The First Report of the Cook County Schools

Document: First Report of the Cook County Schools
Printable version: PDF

Ambrosia D. Straub

Dr. Coronado

English 226

9 December 2014

The Beginning of Education as it is Presently Known

Formal education in America has changed in many ways since it was first established. The school system in America was mostly private — most children were homeschooled — and what little education was available for the public was unorganized until roughly the 1840s. The First Report of the Cook County Schools was written in 1862 during the common school movement to help unify the schools within the Cook County Illinois school district in response to the nationwide hope that better education would produce a better workforce and, overall, a better future for America.  The Cook County School Commissioner, John F. Eberhart,  visited every school in the district and submitted a 35 page report of his findings. The First Report of the Cook County Schools is a priceless piece of American history which contains valuable information that not only helped shape the way education is in the present day, but also gives an historical glimpse into life in the mid-1800’s. Modern education would not be the way it is if it were not for John F. Eberhart and this report adding uniformity; arguably the nation wouldn’t be as advanced and successful as it is without the education being regulated in this way.   

John F. Eberhart is equally as important to educational history as the report he wrote. Shortly before writing this report, John F. Eberhart, feeling that Cook County schools lacked the quality and competence that was required of a successful educational system, came up with the idea to hold the first teacher training institute; he is the reason that formal education for teachers is required today. In fact he took his training sessions one step farther when, just five years after writing The First Report of the Cook County Schools, John F. Eberhart founded Cook County Normal School which was the first teacher training institution.

Eberhart realized there was a need for such teacher training schools while spending “nearly 200 days” (Eberhart 32) visiting the schools across Cook County; the teachers were not the only issues, however. He also disagreed with the haphazard and unintegrated way that schools across the district were ran and offered several suggestions and ideas as to how to better run the schools in a more uniform manner because he felt that, “a uniformity, not only in each township, but in the whole county, is highly desirable, and to that end I shall direct earnest efforts” (Eberhart 26). He was not the only man who recognised the problem with having the schools as spread out and far apart as they were in Cook County, Illinois. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche also felt that the education suffers in that situation, "in large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad" (Lapham 147). Nietzsche felt that if public education was spread too thin without proper supervision reigning the individual schools in and regulating them, public education — and through it, the children and future of America — would suffer. John F. Eberhart felt that if every school was ran the same, children across the district would all be equally educated. He had 3000 copies printed to be distributed to the schools in the district as a set of “directions and suggestions” (Eberhart 2) for each school to follow. John F. Eberhart was able to spread his suggestions across his district; however, he was not the first man to have these ideas.

Where John F. Eberhart was the father of education in the midwest, Horace Mann was arguably the father of American public education in general. He believed that by combining every economical class’s education together, the country could hold a unified educational system that would allow for the advancement of the labor movement. More internally, Mann felt that moral and character development could be better taught in the school along side the reading, writing and arithmetic. He felt that this would lead to a country of men that were better prepared for the workforce. In Lectures on Education written in 1848, Mann says:

"Education, more than anything else, demands not only a scientific acquaintance with mental laws, but the nicest art in the detail and the application of means, for its successful prosecution; because influences, imperceptible in childhood, work out more and more broadly into beauty or deformity, in after-life. No unskillful hand should ever play upon a harp, where the tones are left, forever, in the strings." (Mann 16)

Just 14 years later, when the First Report of the Cook County Schools was written, it shows that Mann’s ideals have stretched at least to the midwest from its origins in Massachusetts; Mann’s ideals reached Eberhart thus proving that education reform was successfully spreading across the nation.   

Some areas of that reformation, one would assume, should not have needed to be stated in black and white. Eberhart’s opening paragraph concluded with, “The first, and perhaps greatest, care of the teacher and directors should be the health and comfort of the pupils, as no pupil can study to advantage, unless they are comfortable and well” (Eberhart 5). He felt the need to make the children’s comfort his number one priority. It is interesting to note again that this is a report that is given to every school he had recently visited and is essentially a list of reforms he feels must be put into action.   

