I am at the National Council for Public History Conference in Milwaukee. This year the public historians are meeting jointly with the OAH, and trying to show academic historians how to have a good time.It isn't easy, but we are making progress.
I am here to do a poster session with my excellent student Tracy Rebstock and friend Mark Tebeau on the subject of "Building Historical Community with Mobile Historical Smart Phone Apps." You can read our proposal here, but the short version is that we are going to show off our mobile app for Spokane history. (Spokane Historical, by the way, is in soft release--more on that to follow!)
I love this conference. Public history is a much more diverse, interesting and fun world than academic history. I enjoy coming here and meeting archivists, cultural resource officers, museum people, consultants, historic park employees and all the other flavors of public historian. Some of the highlight today included a session about steampunk and public history, listening to some National Park Service employees wrestle with problems of interpretation at "Indian War" sites in the American West, and meeting old friends.
I have to say however that the very best part of the day was the young man who spotted my name tag and told me that he was a graduate student in public history and a big fan of this blog, and how much some of what I have written has helped him on his career path. This was really touching and absolutely made my day. Thanks!
This is very promising! The National Council on Public History has launched a sort of communal blog, History@Work. Described as "a multi-authored, multi-interest blog . . . a digital meeting place--a commons--for all those with an interest in the practice and study of history in public," the blog launched in March and already has some wonderful content.
The idea of a multi-author blog from a professional association is something that I have been pushing for years.I will be reading, and posting, at History@Work and urge you to pay us a visit.
This is fun--a 1962 NBC News special about the latest threat to America's youth. It is a new tradition called "spring break," where college kids abandon their studies to "drink prodigious amounts of beer" and dance the twist. Back to Northwest History blogging next week.
Another magnificent image from my collector friend, Darin Krogh. Natatorium Park was Spokane's preemier trolley park and operated from 1889 to 1967. Trollery parks were a commmon American attraction in late-19th and early-20th century America. Trolley car companies would create amuseument parks on cheap land at the outskirts of town. Admission was often free--but you had to ride the trolley to get there. Clever those trolley owners.
Encampment at the National Indian Congress, Glover Stadium, Spokane, Washington, 1925
As I work with my students on developing mobile history tours for Spokane Historical (which is only weeks away!) I have been discovering some great historic images. So I thought I'd start an occasional series of posts highlighting some of them.
This spectacular image is a Charles Libby photograph of a 1925 Indian camp in Spokane's Peaceful Valley. The scan was provided to me by a local collector who owns an original print. The University of Washington also has a copy. The National Indian Congress was meeting in Spokane and the sports field was made available to them. The even was widely publicized and photographed--see here and here as well.
Up next time--some historic postcards, and a love story.
The Mullan Road is one of the under-studied topics in Pacific Northwest History. Built by Lieutenant John Mullan of the U.S. Army in 1859 and 1860, the Mullan Road was the first wagon road over the northern Rockies. Linking together the height of steam navigation on the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, it completed the route of commerce across the continent that Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to discover almost half-a-century before.
The portion of the road over the Rockies did not last long. Parts of it was destroyed by floods the year it was completed, and despite repair attempts the road was closed by 1861. Yet other sections of the road remained in use for decades, and the modern Interstate 90 follows the same route through the mountains today.
In recent years interest in the Mullan Road has grown, including an annual conference. The 2012 Mullan Road Conference, will take place April 13-15, at Walla Walla, Washington. This year's conference is organized by the Mullan Road Project Staff at Eastern Washington University(which I can tell you is mostly Bill Youngs and his students!)and the Walla Walla Mullan Road Sesquicentennial Committee.
I will be giving a presentation "Creating Historical Tours for Smartphones" on Saturday at 10 am. According to the schedule "Cebula ... will present his experiences in developing "Spokane Historical" a multi-media smartphone app for Spokane History, and he will suggest ways that this technology could be applied to touring sites along the Mullan Road." I guess I had better write that presentation! I hope to see some of you there.
I just received the following alert via email and thought I should pass it along. The National Historical Records and Publications Commission is a vital federal agency that funds the identification, description and above all the preservation of historic documents in the United States. The agency has absorbed deep cuts in recent years, and President Obama's proposed 2013 budget cuts then another 40%! Please take a moment to contact some of the people listed below, and defend American history. The Society of American Archivists has more information here.
Action Alert:
Stop the Impending Fiscal Disaster for Historical Records in the United States!
Tell the House Appropriations Subcommittee to Fund NHPRC at $5 million!
In a year in which natural disasters have rocked many parts of the United States, a fiscal disaster is brewing in Washington, D.C., for archives, manuscripts, and records organizations nationwide and for historical editing projects. The President’s FY13 appropriations budget proposes just $3 million in funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission grants program – a $2 million (40%) reduction from the current $5 million appropriation. This is the third year of substantial reductions for a program that is authorized at a very modest $10 million.
