Paper Update

Hey everyone!

So when I spoke with Micalee after we turned in our first drafts, she suggested I research some of the dances, music, novels, etc. that I spoke about in my paper since I am focusing so much on women's leisure.  So I have really been doing a bunch of research and am posting 2 dances that were considered very "sexual" in nature for the early 20th century.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnYXbn6h6pE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgkxJqyPhtU

Also, good luck to everyone who is going to present tomorrow :)

PHEW!

Hey Everyone!

I am glad I was able to do my presentation today and I hope you enjoyed it.  Also, everyone else did a great job!  I am looking forward to everyone's presentations next Tuesday.

QUESTION!?

Okay I am just making sure, on our syllabus if says our presentations begin Thursday, so tomorrow we just have normal class correct??

Also...

I found this ridiculous quote and had to share:

"Are women people? No, my son, criminals, lunatics, and women are not people."
              -The New York Tribune

Presentation

Hope everyone had a nice break, although it is only Saturday so it's not over yet!  I have thought of an interesting idea for my presentation but do not want to ruin the whole thing so I am not going to explain it quite yet.  However, it will involve having people get out of their seats, which at 830 in the morning might be a bit difficult but I hope people find what I am going to do enjoyable!

As for my paper, I am continuing to research more what would be seen as primary source information.  Since my paper deals mostly with leisure activities I have been looking up the fashions of NY in the early 1900s, as well as musical selections and different types of movies, so be looking for new picture and website posts!

See everyone Tuesday

Book Review Question

Okay, just to check, we are supposed to turn in our book reviews to Micalee's mailbox by 5pm today correct?

Book Review!

Hey Everyone! 

Just a quick update.  I am cleaning up my book review, which I am doing on The Maya of Morganton, and I seem to be alone because no one has posted that they are doing that book as well!  I chose Fink's novel because it seems to relate the most to my research topic and I believe I spent the most time invested in reading it. Good luck to everyone on theirs!

Meeting w/Micalee

Hi Everyone!

I hope those of you who had your meetings got good feedback and good luck to those who go on Tuesday.  My meeting went well on Thursday and I definitely got some inspiring ideas from Micalee.  I am excited to continue editing my paper and adding in some more details that Micalee suggested.  However, I am still working on presentation ideas!  I know I will come up with something but it is just taking longer than expected.  I will keep you updated!

QUESTION!!

okay so i realize this is last minute but just one quick thing, when i am doing my footnotes and it is for a specific page number, do i just tag on the page number at the end of the reference, like pp. 37, or is it supposed to go somewhere else? let me know if anyone gets a chance!

Oh First Draft

Well I hope everyone is working hard on their first draft!  I am doing pretty well on mine and am actually very inspired when I am writing because all of these new concepts keep coming to me and how I can relate them to my paper, it is slightly overwhelming but I seem to be handling it okay haha!  I just wanted to check in and wish everyone good luck with their first drafts :)

Past

Soooo, I am pretty excited as to where my research paper is going.  As I continue to write, I realize other things and ideas that I can add.  As of now, I am working on a major section of my paper dealing with what activities immigrant women of Jewish and Italian decent were involved in in their home countries and basically who they were.  Not only this, but how conflict between the cultures altered and created a kinship once they reached to America.  Mostly, I have found the conflict to be dealing with religion (i.e. Jewish women vs. Catholics from Italy).  Since I am focusing on leisure activities and basically activities outside of the home, the involvement of these women in church fits very well.  Eventually, I will get to the concept that, contrary to past disagreements on religion, etc., the issues pertaining to womanhood in America brought them together as a community because of the experiences of their past! 

Update

So since I have taken my midterms I have been able to work on my paper.  I have mostly been working on my first section about what sort of activities the Italian and Jewish immigrant women were involved in before coming to America.  In one of my books, I got a lot of quotes pertaining to the oppression these women faced in their home countries and how it affected their work ethic and opinions in the U.S.  The main idea is that these women faced such scrutiny in their home countries that when similar issues came up in America, they did not stand for it.  This sense of independence lead to differences not only in the workplace but also in terms of their personality, sexuality, and leisure time.  Finally, in this beginning section, I am planning on incorporating ideas about the Maya of Morganton because the concepts seem to be very similar.

See everyone tomorrow!

epic

okay so i would just like to prepare everyone because tomorrow i will have the best blog ever because after i take my two midterms i will finally be able to share more on how my paper is doing!  i hope everyone is doing well and see you tuesday!