Eberhart listed some items in his report that seem to be connected to policies that the current public education system holds true today. Things such as truancy and placement testing appear in his report, though they are not labelled as such. Truancy is labeled as an evil in the pupil that the teacher must remedy (Eberhart 6), and placement tests are referred to later as classification when he reminds the educators that if the children are, “... too far advanced for their class, a barrier is laid upon their progress; while, if they are not equal to it, they become discouraged” (Eberhart 8). He recognises that children must be taught at their level and later suggests a way to regulate that with a testing system that would allow for the pupils to be properly assigned the correct level of teaching.

Education is arguably the backbone of America. Without it, we would not have made it to the moon, the Wright brothers might not have created flight, and the internet — as we know it — would not exist. If it were not for reports and ideas like the ones John F. Eberhart listed in The First Report of the Cook County Schools, education would never be as advanced as it is currently, and one could argue that America itself would not be as we know it as well. “It is to the mutual interest of all parties that the schools be successful, and all interested should be more than willing to contribute their portion to its success” (Eberhart 29).  It takes reports and efforts such as this one to make a successful nation. It takes an entire nation working together towards a common goal to change things for the better. In short, Eberhart put it best when he said, “No school can be successful without a good system well followed out” (7). To take his idea further, it can be argued that no public education system can be successful without a good system as well. A system that he, himself, put forth into action over 150 years ago.

Works Cited

Eberhart, John F. First Report of the Cook County Schools. Chicago: Tribune Book and

Job Steam Printing Office, 1862. Open Library. Web. 8 Nov. 2014.

Lapham, Lewis H. Hotel America: Scenes in the Lobby of the Fin-de-sicle. London:

Verso, 1995. Web. 28 Nov. 2014.

Mann, Horace. Lectures on Education. Boston: WM. B. Fowle and N. Capen, 1845. Web.

28 Nov. 2014.

Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls: Katelyn Lauzon, "Universal Life Lessons Taught by Ruth Elmer"

Katelyn Lauzon

Dr. Teresa Coronado

English 226

9 December 2014

Universal Life Lessons Taught by Ruth Elmer

            These days children have a vast amount of information available to them in a variety of different formats. Some of the most prevalent are television, internet, and social media. However, the majority of the information from these sources can be very harmful to children and young adults because they often have no way of verifying its validity or determining if it has any real value. Children are very impressionable and it has always been a priority in our society to educate and care for our children so that they can become responsible adults. One of the very best (and oldest) ways of doing this is through books. Books force children to slow down and use their imagination. A child cannot become lost in a sea of questionable ads or accidently click on something inappropriate while reading a book. Also, a book can be taken virtually anywhere, as it does not require an internet signal to function. For as long as the written word has existed it has been used to record our experiences as humans and preserve the knowledge that we have gained. It is a natural, then, that a book should be used to teach the next generation the lessons and morals that we as a society most value. Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls does just that. It tells the story of a very relatable young girl, and in the process it teaches the reader positive ways of acting and dealing with the challenges we all face in life. It is also interesting that this story was written so long ago in 1855, and yet the message it sends is still applicable and appropriate for today’s reader. This book should be part of the Great Lakes Canon because it not only shows a glimpse of the values of a society that existed nearly 160 years ago, but also because it could still be of great value to children in today’s modern society.

            Some of the earliest children’s books (published in the 17^th-19^th century) were meant for nothing more than mere instruction, and contained things such as bible verses and the alphabet (Tunnel 80). They were popular in the American colonies with Puritans who believed that children were inherently evil and needed to be saved through strict and rigorous study (Tunnel 80). Children’s books began to come into their own in the 19^th century when writers such as the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Anderson started publishing fairy tales (Tunnel 81). In 1865 Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and in 1885 Robert Louis Stevenson published A Child’s Garden of Verses, both are books that are still enjoyed today (Tunnel 81). Throughout the rest of the 19^th century many more of today’s classic children’s stories were published and were instantly successful. Slowly the genre moved from stories that were clearly meant for instruction to stories that focused on relatable human experiences (Tunnel 81). The first of these was Little Women in 1868 and was followed by The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876 and Treasure Island in 1883. By offering children interesting and compelling stories with main characters that they could really relate to, the author’s of these books were able to grab the child’s attention and teach them the values of the time without the child knowing they were learning something. A book that merely preaches at a child will never be as effective as one that engages the child on multiple levels. Although it was published more than 10 years before the books mentioned above, Ruth Elmer used the same type of story which focused on a main character and her family in order to interest young readers while simultaneously reinforcing the values emphasized by the church.

            Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls was published in 1855 by the American Sunday School Union or ASSU. The ASSU was founded in Philadelphia in 1824 (Abate 85). It was comprised of five evangelical religious denominations: Baptist, Congregationalist, Low Church Episcopalian, Methodist, and Presbyterian (Abate 85). Its goal was to continue in the tradition of Sunday Schools and distribute literature that was uplifting and informative for the members of the church, especially children (Abate 85). For many children, the texts printed by the ASSU were the only narratives they were exposed to, and all of them had an underlying religious message (Abate 86). The widespread popularity of the ASSU publications is an indication of the values people in that time period held. Parents, and society in general, wanted their children to be taught about religion, and believed that religious teachings would prove beneficial for the well-being of their communities. Although it is not overtly religious, Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls uses religion in a way that suggests its great importance to Ruth and her family. The main focus of the first chapter is an experience Ruth has at school that greatly troubles her. She is mistreated by her friends and has to choose how she will respond to their actions. After a talk with her mother and some personal reflection time, Ruth decides to do what God would want and forgive her classmate (American Sunday School Union 38). She goes to school the next day and pretends nothing bad ever happened (39). She even volunteers to help some of the children who were mean to her (41). She feels a great sense of relief and joy when she finds she is able to truly forgive them and not hold any residual negativity towards them (44). This example of teaching a child the right way to handle conflict shows the priorities of people in 1855. Not only did they value non-violent, non-confrontational conflict resolution, they also emphasized how a relationship with God and an understanding of the teachings of the Bible can help a person to choose the right path in any given situation. The best thing about Ruth’s situation is that it focuses on her and how she should handle her problems. The book is not preachy like some of the early instruction-based children’s books and it does not simply state bible verses that tell the right thing to do. Instead, it teaches the same lesson in a way that is interesting and causes the reader to sympathize with Ruth, and even come to like her. Once the reader forms a relationship with Ruth and begins to care about what happens to her they are more likely to be receptive to the overall message of the book. This is of course the goal of children’s books and was certainly the goal of the Authors of Ruth Elmer.

            Another reason this book is so compelling is that it is written in a way that is clear and easy to understand, even by today’s standards. Many modern readers cringe at the idea of a text from 1855, thinking it will use archaic language that must be decoded before it is understood. However, this is entirely untrue with Ruth Elmer. It is written in a very similar style to fiction books today. Ruth is relatable to readers of all ages, and the struggles her and her family face are still relevant 160 years later. After Ruth is able to resolve the conflict with her classmates, the story moves on to a much more serious problem. Ruth’s father makes a bad real estate investment and loses his family’s entire savings (49). They can no longer afford to send their children to school, and instead the children must find work in order to help support the family (54). After selling their home and most of their possessions, the family finds a tiny apartment and begins to look for work (52).  The most inspiring aspect of this part of the story is the way the family comes together and supports each other. None of the children are angry at their father, and the mother never criticizes her husband in any way. This is a lesson that many families today could benefit from. Teenagers especially are prone to defying their parents instead of trying to help them. Seeing an example of a family that works together to solve their problems could help to positively influence a child who relates to Ruth and sees her as a role model.

            The relevance of this book goes beyond its ability to inspire and educate readers. The fact that it was published at a relatively early time in American history makes it a valuable link to the people of that time. Not only that, but it can also give contemporary readers a glimpse at the society that is the basis for how we live today. It is easy for people to forget that our society is the way it is because of everything that came before it. We did not simply climb off the Mayflower and start listening to rap music and wearing Ugg boots. There is a long tradition in this country of people learning from the experiences of those who came before them and trying to do better. Our technology and our clothing and our entertainment all developed over time from the people who lived 200 years ago. A book like Ruth Elmer allows us to see early society and shows us the similarities and differences that exist, the things that we are doing better, the things that have changed drastically, and more importantly the things that have not changed much at all. 

