Little House On The Prairie

On Tuesday morning, after convening as a group at Julie's home in Independence for breakfast, we proceeded southwest approximately 15 miles to the site of the The Little House on
the Prairie. Ruth McKee was our guide and hostess and did a great job with the background history on the Ingalls family and how their homestead here was located and recreated. We were able to walk around and through not only a recreation of the Ingalls home, but also take a look at an old post office and schoolhouse dating back into the 1800s. There is also an old farmhouse, built in the late 1800s, which serves as the gift shop for the curators. Very adequate restroom facilities are present on-site as well. It is rather interesting to gaze across the expanse of prairie and imagine a time when trees were scarce, no other houses are present, Indians were common, harsh weather and insects were a normal occurrance to be dealt with. If you want, you can hike a quarter mile down a trail through the field to Walnut Creek, which we were told is quite dry at this time. The heavy growth of trees in the valley identifies where it normally would flow. After wandering the grounds in the heat for an hour or so, we were treated to a sandwich, chips, and watermelon lunch outside. This was designed to give us a small taste of what it might have been like to experience an outside lunch during the heat of the day back when the Ingalls family was homesteading this area. We finished and headed back to Parsons for an afternoon of air-conditioned educational enhancement.

LIFE

This assignment/exercise involved listing every year from birth to present and quickly jotting down any experience that you could recall from each year. We were then asked by the presenter if we had more trouble recalling earlier experiences or present, did we have consistent gaps of no memory every so often, etc....I found this assignment interesting and was able to recall something from almost every year from age 3 to present. I also found that as I entered my teen years, more and more events were being recalled. Gives thought to documentation or journal entries as we live and grow older. Also stimulates recall of personal history that normally does not warrant much thought as we live in the present.

Agriculture Today

Agriculture Today

In Girard, Kansas, I have seen a definite change in the number of “farm kids” that attend our schools. Twenty years ago, this was a predominantly “rural-based” community, with a majority of students living on family farms in the surrounding area. And though there has always been forms of industry in town that employ a constant workforce, the majority in the area were dependant upon some form of farming to make a living. We still have a large number of students that think they’re “farm kids” because they live in outside of the city limits and drive trucks, but many times their parents are employed in some type of industry other than agriculture. Most of the land-use in this area of SE KS is still agricultural, but the number of farms has decreased and the land is now owned or leased by a smaller number of large farmers. Recently a trend has been detected indicating that even the large farmers are getting out of the business of agriculture, selling all their equipment, leasing their lands, and getting into other types of business. There is still a very active Future Farmers of America chapter in our school, with a large membership. Also, we still have a Farmer’s Coop and Grain Elevator in town to provide information about the agricultural issues and situations in our area of SE KS.

Bakke Case

Bakke Case


I believe my students need to know specifically what “affirmative action” is defined to be and also what the initial intent was in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It would also be beneficial to discuss possible negative aspects that have been a part of all such legislature. In our region of SE KS, most of our students are very aware of growing ethnic groups, specifically those of African-American and Mexican ancestry, and there is occasionally discussion and questions about workers rights, etc….that sometimes border on racism. It is important during these discussions that the teacher guide with strict intent and focus in order to maintain general order and keep the discussion of an academic manner rather than as a prejudiced rant against a specific ethnic group. This area is rather low on the socio-economic ladder and competition for jobs can be tough. This undoubtedly feeds the animosity and underlying resentment for some of these “new” ethnic groups that have migrated to our corner of Kansas. Once again education is vital to understanding, diffusing blame, and realization that change is constant and they must take positive steps to achieve what they want out of life.

Vietnam-National Archives

ARC Identifier: 305342

Propoganda Leaflets Urging the Defection of VC and North Vietnamese to the Side of the Government of Vietnam , 1970
1 - Front: Viet-Cong Hay Coi Chung picture of tank monster.

