Sophie (U.S. History)

interview a boomer

I learned a lot from interviewing my mom. Even though I thought I knew pretty much everything about my mom, I realized that she had a very different childhood than me because of the era in which she grew up. From the interview I learned how in her high school and college years she knew far more about the country’s politics and policies than I know now. I thought it was very interesting how much more engaged in the country’s affairs young people were in her time and how much more of an opinion they had about the politicians and the future of the country. I think part of this is due to the huge political events that were going on in that era, such as the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. Because it was a time of such political upheaval, it was thought about a lot more and the average citizen was much more involved with the decision-making in the country. Also, because Americans’ trust in their government was wavering, they felt they had to take a more active role in the running of their country. Prior to Watergate, most Americans felt that the politicians knew what was best for the country and that the average citizen didn’t need to get too involved because the government had it under control. However, when they realized that many of the politicians were corrupt and immoral because of the Watergate scandal, they saw the need to oversee their own government and make sure that there was no more illegal action going on.
I also learned from my interview about the divisions that existed between the generations. My mom talked about how the younger generation thought that they knew better than the older generation, whose authority had diminished despite the old beliefs in respect for elders. She felt that although the older generation did have a lot of important knowledge and good points, the younger generation disregarded them just because of who they were coming from and there was a general feeling of rebellion among the younger generation.

research with primary sources

I found a bunch of articles from the historical new york times when i was searching the proquest and thomson gale data bases for articles written in the east on seabiscuit and his rivals:
“Bryan Field, Turf Official, Dies at 68.” New York Times (1857-Current file) Dec 15, 1968. ProQuest Historical Newspapers.

"'Best Horse in World', Says Jockey of Seabiscuit After Race." The Baltimore Sun, 2 Nov 1938.
Field, Bryan. "Champion Seabiscuit Is Defeated in $6,050 Manhattan
Handicap." New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 21 Sep. 1938,35. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Putnam Library, Dedham MA. 8 Feb. 2007

"Critical Questions About the Seabiscuit Legend.” Los Angeles Times (August 1, 2003): B-14. InfoTrac OneFile. Thomson Gale. Boston Public Library. 8 Feb. 2007 .Field, Bryan. "HOWARD SUGGESTS MATCH RACE IN FALL." New
York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 25 May 1938,27. ProQuest
Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Hanover Library, Hanover MA. 8 Feb. 2007

Field, Bryan. "Pimlico Truck Record Broken by Seabiscuit in Taking Rich Riggs Handicap: SEABISCUIT VICTOR BY MARGIN OF
NECK." New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 6 Nov. 1937,12-12. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2003). ProQuest. Putnam Library, Dedham, MA. 8 Feb. 2007

Field, Bryan. "Seabiscuit to Meet War Admiral Again at Hialeah Park in
February." New York Times (1857-Current file) [New
York, N.Y.] 14 Dec. 1938,37. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York
Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Putnam Library, Dedham MA. 8 Feb. 2007

Field, Bryan. "WAR ADMIRAL RUNS AT SUFFOLK TODAY" New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 29 Jun 1938,24. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2003). ProQuest. Hanover Library, Hanover, MA. 8 Feb. 2007

Field, Bryan. "War Admiral to Race Seabiscuit Here May 30.” New York Times (1857- Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 13 Apr. 1938,30. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Putnam Library, Dedham, MA. 8 Feb. 2007

"Seabiscuit Races to New Mark In Taking Narragansett Sprint." New York Times (1857- Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 27 Jun 1935,28-28. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Putnam Library, Dedham, MA. 8 Feb. 2007

Smith, Red. "Views of Sport: A Horse You Had to Like." New York Herald Tribune, 20 May 1947.

"STAGEHAND BEATS SEABISCUIT BY NOSE IN $137,300 STAKE." New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 6 Mar. 1938,1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003). ProQuest. Hanover Library, Hanover, MA. 8 Feb. 2007

and then i found a few articles from the baltimore sun and los angeles times through the pbs website:

Reed, Don. "Biscuit Gives Best Performance of His Varied Turf Career." The Baltimore Sun, 2 Nov 1938.

Rice, Grantland. "Seabiscuit Tops Admiral By Three Lengths Before Pimlico Crowd of 40,000." The Baltimore Sun, 2 Nov 1938.

Gibbs, C. M. "Seabiscuit Stays in Front After Taking Rail Away." The Baltimore Sun, 2 Nov 1938.

