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| The t-shirt my mom gets next week. |
But I also miss teaching. Cures for both woes are on the horizon. Regarding the latter, I had a great time today thinking about the possibilities for both "The Nineteenth Century City" and "Antebellum America" courses in the coming 2015-16 school year. It all began when Ian Crawford, House Manager at the Jemison Van de Graff Mansion, and Katherine Richter-Edge, Executive Director of the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society, met me at the Old Tavern Museum.
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| Me and the wonderful Katherine Richter-Edge and Ian Crawford. |
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| One of the diplomas in question. |
Why? Well, whenever I mention the experiences of American students in the antebellum, bellum and postbellum periods, I notice that some of my students pay very close attention. This is especially true for female students. I have wondered if it is because something specific about the past resonates with them.
I am still thinking it through, but I have decided that it might be a good idea to explore the experiences of nineteenth century students as a class. In other words, we can put on our detective hats, look at old records - letters, diplomas, church documents, Census data, etc. - and make a discovery or two.
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| Who wore this dress and what all did she see? |
There were several female academies in the area during the nineteenth century. One opened even before the University of Alabama opened in 1831. Take a look at this late 19th century Tuscaloosa map and you will see mention of some of them.
Some of the possible questions ahead:
How many of the students before us were daughters of the founding families of Tuscaloosa?
Where did these young women study?
How many of them went on to marry and have families. How many did not?
How do the experiences of young white women and those of young African American women, among them, the mixed race descendants of white slaveholders who studied in the North, differ? Which circumstances contributed to young women studying in or outside of Alabama? My own research suggests possible answers to these last two questions.
What do these women's collective experiences teach us about how higher education plays a role in an urbanizing America?
It is my hope that the answers to these questions will help us learn more about a particular population and the world they inhabited.
Along with mentally preparing for this project, which may have a multimedia prong similar to projects produced in earlier versions of both courses, I had a chance today to simply walk around the Old Tavern, which was built in 1827 and moved to its present spot near Capitol Park in 1966. I wondered about the many conversations that took place here between politicians before the state capital was moved to Montgomery 20 years later.
Was this the tavern that Nathaniel Kenyon, a Union officer with the 11th Illinois Infantry, mentioned in a copy of a diary at the University of Alabama's Hoole Library? At the time, he was a POW. When I told Ian and Katherine that Kenyon's diary mentions an African American woman who sold pies in Tuscaloosa, Ian immediately offered up a name for this woman. His response and our time together today were reminders of how much I love history. I am excited about the coming school year - even with all of the work still ahead.
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| Old Tavern Museum in Tuscaloosa. |
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| A developing downtown Tuscaloosa. |
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| I loved this old shoe, which is housed in the tavern. |
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| Tavern patrons likely ate in this room. |
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| This old rug would make a great wall hanging. |
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| One of several quilts hanging in the tavern. |
