It’s a good thing Raphael didn’t attend public school in modern day Wisconsin

Posted April 19th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, education, history, religion
14 Comments »

The Tomah Area School District in Wisconsin has a policy that bans Christian symbols in students’ artwork, leading to a high school student receiving a Zero on his illustration depicting a landscape with a cross and the lettering “John 3:16.”

Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Giotto, and the rest of the famous artists who produced the religious masterpieces of the world: I’m forever grateful that you didn’t live in 21st century America where you have to sign away your freedom of religious expression.

Technorati Tags: art history, famous artists, First Amendment, religious expression

The Appalachian Accent

Posted March 28th, 2008 by Jen in family life, history
30 Comments »

It’s Aloha Friday over at An Island Life. Time to post a fun question for you, and be sure to check out the other participants at the link above. My question for today:

What is one tidbit of your family history?

Here is my answer, and I’d love to hear from you…

My dad was proud to a “hillbilly” from West Virginia and quite enjoyed referring to himself as such. He loved his native state and often spoke (in his southern drawl) of Appalachia’s rugged mountains and rivers (and cricks and hollers). And can you believe he had my oldest sister baptized all swaddled up in the Confederate flag? Growing up (in Arizona and then Michigan), I never knew anyone else from West Virginia and hadn’t met my dad’s relatives. So I never made one particular connection - I had no idea he had an Appalachian accent.

I was about 22. My dad had already died (cancer), and I was on a college trip to rural Appalachia with Habitat for Humanity. We were deep in the hills of Tennessee, and an older local gentleman who was helping our crew stopped to ask me a question. That moment is still vivid in my memory, because out of his mouth seemed to come my dad’s voice. Only then did I have the revelation. My dad was not the only person to speak with his peculiar dialect - he was one of many and belonged to a people that I suddenly felt connected to.

Tags: accent, Appalachia, Appalachian Mountains, dialect, Habitat for Humanity, Tennessee, West Virginia

Veterans History Project

Posted November 11th, 2007 by Jen in education, history, holidays
3 Comments »

Would you like to participate in the Veterans History Project? The Library of Congress is collecting oral histories of veterans or civilians involved in war efforts. You can help by contributing a story or conducting an interview! With over 1,000 war veterans dying each day, the time is now to capture their stories and the valuable lessons to be learned from their personal accounts of their war experiences.

My family is participating in the Veterans History Project as part of a homeschool history project. We will be interviewing a family friend who is a Vietnam veteran. You don’t have to submit the oral history you collect to the Project, but it’s really simple and would benefit us all if you’d be willing to contribute and help preserve these stories as part of America’s folklife.

The Veterans History Project is primarily focused on first-hand accounts of U.S. veterans from the following wars:

• World War I (1914-1920)
• World War II (1939-1946)
• Korean War (1950-1955)
• Vietnam War (1961-1975)
• Persian Gulf War (1990-1995)
• Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts/Wars (2001-present)

The Project also invites U.S. civilians to share their stories of their active support of the war efforts, such as war industry workers, USO workers, flight instructors, and medical volunteers.

The participation guidelines are straightforward, and includes a Veteran’s Release Form, which is included in the Project Kit. Only one interview, between 25-90 minutes long, is allowed per veteran or civilian interviewee.

Sample interview questions for veterans are available at the Project website, and are an invaluable resource! The questions are divided into segments, making it easy to conduct interviews in sessions if required: Jogging Memory, Experiences, Life, After Service, and Later Years and Closing. “Do you recall the day your service ended?” is a question I’m sure all veterans will have no trouble recollecting.

This weekend my children were in two different Veterans Day parades. My son, who is a Cub Scout, marched with his troop in the neighboring town on Saturday, and my daughter, who is a Brownie (Girl Scout), marched with her troop on Sunday in our town. I took several photos of veterans who lined the streets with the other parade watchers, and I so wish I could have sat down with them all right there and heard their stories! Here are some of my favorite shots:

A World War II veteran:

Two Vietnam veterans:

Navy Lieutenant Commander, veteran of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War:

Since I walked the parade route, I only had time to stop and ask permission to take a photo, and thank these men for their service to our country. From this last fellow, though, I had the privilege of hearing a snippet about his thirty year military career.

No matter where your politics lie in regard to war, please be pro-veteran. Someone handed my husband a card which said Pro-Troop. War-Neutral. That’s a nice non-partisan way to honor our military men and women.

Please let me know if you participate in the Veterans History Project!