Category: Uncategorized (Page 3 of 5)

Mid-Semester Blog Review

March 15, 2017 / zhoeffken / 0 Comments

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Over the course of the semester I feel that we as a class have become better at interacting with our source materials. The first few blog posts read as if they are summaries with little interpretation of the work, JESSICABODE even mentions in her mid-semester review that she also noticed this from her own posts. Looking back on my own first post I notice that I was truly just trying to figure out what my blog post was supposed to say and how it was to be written. I felt insecure with my posting my writings and I truly didn’t know exactly how and where to be adding in the connections to others posts. At first the references felt like they were small references like in SEVALLOS‘s post where they do reference my first post. Time and practice have made it easier for us to blend in references to other’s works in a way that strengthen our own arguments or in ways that tie certain themes together be it on race or other similar events like how JUANROSASMP did in their post about Galveston. Over time the class has also learned how to check sources and be more critical of readings, mainly with our work while reading Larson’s book Isaac’s Storm, such as CHRISCOBAR shows in their post about the issues in Larson’s writing.

midsemester review

March 15, 2017 / juanrosasmp / 0 Comments

As I began to look over my posts, I noticed that I should pay more attention to the blog posts. I have noticed that I am missing one blog post and that I never posted my presentation post. I typed it up but I just realized that I did not submit my post, it was just labeled as draft so I went ahead and submitted it. In order for me to be successful in anything, I must pay attention to due dates or any details because my posts tended to be done in the day that it was due instead of being done calmly ahead of time. If I do not, my small mistakes will accumulate to a catastrophe. Due to my missing posts, it is somewhat difficult to see my progress since I cannot see the evolution of my writing but I did notice that there is a huge gap between my first post and latest post. My first post was a large paragraph that only did what it was told to do, analyze the reading. My latest post also analyzed the reading but it also included comparisons to similar events rather than just focusing on the topic. I guess it means that not only should I focus on the assigned work but that I should also have an open mind to outside material.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the posts of my classmates. They usually had an idea that I have not considered. But the thing that I want to write about is the end result of a post, mainly how it looks. What I am trying to say is that there are 2 types of posts, the ones with a large block of paragraphs (such as here and here), and those that have multiple paragraphs (here and here while the midterm reviews tend to also be written in paragraphs, such as here). Naturally, the length and number of paragraphs varies from topic to topic as well as how a person chooses to present their information. But my main point is that a person should not feel the urge to cram everything into one paragraph. It is ok to split the ideas into multiple paragraphs if it is needed. If not, then a whole paragraph is ok. lastly, the quality of the posts vastly improved. the ones in the beginning kind of had a feeling of summarizing the text or the analysis wasn’t pushed forward enough. the more recent posts became much more bolder in explaining their thoughts.

Midterm Review

March 15, 2017 / rebekahbenninger1 / 0 Comments

In the beginning of the semester many of the blog posts were more like summaries of the article we were to read for the following day’s class. An example of this is peterrossi1’s post Theory of City Development, where he summarizes the first Cronon article. But as time moved on, many of the blog posts have moved from being summaries of the articles to being posts on the answering of certain theories in history or answering the class title for the readings. Zhedrick’s post Leave Isaac Alone showcases this excellently, as it is not a summary of the first 2 chapter of the book but a showing of Larson blaming the Weather Bureau through Isaac Cline.

Just as the posts evolve through the semester one broad theme does not. The theme that is brought up in many of the posts is death aspect in the disasters. This is to be expected in a class about American Disasters. Many of the articles and posts on the Chicago Fire are more on how or who caused the Fire, although the last article did have mentions on the Fire being a reckoning for the city and how there might have been lynching of criminals in the chaos brought by the Fire. In the case of the Johnstown Flood death was mentioned in the use of Dark Tourism as summarized by sanchezron13. While the Galveston Hurricane death mentioned in the finding of the many dead and how to get rid of the many corpses as described by juanrosasmp. Although throughout all the posts one of the main ideas is that each disaster happened by human causes or were not prevented because of human inaction/incompetence.

Much as death is a broad topic and blog posts have evolved, I was surprised at how my posts have evolved. In the beginning I was able to answer the topic well but as I posted I was not able to answer the posts quite as well. This was not a big surprise when I posted on ‘Isaac’s Storm’ because I didn’t quite know how to post on the book. Although I thought I had answered the post of Author’s Intent, I reread it and noticed I could have written parts of the post better.

Mid-Semester Blog Post

March 15, 2017 / johnkane / 0 Comments

After eight weeks of reading and writing posts, I have seen an increase in written communication skills through my posts. My diction has also broadened since I first writing my posts, and it has helped me to look more in depth on other papers and books I have read for other classes. A trend I have noticed in this class besides disaster is the aftermath and how people like to witness the destruction. In my very first post, I see the ground work that is put in place for people who love sight-seeing,“With more people traveling around more museums and other historical landmarks were created or preserved which also benefited future generations of historians to understand the past”. I am not the only person who has noticed this theme throughout our readings. CLUNA3 also explains how people wanted to visit places that have been destroyed my natural disasters and how “people wanted a relic” to take home with them as a memento. even in the last book we read,that theme is still present. JUANROSASMP explains how “[p]eople that traveled to the city described a bleak and depressing scene.” but those civilians still continued to flock towards the aftermath of destruction to see it with their own eyes.

These eight weeks have helped not only me but other students to critically analyze books that we read, and help us to continue to reflect back at other peoples posts or talk in class about what new ideas we learn. MCKENNDY21 explains “We were asked why this book was written during class and after reading this sections”, just like Mckenzie has continued to analyze books, I too have combined class lectures with class readings.