Henry, Bill. "Mighty 3-Year-Old Roars to Victory in $100,000 Classic." Los Angeles Times. 6 March 1930.

"'Best Horse in World', Says Jockey of Seabiscuit After Race." The Baltimore Sun, 2 Nov 1938.

I also searched the lexis-nexis and time.com and the periodicals that are in the library, but I couldn't find anything good enough to use. I am going to go to my town library this weekend to see if they have any old periodicals that might have something on seabiscuit from the east's perspective, and I still would like to search some records and statistics sites to see if they have anything about the attendance of seabiscuit's eastern races.
I think I have adequate secondary and primary sources to start outlining and forming my paper's basic topics, but as I start to fill in my paper and see the arguments that emerge I might need to supplement the sources. I think it will be easier to find more relevant, important sources once I have a clearer idea of what my paper is going to say.

research paper

general-seabiscuit-how he affected/reflected american society in the 1930s
specific- seabiscuit's rivalry with war admiral and how it reflected the growing gap between the rich and poor(seabiscuit parallel with poor, war admiral parallel with rich)

keywords- seabiscuit, war admiral, samuel riddle, man o-war, match race, east vs. west, 1938 pimlico special

working bibliography-
wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabiscuit
google book search:
Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit
The Seabiscuit Story: From the Pages of the Nation's Most Prominent Racing Magazine
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/sfeature/sf_radio.html

UPDATES:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/filmmore/ps.html
-this website has a list of primary sources(newspaper articles about seabiscuit's victories/defeats/death)
Seabiscuit [videorecording] / an Insignia Films production ; produced by Stephen Ives and Eve Morgenstern ; written by Michelle Ferrari ; directed by Stephen Ives.
-from ind. school consortium, from PBS about Pollard

Title: Seabiscuit Vs War Admiral : The Greatest Horse Race in History.
Author: Shehata, Kat.
Publisher: Angel Bea Pub 2003
Collation:32 p.
-from ind. school consortium

Title: America's great depression.
Author: Rothbard, Murray Newton, 1926-
Publisher:Princeton, N. J., Van Nostrand [1963].
Collation:x, 361 p. : tables. ; 24 cm.
EditionStmt: Bibliographical references included in "Notes" (p. 305-346).
-from ind. school consortium

"War Admiral" By Edward L. Bowen
Published 2002
Blood-Horse Publications
Sports & Recreation
158 pages
ISBN 1581500785
-google book search
"the seabiscuit story: from the pages of the nation's most prominent racing magazine"
edited by John McEvoy
Published 2003
Blood-Horse Publications
200 pages
ISBN 158150098X
-google book search
"history of the 1930s"
By Rennay Craats
Published 2001
Weigl Educational
Publishers
History / U.S.
48 pages
ISBN 193095414X
-google book search

problems to date: hard to find primary source articles online- you need to pay to view archives of old newspapers
narrowing of topic: to what extent does the rivalry between seabiscuit and war admiral mirror the discord between the rich and poor during the depression?

