History

Camp 2015 Sessions

See the back page for the wi-fi password and other logistics, and for important notes for presenters.

Decoding and Applying Common Core for Public Historians: Close Reading 19th
Century Sources from Mark Gardner. In this session, Western Rhode Island Civic
Historical Society archivist and American History teacher Mark Gardner
(@HistoryGardner) will walk through several hands-on exercises designed to familiarize
museum and historical society volunteers and professionals with the vernacular of the
Common Core, in particular, close reading, lenses, and response to informational text.

Using primary source materials not too different than what many public history
institutions already have in great abundance, you will learn how to speak the language
and better understand how we can connect to what high school teachers and students
are doing in the classrooms. Mark K. Gardner is the archivist at the Western Rhode
Island Civic Historical Society (headquartered at the Paine House Museum in Coventry
RI) and serves on the board of directors at the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society in
Kingston, RI. He also teaches US History and AP US Government and Politics and is state
co-coordinator for Rhode Island Model Legislature.

"Digital Humanities/Tools for Teachers of American History: Using Primary Sources
(U.S. History to 1865, part one)" from Sara Hamlen. Are you looking for original history
texts and primary resources tools for your classroom projects? Come take a virtual tour
of the Library of Congress website. We'll join Harriet Tubman as our guide, to explore
"beyond the text book" resources at LOC.gov. We'll search for prints, portraits,
manuscripts, sound clips, scrapbooks, and diary entries to encourage "history-thinking."

"A History of the Boston Post RoadAmericas First Information Highway from Henry
Lukas, Education Director at the Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History at Regis
College. Traces the history of the delivery of mail from Boston to New York and beyond
from early colonial days to the present. Learn about early postmasters, postal riders
and early rest stops, including the Wayside Inn. Hear descriptions of traveling on the
Post Road by postal riders carrying letters and newspapers from Massachusetts through
Connecticut and to New York and southward, and the start of stage coach travel after
the Revolution. Learn about the setting of milestones by early postmaster Benjamin
Franklin and the secret mails used during the War of independence. Hear about the
expansion of the road system in the early 1800s and its impact on the post office. Gain
knowledge about famous people connected with the Post Road and its importance in
the growth of the country.

How Would-Be Assassin Samuel Dyer Nearly Triggered the Revolutionary War" from
J. L. Bell, proprietor of the Boston 1775 blog. In October 1774 an angry seaman named
Samuel Dyer arrived in Newport, describing how the Royal Navy had kidnapped him
from Boston to London, how high government ministers had interrogated him about the
Boston Tea Party, and how the Lord Mayor of London had helped him to return to
America. Rhode Island Patriots fted Dyer and sent him back to Boston. Soon after
arriving, Dyer confronted two Royal Artillery officers on the street and shot at them
before escaping to the rebellious Provincial Congress in Cambridgeonly for those
Patriots to send him back to the royal authorities and the Boston jail. This talk digs into
Dyer's story: how he came close to setting off war in Massachusetts, what happened to
him next, and how much of the outlandish story he told was true.

"In Defense of Material Culture" from Erik R. Bauer, Archivist, Peabody Institute Library,
Peabody, MA (@hipster818 & @PeaLibArchives). The term material culture typically
brings to mind images of objects behind glass in galleries, archives and museums.
However, what defines material cultureand its rolestretches beyond these
boundaries. This session looks at ways to connect the public, especially students, with
the wider world of material culture.

"John Trumbull's Portraiture in an Iconic Historical Painting of the Revolutionary Era"
from Sam Forman, modern biographer of Dr. Joseph Warren and author of the
upcoming young adult historical romance "Twenty-One Heroes." Architect Rick
Detwiller has identified for study whether the controversial patriot James Swan (1751-
1830) is depicted as the hitherto anonymous protector of the mortally wounded Joseph
Warren in the central vignette of Trumbulls precedent-setting historical painting
Bunkers Hill. The resulting inquiry provides a window into Trumbulls design, visual
storytelling, and meticulous individual portraiture of this early and well-known image of
the Revolutionary Era. Art, history, and biography come together in this illustrated
lecture.