Nothing New....

Well I do not have anything much to report, just writing and researching.  I am trying to find some better primary source info from the library website.  Hope everyone is being successful with their papers!  See you all Tuesday.

Paper

Yesterday I actually began writing the introduction of my paper!  I did a little outline before and used my proposal as a guide but usually I just jump right into papers so I did.  It is going pretty well but I am very excited for Micalee to go over paper structure tomorrow because I can tell that will be my biggest issue!  See everyone then :)

Read, Read, Read

Hi Everyone!

So over the past few days I have been doing tons and tons of research and have been really getting into it!  My two most informative books are Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure and Cheap Amusements.  Here are just a few quotes that I was really interested to find!:

"Specifically, working women's consumption of fiction and fashion engaged their identities as workers, as women, and as immigrants."
-Enstad,  Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure


"When both Jewish and Italian immigrants embraced American fashions, they imbued them with meanings rooted in a collective memory of oppression."
- Enstad

"Film became more than an object or a narrative in women's lives; it became part of their imaginative landscape and was integral to their identities."
-Enstad

"[...] those developed in this setting a shared and public culture, which legitimated the desires and behaviors in young women's leisure."
-Peiss, Cheap Amusements

"It was in leisure that women played with identity, trying on new images and roles, appropriating the cultural forms around them- clothing, music, language- to pusha t the boundaries of immigrant, working class life."
-Piess

I have tons more and lots of info but that is just a glimpse into what I have found!

Reo Leisure

Hey Everyone!

Well, while doing the reading for tomorrows class I came upon the portion about Reo workers and what they did outside of the factory.  Although my topic deals with women's leisure, it was still a cool connection.  In this case, the men's outside organizations dealt with the factory as a "family," with everything coming back to managerial control.  However, they did have involvement in sports, games, picnics, etc.  See you all tomorrow!

New Pictures

I have just posted a couple of pictures (to the right) that I found interesting!  It is difficult to read, but the map is simply showing support for women's suffrage across each state.  The plain white states have no support and the more stripes the more support.

Question...

Does anyone know if we can put books on hold at the library via online and then go and pick them up??

Quote!

"For these women, clothing was the first sign of a new American identity; seasoned relatives often bought newcomers American clothes, including shoes, on the day of their arrival" (9).
-Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure by Nan Enstad

Just liked this quote and how it related to my topic :)

Just a Quick Update

I went to the library again today and got a lot more books and even though i had to walk a couple miles home carrying my weight in books i know it will be worth it!  I am looking forward to getting lots more info from these additions. 

Oh and Micalee, I was able to find the books you suggested: Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure and Cheap Amusements :)

Awesome

Okay so since I have been working on my topic and just doing as many searches as possible online, I stumbled upon this video that I am posting.  Micalee suggested I go on YouTube and look at some of Edison's videos of NY from the early 1900's and I found this awesome video!  It is the two leading women boxers in the world and I think it is amazing that they are first of all, boxing in dresses!  Since I am looking at women and leisure I thought this was a really interesting find!

Switching It Up a Little Bit!!

So, as I have stated on a previous blog, I was not really feeling incredibly inspired by my previously sort-of narrow topic, so I went today and talked to Micalee (which I would highly, highly suggest if you are the least bit lost).  Previously, I was focusing on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the immigrant workers (most likely women).  Although this still does have to do with my topic, it is changing a bit.

Now, and remember this is just a starting off point, I am working with women workers in the progressive era.  My plan is to not only look at them as a community of workers, but also what they did in their leisure time.  To explain, it would be more of a focus on the communal affects of leisure.  This way, I will probably be looking at a variety of industries but focusing solely on one group of people (which is yet to be determined, i.e. Italian women, Jewish, etc.)  I suppose I will be looking for a strong ethnic community.

Micalee was able to provide me with a lot of book ideas which I will be getting from the library tomorrow.  The ones I am definitely looking at are Coney Island Park, Cheap Amusments, and Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure. 

I am looking forward to digging deeper into my research and am very glad I am more comfortable with my topic!

Reessseeaarrcchh!!

Hi Everyone!

I hope your research is going well!  Over the past couple of days I have tried to think out a plan in terms of what I am going to focus on in my paper and how I am going to make it understandable to the class.  I have definitely decided to focus on immigrant women as my community since they played such a prominent role in the shirtwaist factory.  I am actually quite interested in this aspect because I want to see how their past influenced their actions at the factory.  Not only this, but the many strikes that these women (and some men) were involved in that lead to alterations in workers' rights.

