Harper's Weekly Online

Ever wonder how newspapers during Civil War covered the battles? Are your doing any research into an aspect of the Civil War and need a great primary source? Well, the Son of the South website has digitized versions of Harper's Weekly online for your review. According to the website, they have "over 7,000 pages of original Civil War content, and is full of incredible photographs, original illustrations, and eye-witness accounts of the defining moments of this Historic Struggle." They have even organized the information based on each year of the war, different battles, generals, slavery, medicine and the Lincoln Assassination. How can you use this collection in your classroom?

• Have students use this as research for a paper or report
• Have students create their own newspaper with accounts of a battle
• Have students read the July 18, 1863 and the "First Report from Gettysburg" and ask why did it take 17 days to get information out in the paper?
• Have students review and reflect on the ads in the papers
• Have students review and reflect on the cartoons in the paper and what impact they may have had on attitudes toward the War.
• Check out the sketch of the Maryland Battery at Antietam, then have students research where the Maryland Battery was located at on the Antietam Battlefield. You may even want to contact an Antietam park Ranger or two? (talk about Subject Matter Experts!)
  

Let me know your thoughts on how you can use this great resource. Until next time...happy reading!

Great Source for modern Gettysburg Photographs

Mike Lynaugh is a professional photographer who has created a collection of photographs of Civil War battlefields and reenactments know as Virtual Civil War.

One of my favorite collections is his Gettysburg Gallery that contains some incredible photographs of the battlefield as it looks today. What a great way for you to tour the battlefield with your students. Or art teachers can use the photographs to discuss some of the techniques the Mike uses to create these terrific photographs.

Here are two of my favorites:

This is a close up of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (PVI) monument on Oak Ridge. This is Sallie Ann Jarrett, the mascot of the the 11th PVI who was present at Gettysburg and got left behind when the 11th fell back through the town. Sallie stayed on the field, behind enemy lives with the dead and wounded of the 11th. More on her for another post.

My other favorite is this one of an extreme close up of the Virginia Monument showing the details that go into creating such a magnificient monument.
Be sure to check out Mike's other galleries such as Antietam, Harper's Ferry and Manassas.


PS: I also have a special photo of the 11th PVI monument as my desktop wallpaper. ;)

Clara Barton

Clara Barton is one of the most famous women in American history. So when it came time for my daughter, a 4th grader, to do a report on a famous person from history, she chose Clara. What was even more fun was that she wanted to do a slide show of pictures about Clara as she gave her oral report. So, she searched the web for pictures and information about Clara and then I showed her how to load them into iPhoto and how to make a slide show. It was a lot of fun working on this with her and we both learned a good bit about Clara and iPhoto, Garageband and iTunes.

So, I thought I would take her oral report and share some of it in a blog post, along with some of the photos, information and links about Clara that Sarah found.

Clara was born in 1821 in New Oxford, Massachusetts. My parents are Sarah Stone Barton and Capt. Stephen Barton. I have two brothers named David and Stephen and two sisters named Sarah and Dorothy (or Dolly).

This is a picture of the home where Clara was born.

Growing up Clara was a shy girl and enjoyed riding her horse. One day when David was out working on the barn roof he fell and broke his arm. The doctor told Clara that he may die, but she made a wish that he would not and cared for him for several weeks and her wish came true.

Clara's brother and sister grew up to become teachers. In 1850, Clara became a teacher in this one-room schoolhouse. She earned praise when she refused to physically punish students. Clara liked to think that she left a mark on each school in which she taught, organizing the classroom and drafting lesson plans.

In 1861 when the civil war began I followed the troops taking care of the wounded soldiers. Clara and other women would care for the wounded soldiers by giving them food, bandaging their injuries and writing letters for them to their families.



During the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Clara saw many wounded and dying soldiers everywhere she walked. They were in barns, in cornfields and even in the Dunker Church. These pictures show some of the wounded soldiers from the Battle of Antietam that she nursed back to health.


Although it is widely believed that Clara was set up on the Joseph Poffenberger farm on the north end of the battlefield, according to Ranger Mannie Clara was actually at the Samuel Poffenberger farm, a little more to the east. This is a modern photograph of the Samuel Poffenberger farmhouse, which is where she stayed for a week or so.