"Living History: Historic House Museums and the Classroom Teacher: The Age of
Medicine and Midwifery" from Patricia Violette, Executive Director of the Shirley-Eustis
House. The primary goal of any Living History Program is to provide a hands-on,
experiential learning environment that fulfills the need for a creative approach to social
studies. Living history is designed to stimulate student interest in learning about the
human side of history and involves not only social studies, but English, mathematics,
and science, as well as the arts and music. It is applicable at an elementary, secondary,
and graduate level, but has proven especially effective at the middle school level.
(continued on next page)

"Living History: Historic House Museums and the Classroom Teacher: The Age of
Medicine and Midwifery" (contd.)
This session will also focus on The Age of Medicine and Midwifery as an example of
living history education. Session participants will experience how a midwife develops
skills and abilities required to become a midwife. By identifying medicinal plants and
preparing simple remedies, participants will be able to understand how midwives were
an important part of the 18th-century. Participants will compare and contrast
midwifery of the past to midwifery today by engaging in hands-on activities and making
connections to the growth of technology. These guided activities will help them to
better understand how living history can bring together the new and traditional, social
and educational practices and how to relate personal skills, aptitudes, and abilities to
future career decisions especially when related to the role of women. (20 people or
fewer)

"Making History Comics" from Jason Rodriguez, editor of the Colonial Comics series,
with assistant editor J. L. Bell. For over a century, artists and storytellers have been
taking stories that existed in their heads and placing them into a series of panels to
make comic strips and books. In this workshop, comic book writer and editor Jason
Rodriguez will show you how to craft your own history comic books, starting with an
idea and people that exist in some continuous space, and moving them into a series of
moments that tell an exciting and engaging story. The workshop will cover the process
of making a comic bookfrom an idea to a story and even to the printing, folding, and
staplingin order to encourage folks to bring history into four-color (or grayscale) life.

"Our Forebears & Massachusetts in the Civil War" from Bob Schecter. This
presentation, with extensive slides, is based on Bobs recently published book, which is
not for sale. It consists of brief profiles of men who served as Union Army and Navy
officers in the Civil War. The majority of officers profiled (and pictured) are ancestors of
members of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion
of the United States (MOLLUS). Prominent officers from Massachusetts who are not
ancestors of MOLLUS members are also profiled and pictured, as are Massachusetts
citizens who played prominent roles on the home front (e.g., Julia Ward Howe, William
Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglas, and more). Each of the persons profiled has a story
worth recounting.


"Prince Demah, Portrait Painter" from Paula Bagger, director of the Hingham Historical
Society. Two 18th century portraits that have been on display since the 1920s in the
Hingham Historical Society's house museum, the Old Ordinary, have now been
attributed to an enslaved African American artist. Prince Demah's short life was
eventful and included painting lessons in London, a brief commercial career in Boston,
and service in an artillery regiment during the Revolution. The one other known
painting by Prince is now in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was found in a
family collection in Worcester County, and we know that Prince made other portraits,
both as a copyist and painting from life. Our area's small museums and historical
societies are the logical place to look for more of his works.

"Pushing the Envelope: A Brief History of the U.S. Postal System by Viewing Postage
Stamps" from Henry Lukas, Education Director at the Spellman Museum of Stamps &
Postal History at Regis College. This session is for both stamp collectors and non-
collectors. Learn about the history of the U.S. postal system from colonial times to the
present by viewing stamps issued over the years, starting in 1847. Hear about the many
ways mail has been delivered, including using the Boston Post Road (Americas First
Information Highway), the Santa Fe Trail, and the Pony Express. Discover how mail was
carried by trains, planes, ships, catapults, rockets, and even camels.

Also learn about unusual items transported by the Postal Service over the years,
including eggs, baby chicks, bees, pumpkins, war helmets, the Hope Diamond, bricks
that were used to build a bank, and even a little girl who mailed herself to her
grandmother in Idaho. View the stamp that helped start a war and another that helped
build the Panama Canal. Find out the most popular stamps ever issued as well famous
people on stamps who have been Postal workers, including Abraham Lincoln and Walt
Disney, plus famous stamp collectors, including King George V and President FDR. Get a
preview of all the latest U.S. stamps and some million dollar stamp sales.

"Researching the Old Homesteads of Marlborough" from Chandra Lothian,
Marlborough Historical Society Trustee. There were 124 paintings of local homesteads
and landscapes done by noted artist Ellen M. Carpenter over the period 1875-
1908. These paintings appear in the book, "Historical Reminiscences of the Early Times
in Marlborough, Massachusetts," by Ella Bigelow, published in 1910. Today the paintings
are easy to find: They're on display at the Marlborough Library, but what about the
houses? Are they still standing? What became of them? In this session Chandra will
discuss her multi-year project to find all of them and create a site history for each, with
photographs taken from the same angle and location as the original paintings. She will l
describe the resources used for researching old houses and sites and show the result,
with "Then and Now" photographs.


