Dr. Pethel's Public History Winterim Class

Monday, January 31, 2022

SECTION V: A Social and Political History of the Modern Olympic Games - ppt download

SECTION V: A Social and Political History of the Modern Olympic Games - ppt download: Pioneers and Progress: Chapter 15

SECTION V: A Social and Political History of the Modern Olympic Games Mechikoff, R.A., A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, Fifth. - ppt download

SECTION V: A Social and Political History of the Modern Olympic Games Mechikoff, R.A., A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, Fifth. - ppt download: Origins of Modern Olympic Games Originated in Athens in 1896 Evolved into one of the most significant social forces of the 20th century Purpose: To produce an international athletic festival Bring people together Promote world peace Educate the youth of the world

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Nashville Hidden Treasure -- Glen Leven Farm

On Tuesday, Ophelia Paine gave the class a history of Glen Leven Farm.
She is a descendant of Glen Leven's founder and early Nashville citizen, Thomas Thompson.
Thompson received a land grant in 1790 after his service in the Revolutionary War.
The house was built by Thomas Thompson's son -- John Thompson in 1857.

The beautiful exterior of Glen Leven, built in a Greek Revival style. The front of

the home faces Franklin Road near Father Ryan High School.

Mrs. Paine explains how Glen Leven operates as a part of The Land Trust of Tennessee but
has many partnerships with other non-profit and private organizations to keep the farm and
the estate functional. For example there is a bee sanctuary, vegetable gardens
connected to the Hermitage Hotel, and grazing land for cattle.

A recent wallpaper restoration project is now complete. Water causes mold which is one the most
threatening problems found by preservationists, curators, and archivists.

A major exterior renovation project completed in the past year. This part of the house shows the
back of the original home and the start of the addition, constructed in the 1920s.

Vanderbilt Special Collections

Today we visited the Vanderbilt University Archives and the Vanderbilt Special Collections.

They are located in the same building, the Jean and Alexander Heard Library, but maintain different missions. Here is a short description from their webpages that show the difference:

The mission of the University Archives is to preserve the historical memory of the university and to make this information available, primarily, to the Vanderbilt community and, secondarily, to the world at large. This is achieved through the collection and preservation of historical Vanderbilt university records and artifacts.

Special Collections manages the rare book collections of the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. The subject matter of this extensive collection covers a wide range of topics including the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups, American Civil War, Southern literature and civilization, performing arts, Vanderbilt University history, George Peabody College history, Meso-American codices, and religion.

It was a great visit, which ended in their storage collection "vault" where we were able to see and hold a protected document signed by Andrew Jackson in 1796!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

What is Public History?

Here are some common answers:

1) Public history most often refers to the employment of historians in history-related work outside of academia, and especially to the many ways in which historians recreate and present history to the public-and sometimes with the public. Thus, we find historians working in archives, museums, historic sites, state and local historical agencies, newspapers, businesses, trade and labor organizations, and in all levels of government. They work as editors, archivists, oral historians, administrators, curators, historic preservation specialists, writers, public policy analysts--and, lest we forget, as historians!

2) Public Historians, as opposed to academic Historians, work with and for the general public. They work in archives, museums, public policy organizations, historical societies, and in media. Public Historians are devoted to practicing History outside of the classroom. Historians work for local, state, and national groups including corporations and governmental institutions. The purpose of a public historian is to collect, preserve, and disseminate information on the past. Public Historians use such tools as photographs, oral histories, museum exhibitions, and multimedia to address a wide variety of historical issues and to present those issues to a non-academic audience.

3) Public history is a set of theories, methods, assumptions, and practices guiding the identification, preservation, interpretation, and presentation of historical artifacts, texts, structures, and landscapes in conjunction with and for the public. It is also an interactive process between the historian, the public, and the historical object. Finally, public history embodies the belief that history and historical-cultural memory matter in the way people go about their day-to-day lives.

