Author Archives: Theresa

The Academic Circle of Life

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On this second day of my final semester, I met with two more classes. In the morning I teach a survey of American women’s history. Over the years I’ve taught it in different ways, assigned different books. I wanted to make sure to assign my very favorites this semester so I returned to one newer favorite and one very old one.

Students will start the semester learning about the real Pocahontas in Camilla Townsend’s excellent Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma.

Image result for pocahontas and the powhatan dilemma

It’s a great way to introduce students to how historians work. And Pocahontas’s story is always fascinating.

Now for the first example of the academic circle of life. Near the end of the semester, students in the class will read a book I was first introduced to as a graduate student:

Image result for coming of age in mississippi

I have a much older edition of this compelling memoir by the civil rights activist Anne Moody. The pages barely hold in the binding, I’ve read it so many times. Moody’s story of mid-twentieth century racism hasn’t lost a bit of its power. Students always find it enthralling.

The second example of the academic circle of life is that the upper-level course I’m teaching in the afternoon is on women’s rights and feminism in the United States.  Near the end of the semester I’ll have one final opportunity to talk about my dissertation research on women’s liberation. That’s what earned me my Ph.D., which led to my teaching job.

But before we get to that point in the course, the students will read two very fine books:

Image result for sojourner truth painter

Painter’s biography of Truth is a model of analytical storytelling. And she makes it look so easy.

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I’m a huge Lepore fan, and this book is one of my favorites. Lepore has a nifty writing style and a knack for making interesting historical connections. Here, she shows how the creation of Women Woman was rooted in early twentieth-century feminism.

Now all the introductory elements of the semester are finished. Now we get into the stuff of the semester.

 

The Last First Day

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I had my last ever first day of the semester today. Since “spring” semester here in the upper Midwest really is a euphemism, especially for the first four months, I dressed for the weather:

last first

The boots came in handy. It was raining buckets when I left the house this morning; rain changed over to snow by the time I came home. Several inches of snow will be on the ground by tomorrow morning. I may need even bigger boots.

Today I met with my U.S. history survey students. Survey classes have made up the bulk of my teaching duties throughout my career. It’s been pretty standard for me to teach the first half of the U.S. survey in the fall and the second half in the spring. That’s how it worked out this academic year, too.

I started the class the way I always do, with a song. (I don’t sing. I use YouTube.) I chose Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” I pointed out the lyrics, “…don’t criticize
What you can’t understand….” to underscore the need for a knowledge of the past to make sense of the present.

On Wednesday we’ll dive right into the past, looking into what happened in this country when Reconstruction ended. The students look like a bright group. It should be a good semester.

I’ll meet with my other classes tomorrow. In the meantime, I’m fine tuning syllabi and assignment guidelines. There’s always so much to do, even in a final semester.

 

The Final Semester

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At the end of the fall semester, I showed this photo in my American women’s history survey to start a discussion about how women’s roles in the work place have changed over time:

Peggy Olson

Many of you probably recognize the character of Peggy Olson from the AMC show Mad Men. (A bit more about Peggy is in this blog post.) She started off the series like this, so you just know a whole lot happened over a few short years:

Image result for peggy olson season 1

I don’t have any photos that document my first day as a tenure-track assistant professor of history. And no one will take a picture on my last day in the classroom, which will happen sometime this May.

I’m pretty sure I know the last song I’ll play for my students. Here are a couple of hints:

Well we got no class
And we got no principals
And we got no innocence
We can’t even think of a word that rhymes
School’s out for summer
School’s out forever

Image result for alice cooper school's out

It hasn’t been a big secret, but I haven’t talked publicly about it much. I decided to retire.

This comes several years earlier than I had planned because of changes taking place at the university where I have worked ever since I earned my Ph.D. I always thought that when I did retire, a bright, energetic scholar would take my place. The torch would be passed.

torch passed

But my retirement won’t open up a job for someone else. At best, it will temporarily delay the non-retention of one of my junior colleagues as the department is downsized. On the campus where I teach, administrators have decided that a history major is not a priority. Increasingly scarce resources will be allocated to programs bearing that distinction.

