Wednesday, November 24, 2010

How much do you know about Thanksgiving?

Who were the Indians that celebrated that first harvest feast back in 1621, which we’ve been told was the 1st Thanksgiving? What happened to them?

Many of us were taught that the first Thanksgiving occurred in 1621, when the Wampanoag (wahm-pah-no-ahg) "eastern people" or "people of the dawn." and white settlers-think Mayflower 1620- celebrated a three day harvest festival together. This was not a “Thanksgiving, “ as Pilgrims viewed such celebrations as days of worship, in which they prayed to God in thanks for a specific event. A good harvest, victory in battle during the Revolutionary war, and sufficient rain were all viewed as reasons for a Thanksgiving.

The Wampanoag had lived in southeastern New England for over 12,000 years. Within 50 years of the 1621 harvest feast, the Indians were driven from their land and many died from disease brought by the Europeans. Today, there are less than 5,000 of their descendants. You can learn more about them by going to:
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
Wampanoag people Wikipedia

According to The Mayflower Society, there are tens-of-millions of individuals descended from the Mayflower passengers.

Resources
Native Blood: The Myth of Thanksgiving

History of Thanksgiving Video

Thanksgiving History from the History Channel

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Young Historians: Black Out

November 17, 2010

Dear Young Historians:

London, England was bombed at night a lot during WWII. It was called the “blitz.” In case the enemy could make it to the USA, the government ordered towns and cities to practice “black outs.” If the planes couldn’t see anything from the air, it was harder to drop a bomb. In Cavendish, “black outs” were held every few months. No light could shine through the curtains or from the barn. Air raid wardens went from house to house to make sure no light could be seen.

Today, we will do what the kids in Cavendish did during “black out.” They played games, sang, read, practiced Morse Code told stories and jokes and went to bed early.

1943 Timeline
• Americans join the Royal Air Force in round the clock bombing of Germany
• Italy joins the allies
• Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
• Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin meet at the Tehran Conference
• Jacques Cousteau invents the Aqualung (scuba)
• The Allies invade Sicily and the southern tip of Italy

Books: “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand; “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith; “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” by Cornelia Otis Skinner (This author’s family came from Cavendish. Her father was a well-known actor. The Golden Stage Inn was originally the Skinner home.) Newberry Winner: Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray; Caldecott Winner: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

Movies: The Phantom of the Opera

Songs: Catch a Falling Star by Perry Como; Oh What a Beautiful Morning Bing Crosby; I’ll be Home for Christmas Bing Crosby; When the Lights Go On Again (All Over the World) Vaughn Monroe

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Young Historians: Decoding

During WWII, the United States used coded messages to pass important information. Both sides tried to figure out the coded messages. The United States came up with the only unbroken coding system. They used Navajo Indians to send message in the Navajo language. These men were called “walking secret codes” by other soldiers. Today they are called “code talkers.” You can read more about them at the Code Talkers website.

Today we will be making a “Caesar Cipher Wheel" We will practice “decoding” a message as well as sending them.

1942 Timeline
• Anne Frank Goes into Hiding
• Battle of Midway
• Battle of Stalingrad
• 110,000 Japanese-Americans Held in Internment Camps. These camps would last for three years.
• The Holocaust begins in Germany
• US forces under General Eisenhower invade Morocco and Algeria
• T-shirt introduced
• Starting in 1942 through 1945, female employees at Whitman’s Candy Company secretly slipped notes to soldiers in boxes of Whitman’s Chocolate Samplers destined for military shipment. Friendships, and even a few marriages resulted.

Songs: White Christmas Bing Crosby; I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo Glenn Miller; Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition Kay Kyser; There’ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover Kay Kyser; Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) Glenn Miller

• Books: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus Newberry Winner: The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds; Caldecott Winner: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

• Movies: Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, Bambi

Friday, October 29, 2010

Dutton House

The following article is from WCAX.com The Dutton house, which once stood on the Cavendish Green, was built in 1782 and was relocated to the Shelburne Museum in 1950. It has since been restored to appear as it did in 1820. Two of the caretakers of the Dutton House at the Shelburne Museum visited Cavendish recently and met with the Cavendish Historical Society. Not only did they want to see the Museum, for possible items that may have been in the Dutton family, but they wanted to see where Salmon Dutton was buried (Cavendish Cemetery). When asked about the “ghosts,” neither of them had experience with anything paranormal in the Dutton house, but did say it had a “special feel to it.” Pictures of the house, as restored, are available on-line

Group hunts for ghostly activity year-round-Dutton House
With Halloween just a short way away the idea of ghosts is a frightening possibility. But, for the Green Mountain Paranormal Society this time of year is just as spooky as the rest.

They search for paranormal activity and were recently at the Shelburne Museum doing just that WCAX reporter Gina Bullard went along for the investigation.

It all started in Cavendish Vermont. The Dutton family built their house in 1781. The house has seen a lot including being a store, inn, boarding house and tavern. By the early 1900s more than 11 people had died in the home -- and it was left abandoned for the next 40 years. It was then moved and donated to the Shelburne Museum....

....Now it’s said to be haunted.

Supervisor of museum security Dan Cole said, "People have had experiences here. There are several guides that will not work here. Some staff that are concerned about things they've seen or heard here"

Bullard: Those things people have witnessed range from footsteps and people in the attic to a girl crying at the edge of a bed. The Green Mountain Paranormal Society is now on the case and wants to see if they can see or hear any paranormal activity happening in the house…we went along with them for that investigation.

Cole: "Be careful it's dangerous. The best explanation that I've heard that the people were upset the Dutton's descendents or Duttons themselves are upset the house was moved from Cavendish."

