Wordless Wednesday 071107

I've Been Tagged, Again!

AGAIN!

On June 26th, I was tagged by Elementary History Teacher and now I have been tagged by Jennie at American Presidents Blog!

The last time I played, I told a story about meeting Eleanor Roosevelt and some other random facts.

However, most of the people I tagged did not respond in kind - party-poopers! (Quite frankly, I was disappointed.)

So I'm in a quandary.

I'll start with the rules:

1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

Random Facts: (Since this is the American Presidents Blog, I'll do something geared to you!)

My favorite Presidential quote: "The buck stops here."

I have met five Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Clinton, Bush, & Bush)

I have met six first ladies (Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Kennedy (Onassis), Mrs. Nixon, Mrs. Reagan, Mrs. Clinton, and Mrs. G.H. Bush

My favorite presidential memorial in Washington, DC is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

My favorite Presidential home is Sagamore Hill, Theodore Roosevelt's home - quite eclectic!

My favorite first lady is Jacqueline Kennedy - good wife and mother, and interested in preservation and culture

The first President I voted for was Richard Nixon

My favorite President is George Washington - he set the pace and gave us the tradition of a peaceful exchange of power

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Now rather than follow the rules and try to find eight other bloggers, I'm going to start something with you...

List 8 historic US places that you would like to take your children or students to visit

Museum Monday: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Teaching Sculpture, & Vinnie Ream

Learning About Sculpture

Ten years ago, I was visiting my mother who had moved to Salt Lake City. One of the biggest art events of the year was a traveling exhibit of Rodin sculpture (The Hands of Rodin) and the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University in Provo was one of the stops.

As a native New Yorker whose mother took me to visit the great museums of New York City and eventually enrolled me in a Saturday art appreciation class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I learned to regard the human form as an artistic expression. Rodin became one of my favorites and I remember well the iconic Thinker and The Kiss.

Unclothed or scantly clothed statues and bas-reliefs are everywhere in New York! Rockefeller Center is chock full of them! Even churches and civic centers display the nude. My first introduction to anatomically correct sculpture is the famous work by Frederick MacMonnies, Civic Virtue next to Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens across from where we often caught the bus or subway. (And across from the site of the hospital where I was born - now a shiny office building.)

Most people in New York walk by the public art and hardly notice it. (Interestingly enough attempts to cover up so-called offensive art can have the opposite effect as demonstrated in this article.)

My mother and I traveled to the exhibit and it was surprising to find out that the larger Rodin statues were not part of the exhibit at BYU. In fact, after visiting their museum, there wasn’t one ounce of art that had any nudity in it. When I inquired, I was told that such art was indecent. I wouldn’t have categorized The Thinker (which was not part of the exhibit) or the Monument to Balzac (which was to be part of the exhibit) as indecent or erotic. The Kiss, admittedly, could be interpreted in several ways, but I had only thought of its beauty.

While the Latter Day Saints, BYU policy, other religious groups, and families certainly have a right to their opinions, (and please understand that I am a modest dresser and I abhor some of the excesses in our society), I wondered how they, especially their children, reacted to the art that they have encountered in museums, parks, on buildings, in government offices, and courts throughout the country and around the world? How do they deal with them when they come across photos in textbooks and reference books? How do they prepare their children when they venture into the world?

Recently, one of my groups took a themed tour concerning mythological and allegorical illusions in art at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The NGA had warned the teacher that there would be nudity. Although it was a Lutheran school, the Principal thought that by learning about the human form from elderly docents, it would take the ‘shock value’ out of it and lead to a greater understanding of art and the classical world.

I floated amongst the groups and the questions being asked by the students were respectful and considerate. There was no snickering or finger pointing; they were beginning to recognize the concepts and virtues depicted. The reaction of these students affirmed that through education a better understanding of art and the human body is possible and beneficial.

How can one study ancient, primitive, or contemporary history and culture without a study of this type of art?

What I think we need to do is to prepare our children by teaching appreciation, context, and discernment, rather than censorship.
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Vinnie Ream Hoxie

The Museum Monday photo was taken by me during a recent visit to the new Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was looking down from the Etruscan gallery and noticed a young lady who was sketching. Her straight posture and intense expression gave dignity to her work. I doubt whether she regarded this statue as indecent; quite the opposite. It is obvious that she sees the beauty in anatomy and the skill of the ancient sculptor. (And it also seems that another statue is looking over her shoulder watching the progress of the drawing!) It was a reminder of my sketching days over forty years ago.

