Historical Thinking

How does each of the following impact historical thinking: continuity and change, causality, and context? Why is writing history considered a craft? What skills are necessary to be a good historian?

Historical thinking is using different reasoning skills to understand, analyze, and ask questions about historical subjects. It allows historians to more accurately comprehend a subject. Continuity, change, causality, and context are all important ideas when historically thinking about a topic.

Continuity and change are complementary concepts; they both work at the same speed within the same timeline. As our textbook states, “Most changes take place in the overall context of continuance of many of the old ways of doing things, and they are often no more than patchwork alterations of the existing system.”[1] Continuity is the constant; change is the irregular. Continuity allows historians to draw comparisons from the past to the present. We can also see what has remained the same over time. Change is a tool used to categorize eras, show turning points, and some would argue that history is the study of change in its entirety.

Causality is by definition the connection between cause and effect. This concept is an integral part of historical thinking. How will one event affect another? If one thing happens, what happens because of it? Although no one can predict the future, being able to draw from the past (Continuity) allows historians to predict, within reason, future events. For example: taxes, food shortage, social class inequality are all causes, what will they affect? What have they affected in the past?

Context is a very important idea for proper historians to execute. Context is how an excerpt of an event, statement, situation, or idea fits into the bigger picture. Many people take things out of context to fit their own means, it is a historians job the take an excerpt if it is given and think critically about it before presuming anything. For example: I recently read a quote from Abraham Lincoln somewhere that made him look like a racist. That quote was most likely taken out of context, and it was my job as a historian to think about the reasons to why it was taken out of context. Who was he talking to? When did he say it? What are the reasons he could have said it?

Historically thinking about a subject is a skill that needs to be practiced. Engineers pick apart mechanical things to see how and why they work. A historian’s job is to pick apart history and figure out how and why it happened.

A craft is something that is learned, something that needs to be practiced and honed; it is a skill. Writing history takes time and effort to succeed; it needs to be practiced and cultivated. There are a lot of skills historians need to succeed in the field, being a good writer is one of the most important. You also need to be a detective, that is, you need to be able to investigate and research history. You need to be able to think critically about subjects and be able to analyze, understand, and interpret different topics. You need to have a thirst for knowledge and also be able to communicate and work with other historians.

Work Cited:

Furay, Conal, and Michael J. Salevouris. The Methods and Skills of History. 3rd ed. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2010.

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[1] Conal Furay and Michael J. Salevouris, The Methods and Skills of History, 3rd ed. (Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2010), 26.

A Video Assessment; The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306

Kaitlin Walsh

History 294: Introduction to Historiography

December 16, 2014

               The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 is a thirty-two minute documentary, released in 2008, directed by Adam Pertofsky and produced by Margaret Hyde. It recalls the events leading up to the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the eyes of Revered Samuel “Billy” Kyles; the only living witness that was present on the balcony the night King passed away. The documentary also features primary accounts from Maxine Smith and Dr. Benjamin Hooks, two members of the NAACP at the time of the movement.

            The main message of the video speaks about the great injustice for black Americans during the 1960’s; most notably the Memphis Tennessee Sanitation Strike of 1968. Kyles paints a vivid and informative picture of the Civil Rights Movement but the message of the documentary centers more on how far black Americans were willing to go for equality. Dr. King gave his life, and was prepared to give his life knowing that his bold and brave decisions would make a difference in the outcome of black Americans all over the United States.

            The documentary follows the story of a sanitation worker strike in 1968. During the time the wages for sanitation workers was very low, low enough to work full time and still qualify for welfare. As the sanitation situation got worse, marches took place that became increasingly violent. The violence was mostly due to a few stray young men breaking into shops and causing trouble in an otherwise peaceful march. Kyle begins to talk about the very famous, and last, speech by King entitled ‘I’ve been to the Mountaintop’. This speech was given at a church in Memphis the day before he was assassinated. It was in this speech that King had alluded to the fact he knew he was never going to make it to the ‘promised land’ but that his followers would. This particular point is very important because King was willing to pay the ultimate price for the movement in which he believed so whole heartedly in. The next day King was supposed to have dinner at Kyle’s house at five o’clock, but when he called to confirm the time, he was told six. When Kyle went to accompany King to his home, King was not yet ready and they sat and talked for almost an hour. As they were leaving, King stopped to talk to some people over the balcony and as he was turning to leave, was shot through the chest. He most likely died instantly.

            The film focuses on the racial discrimination of the 1960s and portrays most black Americans as victims and most white Americans as discriminators. It captured the raw emotion of the time but focused heavily on negative aspects of the Civil Rights Movement; they didn’t mention any positive roles in which white Americans played a part in the movement.

            Overall the documentary was received well critically as it received an Oscar nomination for best documentary in 2009.

            Editing played a crucial part in how this video flowed aesthetically. The way the video cut straight from one scene to another added in the raw portrayal of the time. Footage and audio from the actual time period allowed the viewer to put themselves in the shoes of the people who fought for their equality during those events, marches, and rallies.

            The film holds up as a very informative piece of history for historians because of the amount of primary resources available within the film. Overall it was a very interesting perspective from a man who has more information on the death of Martin Luther King Jr. than most other people in the entire world. This documentary will live on as a visual representation of the Civil Rights Movement for many generations to study in the future.