Think about it. Considering what’s been happening in this country and throughout the world, history as a field of study on a college campus is not considered important.

There are good things about retirement.  For the first time in more than six years, I’ll cohabitate full time with my spouse. I’ll have all the time I want to write. I can take piano lessons again.

Image result for piano at carnegie hall

In the meantime, I’ve set that top photo of Peggy Olson as my computer wallpaper. It will provide daily inspiration for all the possibilities to come in retirement.

 

 

Women’s March 2018

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Today marks the second time since the beginning of this presidential administration that thousands–tens or even hundreds of thousands–of women have taken to the streets to demonstrate their political views. My Twitter feed has been full of glorious photos from across the country.

This participant’s sign harkens back to the very recent past:

(@DocGiani)

There is a lot of emphasis on women’s voting power:

(Chicago, @KarenLeick)

These Chicago marchers call attention to diversity:

(@WritesofMurph)

And here, well, here is an impressive crowd in New York:

(@kdqd3)

Right now, this is being reported as the largest public gathering ever in Texas:

(@AustinTX_NOW)

This young marcher in D.C. is promoting a political goal that is almost 100 years old. Alice Paul, head of the National Woman’s Party, conceived of the Equal Rights Amendment after women won the right to vote in 1920. The ERA was thisclose to ratification in the early 1980s before it failed.

(@Thoreaus_Horse)

American women know that taking their concerns public is a good way to get attention for their causes. In 1913, suffragists organized a massive parade in Washington, D.C., right before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration.

Image result for 1913 suffrage parade (LOC)

In 1970, women marched to mark the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and to show their support for the ERA.

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(Getty Images)

A new semester starts on Monday, and I will be teaching a course on the history of women’s rights and feminism in the United States. Seems to be a particularly good time for that.

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(Molly Adams, 2017)

Reading Nonfiction in 2017

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I read fiction for pleasure and relaxation. Even if the stories are dark and twisty, I can sink into them and remove myself from life’s realities for awhile. Case in point, one of my all-time favorite novels that I still can’t resist recommending:

Whenever I pick up a work of nonfiction, though, I feel caught in a kind of hyper-reality, always aware of the time and place of its narrative. I read a lot of history for work: research, course prep, book reviewing. I can’t set aside my training as a historian even when I pick up a nonfiction book for leisure reading. My critical senses are always tingling.

Of the many nonfiction books that crossed my desk and/or found their way into my book bag in 2017, there are a couple–one old, one new–that stand out.

Malcolm’s book is a modern classic, a fascinating analysis of the life of Sylvia Plath told through an examination of the various biographies written about Plath. It’s a near perfect meditation on the struggle to control the meaning of a life.

I rarely read memoirs or true crime stories, but I was intrigued that Marzano-Lesnevich chose to combine both in this inventive hybrid. She is such a talented writer that both parts of the story are almost equally strong, with the whole book a compulsive page-turner.

On Facebook and Twitter, I co-moderate Nonfiction Fans, a discussion group that launched in early 2017. (Join up and/or follow to get some of the best nonfiction recommendations, especially ones by and/or about women.) Because of that group, I’ve read some wonderful books, including:

Hindley has written a terrific story and a stellar work of history.

Though I rarely read true crime stories, if they are set in the past, I can’t resist. Cox’s book is especially valuable for its emphasis on race.

Finally, a few other works of history I liked in 2017:

American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst

I have memories of this event, and Toobin recounts it with compelling precision.

Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War

Most of my World War II reading (and writing) focuses on the Pacific theater, so I enjoyed expanding my knowledge of the European theater with Olson’s book.

Ties That Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves

An absolutely fascinating slice of early American history.

The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City: Spectacle and Assassination at the 1901 World's Fair

Anyone who loved The Devil in the White City should definitely read Creighton’s tale of the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom

Renaissance rivalry among French queens. A great examination of the monarchy through the experiences of women.

And that’s a wrap of my 2017 reading.