            Over the past few centuries children’s novels have developed from simplistic educational tools into thought provoking stories that provide relatable human experiences. It is true that “literature aimed at young readers has always reflected society’s attitudes about children” (Tunnell 80). Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls tells us that society in 1855 valued children who were well educated and held strong religious beliefs. They also believed that the best way to teach these values to children wasn’t to preach at them and make them memorize bible verses. Instead, they offered children a simple story about a relatable character and made the learning process so enjoyable that it was almost effortless. This book is a great link to pre-1865 American society. The story of an everyday family trying to make it in the world is one that we can all relate to. Being able to get a glimpse into what a family looked like in 1855 as opposed to how it looks today is a truly valuable tool in understanding that time period. Reading a history book or academic journal is beyond the scope and the interest of the everyday person. However, reading the story of a family in plain and easy to understand English is something that many more people would be willing to do. It allows them to not only see how society functioned 150 years ago, but also to see what values from that period we still hold dear today.

 

 

Works Cited

Abate, Michelle Ann. "From Christian Conversion To Children's Crusade: The Left Behind Series For Kids And The Changing Nature Of Evangelical Juvenile Fiction." Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures 2.1 (2010): 84-112. Literary Reference Center. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

American Sunday School Union. Ruth Elmer: A Tale for School Girls. Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1855. Print.

Tunnell, Michael O., and James S. Jacobs. "The Origins And History Of American Children's Literature." Reading Teacher 67.2 (2013): 80-86. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

 Link to Primary Text: https://books.google.com/books?id=4bQXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=ruth+elmer+a+tale+for+school+girls&source=bl&ots=ci4Di0gkF-&sig=yIVl4o7sgRSP5a4HCdPvH5KlBuk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xCmHVOyMMsWxyATd9IGADQ&ved=0CFUQ6AEwDg#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

The Life of Laura , Final Revision

Elizabeth Garza

Dr. Coronado

English 226

12/07/2014

The Life of Laura: The Relevance of Publishing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Family Correspondence

The life and times of  the Ingalls family have captured the hearts and imaginations of many generations.  Many of us know about the pioneer story from reading the Little House books or watching the television series.  There are not many venues that have  brought history alive for so many children the way Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories did. Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in Pepin Wisconsin in 1867. Her family moved throughout the Midwest. Laura started writing her books, at her daughter’s request when she was in her sixties. She wrote nine books in all  about her life as a pioneer girl (Discover Laura Website).

These letters from the family correspondence of the Ingalls Wilder should be published, the relevance is in that it explores our history as  a country, but also for many of us it is tied to our own personal history.  I remember reading the books, dressing up as Laura for Halloween and watching the television series.  I have done the same things with my own children and seen history come alive for them as I shared part of my childhood with them.  

This much beloved author and books is still relevant, widely read and studied today. Little House sites and historic museums and fairs are all over the Midwest where Laura lived.  Thousands of visitors each year come to visit and explore the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The relevance of a body of literature that can inspire such a following speaks in and of itself as to why the Laura Ingall’s Wilder Family Correspondence should be published.  

Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first Little House book in 1932. The series gives children an important glimpse of what pioneer life was like. It shows the struggles they faced but also shows the joys they had as well.  The books are still  extremely popular today and have spun off new series from the originally ones she wrote. The books have been around for eighty two years and they are still loved by children and grownups alike.  The television series celebrated its forty year anniversary on September 14th and it still can be seen in syndication.  I also see the significance of sharing the letters to show a more realistic view of what life was like for the Ingalls family.  The Little House series is obviously a series written with children as its target audience , while it does show the hardships of frontier life it does  do it in a way that is appropriate for children.  The Ingalls Family Correspondence shows a more realistic account  of what was taking place, a less sugar coated version . In the Little House Series, we heard about Scarlet Fever but in the letters we see a vivid picture how it affects someone:  