Not only this, but I have really been trying to take some of the info in Craft of Research to heart.  Our second portion of reading explained how, before delving into too much research, we should pick a question.  I am still stumbling a little bit on what my question should be.  I also would like my question to be practical and understandable.  So, should it be something like, how does the past of a laborer influence the future?  Or, should it be something less general.

I suppose that is where I am at for now!  I know that I will be coming up with a more organized question and lay out soon so I will keep you posted.

P.S. I have been researching some videos (yes, on YouTube but they are still interesting) so I will probably be posting at least one!

Nevermind!

Well after e-mailing Micalee and thinking it over, I have decided to stick with my original topic, sorry for the confusion!  It just seems that since I have already begun research and checked out books, it would be significant backtracking to start over!

Topic Change?

Sooo,

As I have been posting, I was sort of interested in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory community.  However, I was sitting in class today and thinking that maybe I could start looking at educational communities, such as a community of teachers or something like that.  It is not that I am not interested in the factory, but I feel I would be more interested in this. Due to the fact that I am in the College of Ed., it definitely relates to my field.  If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Library

Sooo....

After class on Thursday I was searching online through the library for books on my topic and later that day was able to go there and actually find them.  I found tons of books!  I just wanted to let everyone know that typing in a bunch of different topics and information will provide you with a ton of sources.  I was able to leave with four books on my topic that have a lot of interesting info.

I was also very happy to find that these books did not focus solely on the Triangle Factory Fire but more so about the community and what led up to the strikes in New York in the early 1900's.  I have been focusing more so on the immigrant women as a community, and might even narrow it down to immigrant women of the Jewish culture.

Finally, I was also able to find a book that had newspaper articles in it describing the area in which the factory was located and the articles pre and post the fire. 

I hope everyone has as much luck as I did if they are searching for sources!

Still lookin...

I have still been scoping out information about the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in New York.  As Micalee commented, there seems to be a lot of information pertaining to the fire, but not a lot about the community!  I am still playing back and forth with whether this should be my topic or not so I am still open to suggestions.

However, I have been able to find quite a few sources through our own MSU library.  I have even stumbled upon a few first-hand accounts of the event, but, as we have been taught, I am being skeptical of these because I want to make sure that they are accurate.

I am also looking at a group of men referred to as "The Molly Maguires."  These workers mined in a county of Pennsylvania called Schuylkill.  The title Molly was given to any miner who was for unionization and typically anyone who fought against the corporation.  Basically, the only information I have so far is just about these workers' fight for better rights in the mines.  I am working on seeing how close of a community this was!

Triangle Factory Fire

I have been doing some research for my topic and have stumbled about information about the Triangle Factory Fire.  The Triangle Factory, a clothing factory in New York City, caught fire due to unsafe working conditions in 1911.  According to The Story of the Triangle Fire, "This incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected."  The fire sparked (no pun intended) controversy amongst the friends, family, and workers of this community to fight back.

This sweatshop, as it is referred to as, reminds me of the video that we watched in class.   Only when horrible accidents begin happening do the owners of the companies begin to notice.  Not only this, but the Triangle Factory's workers were not in a union as well.  Finally, the fact that after the fire killed over a hundred immigrant workers, protest began for a unionized and safer workplace.  The immigrants made up this community and each male and/or female member of the family worked for the factory; therefore, factors concerning the workers were important not just to individuals, but the entire COMMUNITY.

I am not exactly sure if this will work yet for my research project but I am still doing research on it!

Intro. Blog

Hi Everyone!

My name is Anna Hardenbergh and I am a junior at MSU.  I have two majors: Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science (History cognate) and Communicative Sciences and Disorders, both for education. I took many history classes in high school and four throughout my years at MSU.  


I am actually having a bit of trouble picking my research topic!  I have been looking at books and searching online to narrow down my field of possibilities but it does not seem to be working!  If anyone has any pointers as to how to figure it out let me know.


In terms of my favorite historical topics/eras, I really enjoy European colonization and the controversy that comes along with it.  Not only this, but also African history and African American history.  I tend to have a thing for controversy and conflict throughout United States' history as to how it affects our perceptions and ideals today, etc.  
 I am looking forward to picking a topic for my research project because I do enjoy searching out the details of not only historical events, but also just bits of history that lead towards the world we live in today.