While most other federal agencies have been weathering hits of around 9% annually, NHPRC’s cuts have been much heftier. The result is a severe crippling of NHPRC’s ability to carry out its legal mandate – which in turn seriously impedes the capacity of states and organizations nationwide to care for our nation’s heritage and make it available for use by our citizens.
What can you do to help avert this crisis?
Submit testimony in support of restoring NHPRC funding to $ 5million. The House Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee (of the House Appropriations Committee) will hold a hearing on the NARA budget on March 20, 2012. The Subcommittee will accept testimony submitted for the record, but it must be submitted by COB on Thursday, March 15, 2012, to go into the record prior to the hearing. We encourage archives, libraries, and other historical organizations to submit testimony on behalf of their organization and users. Send testimony that speaks directly to the positive benefits of NHPRC funding for your state or organization. Specific instructions on testimony are at the end of this action alert.
Email your written testimony to: FS.Approp@mail.house.gov
House Appropriations Committee, Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee
Fax or email the chair of the Subcommittee to express your support for restoration of NHPRC funding (at $5 million) as part of the National Archives budget. If your representative is a member of the Subcommittee, fax, email, or call him/her and ask for support of funding restoration for NHPRC. In your letter or call, speak to the specific benefits of NHPRC for your state/organization/users. The more your Congressperson understands that his/her constituents are affected directly, the more convincing your message will be.
Republicans:
JoAnn Emerson (Chair, MO)
Rodney Alexander (LA)
Jo Bonner (AL)
Mario Diaz-Balart (FL)
Tom Graves (GA)
Kevin Yoder (KS)
Steve Womak (AR)
Democrats:
Jose Serrano (NY, Ranking Minority)
Barbara Lee (CA)
Peter Visclosky (IN)
Ed Pastor (AZ)
Guidelines for written testimony:
Do not exceed 5 pages, double-spaced, single-sided, 12 point font, at least one inch margins
State in the first paragraph the agency, program, amount of money involved in the request (i.e. National Archives, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, $5 million)
Name title, institutional affiliation at the top of the page
[Update: Bonus Research Tip about using Google Street View added 3/9/2012, see the bottom of the post!]
[The following are assignment instructions for some of my Public History students. As I was typing them up I though--"Hey, this might make a good blog post."]
The Spokane Ghost Sign Project is an experiment in crowd sourcing a community history project with a few simple, free digital tools. The project goal is to create a interactive visual record of Spokane's ghost signs and their history. The educational goal is to introduce public history students to some basic digital and research tools, including Flickr, Google News Archive, city directories, Sanborn maps, and archival research.
Advertisement from 1907 Spokane city directory.
A ghost sign is a sign, usually hand-painted on the side of a brick building, for a business that is no longer around. (For the purposes of this assignment any sign for a closed business counts as a ghost sign.) These signs can persist for decades after a business has vanished and are often the only visible record of the institution. This Flickr pool provides some examples, including quite a few in Spokane. Ghost signs are major uninterpreted historical objects in our public spaces--and we can't have that! So let's interpret some.
The assignment is straightforward enough: Find some ghost signs, take pictures, research the history of the business advertised in the sign, and put the results up on our own Flickr pool. This is the first time I have given this assignment but I think it will be fun and will sharpen your public and digital history skills.
Historian want a cracker? See the Sanborn map image below.
Step 1: Find and photograph some ghost signs. When hunting for ghost signs look for old brick buildings--the older and more run down the better. In Spokane the old warehouses along the railroad tracks retain a lot of ghost signs. You might also explore the edges of downtown where the buildings are less likely to have been restored and repainted. Also try the near Spokane Valley and north of the river.
Bring 1) a decent camera with a zoom, 2) a notebook and pencil, 3) a map of Spokane on which you can take notes (print off a few pages of Google Maps?) and a 4) pocketful or quarters. Your cell phone camera is probably not up to the task buy any $100 point-and-shoot with at least a 3X zoom should do the trick. Take your time and try to get a good clear shot. Experiment with photographing from different angles for a more interesting shot.
Do not trespass to get your photograph, stay on the sidewalks, and do not get run over by a car. The latter will result in an automatic F.
Step 2: Research the history of your businesses. Your goal is to write a couple of paragraphs, not a research paper, but you need to get the information right. Think of the 5 Ws--who what when where and why? There are many resources for researching local history, here are a few of the best for this assignment:
Sanborn map detail for Washington Cracker Co.