“ You asked me to describe the disease Ma had, but I don't know as I can. They called it the Scarlet Dyptheria [scarlet fever]. She was of a scarlet red from head to foot and of a burning heat, and when she began to get better the skin came off all over her. She could peel it off in large pieces; all her finger nails came off and as I told you before she has not the full use of two of them yet. She suffered much. You cannot imagine nor I describe how much. “  ( Letter to Martha Quiner Carpenter, Oct. 6, 1861, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Family Correspondence). This passage shows in detail the horrors of this disease that is only mentioned in The Little House Books. This in-depth and accurate description shows us what life was really like during that time period.  

The books are still relevant to scholars today.  There was a great debate as to whether or not Mary Ingalls had become blind due to the scarlet fever as was stated in her books.  Researches studied historical documents and came to the conclusion that this was not true. They wrote a paper discussing their findings.  

“Herein, we examine the plausibility of scarlet fever as the cause of Mary Ingalls’ blindness by systematically analyzing biographical documents, local newspapers, school registries, and epidemiologic data on blindness and infectious disease in the years when Mary and Laura Ingalls were children. We conclude that Mary’s blindness was probably caused not by scarlet fever but by viral meningoencephalitis” (Blindness in Walnut Grove: How Did Mary Ingalls Lose Her Sight?) This article was reported on by news stations, newspapers and magazines.  There was quite a fervor over this article, this shows that it stilled had importance and relevance to many people.  

The relevance of these books to readers and fans worldwide would provide a more than adequate audience for publishing of the letters from the family.  Laura Ingalls Wilder first wrote a autobiography, “Pioneer Girl” that was thought inappropriate to publish. The book was turned instead to the children’s series of books.  “The Pioneer Girl” was just released in November of 2014 by the  South Dakota Historical Society Press. This highly awaited book will arrive in book stores shorty. It has been a much publicized release. US News Today did an article on it speaking with the publisher, "In terms of scope — nothing less than the total illumination of a critical literary work that gave birth to one of the greatest and most influential classics of American literature — the project is breathtaking for us, and we hope that it will be for readers, too," said Koupal” (US News Today, Ellis).  This classic of American Literature is still relevant today as it was when the books were first published.  The interest in them as shown by the publication and excitement of this recent release has not diminished.   

The Letters are also interesting as a reference to the Little House Books. The letters bring to life characters and situations that are written about in the the series, such as Aunt Martha and Uncle Charles who lived by them in Pepin , Wisconsin in the Little House in the Big Woods. The letters, sixty-seven of them in all covers a thirty year period which gives a snapshot of history from eyewitness points of view. I found these letters on the Recollection Wisconsin Site.  The letters are written by Aunts , Uncles and the mother of Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The letters describe hardship, war and the events that were taking place in the mid to late 1800’s. The first letter from Laura’s mother Caroline to her sister, is written on October 6, 1861, six years before Laura is born. .  

The first letter from Caroline Ingalls to her sister and brother shows the hardships that the families faced.  First they are stricken by the scarlett fever, then Father Ingalls, Eliza and Peter are forced to move off their land because Father Ingalls can no longer work the land because he is too old and ill. This letter shows Father Ingalls, struggling:  “Father Ingalls folks have gone up to the head waters of the Baraboo River. They started last Tuesday. They felt very bad about leaving their place and it was too bad. They were too old to be moving; but Pa did his best to save it but he could not. Peter and Eliza have gone with them” (Recollection Wisconsin, Ingalls). This letter shows a realistic view of how the family is impacted by what they face. This is important for people to see what life was really like and what the pioneers faced on a daily basis.   

The historical references in the letters give personal emphasis and encounters to historical terms and situations.  The war is shown from a personal point of view,

“We stayed there but a short time, when we struck tents and we marched twenty two miles south to Harpers Ferry, the place where the John Brown Tragedy was enacted. The country around Harpers Ferry is quite different country from what I expected to See, it is decidedly a hard looking place and a hard looking country around it. The armory at the Ferry has been burnt down with about half of the town, has been burnt by the Rebles who vacated that place on hearing of the aproach of our troops” (Recollection Wisconsin).  These letters give a first person account to events that happened in our history.  