hobo story

Today, April 22nd, 1933, is my thirteenth birthday. I remember how I used to love my birthday, the presents and excitement, my family’s happy faces around the dinner table making me feel like nothing could ever go wrong. But that was before our whole world fell to pieces.
We (my parents, Sarah and Paul, my sister Jenny, my brother Max, and me, Jack) used to have a successful farm in Kansas, with huge fields and a comfortable house that was perfect for the five of us. That was before the drought destroyed everything and turned the entirety of the Southern Plains into a sea of dust. The earth was mercilessly punishing us for overworking it and the absence of rain magnified its devastating effects. In days, our crops were totally destroyed and even our house was thickly layered with dust, leaving us no choice but to leave our home and escape the Dust Bowl.
We started out all together, heading toward California, where at least it would be warm most of the time. However, Tom and Jenny were only 5 and 7 and they were terrified when the train blasted into the station. My father yelled over to me to swing up to the top. I did as I was told, expecting them to follow behind, but they never came. All of a sudden I was alone and terrified, with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. No money, no food, and no knowledge of how to make it on the rails.
Now, a little less than a year later, my situation is changed only in some ways. I still have no money, but my new friend Will keeps me company and there’s warm mulligan stew in the pot, if you can call that food. Tonight’s stew is pretty good, actually- we managed to pick up a carrot and a few beans, together with a tough leather shoelace and some odd-looking berries we found near the river. The jungle is pretty nice, too, with good shelter and a fire pit, although there are no chairs or mats to sleep on.
My friend Will is from Vermont and is about my age. We met each other when a bull caught both of us. I had swung down off the train and started to run when I felt a rough hand on my neck. Turning around, I found I was face to face with a huge man. In his other hand, Will was squirming uncomfortably with a terrified expression on his face. The bull’s wiry mustache quivered with anger and he dragged both of us to the station and told us to empty our pockets. I was lucky because I had nothing to lose, but Will had a picture of his family and fifty cents, which the bull took, laughingly ripping up the photo and pushing us roughly out the door with violent threats.
Me and Will started talking, glad to have some company, and I found out how his dad lost his job after his boss cut the number of workers in half, and how his three younger brothers had started to starve. They had to move from their house in the country to a Hooverville where they lived in a house made precariously from cardboard and were surrounded by people just as destitute and miserable as they themselves were. To give his parents one less mouth to feed, Will left, heading, like me, for California. He had a more specific destination, though: Cedar Springs, Elsinor, where there was a CCC camp that would give us three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, and a job to busy our hands with. After hearing his story, I decided I’d join him. We set off together on train after train, facing bulls, hunger, and exhaustion together.
Today, on my birthday, we have almost made it to Cedar Springs. It is the best present I have ever gotten, a sliver of hope in all the devastation around us. Will and I finally feel a little bit of happiness and optimism after months of endless hunger and despair. The bitter, unpleasant smell wafting from the pot of mulligan stew in front of us just serves to remind us of the meals that are in our future if we make it to the CCC camp and we gratefully swallow the hot liquid. As I fall asleep, night air chilling me through my thin, ragged clothes, I realize that no matter how terrible life may seem, bad times must end eventually and America will just have to make it through until then.

research report

So far, I have researched through the best of history website and the advanced search on google. Using the best of history website was simple and quick and i found really relevant sites that were very helpful. Using google was also useful but it took a little longer to find sites that were both credible and right on topic.
I have uncovered a lot of background information on the trial and also the outcome and lasting impact of the Scopes trial. The names of the people involved and each of their roles was one of the first things that i found, and then I found the ultimate effects and legacy of the trial. Although at first Scopes was found guilty, the trial constituted a major setback for the Fundamentalists because their arguments were made to look faulty with the skilled interrogations by Darrow.

What is the proper role of government in American society?

One of the most important jobs of America's government is to protect the citizens. However, this is much more complicated than it seems, because it is difficult to see where to draw the line between protecting citizens and impinging citizens' freedom. For example, in the economy, it is up to the government to protect the workers from unfair working conditions and exploitation by the big businesses but should the government be allowed to stop the capitalists from doing their jobs? I think that government should do everything it can to protect the workers and the middle class without controlling the big business. Instead of running the big businesses, government should regulate them to ensure the people's welfare.

Ragged Dick and the American Dream

1. Honesty, Integrity
2. Being hardworking and energetic
3. Being educated and knowledgeable
4. Being friendly and sociable to make connections and friends
5. Look the part- decent clothes, clean, etc.

Industrial Age, Post 1

The point of the airplane activity was to show us how workers in the late 1800s felt: we created an assembly line to manufacture paper airplanes as quickly as possible. For ten minutes we had one movement that we had to repeat to speed production: this is the method that factory workers had to use in the industrial age. People like Taylor used "scientific management" to maximize profits and production- they thought that efficiency was a science and the workers had to be timed and pressured to go as fast as possible. Today in class we felt similar to those workers: under pressure, stressed, but also bored and tired of what we were doing.

9/11: What do you remember of 9/11? Are we safer five years later?

On September 11th, 2001 I remember coming home from school in Italy and hearing about the attacks. They didn't seem real to me- how could something that big and terrible have happened to America? Before 9/11 I felt like America was immune to terrorists and wars and i always thought about them as distant things. When all of a sudden 9/11 happened, it changed my view of America completely.

After 9/11, security was increased dramatically. Extensive measures were taken to ensure that nothing like 9/11 would happen again: before getting on a plane each passenger has to go through security check after security check and people at random have to go through extra searches. In this way, America is safer: we are more prepared for an attack because of what we went through. However, I felt much safer before 9/11 when I didn't even think about the possibility of an attack.