The Big Event (finally!!)

The Huntsville State Park Event - So the big day finally came. I woke up early that morning, packed up my project & geocache materials, and headed for the State Park. Thankfully, Professor Littlejohn had passed out official university letters that excused us from other classes that day. Our entire class started off by putting up our project displays. My project partner Amanda and I had all our materials in place, but she forget to bring a stapler (Thanks for nothing, Amanda. j/k). Luckily, another classmate had an extra stapler, but it had no staples. So Jason & I hopped into his truck, and we drove to the front office to get some staples. The friendly lady at the front office was more than happy to lend some out. When we got back to the CCC Lodge, Jason, Patrick, and I decided to place the boxes for the race. Again, I took my car to where the hiding spots were, and we placed the coordinates and vouchers accordingly. We decided that the last box was in a bad spot, so we moved it a bit further up the trail & went back to make last-minute changes to the other coordinates.

Back at the lodge, I got my project stapled up with the help of some classmates. At this point, attendees had already begun to trickle into the lodge's main area to wait for the presentation. Outside in the lodge's patio, Amanda, Jacob, and others in the "Food & Cooking Committee" had already begun to cook up burgers and hotdogs using a grill brought by Professor Littlejohn. Then the students from the other history classes began pouring in by the truckloads. We set up the serving tables and brought out what meat had been cooked. But it wasn't enough to feed the hungry students, so a few of us had to make constant runs between the grill and the tables. Slowly but surely, all the students got a full plate of food and were seated in the lodge's main area. Right before the presentation began, I found Officer Crissy viewing my project display. I asked her if it was look different than the others, and she replied by stating that it was "very interesting!" So I guess my eye-catching strategy worked.

We also were supposed to have music from the Great Depression period playing, but the entire park lost electrical power. (My heart goes out to Lisa who spent hours putting together the sound track.) We opened all the doors and windows to allow for some ventilation, and luckily, it wasn't too hot that day. So the presentation began. An award was presented by different historical societies to the Huntsville State Park, and the recipient was none other than Officer Crissy. Afterwards, several classmates gave presentations about their projects. Out of nowhere, the power kicked back on, and we got the AC back before it got too hot in the large room. At the end of the presentations, the geocache race began. Many of the students in the audience had left at this point, but several of them stayed for the race. (I guess they really needed some extra credit points.) We split the group into 2 teams as planned and passed out the GPS units. I accompanied Team 1, and Jason and Patrick went with Team 2. The race was on!

My team had trouble with the GPS units at first, so Team 2 got a big head start. We finally got to our 1st box, but only after the other team was well on its way to their 2nd box. I left my team along the track to fetch my car so I could drive them back to the lodge after the race. While driving, I saw Jason & Patrick's team hot on the trail. But when I caught up to my team, they had already found their 2nd box and were (literally) running to the Final Box! After I parked my car and caught up with them, they were already passing out the Final Box's extra credit vouchers to each other. & Team 2 was nowhere in sight! I congratulated them and told them to wait for me at my car while i looked for the other team. But first, they decided to put the Final Box back where it was because Team 2 would still come looking for it. I caught up with Jason & Patrick deep in the trails and walked with Team 2 towards the Final Box, & there they found the empty canister. Although Team 2 didn't win, they were glad to get some extra credit points. The geocaching race was a win-win for everyone!

After driving the delighted students back to the lodge, it was cleanup time. But by the time we got back to the lodge, my other classmates had mostly cleaned up. So I took down my display, packed up some left-over food, said bye to the class, and went home with a smile. SJP

The Build-up to the State Park Event, Part III, IV, and V

Huntsville State Park, again, again, and again - [3 days until the State Park Event, and counting] So the "Geocaching Committee" decided to meet up again to finally get the GPS coordinates needed for the geocache race. But this time, no one but myself was able to go. (Go team!!) so I drove solo to the State Park in search for Officer Crissy and her GPS units, and the lady at the front gate told me to go ahead & wait at the Nature Center where someone was to meet me. Officer Crissy was again nowhere to be found. After waiting for about 20 minutes, I decided to drive back to the front gate, only to have the lady tell me that Officer Crissy had gone home for the day. "Great, & thanks for wasting my time." (Hopefully I didn't say that out loud.)

[2 days until the State Park Event, and still counting] I contacted the rest of my committee members the following day, & once again, there was only 1 person that was able to go with me. (Go team!!) So Jason & I drove to the State Park in search for Officer Crissy. The friendly lady at the front gate again told me to go ahead & wait at the Nature Center. Officer Crissy was, again, nowhere to be found, but at least a volunteer was there in her stead. Jason & I politely asked for the GPS units, but the old guy had no idea where the GPS units were. So I made several phone calls, to the front gate, Professor Littlejohn, the [State Park director], but no one knew where Officer Crissy hid them. (I think the director knew where the GPS units were, but he wouldn't allow the volunteer to lend them out.) After having figured out we were _out of luck, I decided to show Jason our planned track for the geocache race anyway. We used this time to find hiding spots for the waterproof military boxes that Jason brought. We were going to place the boxes then, but due to thievery concerns, we decided that we were going to place them on the day of the event. Slowly, our "Geocaching Committee" was making some progress.

