Tuesday, February 9, 2010
A Challenge for my HIST101B016 Win 10 Class
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A New Project Begins
Let the fun begin!
Keep History Alive!
bs
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Challenge for My Students in HIST101 D004 Fall 09
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Research Plan
For my students, please note that it is imperative that you have a plan before you begin. No plan ever survives contact with the enemy so it is okay to make changes but you MUST have a plan.
Here are the steps you need to do to develop a successful project and I suggest you do the same:
1. Plan a weekly/daily/monthly plan with deadlines and try to stick by it.
2. Develop a series of questions that you wish to answer from your research.
3. Develop a preliminary bibliography-separate by primary & secondary.
4. Collect your sources.
5. Use each source by taking notes
I prefer note cards for much of my work but on last year's project I also put information into a spreadsheet/timeline with various tabs for events. This proved very effective in keeping long quotations etc as my handwriting now leaves something to be desired.
6. Develop an outline.
7. Organize your research according to your outline.
8. BEFORE you beg the first rough draft make sure you now develop an effective Thesis Statement. Without one your historical writing will lack focus and direction.
9. Right a rough draft.
10. Review the draft-PRINT IT OUT-you will be amazed what you cannot see on a computer screen for some reason. READ the paper out loud, again you will be amazed.
11. Have someone else read it to see if your Thesis Statement is proven in your paper.
Sound like a lot of work? To answer that, I guess it boils down to how good do you want it to be!
For me, this week I will be spending time developing my plan for the next 11 months.
Keep History Alive.
bs
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Let the New Year Begin!
So, David Vickers Jr. of Camden, NJ. Vickers is another interesting cadet from DMA, you are my project for this year! He was in the 3rd and 4th New Jersey Volunteers and was eventually captured at Spotsylvania Court House, take to Macon, GA and Camp Oglethorpe. When Sherman’s forces approached, he was moved to Camp Sorghum near Columbia, SC. He was brevetted to brigadier general in 1865 and after the war served as a diplomat in Cuba. During the Spanish American war he was an inspector general. Upon his death his will was contested by a second wife from Chile. He should make for a very interesting story.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Happy New Year
Margaret Junkin Preston was the sister of Elinore Junkin Jackson, the first wife of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. Elinore met Jackson while he was a professor of natural and experimental philosophy and artillery tactics at the Virginia Military Institute and married him in August of 1853.
The newlyweds set up housekeeping with Elinore's family on the campus of Washington College, where Elinore and Margaret's father, the Rev. Dr. George Junkin, was president. Margaret formed an immediate attachment to her sister's new husband and remained close to him even after Elinore died in childbirth 14 months later. Margaret eventually married a VMI professor, J.L.T. Preston, in 1857, the same year that Jackson entered into his second marriage with Mary Anna Morrison.
When the War Between the States broke out, Dr. Junkin , a staunch Unionist, left Lexington and returned to his former home up north. Margaret remained loyal to the Southern cause and stayed with her husband in Lexington. She went on to achieve some postwar reknown as a poet and has been anthologized in several early 20th century collections of Southern poetry.
((http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/authors/preston.htm))ACCEPTATION
by Margaret Junkin Preston (1820-1897)
We do accept thee, heavenly Peace!
Albeit thou comest in a guise
Unlooked for--undesired, our eyes
Welcome through tears the sweet release
From war, and woe, and want,--surcease,
For which we bless thee, blessed Peace!
We lift our foreheads from the dust;
And as we meet thy brow's clear calm,
There falls a freshening sense of balm
Upon our spirits. Fear--distrust--
The hopeless present on us thrust--
We'll meet them as we can, and must.
War has not wholly wrecked us; still
Strong hands, brave hearts, high souls are ours--
Proud consciousness of quenchless powers--
A Past whose memory makes us thrill--
Futures uncharactered, to fill
With heroisms--if we will.
Then courage, brothers!--Though each breast
Feel oft the rankling thorn, despair,
That failure plants so sharply there--
No pain, no pang shall be confest:
We'll work and watch the brightening west,
And leave to God and Heaven, the rest.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Progress
More news when it is available.
Keep History Alive!
bs
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
And the Decision Is...
The second will be David Vickers Jr. of Camden, NJ. Vickers is another interesting cadet from DMA. He was in the 3rd and 4th New Jersey Volunteers and was eventually captured at Spotsylvania Court House, take to Macon, GA and Camp Oglethorpe. When Sherman’s forces approached, he was moved to Camp Sorghum near Columbia, SC. He was brevetted to brigadier general in 1865 and after the war served as a diplomat in Cuba. During the Spanish American war he was an inspector general. Upon his death his will was contested by a second wife from Chile. He should make for a very interesting story.
Of course the pace of my research will be greatly enhanced if I receive a grant from AMU. Failing that , I will continue the project but at a slower pace.
That is the story for now. My Robinett project is due next Tuesday so this would holiday weekend will be spent putting the finishing touches on him and his story.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
and remember...
keep History Alive!
bs