ARC Identifier: 305342

Propoganda Leaflets Urging the Defection of VC and North Vietnamese to the Side of the Government of Vietnam , 1970
2 - Front: Safe Conduct Pass

Both of these documents represent propaganda leaflets that were mass distributed throughout North Vietnam in 1970 urging the defection of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese to the side of the Government of South Vietnam. Interesting contrast can be demonstrated to your history class as you examine these examples. In the first example, a cartoon “monster tank” devouring what we assume are representatives of the North Vietnamese. There is an obvious desire to intimidate or use scare tactics to influence the enemy. In the second example here, a “safe conduct” pass to be honored by all Vietnamese government agencies and Allied Forces, we will assume the intent was to convince the enemy that if they turned themselves over while possessing this pass, they would be treated well and not harmed. While the first plays on fear and intimidation, the second plays on compassion and honorable treatment. Also noteworthy for discussion is the fact that these were circulating in 1970, almost ten years into the Allied active military involvement in Vietnam. At this point in the war, the VC and NVA have witnessed most weapons and tactics that could be used against them, so intimidation and fear were not likely to increase now. Also, having survived in a war-torn environment and experiencing the brutality from all sides in the war, how easily would trust in words and/or actions be given?

Truman Presidential Library

We were instructed to spend some time on the website for the Truman Presidential Library (I hyperlinked successfully to this website on my original word document, but have no idea how to transfer it so it's linked on here), http://www.trumanlibrary.org, and comment on interesting and useful items or features for teachers at our respective grade levels. I teach American History at Girard High School to Juniors and Seniors, so I will focus on things that are most useful with the content areas that we address, from Reconstruction to the present. First let me just say that this website is quite extensive and you can spend expansive amounts of time browsing at this site. Navigation and ease of use is a definite positive. In no particular order, let us examine the features I find most useful. (1) Research: This is an amazing collection of well organized documents covering a wide variety of topics involving both President Truman and the geographic areas he touched, including Jackson County, MO and Kansas City. Civil Rights, World War II, Korean War, Diaries, Travel logs, staff, etc…are addressed in both written form, photographs, and sound recordings. This is an amazing collection offering immense insight into the Truman administration as well as the history of the man and his rise to power. Also includes separate pages of online documents and the photo database. (2) Truman Trivia Page: This is a really cool page with a large number of links available. Frequently asked questions, chronologies, biographies, family tree, books about Truman, Truman’s cabinet, etc….are all addressed on this page of the site. (3) Search: The ability to search the entire site for specific topics is a definite strength. I personally find this useful when dealing with topic areas coinciding with Truman’s political career, including World War II, Nuclear arms development and use, and the Korean War. For example, during the section on World War II, we use posters that were created to study several areas, including propaganda and social emphasis and support, both in the United States and worldwide. There is a very nice collection of posters from this era along with explanations and even short lessons and discussion questions that can be used. Though this barely scratches the surface, I will say that I’m impressed with this site and find it very useful. I would recommend this and all other presidential library sites as resources to be used by secondary level history instructors.

WAR WITHOUT MERCY

Title: War Without Mercy

I would like to start out by saying that the topic area of internment camps in the United States and the propaganda machines that were active in all of the major combatants during World War II has always been addressed in the textbooks I use in my American History classes, though not in great detail. It seems to be one of those areas of our history that, as time passes, becomes more “acceptable” to discuss in great detail. The relocation of over 100,000 Japanese-Americans has been touched upon as a justifiable response to a perceived threat. Realistically I’ve always held that, while it was undoubtedly brutal at times and at very least inconvenient, and admittedly a violation of civil rights, our government was faced with a dilemma. In a nation that had welcomed many different nationalities as immigrants, who had largely contributed to the growth and strength of this nation, you now have concerns with treasonous activities as a result of ancestral ties. The first question in my mind has always been, why relocate the Asian immigrants and not those with German ancestry? This opens up a whole new discussion on how the different nationalities were viewed in American society. The propaganda during W.W. II may help reflect some of the “inequality” placed on the enemy. Granted, political cartoons, musical satire, etc….were aimed at both Germany and Japan, but from what I have seen presented so far, there appear to be differences. While much of the propaganda aimed at Germany revolved around Hitler and the Nazi Party, the spin on the Japanese many times involved character assault, racism, occult, and sub-human brutality. Later we would find out that the brutality would be generously spread around between the concentration camps in Europe and the prisoners of war in the Asian theatre.