Month: April 2011

The Last American Pirate

Reading about the “Last American Pirate” was very fun! I scrolled past the first blog post, but unfortunately I read the Wikipedia article and some of the YouTube comments, which spoiled everything for me, but I completely bought it before that.

I loved reading the reflections of Mills Kelly, the professor who taught the class. At first I found myself considering ways in which other academics could object to his methods, but after taking in everything I feel it would be pretty hard to brush off this project entirely. It made me consider just how seriously we take the written word sometimes. I agree with Patrick Murray-John, one of the folks who commented on Kelly’s blog, that it was unsettling in a good way. I’m sure all of us have read something in a book or article that has totally shocked or surprised us, but we don’t really question it if there is a citation, or if the author has some credentials. Now, most of the time information will be correct. But this reminded me to always ask questions, look at sources, and verify information when possible. This was a great exercise.

Reflections on Chasing Pirates

As everyone knows by now, I was involved in politics for quite a while so I have trouble believing anything people say any more is true.  This may sound extremely cynical but people have a natural tendency to lie, cheat steal and generally be full of crap!  I know in my experience as a high school teacher that my students had a tendency to believe everything they read so I was always telling them to check the source.  If the source isn’t credible then don’t believe what they say or write.  And then with programs such as Photoshop you couldn’t even believe the pictures you were seeing.  I think the professor was proving to his students the same thing.   It made me think of Orson Well’s “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast that sent many people into hysterics.  Every April Fool’s Day the Star News in McCall does a “spoof”  article that gets many of its readers hook, line and sinker.  Even though the editors say “April Fools!” at the end of the article, invariably you will hear excited people in town talking about the article as if it is real!  It is a great  reminder just how gullible people can be and to always, always check your sources before you go chasing pirates!

Last American Pirate

These were the exact words I wrote as I was reading the Last American Pirate:

“The Last American Pirate reminded me how much fun history is! I hope to have as much fun researching something soon!”

And then…

“Uggh, it was all fake. I thought maybe it sounded too good when I read the will, but whatever. I get what they were trying to do, but it makes me pretty mad. And if you were to put on a public history project like this, people would really enjoy it and be engaged, but then they would be madder than hell at being tricked. I’ll laugh later at their trick, but not right now. It calls into the whole question of objectivity in professional historians. No wonder historical fiction is so much popular- people are expecting some lies in that form.”

Do you see why I am both upset and disappointed at being duped? Even days after reading the blog, I am still mad and can’t write objectively. I’m sad that I was tricked, even in the name of trying to be taught a lesson. I am still hopeful that one day we might all find the same passion for our own Last American Pirate. I guess even if we have to make it up.

Reading suggestions

So apparently I saved this as a draft instead of posting it yesterday, so here it is:

I have three really cool history sites that I love to check out.

The first is the Food Timeline, which is a timeline of when different foods and recipes became a part of the human diet. And beyond that, you can click on the individual foods and the site gives an in-depth history of each food including its origin and how it was originally eaten. I have used it for my blog and have spent hours trying to figure out the history of my favorite foods.
http://www.foodtimeline.org/

The second site that I recommend is called Patheos, which is a site devoted to presenting balanced views of religion. Religion was one of my minors, so I really enjoy the study of it. The part of the site that I recommend is the “Compare Religions” tool which allows you to compare up to three religions side by side. It details their history and histroical practices up through modern day practices. I think it is a really helpful tool.
http://www.patheos.com/

The third is the National Women’s History Museum’s website, specifically its online exhibits. There you can see everything from women in film to female spies in American history. It is a really great collection of American Women’s history.
http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/

Offended?

Offended?

That blog was great! It is a fantastic lesson in technology. The web allows for anyone, with any agenda to post their ideas, research, or propaganda. That does mean it should all be trusted. The second website disturbed me. People were genuinely upset over the “misuse” of the internet.  Some of them believed that the internet was going to be a scared source of knowledge. I am not certain how that is even possible. It seemed to me they were arguing (some of them anyway) that the internet could no longer be a great resource for study.  The blog proves otherwise. It advised people to be cautious in internet research; it is still a good resource.  This resonates in all research; even newspapers get the story wrong, books cite inaccurate information, and ideas change. It reminds me of the so-called greatest generation that still believe if it on television it must be true.  Anyone with a camera can get on TV these days (see reality TV).  Sometimes it takes a “trick” to prove to people that a resource has the possibility of misuse.  Just a final note I think keeping a blog tracking your work is brilliant. Not only does it help keep yourself in check, but gives you support from other people as well.