[1 day until the State Park Event, and tired of counting] So I had a day left before the big event. I was promised that Officer Crissy would [finally] be at the Nature Center, so off I went to the State Park for the 4th time, riding solo. (Go team!!) But when I got to the front gate, guess who was there to greet me? Officer Crissy! and a GPS unit. I finally wielded the power to obtain the elusive GPS coordinates. After driving to the CCC Lodge, I bagan walking the trail to the first hiding spot. & As my luck would have it, rain clouds began forming above me. But this was my final chance to get those coordinates. I had to hurry! So instead of walking, I used my car to take shortcuts through the trails to the carefully-chosen hiding spots. (After walking the trail this many times, I was able to navigate it pretty easily in my vehicle.) With dark rain clouds looming overhead, I got the last coordinate and hurried back to my car. I had done it! I finally got the coordinates necessary for the race! so mission accomplished? Not quite. After getting the 5 coordinates for the geocache race, I had to print them out along with scavenger hunt-like clues to put in the boxes. Furthermore, Professor Littlejohn allowed me to put extra credit point vouchers (shown above) in the boxes for participating students. After mass printing and cutting out the coordinates, clues, and vouchers, I was finally prepared. SJP

The Build-up to the State Park Event, Part II

Huntsville State Park, again - [9 days until the State Park Event, & counting] A few days after we first visited the State Park, we met in class to discuss our progress. We had already teamed up to work on a project to display at the event. My project partner Amanda and I chose Franklin D. Roosevelt's court-packing fiasco. The vast majority of our audience was going to be freshmen and sophomores from Littlejohn's other classes, so we decided to do our display different. We definitely didn't want it to look like a museum exhibit (which I think is what Professor Littlejohn wanted, hmm). We wanted a flashy title that would instantly grab one's attention and make our description as short yet as informative as possible. The pic above shows what we came up with.

In that same class period, Professor Littlejohn put us in different committees to ensure a successful event. My partner was put in charge of the "Food & Cooking Committee", and i was to head the "Geocaching Committee". There were 4 others put in my committee, and we decided to drive to the State Park within the next few days to find a suitable trail, get GPS coordinates, etc. So the day my committee of 5 was supposed to go, 1 person besides myself came along. (Go team!!) No matter, Patrick & I were determined for a successful geocache. When we got to the State Park's Nature Center, Officer Crissy was nowhere to be found, so it was impossible to get GPS coordinates that day. So we moved on to finding a geocache trail. So we drove to the starting point (the CCC Lodge) and tried to look for hiding spots for the boxes. We walked for about an hour through 3 different trails trying to figure out a suitable track for the race. Initially, we wanted to set up 3 different teams, but after surveying the area for over an hour, we decided that it was best to split up the geocache race into only 2 teams. At that point, both of us were tired and thirsty, so we called it quits for that day. SJP

"Excuse me, where's the library?"

Newton Grisham Library - Early last month, our class met up at the university library in order to expand our research skills for our digital projects. This had to be like, the 12th time i've been through 1 of these "library sessions" over the many semesters at the university. At first the library lady went over the same stuff I already knew, but then she went a little further and more in-depth. So in-depth, in fact, that she lost me halfway through her presentation. & I'm a pretty computer-savvy guy. But hey, it was a good refresh on the library search stuff.

2 weeks later, we met up at the library again, but this time at the exclusive Thomason Room. This part of the library (located on the 4th floor) holds documents, books, and actual first-hand letters that are not in circulation. The employees here gave us an overview of the contents and the purpose of the Thomason Room. For my digital project, I chose Thomas Jewett Goree, & the Thomason Room was full of stuff on this guy. Here, I found a 400-page book that compiled Goree's personal letters that he had written during and after the Civil War. This book was 1 of only 200 copies made, and this copy was given as a gift to Sam Houston State University by the Goree family. At first it was almost tedious reading through the letters, but after delving into them for a few hours, things got a bit more interesting for me. I got to see another view of the Civil War, about what the men on the battleground experienced, how they felt about the war and its politics, all through the eyes of TJ Goree. So who ever said the library was boring? SJP

The Build-up to the State Park Event, Part I

Hunstville State Park #1 - [14 days until the State Park Event] Late last month, our class got its first glimpse of the Huntsville State Park. We waited for a little while at the gate entrance, then Professor Littlejohn had us meet at the Nature Center where one of the State Park officers (known only to me as Crissy) began our tour. From there, we loaded up in a few vehicles and drove to the CCC Lodge. After snapping a few pics of the quite elegant lodge, Crissy accompanied us on the geocaching portion of our tour. For the uninformed, geocaching is a a hunt/race to find hidden box using GPS coordinates. & yes, you gotta have a (functioning) GPS unit.

