Vietnam Memorial




Maya Lin

             Maya Lin is a Yale graduate. Her design chosen when she was a student at Yale. She beat 1,441 other people in the design competition for the memorial. Her design is in a "V" shape with the end points lining up with the Lincoln Memorial and the Monument. The memorial has more than 58,260 names of soldiers who never came home from the Vietnam war. The names are in chronological order of when the soldier died or were declared missing. The soldiers who were declared missing have a cross next to their name rather than a diamond like all of the other names of those who died.

            "I remember one of the veterans asking me before the memorial was built what I thought people's reaction would be to it. I was too afraid to tell him what I was thinking, that I knew a returning veteran would cry." - Maya Lin. In Lin's design it was a intended that you see yourself while looking at the thousands of names chisled into the black granite wall. The black is to represent the death of all the soldiers and the grief from their deaths. Your reflection is shown so that you can bond with the peoples names on the wall and their spirits.
        


Vertex of the memorial, People are reflected in the granite

          In a video I watched, a volunteer at the memorial described the design to go up hill from the vertex and the wall gets higher from the vertex. "It is as if you are in an open grave, nobodys remains are here, but their spirit and their honor is here because thats the way it was chosen to be done." says the volunteer at the memorial. This shows how Maya Lin wanted to make the memorial mournful but also honoring. The volunteer says that Maya Lin said it was a "Park within a Park." They wanted it to be simple and blend in with the landscape, so it doesnt boast like most memorials so that the honor of the soldiers is appreciated more than the memorial itself.




           There were many reasons that authorized the composition of the memorial. The design was intended to be intent and thoughtful in scenery. The composition of the memorial is supposed to arrange in a way of harmony with its essential surroundings, the Lincoln memorial and the monument being a couple of those surrounding. The missing and dead men and women should have their names in the wall as a part of the design. Also, the composition should have nothing to do with politics about the Vietnam War.


A night view of the memorial looking at the Monument.

          Although there were politics about Maya Lin and her design. She claims that her design would not have been chosen if they knew about her chinese ethinicity. She had to overcome racial discrimination because she was being seen as a communist. She had to defend her and her design in front of the United States Congress, the design came close to not being built at all, but she made a deal to add the bronze statue of the three soldiers. This controversy will never be spoken at the memorial, nor will any politics of the war, the memorial is strictly for remembering and honoring men and women from the Vietnam war. Everyday, items are left for honoring soldiers, the items are taken up by the Park rangers and kept.



Items left at the memorial in honor of those who died and are still missing.

Soldiers at the vietnam memorial



Sources:

Digital History: The Vietnam Veterans War Memorial
The District: Tourist web, Vietname Veterans Memorial
Maya Lin, primary source
The wall -USA, image source, secondary source

Tour Guide at Memorial: gaggle video

War World I Home Front

Bombing of the Coventry Cathedral

     In World War I, European Powers had already been fighting for three years by the time that America entered the war. America was expected to help their war-torn allies. Britain being one of Americas allies, needed help. They constantly under attack and sometimes bombed. Everyone had their way of contributing if they were over in Europe. They also had their way of helping in America.
     During the war, people acted on their own initiative to help the war effort. This is what makes a home front a home front. Many people contributed by simply wearing their uniforms. The people who made the uniforms were also contributing to the war effort. Therefore factory workers who made uniforms, guns, ammunition, and more were just as helpful to those in the military. War bonds were created to finance the war since taxes were not enough, everyone was encouraged to buy a war bond. From the BBC website about War World I, it is described as "truly a peoples war."

Recipes to make deserts without sugar

     Since European countries had already been at war, their countries were torn apart. Especially their farm-lands. The U.S. was expected to feed Britain and help them regain their loss of food. The Congress established the U.S. Food Administration. Herbert Hoover was appointed by President Wilson to be the head of the Food Administration. Hoover increased food shipments, which he eventually gets blamed for the cause of great depression. The food administration was seen as positive propaganda to help the war effort. It was sometimes difficult to ship food to Europe because a major part of WWI was that each side blockaded each other, and they made sure the enemies supplies could not be reached to them. On the home front, people acquired new recipes to save food. The food recipes would be sweets without sugar, without wheat, and potato possibilities. Programs such as "Meatless Monday" and "Wheat less Wednesday" became apart of the American everyday life. From reliable sources, I found letters to the government from the people of Mississippi. Some of these people were happy to be supporting the war with this new administration. Others were concerned and thought that the government had no right to go to peoples houses and make them authorize to the U.S. food administration. The major saying of the time was that "food will win the war."