TSLA

Our trip to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, also known as TSLA, was fantastic. We visited the Conservation Lab. Conservation attempts to clean, repair, and preserve documents, blueprints, and photographs. It is different from restoration, which attempts to restore an artifact or document to its original condition or appearance. Conservator Stewart Southard and Carol Robers showed the girls how they clean documents, uses magnesium bicarbonate to flatten and relax the acidity of documents, and applies Japanese tissue paper and wheat paste instead of tape. Director of Conservation Carol Roberts talked about the science behind historic preservation and conservation. The girls also learned about the process of emulsification and using water to flatten rolled panoramic photographs. They were able to see documents from the 1700s! Lessons we learned include: print your pictures, never do anything you cannot undo, and never use scotch tape. The Conservation Lab is hard at work cleaning and preserving documents related to Tennessee history and government.

Mr. Southard's also shared with us his photo collection. The first photographs were called daguerreotpyes. Next were pictures on tin and copper. Essentially the light from the flash would burn the image (through a chemical reaction). Sometimes this could take up to five minutes which is why most people had simple poses and did not smile. Glass plate positives preceded negatives which is why you have to put it on black backing to see the image. Early paper photos were cheaper, allowing people to have a little more fun in their pictures. As such, the first "funny" photos emerged -- some things never change! Paper photos emerged in the 1920s and 1930s. Below are some of the samples of early photographs.

Friday, January 23, 2015

Prepping the New Exhibit

The Mother Church: Ryman Auditorium

Joshua Bronnenberg, Museum and Tours Manager, explained to our class that the auditorium was originally
a church but also designed as a "theater in the round" with a circle shaped stage in the center and seating all
the way around it. There was no balcony, backstage, or dressing rooms.

The balcony was added in 1897 for a Confederate Veterans meeting. It was painted
many times before the major renovation and restoration in 1994. Today is has been restored to
its original appearance and pattern. Renovation is simply improving or adding. The renovation at the Ryman
included adding a new wing which today houses concessions, meeting rooms, rest rooms, ticket sales,
offices, and a gift shop. Right now (in 2015) they are renovating and expanding this mid-1990s renovation
but not the actual stage or backstage areas. Restoration is returning something back to its original condition, ex. the balcony.

Ryman Auditorium is not only an example of sustainability as it continues to hold concerts and other events (which was its original purpose), but it also serves as a museum. Adaptable use is another term used often in public history. A good example of adaptable reuse is the Frist Museum, which used to be a Post Office.

Students enjoyed seeing the Minnie Pearl exhibit. She is perhaps the Grand Ole Opry's most famous female comedian. She was also a graduate of Ward-Belmont, which is one of our predecessor schools. When it closed in 1951 the high school division reopened here -- the next fall -- renamed the Harpeth Hall School. All of the original faculty members, administrators, and most students were from Ward-Belmont. Minnie Pearl's real name was Ophelia Sarah Colley Cannon. At Ward-Belmont she was called Ophie as a nickname. In her adult life she used Sarah and her married name, Cannon.

A display showing the process of discovering the original look and design of the balcony. This is on permanent display on the second floor of the Ryman. There is also a timeline which shows historic events, performances, and people who are a part of Ryman history.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

New 2014 Exhibit - Graduation

Sunday, January 12, 2014

TSLA

Dr. Pethel's Public History class ventured to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, also known as TSLA. They learned about the science behind historic conservation at TSLA's Conservation Lab. Conservation attempts to clean, repair, and preserve documents, blueprints, and photographs. It is different from restoration, which attempts to restore an artifact or document to its original condition or appearance. Conservator Stewart Southard showed the girls how he cleans documents, uses magnesium bicarbonate to flatten and relax the acidity of documents, and applies Japanese tissue paper and wheat paste instead of tape. Below check out a document from 1807 and part of Mr. Southard's photo collection. Glass plate positives preceded negatives which is why you have to put it on black backing to see the image. Early paper photos were cheaper, allowing people to have a little more fun in their pictures. As such, the first "funny" photos emerged -- some things never change!