The themes throughout the semester have continued to broaden as well. I have learned the difference between methodology and theory, which helps to gain different aspects of writing in my second post, I only talk about how “Smith explains both the optimistic and pessimistic”. Now I can also see how Smith uses other ideas such as class, race, gender, and other themes that are presented in the text as well. Overall this semester has provided an immense help to me, by teaching me how to critically analyze stories, understand citations, and develop a better grasp on writing skills.

Mid-Semester Blog Post

March 15, 2017 / sanchezron13 / 0 Comments

So far in class we have covered a variety of things from the Gilded Age to natural disasters like the Chicago Fire, Johnstown Flood, and Galveston Storm. While covering some of these topics and natural disasters we have come to see them through different lenses, digging deeper into these disasters, than just looking at the devastation caused, but also the hidden ramifications. After looking through the past blog posts I’ve noticed how some themes have come up repeatedly. A theme I was able to pick out after reading the posts was the notion of man’s ability to change nature or in other words “man vs. nature. I’ve seen this theme since the beginning when we talked about the Gilded Age where JOHNKANE talks about how “as Calhoun describes, many cities were being created with a more modernized organization and innovation.” We are able to see how as societies grew men molded the land to meet their needs. JohnKane goes on to say that this was done by the addition of “sewage systems, lighted streets, parks, and other amenities being constructed to enhance urban life.” Men didn’t just mold the land to meet their needs in terms of sanitation or leisure time (hence sewage systems and parks), but they also did it to make money. In the post by GRAVITY21 we see how the “boosters” who were people who wanted to make money off of the land, ran into the problem that “citizens wanted to build a harbor in the mouth of the Chicago River” but “there was a hindrance preventing them from achieving their vision.” Gravity21 goes on to talk about how that issue led to “the Chicagoans to “take fate into their own hands” by constructing plans for a canal, which led to the creation of the first part of second nature.” ZHEDRICK in his post describes “second nature” as “pertaining to the man-made creations that allowed for the city to expand its commercial opportunities.” This shows us how man didn’t let nature get in the way of making money and how man has changed nature.

Another theme brought about in the blog posts was the issue of manmade disasters. In terms of the Johnstown Flood MCKENNDY21 stated that “Godbey first retells the story of how the flood happened and how it could have been prevented if people would have built the dam correctly the first time and then checked on it during the storm to make sure it hold it up it could have prevented a natural disaster.” MCKENNDY21 then states that Godbey “goes as far as saying ” the Johnstown Flood was clearly manmade”. PETERROSSI1 talks about how during the Galveston hurricane the argument for the loss of life being a manmade disaster can be made because he thought that “ignoring the warnings of a storm, is a form a negligence that can be blamed for the loss of life in the storm.” These two points help us see that the argument for a disaster being manmade can be made on some disasters that occurred throughout or nation’s history. These were just some reoccurring themes that I was able to pick out from the first part of the semester. I think it’s fascinating how even though these events are different, similarities can be made between them.

Mid Semester Review

March 15, 2017 / jperez29 / 0 Comments

In the beginning of the semester it was difficult for me to understand what exactly we needed to put into the blogs. It was difficult to know exactly what points to bring up. This class definitely helped me to understand what the text is trying to explain. This class allowed me to analyze what the text was trying to explain with a different view point then i had ever before. As http://courses.shroutdocs.org/hist300a-spring2017/author/zhoeffken/ explains in their blog, the author, Cronon, is trying to explain what is so important about Chicago.

I believe this class not only gave me the skill to analyze material better, but it also allowed me to have a better historical mindset on why things are the way they are. Another example is when, http://courses.shroutdocs.org/hist300a-spring2017/author/rebekahbenninger1/, explains how the city of Galveston was destroyed then how the citizens decided to build a massive wall to protect the city, as well as lifting the whole town above sea level. The reason being, is because the city had so much invested into it, that millions of dollars would be lost if people didn’t move back. We saw this in Cronons book, when several investors, also known as Boosters moved into Chicago and saw massive potential in the city.

In essence, this class has taught me how to analyze material better, as well as use other material to correspond with previous material, which will eventually be beneficial in my future History papers.

there will be blood thougts

March 15, 2017 / juanrosasmp / 0 Comments

Earlier in the week, I gave a small presentation in class regarding my views as a history student when i watched the film “There Will Be Blood”. Before I write about the history perspective, I’ll give some background information of the film in order for my point to be easier understood. The film takes place in the early 20th century in Southern California, which was the scene of an oil boom. In order to be authentic, the environment and clothing reflects how it originally appeared. As I watched the movie, I couldn’t help but think how rapidly the environment has changed in Southern California, from a wilderness to a continuous chain of cities from San Diego to Los Angeles and beyond. I am glad that the movie took special care to show this, since there is a number of movies with historical settings that place little emphasis on historical accuracy.

Mid-semester reflection.

March 15, 2017 / peterrossi1 / 0 Comments

Going back on my own posts, and my classmates, it shows how much we have grown in terms of being able to analyze historical writing. One thing I’ve grown at myself is being able to analyze exactly what the thesis of the writing is, or basically what point the author is trying to make with their writings. Going back to my first post you can see how much I struggled to really grasp exactly what Cronon was saying, I contradicted myself a couple of times as well as being a bit unclear on exactly what Cronon was saying with in his chapters. As time went on and I had more experience my posts became more focused on the concepts presented within the chapters and addressing those, rather than addressing just the points the author was making. A good example of this was my own writing on the great fire and how I addressed the themes of classism and sexism rather than just the idea of how ridiculous it is to blame an entire fire on one farmer with very little evidence.