Watching this young woman also reminded me of the story of Vinnie Ream (Hoxie), a sculptress in the time when it was considered to be a scandalous and inappropriate profession for a woman. (after all, they had to learn to draw anatomy, the same rationale that kept women from the medical profession.). She was initially taught drawing by the Winnebago Indians, who didn't suffer from Victorian sensibilities, and apprenticed under Benjamin Paul Akers and Clark Mills. Undoubtedly, she had learned anatomy in preparation for sculpting statues. However, through her talent, support of sculptors, Congressmen, and Abraham Lincoln, she ended up being the first woman and youngest sculptor to be granted a commission by the government. President Lincoln had heard of her humble circumstances and had decided to allow the teenager to sketch him for a bust. Vinnie Ream spent a half hour per day for five months sketching the president and it was to change her life. After his assassination, the eighteen year old won the commission over better-known sculptors to produce a full-length statue of Abraham Lincoln. In order to complete the statue, she was given the clothes he was wearing that fateful night to measure. (What thoughts must have run through her mind!) That statue still stands in an honored position in the Capitol Rotunda.

Unfortunately, scandal did follow the petite, five-foot, ninety-pound beauty who was described as a charmer with a gleaming smile. She somehow was accused of influencing ( by using her feminine wiles) Senator Edmund Ross (R-Oklahoma), a boarder in her family’s house, to cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. In fact, the teenager managed to detain the Republicans’ emissary, Dan Sickles, who had come to persuade Ross to cast his vote for the impeachment. According to accounts, she used tea and song (she sang well) to delay and confound Sickles! The rest, as the say, is history!

Vinnie Ream pioneered the way for other women sculptors such as Evelyn Beatrice Longman and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. (Tour Marm posting) and perhaps that young woman pictured sketching in the Met.

(You can read more Vinnie Ream in a recent biography and there is also a video for sale concerning her statue of Lincoln and a script of the video, so you can check the content before ordering.)

Museum Monday 070207

I think people are on vacation, so I'm running this again! Can you guess the museum and the subject of this post, which doesn't necessarily target this particular museum. Answer here.

Teacher Stipends and Bonuses for Educational Student Tours

I need some clarification, opinions, and experiences.

Quite frankly, I’m a bit frustrated and confused.

It's a question of ethics.

For the past several years, I have been designing, selling, and conducting educational student tour programs throughout the East Coast of the United States. Most of my schools are from the west coast and southwest. It’s been a very good season and the trips went well. Happily all my schools have rebooked for either 2008 or 2009. And now it is time to plan for the next spring season.

My frustration is with the concept of teacher stipends, bonuses, points, personal travel benefits, and other 'considerations' offered by the larger tour companies as well as the teachers who use them as leverage for their custom. To be specific: Student tour companies are bribing teachers for their business and teachers are now expecting these bribes.

I had been under the impression that public school teachers as public employees/servants were not permitted by law to accept these types of ‘gifts’ or become subcontractors of private companies that had anything to do with their public position; it seemed to me a conflict of interest, a lapse of fiduciary responsibility, and an abuse of one’s position for personal gain.

However, I was being a bit naïve, for over 80% of the teachers who had expressed interest in my programs asked about the rewards and benefits. Several, who did want to travel with me, after having been informed by me that I offer only a free trip and bona fide reimbursable expenses, changed their minds despite the fact that they preferred my program,. These teachers either returned to the company that they were unhappy with or found another company that would match or exceed their expectations.

Large student tour operators are luring teachers with all sorts of weekend ‘seminars’, early sign-up bonuses, 'scholarship' money, bonuses for three-year contracts, weekends in Costa Rica and California, as well as foreign travel. The companies are in such tight competition that teachers are using one against the other. It's become a feeding frenzy!

Some companies are bold enough to list these perks on their websites, unaware that this is an illegal practice. (If it's advertised, how could it be illegal?) One company explains that they hire teachers (to act as a tour guide for their own class) and that three-year contracts help with the cohesiveness of the programs. Most companies I have spoken with admit that they know it is wrong, but everyone is doing it!

The three-year contract is especially problematic as it binds not only the current grade/class, but it also binds the next grade as well as students who are not even enrolled in the school! Thus an 8^th grade teacher also contracts for the 7^th and 6^th grades. (Those sixth-graders might come from several feeder schools.) Therefore the parents or school district have no choice of tour provider or program. But it gets even ickier when the teacher leaves or changes schools; the incoming teacher is expected to work with that company or the company puts pressure on the teacher and school! In my opinion these multi-year contracts should be unlawful, and unenforceable. (There are no real benefits to the travel program content or price for a multi-year contract, it only benefits the company and the teacher/administrator who is getting the kick-back.)

There should be a bidding system, not just for price and service, but for real educational content.

After talking this over with the companies that contract me, we felt that these practices were corrupt and led to more corruption. We would not condone nor participate in such practices. It was not surprising to me that I found that every state in the US and province in Canada had the same law and interpretation pertaining to public employees. Ohio had the most concise explanation; (Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion 2000-04) I can only surmise that it had become a problem in that state as they were specifically targeting the Washington, DC trips.

Typically these trips are well over $1000. Several of my trips because of of the high cost of airfare from some cities on the west coast, the quality of hotels requested, and length of the trip, are over $2000. It’s easy to hide a couple of hundred dollars from such a large pricetag. Parents and school boards have no real idea how the money is distributed; they trust the teacher/administrator/organizer, who is usually the one who chooses the company, to give them the best value and content for the students.