The Letters from the family of Laura Ingalls Wilder brings to life an important period of American History.  Like “The Little House Books” they bring relevance to a time of growth and strife in our country.   These letters also give more insight into a much beloved author’s life and personal history.  These letters would have mass appeal to generations of fans, who fell in love with the little pioneer girl. Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 

Works Cited

Allexan, Sarah S., BA, Carrie L. Byington, MD, Jerome I. Finkelstein, MD, and Beth A. Tarini, MD.  

"Blindness in Walnut Grove: How Did Mary Ingalls Lose Her Sight?" Blindness in Walnut Grove: How Did Mary Ingalls Lose Her Sight? N.p., 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Ellis, Jonathan. "Laura Ingalls Wilder Memoir Offers Candid View of Her Life." USA Today. Gannett, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/17/laura-ingalls-wilder-pioneer-girl/19175101/>.

"Frequently Asked Questions." Discover Laura Ingalls Wilder-Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes-De Smet, SD. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. <http://www.discoverlaura.org/discover.html>.

"Laura Ingalls Wilder's Autobiography Reveals the Rough Truth." NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Laura Ingalls Wilder. "Laura Ingalls Wilder Family Correspondence." Laura Ingalls Wilder Family Correspondence (2011): 1-67. Recollection Wisconsin. Web. 16 Sept. 2014. <http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/quiner/id/46269>.

Website to view the letters :  <http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/quiner/id/46269>.

Book of Diseases: Brandon Boozer, Thomas Jessop's Book of Diseases

Brandon Boozer

Professor Coronado

12/09/14

ENGL 226

Thomas Jessop’s Book of Diseases

            American history is a melting pot holding a mixture of classic works of art that expand through various scholarly disciplines. Politics, economics, geography, and more share a connection in literature through various authors such as Thomas Jefferson, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The list goes on. What some may often overlook over the course of American history is the practice of medicine and how doctors researched and practiced their treatments. In a small cloth-bound journal that belonged to Thomas Jessop entitled “Book of Diseases with Medicines Proper for Each,” there lies an alphabetized series of entries of various medical conditions, most of which are described in detail with various treatments, all in relation to the time period. Additionally accompanying several entries are newspaper cutouts that give recommendations for treatments and cures. Some may wonder what this has to do with other authors like Jefferson or Thoreau. This journal, while it may not hold the same historical importance as Jefferson’s literature, provides a first-hand account of medicinal practices that are also in connection with newspapers and journalism, which is in itself a big part of literature and American history. The contents of this journal gives us an idea of how the practice of medicine really was around this time period and also provides a sense of accomplishment in how far the scientific community has come in the past two hundred years.

            Thomas Jessop’s journal lies in a collection of documents entitled, “The Bottomley Papers.” In the collection, there is little detail specifically regarding Thomas Jessop, his journal, or is history. Along with the collection is a series of notes by Thomas H. Skewe, who researched the Bottomley family. These notes indicate a Thomas Jessop Bottomley, born in 1840, who married into the Bottomley family (Skewe 13). Jessop’s journal is dated 1791, so this is clearly not the same person, but most likely a relative of Thomas Jessop Bottomley who somehow acquired and kept his family member’s medical journal. Other than this small bit of information, all we know about Thomas Jessop is that he migrated from London to the Milwaukee area, which is documented by an expense list towards the back of the journal. Nevertheless, Jessop’s journal still holds the same value through the demonstration of medicine in the late 1700’s and its correlation to medicine today.