"Risky Business: Living History Events in Traditional Museums" from Elizabeth Sulock,
Manager of Public Outreach and Living History at the Newport Historical Society,
and Kirsten Hammerstrom, Director of Collections at the Rhode Island Historical
Society. Despite being known for traditional educational programming like lectures,
walking and house tours, and exhibitions, these two organizations recently collaborated
to present successful site-specific, first-person immersive living history programs. The
Newport Historical Society (NHS) used the city itself as the backdrop and setting for the
Stamp Act Protest commemorating the 1765 Stamp Act riots in that town. In
Providence, the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS) presented its third annual What
Cheer Day with costumed interpreters occupying the John Brown House Museum as
Brown family members and servants, bringing to life a Saturday in 1800. We'll walk
through the preparation for these programs, the risks and rewards, and what was
learned along the way. There will also be a discussion of other initiatives and ways
others may wish to present living history programs in traditional museum settings.

"Roman Legionary" from Andy Volpe: Art & History. Discusses the ancient Roman
Legionary soldier, including a brief history of the evolution of the soldier, aspects of his
daily life, and details on his arms and armor utilizing replicas of archaeological
artifacts. Andy has presented on the Romans since 2002 through the former Higgins
Armory Museum, which closed in 2013 and whose arms and armor collection and
programs moved to Worcester Art Museum.

The Salem Witch Trials: The Accused, Their Accusers, and the American
Experience" Salem witch trials experts Marilynne Roach and Emerson Tad Baker
discuss their recent books, as well as Americas on-going fascination with Salem and
witchcraft. Roach, who appeared on the Daily Show in January 2014 is most recently the
author of Six Women of Salem: the Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the
Salem Witch Trials. Baker, a history professor at Salem State University, is the author
of A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience.

"Saving the Reality: A Local Museum's Mission to Preserve One of the World's Most
Significant WWII Collections" from Travis Roland, Assistant Curator of the Museum of
World War Two in Natick. Considered by many to house the most comprehensive
collection of WW II artifacts and documents in the world, the museum is home to over
8,000 original artifacts, from personal items of famous world leaders, to once Top Secret
Invasion Plans of Normandy and Iwo Jima, to treaties that literally changed the course of
history and the world. Includes a virtual journey of the museum and discussion of ts
mission of making sure that the sacrifices of those who came before and are rapidly
dwindling from this earth are not forgotten. We'll find out why famous actor Tom
Hanks calls the collection, The Holy Grail of World War Two artifacts, and how it
appeals to people from all walks of life.


The 1775 Dysentery Epidemic, Looking at the Little Picture from Judy
Cataldo. Overlooked even by town histories, the 1775 dysentery epidemic impacted
many families. And although the epidemic didnt change the outcome of the war, this
talk will examine how it changed the lives of many who fought in it.

"Soldiers in Our Homes: The French and Indian War & Quartering in Albany, New York,
1756-1763" from Elizabeth M. Covart, Ph.D., Independent Scholar,
(@lizcovart). Explores how the French and Indian War and the act of military quartering
caused the people of Albany, New York to confront the British Empire in close, intimate
terms. This talk will reveal the lasting implications of this confrontation and how it
helped the people of Albany decide whether they would become Patriots, Loyalists, or
remain neutral during the American War for Independence.

The Swastika, the Spy, and the Black Sun: One Historian's Quest into the Murky
Depths of Post-WWII Fascism, from Sam Clark, PhD. student and Crown Fellow at
Brandeis University. In 1960, a man lay dead in his San Francisco jail cell after having
evidently taken his own life with a cyanide capsule. Days before, the FBI had arrested
this strange character after airport security discovered that his luggage was full of
multiple passports, each with a different alias and country of origin.
This session seeks to answer pressing questions, including, Who was this man and
where did he come from? And why should historians care? At the time, authorities did
not know that this man was at the epicenter of post-WWII fascism, an ideology whose
followers were thought to have been wiped out with the defeat of the Axis
powers. However, the history of post-WWII fascism reveals the growth of an
international web of organizations that has influenced the 20th century, right up
through the present day. Although extreme-right movements tend to exist on the
fringes of global society, this presentation shows that they should not be ignored.