On the topic of classism, that seems to be a common theme in a lot of our class’ writings. For example in a writing by CLUNA3 she discussed how Ms. O’Leary’s class and sex were two great factors that led to her being blamed for the fire, and in CRISCOBARS writing he explains how in Faith and Doubt the author made it clear that the fire didn’t spare the lives of the poor of the rich, everyone stuffered. This was once again brought up in Isaac’s Storm with a post by SEVALLOS on how both the commoners and upper class of Galveston wanted the city to be rebuilt to protect their investments. I think classism is a prevalent theme in all of our writings because it’s a prevalent theme within all of these texts. Most of the texts we are reading were written in, or about a time period of extreme wealth disparity which then affected everything in that time from the most minute day to day things to government agendas. I think as we learned about more themes from the early 20th century (racism, naturalism, immigration, etc.) we can see these themes discussed in the blog posts about how each one was either in the writing or not in it at all, and why that was so important. As we go forward we will most likely learn new themes and then relate those back to what we’ve read and create some discussions on that.

Reflection

March 15, 2017 / chriscobar / 0 Comments

So the themes tended to revolve around disasters and the idea of what lead up to them. I noticed that in jessicabode post on Setting Fire- “Did the Cow Do It?”, she was able to give a brief well put idea forth in a way that it was easy to understand what her point of the post was. When I was writing the same post, I was trying to figure out what method to write it on, but now from understanding how the posts are meant to be written, it has gotten easier to write and figure out the main points and topic. Yet, while reading justinrod717 post, I was trying to figure out how he was trying to relate his post to the other person he referenced. His idea is well thought out but he could have referenced or commented with a little more emphasis on the other persons work. In cluna3, post this person was able to write on the reading and then relate it back to another person’s post by reaffirming their own theme. As I began to dig deeper, I started to notice a trend that started with cluna3 and saw it yet again in sevallos. This person was also figuring out to write out their post and not only referenced another person’s work but add it to their post to bring out their point. My last post I wrote on, it became more clear from doing a few posts, how to incorporate what I wrote in order to relate back to earlier post as did cluna3, sevallos, jessicabode, andjustinrod717. The order I placed them was due to how the first people had enough people to relate their post back to their own and the last two had done post very early on in the semester. I believe that since the semester started, people have been able to read others work in order to have an idea on how they might write their own post.

Mid Semester Post and Reflection

March 15, 2017 / zhedrick / 0 Comments

At the beginning of the blog posts, I found myself unsure how to approach the readings and create an intelligible response that could further the discussion of the presented works. Constantly rewriting and editing my posts forced me to reanalyze the readings to create a provoking response that did not mirror a simple summary of the works. As this new rewriting took place, I was able to find new avenues into the arguments of the authors and became capable of presenting them in class. As the posts expanded my own understanding of the works, it became apparent during the class period that others had benefited from the blog posts as well. As Candice Luna says that as a class we have progressed our in class discussions through the blog posts, I feel that both the blog posts and class discussions have aided in the development of a more advanced discussion based on deeper themes of the works. Seeing the growth of the posts from myself and the class as a whole can be attributed to the better understanding that comes from a necessary in-depth analysis of the works for the purpose of blogging. This blogging has fostered the classroom communities ability to share and and improve upon our own ideas regarding the readings, as put forth by Gabriel Sevallos. Taking this statement, I have found my own assumptions about the texts reinforced and reshaped with the competing ideas of the class to foster a better understanding of themes from the works.

Though the blog posts have proved challenging at times, I feel that they have aided in my understandings of the reading from a historical perspective. With a constant need to reread and edit my blog posts, I have developed a better understanding of the necessary the readings and have aided my in class discussion topics. The challenge of the posts and discussions in class not only help the individual, but the class as a whole. With multiple platforms for ideas to be shared, it has been possible to develop themes to the readings that may have gone untouched in other settings.

Mid-semester Review

March 15, 2017 / justinrod717 / 0 Comments

After reviewing the post scribed over the course of the semester it easy to see the improvements and changes that occurred. That is no to say that the writing in the beginning was bad by any stretch of the imagination, however it did seem unfocused and for lack of a better word timid. This seemed to stem from a lack of direction in how and what the full outlines of the writings should be leading to simple summarization of the works in the beginning. This changed fairly quickly with the addition of opinions on subjects, such as Juan’s piece that showed his viewing of an event concurring with evidence of events from differing time periods. As well as Zhedrick’s piece on Isaac giving reasons to the abilities at the time. Along with opinions the addition of the importance of the pieces themselves where not lost with post including the significance of the works themselves seen in post such as Chris’.

On a more technical term of the writings early on, the use of hyper links and quotations seemed to be either lacking or spontaneous at best. However this was soon cleared up, most likely due to the class time used to go over it, and post such as Chris’ and Rebeka’s showing the marked improvement in the use of others post.

Overall the post created over the course share a common trait in the idea that they show the significant differences of ideals and views of the same works. This in itself helps a great deal in the view and understanding of a piece of writing from multiple viewpoints. Personally I have viewed certain post in order to try and gain an understanding of the piece in a way I had not previously, and then I try to mimic this ideal with other works to try and angle them in differing ways.