But sadly, these organizers are not trustworthy. Some teachers/administrators expect at least $50 per student, but the majority are well over the $100-$400 mark. That doesn’t include the vacation weekends, early sign-up contract bonuses, commissions for finding new schools that will travel, or other personal requests. Some ask for 'scholarship money' and it is up to their discretion how they will use it. Again, a 1099 is sent to the teacher./organizer. ( In reality, if there is to be money factored into the price of the trip for scholarships, it should go to the school and not to the teacher.)

If the school board, administration, and parents feel that the teacher should be compensated, then that compensation should be upfront and go through the school district and not a private company.

One high school teacher in LA has become a real entrepreneur by incorporating himself and branching out by recruiting the middle schools in his area to travel under his auspices. . He teaches in an affluent area and so the parents don’t question the program; they have no idea how he cuts the education and just dazzles them with good hotels and front row seats for the Broadway musical. He never tells the parents that he doesn’t purchase tickets to Colonial Williamsburg, but simply gives his students two hours to walk up and down Duke of Gloucester Street to shop and take photos. (No wonder his students think Williamsburg is boring, they neither get an educational tour nor the evening programs!) While the students do have fun, the experience is not as full or challenging as it could be.

Another teacher of a prestigious private school has been running trips for years and told me he receives the equivalent of more than half his teaching salary for running his ‘blitzkrieg’ trip! A school administrator of a very large private school is getting $100,000 for running all his trips (several grades) through the same company.

And even faith-based schools are not exempt from giving into temptation. A Pastor who was the principal of a parochial school was getting a substantial sum and other 'considerations' for his yearly 8-day convoy of multiple buses, which included several schools combined. In fact, one very large, purportedly Christian tour company , sends a former Lutheran principal around to sell the program to Lutheran schools; he has been known to offer a great deal of money and incentives to get the business! These trips should be a ministry, instead it has become reminiscent of dove sellers and moneychangers.

These teachers/administrators all had the same mantra: The parents don't care, they just write the checks! While these are private schools and not subject to public law, isn’t there still something wrong here?

Where do the companies get the money for all these payoffs? It comes from cutting the quality of the program. or inflating the price. It’s as simple as that. I've worked in these offices, I know.; it's the major reason I'm now an independent contractor.

These payoffs and incentives are sub-rosa. Parents do not realize that under-the-table arrangements have been made with the teachers or administrators. Those who receive1099's become subcontractors of that tour company. Isn’t that a blatant conflict of interest?

In the meantime, parents are fundraising, taking out loans, and even second jobs so their children can take this trip. They are expecting the best value for a truly educational trip and instead are being deceived and cheated. I wonder how parents would react if they found out that the teacher or administrator was putting a percentage of their money into his/her pocket?

It has also been detrimental to the integrity of the student tour industry. Some smaller companies who are working within the law and best practices, cannot compete with the larger companies and have been forced out of business; others have chosen to engage in these practices in order to stay in business.

In an era where we are holding our public officials to the highest ethical standards, why are we not doing the same with our public school teachers and administrators? We shouldn’t accept anyone taking bribes and payoffs in exchange for a contract.

It is also just as illegal for a company to offer these incentives to public employees as it is for public employees to accept them.

And it doesn't matter whether this is on or off school time according to the law, it's considered an abuse of position.

Epilogue:

One of the teachers I had worked with when I was a tour guide with one of the large companies is a social studies and civics teacher who wanted a more educational and customized program. He was delighted when I contacted him and we eventually met in California for dinner. He was extremely unhappy with his present company because of the increasingly poor quality of service, staff, hotels, and there wasn't any added educational content to the sightseeing. After custom designing a trip for him that included the overnight Civil War camp, (which he had wanted but had been denied by the other company) and having him write to me that he loved the program and was ready to travel with me, he then asked about his ‘cut’ and made several additional demands. That’s when I told him about my talk with the companies I represented as well as his state's law. Here is his justification and rationalization:

I am also sorry to say, as you may have suspected, that

I will not be able to travel with your new company in 2006.

This saddens me greatly because I was looking forward to

traveling with you again. If the situation ever changes, please

do not hesitate to call me. Perhaps a "cap" on stipends would

be more realistic way of dealing with the unpleasant situation.

I can't think of anyone who is in education to get rich (if they are

they're fools) but giving up a week of vacation each year and being

responsible for scores of teens for a week requires a decent and

dependable level of compensation, There's no such thing as a free lunch.
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It's shameful; I thought that he had planned these trips for the benefit of his students.

For another article on Student Tour Company Ethics please click here.
Music teachers and band directors are also under scrutiny as exposed in Strings

My First Real Adventure

Scribbit has asked for contributions for her Write Away Contest. Her subject this time around has to do with one's greatest adventure. If you're interested, please consult her site for the rules and deadline.