City directories for Spokane go back to the late 1880s and up to the present. The bulk of the directories are devoted to listing the name, address and occupation of every person in the city, but they also include business listings in the back, along with advertisements. Take a guess at when the business might have existed and start with a directory from that year. The directories are a little confusing at first but you will soon get the hang of how they are organized. You will find nearly-complete runs of Spokane directories at the Eastern Region Branch of the State Archives in Cheney, at the Northwest Room of Spokane Public Library, and in the Joel E. Ferris Research Library at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The directories can tell you what years the business existed, other places it might have been located, sometimes the business owners and where they lived, and what goods and services the business might have dealt in. Bring your camera because you might find an interesting illustration or advertisement.
While you are looking at city directories take a few minutes to examine some Sanborn maps for your block. These are incredibly detailed block-by-block maps that were made of American cities, beginning in the late 1800s, to help insurance companies estimate fire insurance liabilities. Look at the example of the Washington Cracker Company building on this page--it is a wealth of information. Collections of Sanborn Maps fro Spokane are available at the Northwest Room and at the Joel E. Ferris Research Library int he MAC.
Old newspapers may have information about your business. We are very fortunate in Spokane because the Google News Archive has scanned most of the historic newspapers for our town and put them online. Searching it is a bit tricky--try using complete phrases, limiting the years of your search, and entering "Spokesman" in the source box or "Spokane" in the place box. Take your time and learn how to use this resource. If you find a striking headline or advertisement for your business, do a screen capture and save the image.
Good old archival research is productive and fun. The Northwest room of the Spokane Public library has many old street view photographs, clippings files, and other possible sources of information, as does the Joel E. Ferris Library at the MAC. Hint: People who are nice and polite to the archivists often discover more information.
Finally, there is THE GOOGLE. There is tremendous interest in local history out there, and often a Google search with the name of a company plus Spokane will turn up a newspaper article, a webpage, an old postcard, or other historical gem.
Step 3: Edit your pictures for maximum impact. I like the free Google product Picasa for simple photo editing, but you can use whatever you prefer.
Directories often include valuable illustrations such
as this. Click here to see the present street view.
Step 4: Load your picture(s) and your short history of the company to our Flickr pool, Ghost Signs of Spokane. You will have to establish a free Flickr account and then ask to join the group. I will approve your membership and you can upload your photos and descriptions. Note: When you load your photographs to Flickr I strongly encourage you to use some form of Creative Commons licensing. Ta da! You have documented community history.
Bonus Research Tip: (added 3/9/2012) It just occurs to me the Google Street View is a very useful tool for this project. With GSV you can "drive" down nearly any street in Spokane and scout ahead for ghost signs, or at least for neighborhoods of old brick buildings that are likely places for the signs. You could also use GSV after you find a sign if you misplaced the address. Here is one ghost sign viewable on GSV downtown (it is for the Grand Coulee Hotel and is far more readable in person than it appears here), and here is a little one on the side of a building in the East Central neighborhood.
Friends and students, this is my first time through with this assignment, so be sure to report any difficulties or make suggestions in the comments section.
Spokane's historic preservation community is making progress in the fight to save the Jensen-Byrd building. Monday night the Spokane City Council will vote on a resolution asking WSU to reconsider their plan to demolish this Spokane landmark. We need your help!
Please attend the City Council meeting and speak in support of the Jensen-Byrd. The meeting is at 6 p.m. Monday, February 6 at the Council Chambers at 808 W. Spokane Falls Boulevard. Preservation opponents will be there in full force so we need to make our voices heard.
If you cannot attend, please take a moment to email WSU President Elson Floyd and (politely) express your displeasure about his decision to raze a Spokane landmark. Instructions here, and do not forget to CC the Spokane Preservation Advocates.
Use other modes of communication to spread the word and to let WSU know how unhappy you are with this decision. Post a polite note on the WSU Facebook pages--the WSU Spokane page, and the main WSU page.
What should you say? The SPA has a good set of talking points at their website. The additional point I would make is that saving the Jensen-Byrd is also in the best interest of Washington State University. A re-purposed Jensen-Byrd building would provide life and character for the currently very sterile and uninteresting Riverpoint campus. And it would avoid the huge hit that WSU will take to its reputation if the building is razed.
Last week I took around the Jensen-Byrd--it is much more impressive in person than photographs can convey, but I took some pictures anyway:
"Opportunity for All? Homesteading Next Year Country
2012 marks the 150th anniversary of America’s first Homestead Act. Born of the same political discord that led to the Civil War and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln during the early years of that conflict, the act provided for the transfer of 160 acres of public land to each homesteader upon payment of a nominal filing fee and five years of “proving up.” The original proponents of the Homestead Act envisioned the settlement of the West by individual farmers with an almost utopian fervor, and today, our cultural mythology most often portrays homesteading as a symbol of the most American of ideals.