I bought “The Last Pirate” hook, line, and sinker.  I started at the beginning of the blog and read how Jane came up with her idea for her research paper, how she struggled to find the sources she needed, and then found her smoking gun with the will of Edmund Owens.  I kept thinking “this is what I love about history!” and “I should do a blog about my research for my thesis (not nearly as compelling as pirates).”  In the last post, when I discovered that it was a hoax, I was somewhat disappointed, but also it was kind of exhilarating to have a good surprise perpetrated on me like that.

Like Stephanie, I have been mulling over the reasons why I was so easily duped by this.  For me, the links, the videos, the story about Jane were all very convincing.  But, I also really wanted to believe the whole thing.  The story resonated with the best-case scenario of historical research that I have in my head, where if you work hard enough you can find exactly what you want and really break new ground.  I thought that the class that made the blog sounded like an interesting premise.  It sounds like it proved its point effectively and truly engaged the students who participated.  I am not sure that I would ever have the guts to teach that class.

Pirates & Hoaxes

I’ll admit it. I was duped.

But then I started to think about why I was duped. It wasn’t so much the information, because obviously the students did an excellent job researching to support their hoax, it was how the information was delivered to me. In the comments section of the edwired.org entry someone articulated what I could not…trust networks. The source of information matters a great deal. I’m a skeptical person by nature but the fact that Dr. LMB assigned this reading and it was on our syllabus I automatically thought this was legitimate.

I think the ethical dilemmas The Last American Pirate project raises are relevant and extremely important to the Public History field, especially when trying to define the practice of public history.

 

Reading Recommendations

Here is one of my favorite blogs: http://usreligion.blogspot.com/. It is edited by two fairly young histories, has numerous contributors, and focuses on American Religious history. It’s quite good at interpreting the religious meanings and significance of current events. One of my favorite threads is called “know your archives” and it provides great information for younger scholars making their first archive visit: http://usreligion.blogspot.com/search/label/archives%20and%20museums

Pirate Reflection 4-10-11

I thought the professor used creativity in his assignment when he had his students create a hoax with the last American pirate.  The students worked well together, were creative, and used technology in their assignment.  In the last 10 years, it seems all ages from elementary to grad school are integrating technology into the learning process.  For example, our class using an iPod, and apps, and the BSU Music department using iPads.  The professor was also showing his students the importance of improving their research skills, and evaluating what sources/ information you find on the internet.  Students must focus on primary sources, and academic websites, or they too will fall under the hoax of misinformation on the internet.  With the improvement of technology, and the user friendliness, everyone must evaluate what they are reading.  Information on the internet may either be from an academic background, or it could be a random post/website from someone who is bored, misinformed, or creating a new hoax.

I also found it interesting that the professor stated he did not want to offend anyone.  I didn’t feel offended in any way.  However, the blog did have several spelling mistakes.  What does annoy me, is when people don’t use spell check….especially on blogs.  Please people use spell check, it is great!!!  BTW some of the words were caffeine, and archaeology.

Below is a silly site, if you want to generate a pirate name…Arrr

http://gangstaname.com/names/pirate

Here is one more

http://www.piratequiz.com/

Reading Recommendations

1.)  I read a very interesting article about a married couple that are pros in preservation, who bought and restored a 1880 Maryland house.  They designed the home  to be energy efficient and wheelchair accessible for their son.  They worked with their local historical commission to be sure that they preserved as many materials as possible, and did not change the front of the home.  They enclosed a side porch and turned it into a hallway so their son’s wheelchair could fit, and they also constructed a new elevator in the back of the home so their son could go upstairs.  The home uses a modern geothermal system to heat and cool the home.  The family also added on a new kitchen, and a studio in which their son could have his physical therapy. They built the home so it included “sustainable preservation.”  The homeowners, Logan and Paca both have a background in preservation, and included their experiences in the restoration work at their own home.

http://www.preservationnation.org/magazine/2011/march-april/designed-for-living.html

 

2.)  The National Trust for Historic Preservation site provides information for those looking for a job in historic preservation.  The site is user friendly, and you may search for jobs by title, or just look at openings by state.

http://www.preservationnation.org/careercenter/?gclid=CLLNydmzjKgCFchg2godlhFKDA

3.)  For those of you who may travel over the summer, below is a site that includes historic hotels, and of course you may search by state.  The site includes over 200 hotels, they are over 50 years old, or are sites of historic importance, or architecture.

http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/travel/historic-hotels.html