Here's my effort::

My First Real Adventure

I was twenty-one and I had already worked full-time for the past four years while attending school. When school was out, I took a second parttime job.

My stepfather had died when I was 18 and finances were tight; nearly all of my earnings from my various jobs went into rent and household expenses for the expensive Sutton Place efficiency (no bedroom) apartment in Manhattan I shared with my mother. We were extremely close, but I was itching to go out on my own and I needed a well-deserved break. Most people considered me an obedient daughter who was extremely conservative in an age of social revolution; in short, boring. But there was also a pulsating undercurrent of defiance and resolve.

It had been my dream since childhood to visit England and go to the theatre in London and see great plays with legendary actors. At this point in time, I was apprenticing in theatre administration and had wondered how different the West End was from Broadway. There was also a particular play by Alan Bennett starring Alec Guinness I wanted to see.

I had worked at the same job for over a year so I was owed a week’s paid vacation plus sick days I had not taken and I was informed that I needed to take it within the month, or lose it.

What an opportunity!

It occurred to me that it was time to cut the apron strings and this would be the first step.

Each week for more than a year, I had squirreled away some money in the hope of doing something like this. But first, I needed to get a passport.

Just the act of ordering a copy of my birth certificate, posing for the photos, and filling out the forms was exciting! Receiving the passport itself was thrilling ! And I was doing it all myself! But that Passport was more than just a document that would allow me to leave and reenter the country, it was a passport to the rest of my life!

After I was sure I could travel abroad, I made reservations for the various theatre performances through a booking agent, bought some clothes (I thought they dressed up so I purchased a couple of hats, a pair of white gloves, and two smart suits. Of course, I owned pearls!). I rationalized that I needed these clothes anyway, for my job. I stashed the clothes and the passport at my friend’s apartment. (His parents were very supportive and helpful.)

Freddie Laker had just started his $249 round trip flights on a first-come, first-served basis and his office was across the street from my best friend’s apartment building in Rego Park, Queens. The plan was to take turns in line, and this had to be done on the day of the flight! This was a very popular deal and hundreds of people showed up each day.

Another friend offered to lend me some money and I actually accepted the offer to pay for my hotel, food, and other expenses.; he gave me a very generous payment schedule. (Please note that the theatre tickets were booked before anything else!)

So I had everything in place for my escape!

My Rego Park conspirator was accompanying me to the bank the day I was to leave. As we approached the bank, we noticed it was closed! There had been a bomb scare! (Just my luck!) It was too late for me to get to any other of the bank’s branches (this was before ATM’s and charge cards for most people). My friend’s bank was relatively near to mine and we had enough time to get to it before closing. He took my check, deposited it, and withdrew the cash I needed!

In the meantime, his mother was one of the first in line at the Freddie Laker office but I still hadn’t told my mother!

I was gathering up my courage and decided to be boldly matter-of-fact: It started with me telling my mother that I had one week's paid vacation and that I had to take it that week. She was pleased and immediately rattled off a number of things that I had to do during my vacation. Then I dropped the bombshell: I was unable to do them because I would not be around! It occurred to her that I might be going to visit my father, but was flabbergasted when I told her I was going to London! “Oh no you’re not!”

“Oh yes I am!”

She smiled sweetly, “Darling, you can’t just fly out of the country, you need a passport.”

“I know that. Gotta go, have a great week!”

It was the first time I had ever seen my mother speechless!

I rushed over to relieve my friend’s mother in the line and she and her son eventually brought me some dinner. (Oh! She was a great cook!)

But while I was standing on line, I realized that I hadn’t made hotel arrangements!

Luckily there was a lectern with a representative from the London Board of Tourism (or something like that) behind it that could book rooms, restaurant, theatre tickets, bus and rail passes etc. I told her I wanted to stay in either Kensington or Mayfair for 5 nights at L15 per night! (Unbelievably low rate for first class areas.) She took my deposit and promised that there would be something awaiting me when I got to the train station. So I flew off to England with one suitcase and two hat boxes, and no idea of where I was going to sleep!

She was right! That wonderful woman found a guest house/hostel near Harrod’s across from Old Brompton Oratory! And, as it turned out, if I made a couple of beds each morning (4) and helped clear after breakfast, they would take half off, since they were short-handed! What a deal!

I registered with the American Embassy the first day and gave them my contact information as my friend’s mother had suggested. (This gave me an excuse to visit the embassy.)

The next few days were magical! On the way to my guesthouse directly from the flight, I stopped a taxi driver from cheating me. I also foiled a mugging (of me) a couple of nights later. Being a New Yorker, I managed to figure out the Underground and buses. It was Easter, but I attended a Roman Catholic church I had mistaken for a Church of England Church (Communion was really awkward as I was waiting at the altar for wine, and the priest informed me that I didn’t get any! He later realized that I should have been next door at the Anglican church, but the service was so lovely!)