There is a monument at the Antietam National Battlefield to Clara that says:

DURING THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM SEPTEMBER 17, 1862 CLARA BARTON BROUGHT SUPPLIES AND NURSING AID TO THE WOUNDED ON THIS BATTLEFIELD THIS ACT OF LOVE AND MERCY LED TO THE BIRTH OF THE PRESENT AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS THIS SYMBOLIC RED CROSS HAS BEEN MADE FROM A BRICK FROM THE CHIMNEY OF THE HOME WHERE CLARA BARTON WAS BORN AT NORTH OXFORD, MASSACHUSETTS ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1821

Beginning in 1870, Clara spent 10 years organizing the American National Red Cross, which was officially incorporated in 1882. Under my leadership the Red Cross assisted with relief efforts following disasters like floods, forest fires, and earthquakes.


Thanks to Ranger Mannie from Antietam National Battlefield, Ranger Smith from Gettysburg Battlefield and Mr. Joe Korber of the 119th New York Field Music and The Sykes Regulars for information on Clara, photos and music for this presentation.

So, that was the bulk of her report. A few points to consider: 1) Sarah's school has very little in terms of technology so it was great for her to show the other kids, 2) This provided me a change to help Sarah learn how to research a topic on the Internet, 3) I made sure that she asked permission to use photos and music for her presentation that were not in the public domain and 4) her class got to see a great presentation using technology.

A few more quick photos.
This is Sarah at the Clara Barton monument


and

Here is Sarah, holding her Junior Ranger certificate and badge, with Ranger Mannie.


Additional photos and information about Clara are available on the web at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton
http://www.civilwarhome.com/bartonbio.htm
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm072.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/27barton/27barton.htm
http://www.clarabarton.org/

Antietam. . .An Outdoor Classroom for Students of All Ages

The following was originally posted by Antietam National Park Ranger Hoptak on his 48th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry Blog and is reproduced here with permission from Ranger Hoptak. This post provides some insight into the educational programs available to school students at the park. Also, be sure to check out the link at the end of the post for additional information.

The Mumma Farm: The Education Center at the Antietam National Battlefield

Antietam Battlefield is more than just a National Park. It is also an outdoor classroom. Every year at the park, we get scores of military groups who come by to learn about strategy, tactics, leadership, and a host of other military topics using the terrain of the battlefield as their guide. In addition, each year we get thousands--many thousands--of school kids that come through the park to learn about the battle and to learn about the soldiers who comprised the ranks of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia.

Park Rangers Christie Stanczak and Gordie Thorpe head up the Education Department at the Antietam National Battlefield and they do an incredible job in developing and presenting educational programs to school groups, whether they be 5th graders or 12th graders. Christie and Gordie have developed a wide range of Civil War programs for these students, each one being a "hands-on" learning experience. There is, for example, the Civil War Soldier program, during which students learn what it was like to be a soldier in the ranks. Also, Cannoneers to Your Posts! explains the operation of a Civil War cannon crew and the many steps involved in loading and firing a cannon. Angels of the Battlefield is another program; this one helps students learn about Civil War medicine and the methods of battlefield care for the wounded and dying. And there is also Flags that Talk, an excellent program that discusses the use of Signal Flag technology during the war. There are other programs as well, and teachers, seeking a greater learning experience for their students, can request any combination of them when arranging to tour the battlefield.

Well, last week, fellow Seasonal (and fellow Blogger), Mannie Gentile and myself were "signed off," so to speak, on presenting these programs to school groups. Mannie and I both hold instructional certificates (I am certified in Citizenship Education, 7-12, and Social Studies, 9-12), and we both have several years' experience in public schools as substitute teachers. I thoroughly enjoy teaching and get great satisfaction at seeing the metaphorical lightbulb turn on when a student learns something new. So when I was asked if would be interested in learning the education programs at the Park, I jumped at the opportunity. Today, for the first, I participated in presenting the Cannoneers to Your Posts! program to a group of 11th and 12th graders from Cincinatti, Ohio, and, simply put, I had a great time.