Works Cited:

Films on Demand. “The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306.” Accessed December 16, 2014. http://digital.films.com.proxy.ccis.edu/PortalViewVideo.aspx?xtid=40368&psid=0&sid=0&State=&title=The%20Witness:%20From%20the%20Balcony%20of%20Room%20306&IsSearch=Y&parentSeriesID=&tScript=0.

Witness Room 306 “The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306.” Accessed December 16, 2014.http://www.witnessroom306.com/synopsis.html

“Dig it! The Secrets of the Soil!” Smithsonian Online Exhibition

               The Smithsonian website offers online materials, exhibitions, and research opportunities for adults and kids who aren’t able to visit the Washington D.C. onsite locations. Some of the exhibitions, even past exhibitions, are able to be accessed completely online; complete with video tours, interactive games, and mountains of information. One of their very interesting exhibits entitled “Dig it! The Secrets of the Soil!” was on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History from July 18, 2008 through Jan 10, 2010 and is now available for viewing completely online.[1] This exhibit focuses on educating people about what soil is, its purpose, what makes it interesting, and why it is important to us.

            The exhibit begins by explaining what soil is. It explains that, “Soil makes life, and life makes soils…soils breathe”[2] A quote by Wallace H. Fuller from Soils of the Desert Southwest says, “A cloak of loose, soft material, held to the earth’s hard surface by gravity, is all that lies between life and lifelessness.”[3] The Smithsonian really paints a portrait of soil as being a living and breathing thing, it mentions that soils are born, age, and are lost. Soil is made up of air, water, minerals, and organic matter (both living and non-living).[4] The exhibit features information on how all of these components mix to create different types of soil. It also features information on each type of soil from different parts of the United States. The exhibit goes on to explain how scientists make soil monoliths; “a monolith, or vertical slice from topsoil down to the subsoil, preserves a soils colors and layered horizons in position.”[5] These monoliths act as tools to view how soil is created, changed, and settls over time. One of the most important issues this exhibit covers is the importance of soil in our lives by allowing a place for plants to grow that feed us, filter pollution, and create oxygen for us to breath. Soils are literally the foundations on which we build our lives. The exhibit ends by offering suggestions on how farmers can reduce the risk of over farming their soil and how plowing and fertilizing crops affects our environment.

            To keep the exhibit fun and interesting it offers many different interactive videos and games. One of the most interesting sections of the exhibit features ‘soil recipes’. These ‘recipes’ are created using soil and other ‘ingredients’ like elements, plants, bacteria, temperature, and climate changes. For example, the “New England Sandy Surprise” (creating a forest of white ash, American breech, sugar maple, and red spruce) would be ‘created’ by adding sand with iron and other elements, evergreen trees such as spruce or fir, water, bacteria and fungi, and cold winters & warm summers.[6] It offers the ‘directions’ to, “simmer in a cool, humid climate of 3,000 years, keep covered with vegetation, add water to the soil surface and let seep down.”[7] This section also offers a video of two chefs who compete to create the most creative soil concoction. It also features games on soil monoliths, state soil facts, greenhouse gas calculator, and more-all conveniently available on the ‘media resources’ tab and printable educational resources under the ‘for educators’ tab. 

            The Smithsonian website features information on all of the scientists and researchers who had a part in making this exhibit come to life. Dennis Whigam, Patrick Megonigal, and Melissa McCormick of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Douglas Ming a planetary scientist from NASA, and Laurel Hartley an ecologist from Michigan State University just to name a few. The online exhibit doesn’t offer many primary and secondary resources for their work other than consistently citing their photos and quotes from novels. They do however offer related titles and websites for further research and discovery. Smithsonian credits the exhibit to NASA (who funded the project) and the site manager Siobhan Starrs and curator Patrick Megonigal.

            Overall the exhibit is extremely effective at telling the history it is relating to the public, especially children. Through its use of interactive games and videos, it engages the audience and maintains a high level of interest. It makes the science and history behind soil relatable to modern people as well imparting the importance of soil protection for future generations. Online exhibitions allow history and science to be presented to the masses on a scale never before seen in history. People with internet connections can visit the Smithsonian website and get information on a thousand different topics at their fingertips. It is an amazing resource for adults and children to better understand their past, present, and future.

Work Cited:

Smithsonian. “Dig It! the Secrets of the Soil!” Accessed December 14, 2014.http://forces.si.edu/soils/.

Smithsonian. “Making a Soil Monolith.” Accessed December 14, 2014.http://forces.si.edu/soils/02_03_02.html.

Smithsonian. “Soil Recipe Book.” Accessed December 14, 2014.http://forces.si.edu/soils/swf/recipebook.html.

Smithsonian. “What Is Soil?” Accessed December 14, 2014.http://forces.si.edu/soils/02_01_00.html.

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[1] “Dig It! the Secrets of the Soil!,” Smithsonian, accessed December 14, 2014, http://forces.si.edu/soils/index.html.

[2] “What Is Soil?,” Smithsonian, accessed December 14, 2014, http://forces.si.edu/soils/02_01_00.html.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid., slide three.

[5] “Making a Soil Monolith,” Smithsonian, accessed December 14, 2014, http://forces.si.edu/soils/02_03_02.html.

[6] “Soil Recipe Book,” Smithsonian, accessed December 14, 2014, http://forces.si.edu/soils/swf/recipebook.html.

[7] Ibid.