During the day, I roamed several districts of the city to get the flavor of it. I thought I would be back, so I didn’t do much sightseeing except the British Museum (had to see that Rosetta Stone) and the London counterpart of a New York City sound and light show. (The end of this presentation had Noel Coward singing, London Pride while the blitz was going on and one could see that famous photo of St. Paul's as a survivor of the intense bombing, brought me to tears.) I was given letters of introduction from Mr. John Fleming for several rare book and autograph dealers to procure items for the first WNET/PBS art and antique auction and met many interesting people, including Mr. Maggs of Maggs Brothers. I decided that no Nightingale ever sang in Berkeley Square! I taught the English how to fold a New York-style pizza slice like a native (they used knives and forks!). I tasted a shandy and learned that their lemonade is our Sprite or 7UP. I fell in love with meat pies but hated Marmite.

But the theatre! Oh! The theatre! I not only saw great plays with legendary actors, but stood outside the stage doors (or was invited in, because I not only wore a hat and pearls, but had engraved calling cards from Tiffany’s) to get autographs from Ingrid Bergman, Wendy Hiller, Alec Guinness, Leslie Phillips (the voice of the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter), Ian McKellen, Simon Williams, Simon Ward, Joan Plowright, Tom Conti, Ginger Rogers, and Donald O’Connor. I saw Alan Bennett's The Old Country twice with Alec Guinness and two different leading ladies! And of course I saw The Mousetrap on my first evening!

The freedom to do whatever I wanted and even to make some minor mistakes was a joyful experience. The realization that I was a lot more resourceful, self-assured, and savvier than I had imagined, was profound.

It was the greatest adventure of my life, because it was my first adventure.

On my final day, the embassy contacted me to call my mother; she was panicking. I assured her that all was well, I was having fun, and not to worry.

Priceless!

Whenever my mother refers to this escapade, she labels it, "The time my daughter ran away from home"!

Did you hear the one about the Polish strike in Jamestown?

Figure It Out Friday 06/22/07

Waiting for a punchline? Read on.

If you look at my archives on the side of this page, you will notice that there aren't any entries for May. May was a particularly busy month for me as I was on tour for all but one day!

On my one day off, May 12th, I went on a busman's holiday and visited Jamestown on the anniversary weekend with my brother/cousin and stepmother/cousin. My stepmother had visited Jamestown in 1957 and her father, my cousin as well, had visited in 1907! So it's a bit of a family tradition and important for us to pay respects to our ancestors who settled in Jamestown.

We were more interested in Jamestown Island that day and attended lectures, watched demonstrations, and my stepmother and brother were particularly engrossed in the excavations and the new museum of archeology called the Archaearium

While we were on the top of the mound opposite the church listening to the findings of the archaeologists, I noticed a color guard carrying an American flag as well as a Polish one, marching briskly past the ruins of the old church

I remembered that for years the National Park Service had leaflets printed in Polish at their visitors' center because Jamestown was also a Polish shrine.

Knowing that I have a bit of Polish somewhere in my mosaic background (through my maternal grandfather), I deserted my British-based relatives and proceeded to follow the Polish guard until they stopped in front of the statue of John Smith overlooking the James River.

These were members of The Polish Pioneers of Jamestown.

The Poles in Jamestown

On October 1, 1608, the Mary and Margaret, the first supply ship to Jamestown after the founding of the colony, carried 5 Poles and Pomeranian Germans (referred to as 'Dutchmen') who were hired by the London Company at the suggestion of either Captain John Smith or Captain Christopher Newport. (John Smith took the credit.)

Smith knew the worth of the Poles after spending a few years in Poland and having fought beside them against the Turks in Hungary. The Poles were known to be fierce, capable, resourceful, great tradesmen, and superb craftsmen and artisans; they had a near monopoly on glass and the naval trades. Newport had traded extensively with the Poles.

These men were expected to develop the first export industry in British America, glass, as well as utilize their skills in pitchmaking, potash, timber (for shipbuilding), and military training to bolster the struggling colony.

When the Jamestown Settlers were having problems getting fresh water, it was the Poles who dug the first wells to help alleviate the problem and bring the first reliable source of safe drinking water.

John Smith was extremely pleased with these industrious workman, and requested that more Poles be sent. More did come with their families.

In 1619, Governor Sir George Yeardley issued a call for an Assembly meeting to set up the first representative legislative assembly in the new world. By charter and decree, only the British Virginians were allowed to vote. The Poles, being foreign born and many, Roman Catholic, were excluded.

After having endured years of hardship and labor in helping to sustain the settlement, the Polish Virginians felt insulted. 'No vote, no work' was their defiant rallying cry! Michal Lowicki, Zbigniew Stefanski, Jan Nata, Jan Brogdan, Karol Zrenica, and Stanislas Sadowski led the strike.