Homesteaders at Cabin Creek. July 13th, 1913 Credit: Montana Historical Society Research Center Photograph Archives
The conference will be held in Helena at the Best Western Premier Helena Great Northern Hotel, September 20-22, 2012. The deadline for submission is February 1, 2012. Session proposals relating to any aspect of homesteading are encouraged (see page 2 for information on how to submit a proposal). Possible topics include:
The impact of the Homestead Act on Montana’s first peoples
The impact of homesteaders on the environment
The impact of the environment on homesteaders
Daily life on a homestead
The material culture of the homestead era
Homesteading as it relates to women’s history
Homesteading as it relates to ethnic and minority history
The role of archaeology in telling the homestead story
The effect of homesteading on Montana politics
The impact of homesteading on rural settlement and community development
Homesteading and family folklore
The role of railroads in homesteading and land development
And more!
If you are working on any aspect of homesteading, this looks like a fascinating conference.
Here is a fine short video of Spokan tribal member and Spokane Community College instructor Barry Moses, speaking about how the Spokans used (and still use!) some of the natural resources of the area. I love his story about his grandmother and Drumheller Springs, and how he brings the tale around to his own discovery of bitter root in the park. There are some good observations about the impact of Grand Coulee Dam as well.
Moses also blogs (sometimes in Salish) at Sulustu. He may be the only person in the world blogging in Salish?
The video, but the way, was originally filmed during a 2010 educational tour of the Spokane River sponsored by the Center for Justice. I had the privilege of being on the tour and it was great--the experts on the tour were Barry Moses, Jack Nesbit, and Bill Youngs, and we had stops at Spokane House, along the Little Spokane River, and at the Spokane Falls. A film of highlight of the entire event airs sometimes on Spokane's open-access cable channel, Community Minded Television.
Jensen-Byrd building by Flickr user Terry Bain.
(Thank you Terry for choosing Creative Commons licensing.)
This morning we have some good news about the fight to preserve Spokane's most-endangered historic building, the Jensen-Byrd. According to a Spokesman-Review article, the Historic Preservation Commission has ruled that the Jensen-Byrd is eligible for historic preservation: "The commission’s decision Wednesday designates the Jensen-Byrd building, which has been vacant since 2004, as eligible to be nominated for the Spokane Register of Historic Places.That decision now places a burden on Campus Advantage to establish reasons why it should proceed with demolition, said Kristen Griffin, the city-county historic preservation officer."
The article went on to state that the developer planning to raze the building, Campus Advantage, "has a contract with WSU to buy the building, but that deal has contingencies that could cancel the sale...Macejewski [a Campus Advantage executive] said he couldn’t comment on whether the restrictions on obtaining a demolition permit would jeopardize the sale."
What does this mean for Spokane history? I think if the public outcry is great enough, we can either get WSU to reverse the decision, or perhaps scare off the developer by adding uncertainty and delays to the process. Keep up the pressure! Spokane Preservation Advocates has been spearheading the public effort to save this historic building, their advocacy page has information on how to contact WSU to protest this unnecessary destruction.
Spokane has lost a lot of great buildings that could have been saved. But I have a sense that we as a community have reached a tipping point, where we come together and say enough is enough. If we save this building, it could mark a new era of historic preservation in Spokane.
I am all for quirky ways of using technology to teach history, and this is absolutely charming. The video is "Unfamiliar Fishes" by "social observer" Sarah Vowell. Vowell is also the author of Assassination Vacation, a book about visiting the sites of presidential assassinations, and is an all around internet-enhancedauthor/personality. Enjoy. And keep an eye out for my upcoming YouTube viral video, "The History of Spokane as a Series of Chili Cheese Dogs."
It has been a while since I mentioned the marvelous online history journal Common-place, which describes itself as "a bit friendlier than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine, Common-place speaks--and listens--to scholars, museum curators, teachers, hobbyists, and just about anyone interested in American history before 1900."
It is difficult to find that historical sweet spot in-between popular storytelling and academic rigor, and Common-Place hits that mark more often than any publication I know (except maybe for Montana the Magazine of Western History).
Common-place deals mostly in colonial and early national history, but if you poke around in their archives there are some real gems of northwest history. Below are some fine pieces on Francis Parkman, the fisheries at Celilo Falls, a photographer on the Oregon Trail, and first contacts in Alaska.
It became the Emigrant Road, the main trunk of the trails to Oregon, Utah, and ...Benton had his eye on Oregon, which at the time meant all the country west of ...
The Horseshoe Falls, the most photographed part of Celilo Falls, was close to theOregon shore. Until its inundation, Celilo Falls was by far the biggest tourist ...
Science and art come to the Oregon Trail. When the photographer William Henry Jackson posed fourteen men around a table in a field, propped a deer head on ...
For the best recent history of Alaska, see Stephen Haycox, Alaska: An American Colony (Seattle, 2002). For a recent and more pro-Russian position see ...