Mid-Semester Blog Post

March 14, 2017 / jessicabode / 1 Comment

Looking back at my own blog posts and from other classmates comments referencing my own work, I have seen some common themes and some changes. In my first post, looking back on it, it’s obvious that i was trying to figure out how to do these blogposts. The majority of the post was kind of a summary of the article, and a summary of the time period that we were talking about at the time in class. Looking back at the first article, and after attending the lecture, looking back I was thinking that the author of the article convinced me, like when i said in the post that “The Gilded Age was also a time where the politicians that were in office during this time period were actually sincere and dedicated to being public servants.” This now looking back, is in fact not true at all of the Gilded Age. Now after doing a couple of these blogposts, I now know to read between the lines of every article and to take everything that i read with a grain of salt. In my second post, I start bringing up points that the author has made in their writing. In my second posting I stated that Chicago developed because of the “ many people that lived in Chicago were the ones that contributed money for the railroad by the rural communities that were to be along the railway line.” Looking at this i see that that is also a common theme with the readings that its common for communities to fund projects for their town. An interesting point that I included is a point about historiography and that it’s ” a way other historians try to take a new angle at another scholar’s work or to try and disprove what their statement is with their own facts and interpretations.” Which is kind of what we are doing through these blog posts, and in many ways picking apart another scholar’s work. One aspect that i noticed, looking back on my blog post about Isaac’s Storm is that I enjoyed the way that Larson “ explains Isaac’s background in how he got into meteorology, and also gives accounts of the approaching hurricane as it travels to Galveston.” Which is something when i finished the book, I actually didn’t like because I felt like there was actually too much background about the main character. Looking at someone else’s mid-semester blog post, Gravity21 said that in my first couple of posts that i decided to “brief that audience on what is occurring in the reading and what types of sources that the author used to show to event.” Which i think is an accurate description of my beginning blog posts.

Mid Semester Post

March 14, 2017 / cluna3 / 1 Comment

When the class started the blogs, it seemed no one really knew the parameters to what we needed to post. If you look back at the first posts it reads a summaries with little interpretation. As a class, we have progressed into summary highlights that stem off the authors main arguments, theory and or method. From there we have taken this blog structure into our class. When someone posts for a particular assignment, they are usually the ones to speak more in class that day. The class has favored the theme approach.

One post that can help the class better understand a historiography is JPEREZ29. Jperez29 states that, To do this we need to question where the author got his source. This is one of the primary steps in understanding history writings. Progressing forward it is becoming easier to link other works together. Topics sometimes have similar themes, such as racism in GRAVITY21 and JESSICABODE‘s post. In Gravity21, he mentions how the author puts emphasis on blacks looting the dead bodies. While in Jessicabode’s post she talks about how O’Leary was to blame for the fire. If we take a look at a more recent post by JESSICABODE , we can see how her understanding of a historiography has changed. She mentions why the author broke up Isaac’s Storm into storytelling because “it gives different viewpoints of people that saw the start of the hurricane as it made its way to Galveston.” GRAVITY21 has also questioned the authors work more. In their last post, he questions the title of the book, Isaac’s Storm, stating it can lead people to investigate why it was done this way.

What has surprised me as I have reread theses works is the content in my classmates. The writing structure, use of sources, and ideology has significantly improved. The main idea that might be worth revisiting is how to structure the blog posts. I know for me, I not always positive on what needs to be covered.

Historical Presentation – The Eighties

March 14, 2017 / gparker77 / 0 Comments

For my historical event i chose to watch a documentary series on Netflix called “The Eighties” by CNN. The series covers a wide variety of important events and topics that are central to the decade’s history. As a history student i got to look at this documentary series from a different angle than i could have before. I really took note of the people they brought in for their perspective on the event or the topic, such a the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the AIDS epidemic. For the most part the documentary had stayed true to the events and displayed them as non biased. Where my history student experience came into play was when they started to give their own opinions into the subject and talk about how great or how terrible some events were. Between Tom Hanks, An Actor, and Tim Naftali, the former Nixon Library Director, there were countless other people who lived through the decade and tell their stories of what they remember. Being a history student I researched the people who had been on the show to see their political stand point or personal associasion with the event or person to see how and why they would respond he way they did. I let me understand why they would present it that way and show me how i could look at the event or person in a different way to fully understand it. Being a History student has really opened up my eyes on how to research and understand how people interperet things in history and in everyday life.

Mid-Semester Review: The Importance of Theory

March 14, 2017 / sevallos / 0 Comments

Just yesterday in class, we did an exercise on theory, relating several historical theories to Isaac’s Storm. After rereading the blog posts we contributed over the first half of the semester, I noticed how prevalent theory was in our posts. Just about all the posts discuss around one or two historical theories. For example, peterrossi1 focuses on urban history by evaluating Cronon’s thesis, “Why do cities form where they do?” In the same blog post, peterrossi1 also explains the trends of urbanization, following up with his discussion of urban history. In these blog posts, we referenced each other’s work, often using it as an introductory sentence or to strengthen their own ideas. Zhoeffken references peterrossi1‘s focus on urban history and geography when discussing the urban planning for Chicago. Zhoeffken presented the idea of Chicago’s geography being both its boon and bane. Later, Sevallos would reference the “boon and bane” idea when discussing Cronan’s major point, “Second Nature.” I feel that this type of idea-building between blog posts, between historians, has strengthened our understanding of theory. We are free to take one idea from another historian and apply it to our own thoughts.