American Women operate telephones in France

     It is also to be said that women on the home front had new job opportunities. Many women would exchange their pre-war jobs to jobs that supported the war. This was also because the home front was became a social reform. Women were able to serve in the Army, Navy, Nurse Corps, Navy Yeomen, Marines, and Coast Guard. This was a huge step for women in this time. Women also became overseas operators and drivers. Women didn't have to take this big jobs though, they could stay on the home front and volunteer and help out any way they could with the war effort.


American Women get sworn into the Navy Yeomen

     The home front was a source that provided money to soldiers and to arm them. That is another way how anyone and everyone was involved in the war effort. Some groups of people, including pacifists and socialists shared belief that the war was not necessary and not the right thing to do. Some of these people were arrested and sometimes possibly punished in a rude way. Near the end of the war, there was a crisis of a food and supply shortage in America. This is partly why Hoover is blamed for the initial cause of the Great Depression. There was also a worldwide spread of the "Spanish flu" which led to the influenza pandemic. This wave of disease caused a death of 20-100 million people.


AVL: Book Chapter from "Reader's Companion to Military History" 1996, p.210 by J.M. Winter

AVL: Book Chapter 9 from "Everyday Life: War World I" 2006, p.66

BBC - History, The Home Front in World War I by Peter Craddick-Adams

National Archives at New York City, Food Will Win the War: On the Home Front in World War I, Primary Source

National Archives at Atlanta, The Mississippi Home Front in World War I, Conserving Food for the War effort

National Women's History Museum, War World I






PostCard Resources

http://www.navy.mil/gwf/battleships/bb-21.htm


http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=2d45d713-d88c-4f4e-990b-fcb05ca2a1c3%40sessionmgr104&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=27275660


http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=5&sid=2d45d713-d88c-4f4e-990b-fcb05ca2a1c3%40sessionmgr104&hid=123&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=27523189


http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq42-3.htm


http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/gwf_cruise.htm

Researching in Class

In class today, I did research for my history project. We are making postcards as if we were in the US navy on the "Great White Fleet." So far, i have found 4 postcards that i want to use, out of the 6 that I need. I have information for three of those cards. Today i researched information on the USS Kansas battleship. I found a good website on the US Navy's History page. It included all the dates and place that the battleship arrived and departured at

Commercialization of Christmas

 

Christmas tree lighting at the White House.

          Christmas time in America is always full of joy, rituals, and of course presents! America did not always have these things. We didn't always celebrate this holiday full of fun. Christmas wasnt always a legalized holiday either. It wasnt until the 1800's when Christmas became legalized. Also all the Christmas traditions we have now did not start until the late 19th and early 20th Century.



Christmas Stockings

         In the early 19th century, christmas traditions started to become alive. The day Jesus was born was starting to be taught in sunday school, and it started to become a celebration. Christmas hymns were composed, and other new customs became a part of the celebration. Americas christmas traditions are from German customs, for example the Christmas tree. The tree focuses on giving and recieving. in the late 19th century, people would cover their trees with small gifts and goods to eat,also stockings would be hung on them so more stuff could be put on the tree. Media introduced the tradition of the tree also. Trees became popular, and businesses could begin to sell them. Selling christmas trees became a factor of why tree decoration businesses started also. The white house has an annual christmas tree lighting which sparks up the season of joy, peace, and gifts!
        
          The tree was also a place to showcase a gift exchange. Gifts eventually grew in size and amount, this is when wrapping paper became fashionable. Presents grew too large to hang on tree, so when placed under the tree wrapped you know you are presented with a gift. Gift giving could sometimes be controversial. People could argue that it takes away the meaning of christmas. The coming of age of commercialization of christmas is mainly through gifts. Hand-made gifts used to be chosen over purchased gifts, but as time went on, it was easier to purchase gifts. Gifts also became popular because of the tale of Santa Clause.