I always recognized the tremendous value of having such programming available to students when they travel to the battlefield, but today I got a chance to realize firsthand how absolutely integral and essential it is. The students who participate in such programs, I am convinced, walk away from their trip to the battlefield with a better understanding of the battle and of the war than if they simply seen the park from their seats in the bus. With the school group season upon us, I look forward to helping out Christie, Gordie, and Mannie, a lot more in presenting education programs at the Antietam National Battlefield.

Teachers, if you are interested in scheduling a trip to Antietam, click on this link:

http://www.nps.gov/anti/forteachers/

Antietam under the Surface

I'm an avid reader of the My Year of Living Rangerously blog done by Ranger Mannie. Back in December, he posted Antietam Under the Surface and I began to think about the educational aspects of this post.

Here is a debate topic for your class: What can we learn by excavating a Civil War battlefield? There are those who would say that it is hallowed ground and should not be disturbed. Others say that we must learn from our past in order to preserve the future. I believe that what they did at Antietam was very interesting and will benefit generations to come. How does your class feel about it? Not too long ago, they found bones of a Civil War era soldier near the famous railroad cut at Gettysburg.

What about the actual excavation process? From the photos it appears that they used precision survey equipment and some type of computer software to map coordinates on a graph in order to see where the various items were recovered. Why is this important? It's important because depending on the type of item found and what they know of the actual battle, they can make assumptions as to the unit that fought on that location or how heavy the fighting was in a particular area.

What about those bullets? I read somewhere that they estimate that three million bullets were fired during the Battle of Antietam. If a typical soldier could fire three rounds per minute, how long would it take a company of 100 or a regiment of 1,000 men to fire that many times?

Next time well talk more about weapons. Until then, read the other posts on Ranger Mannie's blog and let him know what you think. You may also wish to explore Virtual Antietam and listen to their brief podcasts and search the monument database.

Teaching the Civil War with YouTube.

I have to admit right up front that I am not a big user of YouTube. I have viewed some clips that people have sent me but I'm not a regular user. That being said, someone sent me a link the other evening to a video of a Civil War Fife & Drum group playing and I thought, "hmm, how can this be used in the classroom"?

So, I started doing some searches on YouTube for Civil War related videos and came up with some interesting results that I thought I would share. These videos are a unique way to show clips of various topics on the Civil War to your classes that may otherwise be inaccessible. The following is a list of a few videos and how you may want to integrate them into your classroom.

Fife and Drum: Here is a nice video of the Excelsior Brigade Fifes & Drums playing a medley of several tunes. This video provides a pretty good view of the corp playing. Take notice of the drummers and ask your students if any of them are drummers in a band. There are four snare drums and a bass drum. How about those fifers? Loud and clear over top of the drums and there are only two of them.

Antietam: The following videos were created by a park ranger from the Antietam National Battlefield. This ranger also has a blog entitled My Year of Living Rangerously which I really enjoy reading. The first video is from the 2006 Antitem Artillery Weekend and it shows pictures and video clips of how cannons are loaded and fired. The next video shows the 27th Virginia, a Civil War reenacting group, demonstrating how soldiers would load and fire their muskets as a unit.

Gettysburg: Simply doing a search in YouTube for the word Gettysburg yields pages and pages of videos. These videos range from school projects to vacation videos. There are several that show brief tours of the battlefield or are slide shows of the monuments. I found a few with clips from different movies including Gettysburg, ones of ghost tours and one of a GNMP tour guide.

My favorite is from the 2006 Remembrance Day ceremonies in Gettysburg. This video shows a great representation of the different types of uniforms that both Union and Confederate soldiers would have worn. There are several fife and drum groups shown (including members of Camp Chase Fifes and Drums around the 5min mark) and even a brass band. Best of all is starting at about 5:25 of the movie you can hear a great fife and drum group playing the tune Garry Owen. That group is made up of fifers and drummers from reenactors including yours truly.

As a follow up to this, there is a video of the Gettysburg Address from the ceremony as well.

So, as you can see, there are many videos out on YouTube for viewing. Try some different searches for different battlefields and see what you can come up with to share with your students.

Next time: uniforms and equipment.