When the class reached Isaac’s Storm, students commonly referenced other students’ work on the Johnstown Flood, most likely because of the Galveston Hurricane and the Johnstown Flood having similarities in water-based catastrophe. McKenndy21 referenced Cluna3‘s dicussion on the Johnstown Flood in order to relate Johnstown’s lack of proper dam and water protections to Galveston’s lack of sea wall. Rebekahbenninger1 references Johnkane in the same way, also discussing the lack of water protection in both Johnstown and Galveston. There are a couple other blog posts that referenced Johnstown, so I feel that the Johnstown article was a strong transition into Isaac’s Storm since it presented the causes and effects of flooding to students.

To conclude, the blog is similar to the in-class discussions that we take part in. The key difference though is time. Not every student gets to speak in-class and present their ideas because of the limited time, so in the blog setting, we are given a large amount of time to form our ideas and to discuss them with others. It’s common for students to not share their ideas if they feel someone else has explained it better, but in the blog, I have seen students use other students’ strong ideas in order to support a strong analysis. As such, the blog feels more centered on the collective whole while the classroom feels more centered on the individual. Knowledge that we share on the blog may directly benefit others in their process of learning.

Mid-semester Blog Post

March 14, 2017 / gravity21 / 0 Comments

Well I think I should start with how we use to write these blog posts from the beginning. On of the earlier readings we did in the class dealt with Cronon and his take on the Chicago Fire. In the beginning some scholars in the class, for example JESSICABODE decides to brief the audience on what is occurring the reading and what type of sources were used the author used to show the event. I would like to point that it was just not Jessicabode but also myself, GRAVITY21 who gives a briefing on the events and how the author decided to use the sources that he did in order to do so. This was in the beginning of the semester; as the weeks started to roll by, our ideas for what to blog about started to change or evolve if you would like to. Although some of the beginning posts were mainly briefing the audience on key points of the readings, there were some concern and themes that seemed to appear every so often that was then elaborated more in future posts. One of the key concerns that are often repeated is the topic of class and race. In Peterrossi1’s blog post, he addresses this concern when discussing why Mrs. O’Leary was blamed for the fire and it primarily cause she was a poor Irish immigrant. This is only one of the times that race and class was repeated throughout the semester. In CHRISCOBAR’s blog, talks about the topic of Chicago Fire through Faith and Doubt and mentions how the fire did not spare anyone even the high class.

Looking back to my blog posts, I am surprised to see how I was the little changes I had undergone through. As I mentioned before that in the beginning I used to summarize most of the material. However when I look in the last blog post that I have made with Isaac’s Storm, I noticed that I started to address more on the theme of race when talking about the black men who were looting and chewing bodies to take something. I am also glad that I started to address these topics because it looks like we might be addressing these topics in the next section of theories, and it looks like I might have some experience with them.

The Rebuilding of Galveston

March 13, 2017 / gparker77 / 0 Comments

In Patricia Bellis Bixel’s “It Must Be Made Safe” she gives a good insight into the aftermath and rebuilding of Galveston after the storm of 1900. In the wake of the storm leaders of the city had thought that Galveston’s future was all but over, considering the city was on an island, in a path that storms could come through like they did just months before and ruin the city again after rebuilding. They had worried there would be no investment into the city after the storm and did their best to try and reinforce the city and prevent another catastrophe. Many plans of protecting the city had been submitted to the state legislature for funding but they weren’t persuaded enough that these plans would save the city from another storm. Finally with the help of some engineers, one named James B. Eads, they got a plan together that could help limit flooding and destruction, a group was assembled called the Deep Water Committee to see if the deepening of the Galveston channel would help save Galveston in future storms. Although it didn’t go as planned and backing from legislature did not come through, it was the first attempt at finding a solution towards saving Galveston from floods and bringing in investors to spend money on rebuilding a safe city. Finally with the help of civil engineers and U.S. Army Corps engineers, and the selling of bonds to fund some of the proposed seawall, financing was secured. We have multiple sources saying that a seawall was an early idea in trying to protect the city. It is even talked about in other books like Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson, JUSTINROD717 had posted that ” Soon the town was being rebuilt, along with added defenses against future storms including a seawall and the rising of Galveston itself up a predetermined amount of feet.” As well as a seawall, a grade raising of the city’s height above sea level was implemented.

Bixel’s account of the plans that failed and then the plans that were finally agreed upon is an interesting way of showing us the process towards Galveston’s revival as a potentially booming city. Her use of Engineering records and personal accounts gives a good and convincing background to her story. Overall this was a good piece on the aftermath and revival of the Storm that wrecked such a up and coming town and had trouble regaining the financial interest it once had.

8.1 Storm Recovery:

March 13, 2017 / sevallos / 0 Comments

As cluna3 suggests, both common and wealthy individuals alike wanted Galveston to be salvaged from the disastrous hurricane that effectively destroyed the island, similar to how the boosters of Chicago were quick to rebuild in order to protect their investments. Bixel offers two examples of how Galveston citizens reacted to possible reform. Before the hurricane, in the 1870’s, citizens were unwilling to pay for the construction of barricades, dikes, or any other coastal protection from the ocean despite numerous storms that damaged property. Even in 1886, the citizens fiercely resisted such construction after another large storm. After the storm, however, opposition seemed to fade, as the new Deep Water Committee(DWC) quickly set out to construct a large sea wall and to raise the ground level of the city. These projects met little opposition, and the citizens were even willing to relinquish the right to elect the city leaders.

Bixel highlights the cause and effect scenario that nature and humans tend to take part in. Like in many other disasters, humans often have poor city planning or poor policy in the wake of disaster, resulting in devastation in both population and economics. Galveston is another prime example of this, as Bixel presents the quick willingness to rebuild Galveston. Examples such as Galveston represent a pattern in which humans are stubborn. They are slow to fortify their cities but quick to rebuild them, and the DWC’s efficient management of Galveston is one of many examples from the turn of the 19th Century. The Gilded Age offered many disasters that directly fueled the birth of the Progressive Movement, leading to infrastructure reform on a national scale.