"This Side of Paradise: The Tragedy and Triumph of a Small Town in
MetroWest" from Peter Golden. From its primordial origins as a Native American
fishing camp to the present, Natick, Massachusetts has experienced a series
of astonishing events and extraordinary transformations. This session will explore the
genesis of this unique community and the lessons it has for all.

"Were the Early Suffragists Racist? A Look Into The Early Movement Prior to The
Emancipation Proclamation" from Colleen Janz, Executive Director, Susan B Anthony
Birthplace Museum. This session will review the movement and the role race played in
the political posturing during this crucial time of women's history by examining various
figures, quotes and events.

Roundtables

"Ideas for Programming, Outreach, and Operations of Smaller History Organizations:
What Worked, What Didn't, and What We Learned From It" All are invited to
participate and share specific initiatives or programs and what they learned from them
that others can take away and apply to their site or organization. With Annie Murphy,
executive director of the Framingham History Center and others.

"Maybe We Should Stop Calling it 'History:' A Roundtable Discussion on Making
History Relevant for Today" with Neil Licht. All are invited to participate. Today, many
are baffled by the chaotic state of our world. Long-trusted roadmaps and moral beliefs
that we were once taught were the path to the good life, no longer seem to apply.
Young and old, were worried about our future and the future of our children and
grandchildren.

Those of us who have a passion for history know that understanding history can help us
understand our world and, with that knowledge, we can shape our future. But to many,
history is boring. Its about the past, just names and dates to be studied for a test in
school and then forgotten. This roundtable will give us a forum to discuss and
brainstorm ways to help others see that history is in fact relevant, and that studying
history can help one make sense of the world and understand the impact of the
decisions that individuals, communities, and countries make.


Panels

"Don't let History Get STEAMrolled: Practical Approaches to Getting Kids Engaged
with History Panelists include Patricia Violette, Executive Director of the Shirley-Eustis
House; Paul Wexler, a history teacher at Needham High School who has been using
National History Day as a way to engage students; Kyle Jenks, who wrote, produced and
directed a play about Colonial history in the Mohawk Valley of upstate NY for middle
school children; Rayshauna Gray, a Cambridge-based blogger from Chicago and
volunteer with Boston's Museum of African American History; Jason Rodriguez, writer
and editor, and creator of "Colonial Comics." Moderator: Lee Wright, The History List.

"Sharing Your Passion for History: Blogs, Podcasts, Books, and More" The goal of this
panel is to inspire others to share their passion for history using traditional and new
media, including blogs, podcasts, and digital apps. Panelists include Liz Covart
(@lizcovart), Early American Historian, Blogger, and Host of "Ben Franklin's World: A
Podcast About Early American History and others. Come participate on the panel or
listen, ask questions, and learn from others.

Logistics

The wi-fi is USES 566 and the password is HarrietTubman

Were using #HistoryCamp on Twitter and elsewhere. Please Tweet and post to
Facebook and elsewhere.
The restrooms on the first floor require the key at the front desk; restrooms on
the other floors do not.
If you find that youre in the wrong presentation, quietly step out and find
another. There are so many good sessions, theres no reason to sit through one
that isnt interesting.
After History Camp, check HistoryCamp.org for presentations. Well embed the
ones that are posted on Slideshare.net that are tagged historycamp2015.

If youre speaking . . .

Check out your room during registration, and if youre using the projector, try
out the set up with your laptop. There isnt an A/V person to go around and
help, and the time between sessions will be tight.
When you present, end your session (presentation and Q&A) with at least 5
minutes to go so that the next speaker can set up. If you figured out how to use
the projector, you might stay long enough to help them, if they need it.
Please upload your presentation to SlideShare (slideshare.net) and use the tags
historycamp and historycamp2015 to help others find your presentation.
Well search for those tags and embed presentations in HistoryCamp.org so that
others can find them. You can also embed your Slideshare presentation in your
LinkedIn profile and Tweet out a link to your presentation.

Thanks to . . .

You, for helping create History Camp 2015 today, and to those who contributed
financially to cover the costs, those who presented, everyone who helped get
the word out in advance, and all who helped throughout the day.
The staff at United South End Settlements for providing a home for History Camp
this year.
Michelle Novak (mnd.nyc), for the cool History Camp logo.
David Alderman (www.davidalderman.weebly.com), for this years great t-shirt
design.
Jacob Sconyers, for the helpful new HistoryCamp.org site.
Katherine Wright, for helping cater History Camp today.