To give us an idea about geocaching, Professor Littlejohn gave us coordinates to input in the GPS units that were loaned out by the State Park. Some of is figured out how to use the units, but I was a little sceptical. So i opted to follow the professor's (disfunctional) iPhone with its built-in GPS. BIG MISTAKE! about 5 of us followed Professor Littlejohn in circles along unknown trails deep in the forest for about half an hour. Needless to say, it wasn't the best demonstration. Somehow, another group in our class found the box using a borrowed GPS unit. On a brighter note, we did get to see some colorful scenery! SJP

p.s. - Don't pick berries in front of a state park employee, just FYI

To Galveston, or Bust!

Galveston's Gilded Age and the Hurricane that destroyed it - Does anyone remember Hurricane Ike? last year about this time, I was to embark on a historical expedition to the island city of Galveston. It was for another class with Professor Littlejohn, HIS 378. The day we were supposed to go on this wonderful journey, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston (the very same day, no joke). So my Galveston trip hopes were destroyed, and unfortunately, so was much of Galveston. But just as Galveston did, plans for the trip re-emerged. And we came with a vengeance! Last Thursday, we showed up with 2 van-fulls of eager history students, and then some.

This year's Galveston trip was not without its share of heavy rain, but it wasn't enough to stop us. I woke up bright & early that morning to carpool with my classmate Amanda. She furiously weathered the elements (& Houston traffic) in her little white Celica to rendezvous with the rest of the class at the Bishop's Palace, arguably Galveston's most important historical site.

This place is NICE! Other than the fact that I would like to own it, the Bishop's Palace holds significant importance in Texas history. Over a century ago, the deadliest natural disaster to ever occur in the United States struck Galveston Bay. The deadly hurricane made landfall on Sept. 8, 1900, killing over 6,000 Galvestonians and leaving an estimated $100 billion dollars worth of damage (in today's dollars) in its wake. The Bishop's Palace (pictured above) was one of the few buildings that survived the storm. Back then it was owned by Col. Walter Gresham and cost over $5 million to build in today's estimates. After the hurricane, its value had become almost worthless, and it was purchased for a meager $40,000 in 1923 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston, hence the name Bishop's Palace.

The first stop of our trip was to take a tour of the Palace itself. We started at the basement of the Palace & then made our way to the 1st floor. The cheerful tour guide explained to us the every-day lives of the Greshams while she herded our large group from room to room. Now when i said this place was nice, i meant really nice! its hard to describe in words or even pics. You would have to witness it for yourself. Then we went up the extravagant staircase to the 2nd floor, where we got to see the elegant bedrooms of many of the Greshams. (Why were the bed's so small back then?) The guide wouldn't let us up the 3rd floor for "fire safety reasons." Whatever.

After the Palace tour, we went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. Along our 4-block trek, my ever- observant classmate pointed out some still-unrepaired buildings damaged by Hurricane Ike over a year ago. (My apologies. In my hungry state-of-being, i forgot to snap some quick photos.) From there we went to see a 30-minute film of the 1900 Hurricane. The film explained the tragedy through the eyes of survivors of the deadly storm. The most stunning fact, aside from the death toll, is that during Galveston's reconstruction, engineers physically raised the entire island, as much as 17 feet higher in the areas facing the gulf. After the film, we had some free time to explore the Strand, Galveston's historical district. SJP

CONTROVERSY!!! ...over the Enola Gay?

"Enola Gay Controversy" - Some people may wonder why the famous B-29 bomber would be caught up in a big controversy, but the Enola Gay does lie at the center of a very sensitive topic. Way back in the '80s, the Smithsonian Institution got into some hot mud over displaying the plane as an exhibit. The debate was over the question if the atomic bombs used in WWII saved the lives of countless American soldiers or if the bombs were even necessary at all, and what "mood" the exhibit should display. The big question was whether to mark the last act of the exhibit as "The Crossroads," symbolizing the transition into a new (atomic/Cold War) era in American History, or label this act as simply "The Last Act," representing the final actions that ended WWII. The arguing went on for years, & the exhibit went from one revision to another. Years later, in 1995, the exhibit was finally allowed to open, but only going through hearings in the Senate (yes, the U.S. Senate).

Government-run museums like the Smithsonian should simply present the facts as they are. Why should they attempt to display a biased point-of-view? Just give us the facts, & let us decide on the controversy. & keep my tax-dollars out of it! SJP