Storm Recovery

March 13, 2017 / sanchezron13 / 0 Comments

Patricia Bellis Bixel’s “It Must Be Made Safe” dealt with the aftermath of the storm. The important question brought about after the hurricane was what were going to be “the long term effects of the hurricane and how best to regain the island’s premier economic position within the state and region.” (Bixel pg. 223) The devastation brought on about the hurricane was clearly threatening Galveston’s economic power. Houston took advantage and cautioned investors to stay away from Galveston. For the first time Galveston’s geographical position which lead to its economic growth and power, was affecting them. Just like PETERROSSI1 talked about how Constantinople’s “superior geographical position of the city forced them to be an economical hub of trade, it was the stop between two major markets for both sea and land routes.” Galveston was able to use it’s port to become a wealthy state. Bixel puts it as “the precarious physical location, the destruction of the tax base and infrastructure, the massive loss of life and subsequent departure of thousands of residents- all suggested that Galveston’s heyday was over.” (Bixel pg. 224) People were afraid that another powerful hurricane would hit Galveston and cause the same amount of damage all over again. Galveston had to guarantee the “city’s safety and to encourage citizens to return, rebuild, and invest.” (Bixel pg. 224) It was for that reason that Galveston turned to technology to help assure it’s people that the same type of destruction wouldn’t happen again. Galveston’s solution to the threat of another powerful hurricane was to lift up it’s buildings. This in return lead to the people of Galveston sense of security that another devastation would occur.

Make it safe

March 11, 2017 / cluna3 / 1 Comment

“It Must Be Made Safe.” After the tragedy of the Galveston hurricane citizens were desperate for a reconstruction of their town. Scarred by the destruction and massive amounts of deaths, people were desperate to write themselves a new story. Biel makes the argument that the Galveston hurricane had two key effects: political reform, and reliance on modern technology to solve their problems. (Biel, 224)So why does Biel make this conclusion? As REBEKAHBENNINGER1 states “An author’s intent changes depending on the type of person an author is and also what type of book is being written. “ With that in mind, I found this historiography persuasive because the Progressive period did launch new forms of technology, and with the rebirth of the city politics usually come into play.

After the storm the main plan was to protect the city from future storms. A plan first had to be established, in order to do that a committee was needed. It was not just the citizens who wanted to rebirth, it was wealthy individuals. The wealthy would lose millions of already invested money in island enterprises. This is the start of political reformation. This group named themselves the Central Relief Committee (CRC). Another group the Deep Water Committee (DWC), began meeting to make a proposal for a new city charter. (Biel, 229) The DWC suggested that there be five city commissioners. This plan was so successful that citizens willingly gave up their right to vote. (Biel, 230) Biel draws all of this evidence from “The Galveston Plan of City Government by Commission: The Birth of a Progressive Idea.” This novel was written in 1975 and is the backbone to many notes and statements that Biel makes.

So what about the Progressive era? Biel states that the Progressive movement raised awareness to problems as well as solutions. (Biel, 231) Citizens of Galveston already had a positive predisposition to technology. This made the rebuilding process more interesting, if engineers suggesting trying something new, the townspeople had faith in trying it. (Biel, 233) The first action the city took was to build a seawall three miles long. Biel uses records from the board of engineers to state this fact. The city was then to be raised, doing this by dikes, lifting everything up and placing fill under. This process made the city look like it was on stilts. (Biel, 237) Biel uses newspapers and GDN to confirm this.

Biel writes this historiography in a “matter of fact” kind of way. Using factually primary sources to prove his point. While the sources Biel uses are correct his interpretative framework speaks to the type of source being written. This is an informative piece about the rebuilding of Galveston.

“What About the Children”: The Victims of the Galveston Hurricane

March 8, 2017 / aaronfelix10 / 0 Comments

Through the many accounts of the residents of Galveston that appear during the portion of the book in which the storm is happening, we the readers get some context and see that they now have the grasp of the reality that death is a possibility for some of them. The account of Louis Hopkins, who was a child at the time, expresses how a child might have processed all of the things going on around, from the sadness she felt about the flooding of her mother’s garden to her mother’s frantic scramble to get everyone and everything of value to the 2nd floor of the house. We also get another account of Louisa Rollfing who we had met earlier in the book. She too faced the reality that this storm was now a danger to her family hastily grabbing things all over the house. Through this we see the more a of fearful human perspective of the victims of the storm because personal and Larson is trying to add emotional conflict and empathize with these mothers and children. zhedrick states in his post “Leave Isaac Alone” that the weather bureau was at fault for the massive loss of life that could have been completely avoidable and that Isaac’s and the rest of the residents of Galveston were going to pay a hefty price for putting their confidence in the wrong people some of them with their children, some of them with their lives.

Author’s Intent?

