January can feel like such a letdown after all the activities of the holidays, so this January, CHS is introducing something new:
THE CAVENDISH MYSTERY
Students, teachers, parents or anyone in the community that is interesting in doing some history sleuthing, can participate in the following ways:
1. Solve a town mystery: Cavendish has aspects of town history that we want to get to the bottom of. Several projects include:
a. Is it legend or fact that the “potter’s field” in Hilcrest Cemetery was dug up during the 1930s (Depression era) and turned into a potato field?
b. Who was murdered on the grounds that are now occupied by the Proctorsville Fire Dept? When did it occur?
2. Design an “Escape Room” for Cavendish. If you are not familiar, here’s a brief description, On the day the Peters Township Public Library in McMurray, Pennsylvania, was supposed to unveil a superhero-themed escape room, the library had to close its doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. With no physical location to work with, librarian Sydney Krawiec started to devise an alternative: a digital escape room created in Google Forms. In the space of four hours, she made a Harry Potter-themed game that sent participants through a series of challenges based on locations from the book series, and they had to find their way out by solving puzzles. The Google Form went viral. And after other librarians saw it, they decided to make their own. This is a fun activity for the whole family and there are now lots of them for free to do on-line.
3. Do you have a town history mystery you’d like to see solved? If so, please e-mail or call and we’ll help you work on it.
TOWN MEETING
While Town Meeting Day in Vermont isn’t until March 2, activities begin in January to prepare for this event. Towns will be putting together a budget for both school and town, along with any items that will be voted on that day. This includes election of Select board members, town offices etc.
To help students learn more about this process, we will be holding a zoom town meeting in March, similar to what towns across VT will be doing this year. Thirty days prior to the Zoom mock town meeting in March, students will receive the “warning” so they can discuss and “research” to help them decide on the issues. January is when we come up with items to include in the “warning.”
HISTORICAL DATES FOR JANUARY
January 1: Happy New Year! The most celebrated holiday around the world
• 1863: Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which freed the slaves
Emancipation Proclamation Lesson Kids video
Note the following: The Emancipation proclamation was not enforceable but as Union troops moved through the South, they brought the news of emancipation with them and the ability to enforce the order through military might. Further encouraged by the proclamation, large numbers of slaves freed themselves.
On June 19, 1865, US Brigadier General Gordon Granger and his troops landed at Galveston, Texas confirming the news that the Civil War had ended and that enslaved African Americans were now free. Prior to Granger’s arrival, the US military presence in Texas was too weak to enforce President Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Two months after General Lee’s surrender in Virginia, Union forces were strong enough to act as a liberating force for enslaved African Americans throughout the state. This became known as Juneteenth.
The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865.
Slavery was not abolished until the summer of 1866. As the five tribes that were driven in the Trail of Tears, continued the practice of slavery.
Other events on this date include: The establishment of the United Nations in 1942
January 6: Feast of the three Kings, which officially ends the 12 Days of Christmas
January 11:
Alexander Hamilton is born in the British West Indies. While the film version of the Broadway
play Hamilton is available from Disney+, a special website has been set up for teachers
and students-Teaching History with Hamilton
January 15: Martin Luther King was born in 1929
• The King Center: The King Library and Archives in Atlanta is the largest repository of primary source materials on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement in the world.
• Smithsonian Resources for MLK
January 17: Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706
January 19: Edgar Allen Poe was born 1809.
The Poe Museum Educational Resources
January 20: Inauguration Day: Teaching Tolerance has a webpage on how to discuss this presidential inauguration in view of such a controversial presidency and transition.
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