Their value and contributions to the colony and the effect it would have on the export industry persuaded the Virginia Company to include them, overturning the vote of the House of Burgesses; thus the Polish and German families became fully franchised into the colony.

Through this work-stoppage in 1619, the Poles became the first in America to strike to gain their civil rights, 361 years before Lech Walesa's Solidarity strike in Gdansk (for which he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983).

October 1st will mark the 400th anniversary of the Polish presence at Jamestown and the descendants of the original Polish settlers, The Polish Pioneers in Jamestown will be there just as they were on May 12th (pictured above) as well as Poles from all over the nation. However, you don't have to be Polish to attend, all are invited!)

The Polish inclusion in the all-British colony was America's epiphany for future immigration and civil rights.

And that's no joke.

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Touring with Students:

Most student tour groups visit Jamestown Settlement which exhibits a re-creation of the fort, three ships, Chickahominy village, and splendid museum. Perhaps they might visit the glassblowing house. So many groups never venture beyond the glassblowing house onto the original site of Jamestown. That is the most fascinating part! The National Park Service and The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) have maintained the site in an almost pristine setting. One can see the original foundations of the later settlement, the ruins of the church (the site of the beginnings of democracy in the new world), historic cemetery, excavations, and the new Archaearium (archeological museum). The Park Service has a fantastic new visitors' center which includes a museum and film. One can get curriculum-based tours and activities through both the NPS and APVA.

School groups need to have a fee-waiver letter to get in free, all others have to pay the National Park entrance fees, unless one has a National Park Pass.

Interesting Websites:

Jamestown Island National Park Service

Jamestown Rediscovery - APVA

Polish Pioneers in Jamestown

Polish American Anniversary Celebration Committee

Courtly Lives

Historic Jamestown

NPS Archeology

Thursday XIII 070507 - Fireworks

These were taken by me on the White House Ellipse on July 4th 2007. For a personal story about the Fourth of July, please click here.

Oscar Solomon Straus: Statesman and Humanitarian

Photo Courtesy DCmemorials.com

Answer to Wordless Wednesday: Oscar Solomon Straus

The students literally jump off the buses on 14^th Street running between the memorial and into line to go through security. Their minds are on the choices on food coupons given to them for their lunches, although most of them will go to either Subway or pizza. (I like Gelatissimo) They are about to enter the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center to visit the food court downstairs.

After eating, socializing, and attending to other business, they dart back upstairs and loiter while awaiting the buses to take them on their afternoon tours. Perhaps some pause at the Adolph Alexander Weinman sculptures and fountain to snicker at the nude allegorical figures, but not one will inquire what it all represents ( ‘Justice’ to represent religious freedom and ‘Reason’ to symbolize capitalism and labor). In fact, most licensed tour guides neither know who Mr. Oscar Straus was (except for the explanation on the plaque), nor take the time to discuss the memorial.

In Washington, DC, these ‘smaller’ memorials are taken for granted and neglected.

If the students understood that besides being a great public servant, Mr. Straus was also the brother of Isidor Straus who perished with his wife aboard the Titanic and one of the two brothers who owned Macy’s, perhaps that might have piqued their interest.

The more I research the Straus family, the more fascinating they all become, even through the 21st century!

Yes, Elementary History Teacher guessed it correctly, but did not get the Georgia connection.

Here is the family background of Oscar Solomon Straus and the Georgia connection:

The progenitor, Lazarus Straus was the son of wealthy German Jewish landowners and politicians in the Palintinate in Bavaria (Otterberg). He was a political activist who supported Carl Shurz and democratic reforms during the ill-fated Revolution of 1848 in Germany.

As it became increasingly uncomfortable to stay in Germany with those sentiments and rumored to have become bankrupt, Lazarus Straus was one of over 80,000 German immigrants and political refugees (although he traveled on a French passport) to arrive in the United States in 1852.

Lazarus sailed initially to Philadelphia and met up with the Kaufman brothers and followed their suggestion to join with them to make his fortune in the South. He settled in Talbotton, Georgia and supervised a number of peddler carts throughout the area. True to the Kaufman’s predictions, Lazarus was to become a prosperous merchant. A slave schedule of 1860 lists Lazarus as having thirteen mulatto slaves working for him.

Within two years of immigrating, he was able to set up a store and send for his wife Sara and their four children, Nathan, Hermine, Isidor, and Oscar Solomon (born December 13, 1850)

The Straus children were being brought up in small town Georgia in an area where there were neither synagogues yeshivas, nor rabbis, for their religious education. Lazarus was a traditional Jew but enrolled his four children in two different Sunday schools, one Methodist, and one Baptist. Both of these pastors instructed the Straus children solely from the Old Testament. The Baptist pastor became an intimate friend of the Strauses and often visited to discuss religion, and philosophy.

Despite the fact that Carl Shurz, who was supported by Lazarus in Germany, moved to Wisconsin and eventually championed the cause of Union, becoming a General, Lazarus and his family were firmly supportive of the Confederate cause of states’ rights, free trade, and were even slave owners.

