures of the street.