March 8, 2017 / rebekahbenninger1 / 2 Comments

An author’s intent changes depending on the type of person an author is and also what type of book is being written. According to Professor Shrout, Erik Larson’s intent is to argue that the Weather Bureau and Isaac Cline had barely any clue what as to what was approaching the city of Galveston. Craig Offman’s article ‘A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm”’, seems to take the approach that Erik Larson’s intent is that he finds Isaac Cline to be fairly useless up to and during the Hurricane, and that Isaac and his brother Joseph had a fairly antagonistic rivalry with one another.
Offman’s article is about how Larson explains Isaac was the false “Galveston-area…Paul Revere”, the relationship between the meteorologist brothers after the hurricane, and how Larson might have over exaggerated the classification of the hurricane that devastated Galveston. Offman explains that initially Isaac was reported to have gone around warning people to leave before the hurricane could hit Galveston, but that with Larson’s Isaac’s Storm the person who was the one warning people to get out was Isaac’s brother Joseph. The article explains that according to Larson the two brother’s had bad relationship after the hurricane, but that according to the meteorologist Lew Fincher, Larson was exaggerating the brother’s relationship and that Fincher had quoted in his book that the brothers still spoke warmly to one another after Galveston. The classification of the Galveston hurricane seems to be up in the air. According to Offman, Larson used category 5 in Isaac’s Storm but that Larson conceded it was officially declared a category 4, while Fincher stated it was a category 3 or 4. Based off of this evidence Craig Offman’s intent seems to be to report that Larson gives a new viewpoint to the Galveston hurricane but that not everything with the book is factual. The only problem that comes from Offman’s article is that it is “his personal view on the review he is giving for the book” to quote chriscobar.

Offman is Skeptical

March 8, 2017 / gparker77 / 0 Comments

Craig Offman, in his article “A Tempest around Isaac’s Storm”, has a few words to say about the accuracy and depiction of Isaac Cline and the Galveston storm of 1900 in the book Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson. Offman describes how Larson while writing the book must have been interpreting the sources he used to better his argument and make his book a little more dramatic. One example is the dramatic falling apart of the Cline brothers. Larson has read both memoirs of the brothers and concluded that they had not talked at all after the storm in Galveston. Offman thinks otherwise as he feels that the memoirs don’t provide concrete evidence that this falling out occurred. Offman also says that he thinks Larson selectively pulled his sources or had missed a period article shortly after the storm that had the brothers talking fondly of each other. With a few facts being questioned on solid terms it makes you wonder if other facts that he stated like the quote REBEKAHBENNINGER1 sited, “Isaac had later felt a sense of guilt for not having thought the storm would be so severe,” Who knows how Isaac really felt and if he how he came to that conclusion. The Offman article is written to try and poke holes in the book Isaac’s Storm and has so evidence that can back up why Larson may have either interpreted the sources wrong or just bent the truth to make his story more exciting. I buy into what Offman is having to say because there is evidence that can make Isaac’s Storm seem skeptical on top of how the book was already written. Overall the article has some good insights into how a book can be factually skewed and still get good reviews and be a great seller.

Offman’s opinion

March 8, 2017 / chriscobar / 1 Comment

Craig Offman wrote the article “A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm,”” he goes on in this article to explain some things he had on his mind about the book. The book was based on a real storm that happened in Galveston, Texas. The book does go a little bit further to explain some aspects of the story to make it more appealing to the reader and draw them closer. As Offman writes in his article, there are a few areas where he questioned the truth about the book. This idea around the two brothers never talking again even as they aged and so on. Offman, also is giving his personal view on the review he is giving for the book, yet we can not fully take what he says to heart either due to that it is his own view and opinion. We have to see this as just another view we can look into as we make our own decision on the book. In what sanchezron13 said about the storm and its damage does hold true in what Offman also stated in the article on how he explains “Officially it was a 4,” he says. “Having spent two and a half years of intense research on this storm, I’m convinced it was a 5. The bottom line is that no one can know for sure.” (Offman) the book would explain how it was more of a 5 than a 4 due to the amount of damage it caused. I really do like what sanchezron13 had to say about the 5th chapter in the book. It explains what the people went through and how much chaos there must have been. To end this, Offman gives us his view on the book and compares them “Sebastian Junger’s “The Perfect Storm” and Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” ” (Offman). In other words, he is saying this is sort of a trendy book to read and worth your wild.

Historical Event_LifeBoat

March 8, 2017 / johnkane / 0 Comments

After watching the movie Lifeboat, I reflected back at it with a more historical perspective because of this class. The movie takes place in 1944 and is about a group of people who were stranded in the ocean after a Navy ship is sunk by a German U-Boat. The historical significance in the movie shows what people in the 40’s thought of the deceptive and manipulative German soldiers. It also portrayed the importance of women’s looks and how important they were to be maintained at all times. When the German takes control of the life boat, it symbolizes the transition of democracy to a dictatorship. This is important to note, because under the German’s dictatorship the boat is operating more efficiently and everyone submits to his power. It is interesting because there are three perfectly healthy men that could over power the one German, but it was the women in the end of the movie that was the most adamant to kill the German. The overthrow of the German is symbolic to anarchy and a reestablishment of a pseudo democracy. I looked at this movie differently then I would have because the politics in the movie are more dominant the the actual historical characteristics. I had to really pay attention to understand what historic information and references were noted in the movie. Overall this movie was very engaging and i would definitely re-watch the movie after finishing this semester because I will have finished by World War II class and have more extensive knowledge about the background of the movie.

A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm”

March 8, 2017 / zhoeffken / 0 Comments

The article by Craig Offman focuses on the book Issac’s Storm and analyzes some of the accuracies of the book. The book is based on a true story but to make it a more entertaining read it would make sense that some things are a little exaggerated and we must take that into account, Offman does just that. Offman says that Larson treats Isaac as an incompetent scapegoat, Isaac, according to Larson just could not read the signs that were presented to him. Offman also points out the fact that Larson claims the brothers had a rivalry though as mckenndy21 says in their post that Offman uses evidence from Lew Fincher to disprove that and he brushes off the brothers’ cold letters as due to their Victorian upbringing and military background. Offman also criticizes Larson for not using certain sources that could have helped him in his writing.