During the War Between the States, Nathan was in Europe speculating on Confederate Bonds, and was sent on secret missions throughout Europe. Naturally, he lost a great deal of money, but managed to hang onto $10,000. . Isidor was also in Europe and working for a company that engaged in blockade running (page 4, paragraph 11) for the Confederacy. Sister Hermine had married Lazarus Kohns and their first child a son, was born September 1, 1864 and named, Robert Lee, in honor of the General. Oscar remained with his father and family to run the business.

In 1862 or 1863, the Straus family moved to Columbus, GA, the bustling industrial capital of the Confederacy.

After Columbus, GA was burned by Union General James Wilson (considered the last great battle of the War Between the States), the Straus family decided to move first to Philadelphia, then New York City, where many of their clients and friends were. They proceeded to repay all their debts, much to the amazement of the creditors, and opened L. Straus & Sons, importers of crockery, china, and glassware. R.H. Macy was their largest customer, and the brothers eventually entered into a partnership with R.H. Macy. In fact, one of the brothers was on a buying trip in Europe with Mr. Macy, when the latter unexpectedly died. With the eventual ownership of Macy’s, the Straus family became quite wealthy. The Straus’ became known as great philanthropists, social activists, and friends with the titans of industry. They were also heavily involved in politics as Democrats.

The Straus family name was well respected by all.

Oscar Straus

Oscar, the youngest of the Lazarus Straus’ children had inherited his father’s ideological passions and although still recruited to help with the Straus family business, eventually entered Columbia University Law School to get away from merchandising and moneymaking enterprises!

After earning his law degree, Oscar was to embark on a long, fruitful, and adventurous life of public service, and charity.

A New York Times article of 1893 stated:

As a member of a leading house of importers with business interests of sufficient magnitude to absorb the time and exhaust the energy of an ordinary man, Mr. Straus finds leisure for study which blooms into literary work of various types…he has become influential in undertakings designed for the public welfare alike in the fields of charity, benevolence, and of good government.

Accomplishments and Interests:

His accomplishments as a lawyer, diplomat, statesman, politician, and philanthropist are staggering and are discussed in context in the excellent article form the Straus Family Historical Society. (August 2003 Volume 5 Number 1 Pages 1.3.4.5.6. and 7.)

In a time when there was rampant anti-semitism, Oscar was appointed the first Jewish emissary/Minister to Islamic Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) where he became a favorite of the Sultan and had to deal with such pressing problems as Palestine and the Armenians. He was also the first Jew to serve in a Presidential Cabinet (Theodore Roosevelt – Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor 1906-1909)

Gave his personal bond so that all Armenian refugees who came to the United States would be allowed to enter

He was a trusted advisor to every President from Grover Cleveland to Calvin Coolidge

Advocated morality in politics and election reform

Staunch advocate of Women's Suffrage

He was instrumental in the development of the modern Diplomatic Corps

He was a proponent of the League of Nations and was a trusted advisor for President Wilson.

Served on the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 1902 until his death.

He was in the forefront of the Reform Jewish movement and was a member of New York’s Temple Emanu-El. He lectured extensively on freedom of religion.

Worked tirelessly on behalf of Jewish causes.

He helped raise money for the legal defense of Leo Frank in 1913, and was one of the organizers of the Anti-Defamation League after Frank’s lynching in Marietta, GA in 1915.)

As an author he wrote several books and articles:

Under Four Administrations: From Cleveland to Taft (1922)

The Origin of a Republican Form of Government in the United States (1885)

Roger Williams, The Pioneer of Religious Liberty (1894)

The Development of Religious Liberty in the United States

The American Spirit (Speeches 1913)

He died in 1926.

During the recent Straus family pilgrimage to discover their roots in Otterberg, Germany, a plaque had been commissioned by the town and placed opposite their city hall. The family was surprised at the unveiling that it was not the progenitor Lazarus or the entire family being honored, but Oscar S. Straus!

It was reaffirmation that he came out from the shadow of the other members of his illustrious and successful family.

Oscar Straus Quotes:

One half of the misery of the world results from ignorance and the remainder results from passion. I am sure that a large share of the trouble between capital and labor are traceable to these two disturbing factors.

The New York Times reported that, at a dinner of the Baptist Union on November 13, 1911, Oscar S. Strauss stated that he had changed his mind “as to the advisability to the settlement of all international disputes by conclusive arbitration, and has come at last to agree with Col. Theodore Roosevelt that the surest means to preserving peace is the strongest possible Navy”. He said, “Many of our wise pacifists have developed into belligerent pacifists. I confess that I belong to that school myself. Before the war began, the proposition presented itself in the glaring phrase, ‘Utopia or hell!’ Cam you blame us for choosing Utopia? We did not realize that we had to wade through the jaws of hell to reach Utopia.”