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Belmont Mansion and Belmont University Special Collections

Wednesday our Public History class ventured to Belmont Mansion to see the "behind the scenes" of a house museum. Much of the mansion has been restored to look as it did when it was first built and decorated by Adelicia Acklen in the 1850s and 1860s. The estate and home was later purchased by Ida Hood and Susan Heron who opened Belmont College for Young Ladies in 1890. The original Belmont later merged with Ward's Seminary (originally located downtown) to form Ward-Belmont College in 1913. Harpeth Hall opened in 1951 after Ward-Belmont was closed. Harpeth Hall represents Ward-Belmont's college preparatory division. The college was reopened by the TN Baptists Association in 1951, which is today's Belmont University. In our archives we have many pictures of students on the grand staircase as the mansion was the center of campus and many activities. The last picture is our visit to the Belmont University Archives located in the Lila D. Bunch Library, also on Belmont's campus. It was a great look at all that goes on "behind the velvet ropes."

Thursday, January 24, 2013

2013 Exhibits!

Come see our two new exhibits! The exhibit cases are both in the middle school and our theme celebrates Harpeth Hall's rich history of athletics and wellness as well as leaders in physical education.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

2013 Interview: Dr. W.E. Ward's great-granddaughter, Jean Ward Oldfield

Last week our Public History class participated in an Oral History project with Jean Ward Oldfield. The students prepared and asked her about her family and her time in school at Ward-Belmont. Here is some information about Mrs. Oldfield's family and connection to our school's history.

Ward's Seminary was founded by William E. Ward and Eliza Hudson Ward in 1865. The school merger with Belmont College for Young Women in 1913 to become Ward-Belmont. Harpeth Hall opened after the closing of W-B in 1951 when the college preparatory division failed to reopen as part of the new (co-ed) Belmont College. Jean Ward Oldfield was the daughter of William Ward III (the son of William and Eliza Ward). Although she never met her great-grandfather or great-grandmother she maintains a wealth of knowledge about the family, Nashville, and the founding of the school. Mrs. Oldfield also attended Ward-Belmont from 1943-1947. Upon graduation from W-B she attended Vanderbilt University where she received a B.S. After the interview, Mrs. Oldfield told us, "I enjoyed being with you and the girls and I hope the girls came away realizing how the lives of women have changed in really a pretty short time. The world is open to them. Also, maybe they will realize the importance of writing things down. How many times I have wished I could ask a question of someone who was no longer in this world. Have a good rest of the year and thanks for giving me the opportunity of talking about my family. Blessings!" Thank you to Maddie Shankle who did all of the video camera work and Ruth Huggins who took the following pictures.

Nashville City Cemetery (2013)

Opened in 1822, the City Cemetery is the oldest continuously operated public cemetery in Nashville. A walk through the cemetery is truly a walk through Nashville's history. The gravestones tell the stories of individuals and families from the 1820s to the present day.In response to the disrepair, vandalism, and neglect over many decades, former Mayor Bill Purcell and the Metro Council approved the Mayor's Capital Budget request for a $3M project to restore, which was completed in 2010. Many exciting and noticeable improvements have been made including paved walkways, street lights, named "streets" and new signage, working restrooms, informational kiosks throughout cemetery, dog waste stations, clearly marked rules, history markers, repair, restoration, and preservation of tombstones, markers, and other memorials. The cemetery has not become a tourist and local destination as well as a beautiful place to walk or visit regularly. There are also "living history" events held there during the year. The cemetery is maintained through a partnership between the Metro Historical Council and Nashville City Cemetery Association (a private, non-profit group). In the pictures below see our class TA (Maddie Shankle, Class of 2012) teach a lesson about prominent citizens buried in the cemetery. We also happen to see Miss Patty's sister, Jane Deloney, who was there changing the holiday greenery of her great-grandfather's final resting place. Finally, the class appreciated seeing the grave marker of one of the original, and most famous, of all the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Ella Sheppard Moore. She was as popular in the late 1800s as Jennifer Hudson (minus social media) today!