A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm”

March 8, 2017 / mckenndy21 / 0 Comments

In Craig Offman’s article, “A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm”” Offman argues against Erik Larson’s book “Isaac’s Storm and how he portrays Isaac Cline in it. Offman claims that Larson makes Isaac seem like “an incompetent rather than a soothsayer,” making it seem like it was because of Isaac millions of people had died as paraphrased by, ZHEDRICK. Offman uses evidence such as, the New York Evening Sun, meteorologist Lew Fincher, and the book “The Story of the Galveston Flood” to prove that Isaac should be deemed a hero for his efforts during a time when meteorology was just becoming a practice and there was very technology available for him to successfully predict the magnitude of the storm. Offman also points out how Larson portrays Isaac and his brother Joseph’s relationship with one another. Larson makes a point to say that the brothers did not speak much to each other, but Offman counters this by using the brothers’ journals and “The Story of the Galveston Flood” to discover that the boys wrote many warm letters to one another after the storm. Offman’s conclusion from all of this evidence is that Larson over dramatised the brother’s realtionship, so it could be relatable to his readers. In all fairness, we see that in many movies made about real life stories today, so why should anyone be shocked that it was happening in writings back then? Readers and movie goers want to be entertained, if they wanted just plain facts they would have read through scholarly articles instead.

Tempest

March 8, 2017 / justinrod717 / 0 Comments

Craig Offman’s article primarily focuses on the book by Erik Larson called “Isaac”s Storm” and studies the accuracy of some of its findings using Lew Flincher of the American Meteorologist Society as a view point on the matter. With this Flincher describes a slightly differing view point of aspects of the book, such as the estrangement of the brothers and the classification of the storm. Whereas Larson calls upon the inability of Issac. Flincher, much like Zhericker, states that Isaac used all of the abilities he had with the information he had at the time. Overall the reasoning of this article seems to be focused on the idea that Larson is not infallible in his reasoning of the past and that his writing has both concrete evidence as well as some humanizing fictions, however he also shows that there will always be some differing views on the reasoning for actions in history as he points out the different opinions on the Class of the storm with multiple “professionals” giving different opinions.

aftermath of the storm and similarities to other calamities

March 6, 2017 / juanrosasmp / 1 Comment

The final chapters of the book deals with the aftermath of the hurricane that struck the city and the surrounding region. People that traveled to the city described a bleak and depressing scene. Even though the people that were riding the train could not reach Galveston, they were still able to see the effects of the hurricane, such as flooded strands and wreckage from the city. Meanwhile, survivor accounts all recall that there was a large number of corpses everywhere in the city. As mentioned by zhoeffken, there was too many corpses throughout the landscape that the only way to properly dispose of them is to burn the corpses in a huge funeral pyre. This was done out of necessity because burying the corpses was taking too long due to the large numbers of dead and dumping the bodies into the ocean resulted in the corpses floating back to the coast. Due to the rapid need to dispose of the corpses fast, a proper count of the total number of dead was never conducted, which resulted in estimates.

As I was reading the last few chapters, I could not help but realize that even though this occurred in a different era with different technology and customs, there are some similarities in disasters, natural or man-made, in different eras. For example, during World War II, the Allied military conducted a bombing raid to the city of Dresden, Germany, with firebombs. In the end, there was also an unknown number of dead that was also scattered throughout the city, along with the need to dispose of the bodies quickly, which made tallying the total number of dead difficult. In the tsunami disaster that struck multiple Asian countries in 2004, there was also an unknown total number of dead and they also faced the challenge of burying the bodies. Lastly, the Johnstown flood also faced a similar pattern that the mentioned disasters faced. It is very depressing reading the survivor accounts.

Isaac’s Storm-The Last Chapters

March 6, 2017 / zhoeffken / 1 Comment

The last two chapters in Isaac’s Storm focus on the aftermath that the hurricane caused. Larson tells us that the reports of the death toll often varied due to rumors among others and it was hard to know the exact number shortly after the hurricane. Larson tells us of how people went to find their lost loved ones. He tells us of the warehouse where the bodies are laid down in lines and people would walk between the lines trying to find who they had lost. Larson also talks us through how the bodies were disposed of, the burial of so many bodies was not possible as the morgues had all been filled, so at first they tried burial at sea. This proved to fail as bodies began to wash back up onto the shore, some even had weights tied to them in failed attempts to keep them under the water. We see that the only solution the people could turn to was burning the bodies. Larson tells us that cremation itself was new and the idea seemed sacrilegious, especially the burning of children’s bodies(241). The smell of death and now burning corpses permeated the air and was a constant in their lives. We are told of how the papers reported looting and vilified the black population by saying they were chewing fingers off to get valuables and then keeping said finger, this relates to how after the Chicago fire papers would often exaggerate the looting as mentioned by JUSTINROD717 in their post. Eventually though the city moves on they rebuild and start anew though they never forget their dead and sometimes those they thought dead do come back. These stories put hope into the hearts of those who are missing loved ones but also could cause false home such as with Isaac and his family. The children wished for their mom back but it was not possible as she was later found dead.

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The Rebuilding of Galveston

8.1 Storm Recovery:

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Make it safe

“What About the Children”: The Victims of the Galveston Hurricane

Author’s Intent?

Offman is Skeptical

Offman’s opinion

Historical Event_LifeBoat

A tempest around “Isaac’s Storm”

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