Touchstones of the Past

Even the smallest primary sources can act as touchstones of the past. Using them as navigational tools, I embark on journeys of research and writing while entering into the historical profession. A blog by Lindsey M. Bauman.

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AHA Session 154: Teaching the Master Narrative

I can’t believe that it’s been a month since the American Historical Association’s Annual Meeting! For those who are interested, here’s the video of our session. The camera cuts in and out a few times, but the majority of it is there. Thanks again to those who participated!

00:00:00 - 00:03:59, Introduction by Chair Dr. James Buss, Dean of Honors College, Salisbury University

00:03:59 - 00:20:13, Introduction & Presentation #1 Michael Horton, University of Miami “How Texas Discovered Columbus: The Columbian Legacy in Texas Textbooks, 1919-2017″

00:20:13 - 00:39:32, Introduction & Presentation #2 Michael Kneisel, Kent State Univeristy “Constructing an American Mythology: The Boston Tea Party in High School Textbooks”

00:39:32 - 00:56:22, Introduction & Presentation #3 Lindsey Bauman, Bowling Green State University “Suffering in Silence: The Voice and Representation of Slaves in 1950s U.S. History Textbooks”

00:56:22 - 01:06:57, Introduction of Commentator & His Remarks Dr. Kyle Ward, Director of Social Studies Education, Minnesota State University, Mankato

01:06:57 - 01:13:14, Discussion / Question & Answer Session

01:13:14 - 01:14:21, Special Thanks & Credits

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Post Date: December 4, 2017

A guest post about my recent internship at Whirlpool Corporation, Clyde Division that I wrote for the Bowling Green State University History Department’s blog. Written towards the beginning of my time with the company, I describe how I initially became involved with them and what my experience there was like.

I entered graduate school in the fall of 2015 with a decent idea of where I wanted to end up in the field of history. Although academia interests me, interpreting and educating people in public forums, such as museums or park services, has always been my passion. But as the submission date for my thesis loomed c;oser, I faced the same challenge that every other graduate student experiences upon nearing graduation: actually finding a job that channeled that passion.

As my submission deadline approached, my thesis advisor, Dr. Rebecca Mancuso, reached out to me about a potential internship with the Whirlpool Corporation in Clyde, Ohio. Looking to set up an exhibit focusing on the history of the plant, they had developed a project committee that included employees with different specialties and experience. Many of them had family working in the plant for two or three generations, which added a personal investment in the project. However, the committee wanted to include a few people that had a background in history. They had already brought in Dustin McLochlin, Curator at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, to help them understand the process of designing an exhibit. They also wanted to bring in an intern to help them sort through their archival materials and create an exhibit narrative.

Upon starting in July, I have spent quite a bit of time sifting through the company’s archives and constructing a catalog describing the materials. The amount of history contained within the walls of Clyde Division cannot be overstated. The facility was originally built in 1880 along a set of railroad tracks just to the northwest of Main Street.  Over the years, the plant has undergone several expansions and housed numerous manufacturers. This has included the Elmore Manufacturing Company, a bicycle-turned-automobile manufacturer that was quite prominent in the early 1900s before being bought out by General Motors. It was also the home of the Clydesdale Motor Truck Company, which was renowned in Europe during World War I for its excellent truck chassis, as well as Clyde Porcelain Steel Corporation, one of the largest manufacturers of porcelain-on-steel products in the United States during the 1940s. Clyde Porcelain Steelmerged with Whirlpool Corporation in 1952 and the division has since become the largest manufacturer of washing machines in the world.

While I did not have much experience with corporate history prior to my internship, I am quickly developing an interest in it. While I enjoy learning about the manufacturers and the challenges they faced, the most rewarding moments of my experience so far have included employees of Whirlpool themselves. During my first week, I was working with another committee member in the archives and we stumbled across a photograph of his grandparents; his grandfather had worked with Clyde Porcelain Steel until 1962. Seeing just how important this project is to him, as well as other employees with personal, familial, and communal connections to it, has added a whole new level of meaning to the work we are doing. I am looking forward to continuing to analyze and interpret the archival materials while constructing an exhibit narrative that represents the historical importance of Whirlpool and manufacturing to Clyde and its residents.

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Post Date: October 4, 2016

A guest post about National Trustee Bruce Nyberg visiting the Bowling Green State University History Department. It presents background information about Nyberg and his history with the university, as well as a overview of his visit with faculty, staff, and students.

On Thursday, September 29, National Trustee Bruce Nyberg visited the History Department.  Mr. Nyberg is a retired banker  and philanthropist from Michigan who graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1968 as a Business and History double major. In his last year he worked closely with Professor Gary Hess and other history faculty. In his biographical note after his appointment as a trustee, Mr. Nyberg emphasized how critical his history training was in shaping his attitudes. (An informative profile of Trustee Nyberg here.)

The morning started with Nyberg and other trustees sitting in on Dr. Benjamin Greene’s course on the Vietnam War. After the class, Nyberg walked to Williams Hall and had coffee with a group of about fifteen undergraduate and graduate students, and faculty members.  It was a lively exchange that ranged from the Vietnam War, to the role of the humanities in the present-day higher education landscape.  As a former student, Nyberg shared stories of his experiences at Bowling Green State University during the late sixties, a time of strong political activism on campus.  Citing his background in business and history, Nyberg reinforced that both economics and the humanities can benefit an overall world view and inform a successful career.  We all appreciated Nyberg’s passion for a liberal arts education and this opportunity for a fruitful dialogue.

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Review & Research: The Post (2018)

I went and saw The Post tonight. While a little slow at the beginning, it’s such a timely and important film and I can see why it’s received such positive reviews. Upon returning home, I immediately started looking up information and reading articles and documents that I could easily get my hands on about the publication of the Pentagon Papers. Based on what I’ve read so far, it appears that Steven Spielberg followed events, as they happened, pretty closely. This is a topic that I didn’t previously know a whole lot about, but it’s something that I’m definitely interested in looking into further.

Memorable Quotes: 

“In the First Amendment, the Founding Fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to fulfill its essential role in our democracy. The press was to serve the governed, not the governors.” - Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black’s Opinion, New York Times Co. v. United States

“Journalism is the first rough draft of history.” - Philip Graham

For further reading, see:

Ben Bradlee, A Good Life: Newspapering and Other Adventures (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).

Daniel Ellsberg, Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers (Westminster: Penguin Random House, 2002).

Katharine Graham, Personal History (New York: Vintage, 1998).

Michael S. Rosenwald, “Fact Checking ‘The Post’: The Incredible Pentagon Papers Drama Spielberg Left Out,” Washington Post (Dec. 23, 2017).

Neil Sheehan, The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War (New York: Bantam Books, 1971).

New York Times Co. v. United States, made accessible via Cornell Law School

Newton N. Minow, “I Had a Front-Row Seat to the Pentagon Papers Intrigue. Here’s What Happened,” Washington Post (Dec. 28, 2017).

Niraj Chokshi, “Behind the Race to Publish the Top-Secret Pentagon Papers,” New York Times (Dec. 20, 2017).

“The Complete Pentagon Papers,” made accessible via the New York Times