Bullard: "One woman who was training to be a tour guide here swears she saw a man in tattered clothing sitting in this corner right here, growling at her. After that experience, she said she would never enter back into the Dutton home."

Bastian Gadouas says, "There's stories surrounding the place and there's a lot of history around the place so there's potential of something of several eras to be here whether it's hearing a sound or catching something on vid."

Cole explained, "We've had paranormals here before. This is something the museum has done to find some answers if we can and see where it goes."

The group uses scientific technology to hunt for signs of paranormal activity. Starting with quiet time, they break up and sit in different parts of the house and just listen. Then they report back on what they all heard.

Jennifer says, "The quiet time is for us to get a base reading of our natural senses of what the house sounds like quiet without people."

Next they send groups into certain rooms for electronic voice phenomenon - EVP sessions -- where they try to communicate with spirits.

Bastian Gadouas "First of all we could start out, what's your name?"

Gadouas says, "These things are manifesting with energy. This reads energy, so if this thing gets close by it, the idea is that it will make the lights light up."

Those lights did just that moments later in the green room, a confirmed spook, in a home famed for it's ghost stories.”

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Young Historians 10/27/10: Fantasia

Happy Halloween!

In the 1940’s there was no “trick or treating.” Instead, there was a big party at school. Kids bobbed for apples, ate donuts off a string and dressed up.”

We will be watching parts of the Walt Disney movie “Fantasia.” First shown in 1940, it is one of the most popular films of all time. Each of you will be given the hit candy of the 1940’s-Bazooka Bubble Gum. There weren’t a lot of new candies in the 1940’s because of the war. Sugar and even certain types of candy wrappers were limited. Hershey Kisses stopped being made because the foil wrapper was needed for the war effort.

Today’s timeline is 1941, the year the United States entered the war.

1941 Timeline
• Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor, America enters WWII
• Churchill and Roosevelt's Atlantic Charter meeting establishes war and peace aims.
• The US Occupies Iceland in attempt to prevent a Nazi invasion
• Germany invades Yugoslavia, Greece and the Soviet Union
• The German Blitz of London is at its peak
• Jeep Invented
• President Roosevelt talks of Four Freedoms in his Sate of the Union speech.
• Manhattan Project Begins
• Civil Air Patrol formed
• Mount Rushmore Completed
• M & M’s” Plain Chocolates are introduced
• Bob Hope began broadcasting his first USO radio show from March Field at Riverside Ca.
• USOs (United Service Organizations) began and provided free coffee, doughnuts and entertainment to US Military
• Commercial black and white television broadcasting begins. “Truth or Consequences” became the first commercial TV program

Movies: Citizen Kane, The Maltese Falcon

• Books: “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Ernest Hemingway; Newberry Winner: Call It Courage by Armstrong Sperry; Caldecott Winner: They Were Strong and Good, by Robert Lawson

Songs Chattanooga Choo Choo Glenn Miller; God Bless the Child Billie Holiday; Take the A Train Duke Ellington; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy The Andrew Sisters

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Young Historians 10/20/10 Spotter Exercise

Today we will practice being plane spotters. You’ll have to listen for the sound of the plane. You will then note where it’s coming from and where it’s going. The final step is to “call Albany” and report what you have seen.

The three spotter towers were located as follows:
• Above the Duttonsville School
• East Road in Cavendish across from the Moonlite Meadows Farm (the place that has the cows and sheep)
• Off of Blood Terrace in Proctorsville.

All three places would have a good view. It would have been easy to see the planes.

Today we will start with the Timeline of the 1940’s. In 1940, the United States had 132,164,569 people. The war was taking place in Europe. The United States was watching and waiting.

1940 Timeline

• Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of England
• Italy declares war on the Allies and invades southern France
• Germany invades Denmark and Norway
• Nylons on the Market
• Stone Age Cave Paintings Found in France
• The Great Smoky Mountains National Park dedicated
• Truth or Consequences became a radio show
• The first televised baseball game took place on WGN-TV featuring the White Sox vs. the Cubs in an exhibition game.
• The first showing of high definition color TV.

• Movies: The Philadelphia Story, Road to Singapore, Grapes of Wrath Fantasia, Pinocchio

• Books: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers; Newberry Winner: Daniel Boone by James Daugherty; Caldecott Winner Abraham Lincoln by Ingrid & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

• Songs: In the Mood by Glenn Miller; You are My Sunshine Jimmie Davis

Monday, October 11, 2010

Young Historians 10/13/10: Apples

This Wednesday, the Young Historians will be making apple pies for the Historical Society's annual meeting and recognition dinner on Oct. 17, 5 pm at the Cavendish Elementary School.

The most popular apple in Vermont is the McIntosh. These apple trees came to Vermont in 1835 from Ontario, Canada. Today, 65% of all Vermont apples are McIntosh. Other popular apples are Cortland, Red Delicious, and Empire. You can learn more Vermont apple facts at Vermont Apples.

In the fall, children of the 1940s would pick apples and help their mothers make pies, cider, applesauce, and apple butter. Below is the apple pie recipe we will be using today.

Crust
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 c canola oil
8 T of apple cider (you can use water)
Mix dry ingredients together with a fork. Mix wet ingredients together. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Blend with a fork until it forms a ball. Wrap in wax paper and chill while you make the apples. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper.

Filling for one pie
6 cups sliced tart apples
3/4 cup sugar (
1/4 cup flour
1 t cinnamon, 1/4 t Nutmeg, 1/4 t cloves
2 T apple cider

Mix the filling and either pour into a dish pie dish that’s been greased or has a crust bottom. Cover with a top crust. Make slits in the crust and bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Serve it warm or cold, with out without ice cream or cheese.