Had diplomacy been a career nothing would have pleased me more than to continue in such service of my country.

There is a higher form of patriotism than nationalism, and that higher form is not limited by the boundaries of one's country; but by a duty to mankind to safeguard the trust of civilization.

I look upon the Russian persecution (of the Jews under the Czars) as another of those disguised lessing to our race that will force them out from their degraded conditions into more civilized lands, where there is some hope and every chance for their rising up to the standard of our Western Civilization.

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Previous Tour Marm Posting on the Straus Family

For Further Study:

Straus Historical Society

A Duel Heritage: The Public Career of Oscar S. Strauss

Record of the Oscar Strauss Memorial Association

Straus Family Tour of Talbotton and Columbus

Rededication of the memorial

A Bitterweet Fourth of July

I miss her, I miss her terribly.

Nancy Lynde was more than a teacher who traveled with me, she was a friend, mentor, and mother figure.

It was she who convinced me that conducting a trip during July 4th, despite the crowds, was feasible. I was apprehensive because I did not want to lose any students, but it turned out to be perfectly safe and an annual pilgrimage for students in the Corona, California area.

The day started out early, as we were always the first to enter the National Archives. Before the Archives opened there is a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. There’s also a parade, but we were already inside the building visiting our Charters of Freedom. There is an honor guard inside the Archives on the 4^th. Every half hour they silently changed, bringing dignity to the Declaration and our other documents of freedom. (I wish the guard was always there!)

After that we rushed over to Ford’s theatre (no lines!) and proceeded to visit the Smithsonian Museums and their Folklife Festival in small, independent, adult-centered groups. Everyone knew the plan, meeting places, and emergency procedures. If it became too hot or someone became ill, he/she could always retreat back to the hotel.

Let the hoi polloi sit on the crowded and noisy National Mall between the Capitol and Lincoln Memorial, with a great concentration at the mound of the Washington Monument! Nancy had a special place to view the fireworks: The Ellipse in the shadow of the White House overlooking the Jefferson Memorial (the real reason for the season).

She was right; it was far more civilized, quiet, and an easier place to ‘escape’ to our hotel which was within walking distance. We usually camped out in front of the National Christmas Tree and had a picnic.

The fireworks were directly above us and seemed almost personal. The sound reverberated against the Department of Commerce Buildings in an almost kettle-drum effect. The smoke drifted east toward the Capitol; our vision was crystal clear. Jefferson stood stoically watching the celebration.

In 1986, for the occasion of the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, I donned two verdigris-colored shower curtains (I was perspiring like mad!); a spiked spongy crown; held a torch (which I had purchased, with the crown, on Liberty Island on one of my NY trips); and an empty box of Godiva chocolates as the ‘tablet’. I was the ‘hit’ of The Ellipse and many people took photos of me! Nancy’s son and some boys honored me by building a human pyramid!

Nancy always brought her son Rob along, and for twelve years I watched him grow into a wonderful man. On our last trip together, he brought his fiancé.

After her retirement, and my change to adult companies during the summer and autumn seasons, we lost touch.

The days after September 11^th had me looking up people who mattered to me and with whom I had lost touch. Nancy was one of these, and thankfully, she was still living in Corona, California.

We started emailing and she sent me photos of her grandchildren. Soon, we were able to meet when I was either at an educational convention in Southern California or my semi-annual parent/teacher meetings to answer questions about the trip.

Normally she drove over two hours to see me and we had dinners together at Mimi’s Café, her favorite.

At one of these lunches, I saw Rob, who was now with the Capistrano School District. He told me that I was one of the reasons he is a Social Studies teacher! (You cannot imagine how this has affected me.)

Nancy also invited me to be guest in her home and I finally met her husband.

And then there were the homemade biscotti! I could always depend on a tin for Christmas, my birthday, and whenever we met. The last batch I received was a tangy lemon.

She took great interest in what I was doing and the new path I had chosen. We were making great plans for her retirement and she was considering organizing a tour of the East Coast for retired teachers. (She was active with the California Retired Teachers Association.) She wanted me to design it.

During the summer of 2005, Nancy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. There are no symptoms until it is too late. Naturally, she was hopeful throughout chemotherapy.

I had plans that September to stay the night at her place. After landing at LAX, I received a call from my office that she would be unable to see me and they had made reservations at a hotel. I knew I would never see her alive again.

There were calls and emails, but there was no response. Eventually, I called Rob. She was weak, but hanging in there. They were going to visit Arizona.

I was on tour and called her, but she said I should call back later.

I tried to contact her thereafter, a few times.

But there was no ‘later’.

My tours continued, and when I am on tour, it’s difficult to find time for my private life and time literally flies by.

I finally called her home one more time and her husband informed me that she had died more than a month before! He was very sweet and sent me the obituary as well as the photos above. He let me knew that his wife truly loved me.

I loved her too..

There won’t be a July 4^th when I don’t think of her, and smile.