King Hutch aka John H.

Knowing that I was getting up early I began my blog for today yesterday. It began like this:

 Nothing historically important or significant happened today. “That is all.”

 But since I enjoyed the day and learned a bunch, just like every day on this trip, I decided to add a bit more:

June 12, 2009, a 3 hour trip to Madison Wisconsin is in store for us, start time 6:00 am. That’s “wheels up” on the bus headed out of town, 6:00 am! I had a wake up call so that I would not be late. So imagine my surprise that Howard snagged my seat! Howard, the always late because he’s on his own schedule Howard! Guess that’s what happens to us “lollygaggers. “ But all’s well in love and war and seats on the History 591 travel bus.

We arrived 20 minutes early even with my requested 20 minute coffee stop, things are looking good. Our historically significant day began Wisconsin History Museum. After a quick presentation covering education materials and methods being used successfully in Wisconsin, we toured the museum starting on the 4^th floor. The exhibits were great and many were geared towards younger school aged kids. I would love the ability to take my students to a museum of this quality. When I finished exploring every foot of the museum, I went across the street to the Veterans Museum. This museum, as the name implies, is focused on the United States military and its veterans. My little side trip was fantastic and I picked up several useful teaching aids including a DVD focused on military trains for the Civil War through the Gulf War. The contributions of Wisconsin are also examined in the video.

At lunch we had the pleasure of dinning together at the Great Dane Pub. The meal was great and the company even better! Then off to the Wisconsin Historical Society located at the University of Wisconsin. We were treated to 3 separate and distinct lectures. Our first speaker talked about immigration and who it has impacted America. A second speaker spent time covering primary source documents. Although Colorado was discussed the focus was mainly on Wisconsin. We were then given the opportunity to look at, work with, and explore several primary source documents that our speaker made available to us. Finally our final speaker talked about the progressive movement. He was a very gifted lecturer and kept the audience’s attention despite ungodly heat in the stuffy room. I liked just about every point he brought out. But why is this are so important? The progressive movement was intended to solve society’s problems. It was intended to put a reason with the problems of the day and not just attribute them to God and living a bad life. It was intended to solve the problems with urbanization, immigration, and injustice for the oppressed (especially women), In general it was anticipated that the Progressive Movement would end the problem facing society by helping bring about a new and better society. So if the whole point of the Progressive Movement was to bring about this change, why do we still have some many problems with urbanization, immigration, and injustice for the oppressed?  I am also less that convinced of his final point that even though the men running for office in the early 1900’s generally lost, these same men would be back as the key advisors to the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency and the New Deal. Now correct me if you must but wasn’t the New Deal a patchwork of quickly passed programs bullied through by a new president and a weak and scared congress. Didn’t the 1^st New Deal swing left and right, sometimes changing directions in mainstream depending on the political winds, in a blatant attempt to maintain FDR’s power? If these progressive men came to power with FDR they must have had principles and beliefs about social change built up from all their years in the movement. I admit that many former progressive men worked in the FDR administration. But how can anyone explain away the fact that FDR veered course so many times if these men still cared about the progressive ideals and if they really were the power behind FDR’s administration.   

We had dinner at The Union Terrace at the University of Wisconsin University. It was nice and the bus trip back to Chicago is long. But it has allowed me to write this blog so I will stay caught up with my work.