Santa in a Coca Cola Ad

       Santa Claus started when Clement C. Moore wrote "A Visit From St. Nicholas", and illustrator Thomas Nast. In this book, St. Nick delivers gifts, and shows the emphasis of kids and special family time. Santa's image is mainly from the illustrations of Thomas Nast. The image of a beard, big belly, and a red suit became popular. Charity became a big thing through Santa also. Santa was also seen as a romantic vision of American Capitalism, because his elves help supply his toys unselfishly and they worked very hard. He became so popular that he was promoted in many ads during christmas time, which made christmas a lot more commercialized.

      Other customs that the Germans introduced to the U.S. are Christmas cards. They became popular because they were an image of joy and they drew long distance, family and friend, relationships together. Louis Prang was the man who started the christmas card buisness, he was a German immigrant who quickly became a printer in the U.S. He described his cards as small, affordable, and artistic. He would sponsor competitions for the making of christmas cards, it became big quickly and other manufacturers entered the market of Christmas cards. Not only did the Germans bring tradition that became popular, but so did the Victorian age. The victorians helped shape christmas tradition, having a them of family, peace, and goodwill.



http://www.netplaces.com/family-christmas/the-history-of-christmas/christmas-in-america.htm
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ulh&AN=9612097978&site=src-live
http://www.cro2.org/default.aspx?page=reviewdisplay&pids=3231493
http://www.amazon.com/Fabulous-Century-1870-1900-editors-Time-Life/dp/B000KNMTQ0
http://www.historytoday.com/penne-restad/christmas-19th-century-america

http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-christmas-trees

Faces of America

While watching Faces of America, I realized that most of us all have ancestors who immigrated to America. I learned that it must have taken a lot of hope and courage to come to a country to look for a new beginning. A new beginning, in a new place, with a new language, and a new culture. I find all of these things shocking, because I probably would be too scared. Many people left their loved ones just because they saw hope for them in America. I learned that some immigrants were lucky but some were not.
I would consider my great grandmother to be one of the fairly lucky ones. Just like most of the immigrants who came to America, my grandmother came for the hope of a new beginning. She came to the states by herself from Ireland when she was 18 years old. Her name was Sheila McAuliffe. She changed her name to Julia when she came over and married a man whos last name was McAuliffe, he was also from Ireland. She came through Ellis Island and lived in the bronx. She was a maid at the Drake Hotel in New York City. This hotel was one of the highest hotels in New York, located on Park Avenue and where many famous people would stay. She worked her way to being the supervisor of the maids and eventually retired and moved to New Jersey. Just to add in a cool fact, her apartment in New Jersey over looked Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. I find this very cool because everyday she could look out her window and remember the hope of why she came to America. I think a "nation of immigrants" means that America is one of a kind. Its special enough for millions and millions of people to look at it with hope just like my great grandmother had. I'm very glad I know about this, and i'm very interested about finding out more about my ancestors.

My Great Grandmother on the far left, my mom, me, and my grandmother

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a man who could be considered a "self-made" man. I would definitely consider him a "self-made" man because he grew up poor, but then made his riches grow. As a boy he dropped out of school when he was 11 to work with his father. His father was a seaman and Cornelius started to find the shipping buisness very interesting. When he was 16 he earned money to buy his own sailboat. He started a ferrying company in the New York harbor. He ferried people and goods from Staten Island to Manhatten.
Sailboats became a product that could not provide the level of reliability and cheap fares that customers wanted. He sold his sailing vessels because he was not willing to take the risk of loosing his cutomers. He bought and operated a steamboat buisness for Thomas Gibbons because the service was popular. At this point he was able to steal so many customers from his competetors that they paid him to leave the hudson river.
Once he was out of the steamboat buisness he purchased railroads in New York. He made his mark in the railroad buisness by improving service and offering customers low fares. 5 years after he began his railroad business he had made 25 million dollars. This shows that a becoming a "self-made" man in some ways are possible. From a poor boy to a multi millionare was a lot of work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, but he made it possible.

http://www.biography.com/people/cornelius-vanderbilt-9515195


Cornelius Vanderbilt