              As Jessop’s journal is organized alphabetically, the first entry after the title page is “Abortion.” Jessop gives a brief summary of symptoms of what seem to be pregnancy complications that may require pregnancy termination such as “unusual heaviness of the loins or hips…shivering and shaking…pain of the head…belly above the navel” (Jessop 1). These symptoms may not seem that urgent, but relative to a time lacking in medical expertise, they may have been that urgent and severe. Jessop goes on to list a “Method of Cure” that states “keep the body open with manna or rhubarb and bleed in the third month more or less according to the constitution of the patient” (Jessop 1). The way this was treated brings particular curiosity into the way that society viewed abortion. As a time period known particularly for more Puritan-like beliefs, one may infer that abortion was looked down upon and treated with the strictest of punishments. However, many people in this time period had conflicting views on the subject. Very much like today, many believed it to be a wretched thing to do while others maintained that it was a woman’s certain right to have complete say over their children, born or not (van de Walle 124, 127). Abortion is not the only entry developed specifically for women’s issues, but is only one among others such as “Cancer of the Womb” or “Barrenness” (Jessop 17).

            Additionally, Jessop’s journal has a method of cure for a woman who is having consistent trouble trying to reproduce. Jessop’s method that he portrays in his journal is one of many particularly strange or outlandish ways that he and the correlating newspaper recommends. Jessop notates in journal “…give oil of sweet margarine with a little musk mixed with the rennet of a hare,” which if read literally, means a mixture of margarine, deer musk extract, and hare cheese (Jessop 17). Jessop’s treatment is obviously ridiculous and most positive results of this treatment more than likely were nothing but coincidence. However, they were not too strange compared to the information on the subject that was being provided to the people through published newspapers. The entry’s accompanying newspaper clip instructs the patient to eat a coal covered mixture of various plant extract in the presence of a man (Jessop 17). While some may think that these treatments are not worth reading, they would be neglecting to realize that these unusual treatments were widely published throughout many areas of the country. It was a form of journalism which is directly related to American literature, as well as American history. Jessop’s journal was not only filled with abnormal treatments for complicated illnesses and disorder, but it also contains treatments that were more developed and useful for common illnesses and disorders of that time period such as gout, colds, and deep wounds.

           

            With the way of the times, medicine was clearly far less practical and developed than it is today. However, as people in this time period in America put in far more excruciating laborious hours of work in severely poor conditions, cases of things such as a cold, gout, deep wounds, and headaches were arguably more common than they are now. With these things occurring more frequently, the need to keep working with them through horrible working conditions, and the under-developed medicine practice, the need for experimentation for these common conditions was necessary, due to the underdeveloped treatments. For instance, when Jessop suggests that licorice, brown sugar, and lemon juice mixed with water may help cure a common cold, it very well could work as a cough suppressant or relieve other symptoms (Jessop 55).

            Along with both the unusual remedies and possibly practical treatments, some of the entries in Jessop’s journal leave a somewhat eerie sense of disparity. Throughout the journal, there are a handful of entries for conditions that people in the medical community still struggle to treat today. One instance of this happening in Jessop’s journal is his entry notating his discoveries on cancer, or lack thereof. The entire page on this crippling illness is left blank, only accompanied by yet another newspaper antidote that certainly could never affect a cancer-ridden patient. It is interesting to see that the helplessness some people face when dealing with terminal cancer is demonstrated through this aged, blank journal entry. There are several other entries left empty such as “brains inflammation,” “brains commotion,” “melancholy,” “plague,” and most unsettling of all, “nightmare of incubus.” These entries, while they do not contain any actual information, are still part of the experience one receives from reading Jessop’s journal.

           

Through the correlation of medicine, journalism, and literature, Thomas Jessop’s “Book of Diseases with Medicines Proper for Each” and his collection of newspaper columns holds great significance in not only our history as a country, but also the history of medical community. Almost all of these entries have no practical use, so it is easy to dismiss this piece of history of having any significance. However, this journal gives one a glimpse into how trusted the press used to be while, at the same time, putting medical advances into perspective. Without artifacts like Jessop’s journal, there would be no comparison with the history of journalism, which is the greatest thing to take out of this collection. The only way to communicate ways of treatment and anything in that needed to be spread, it was done through journalistic publications, so these were generally more trusted sources of information, in comparison to the problem that people face in the current day with the media. Jessop’s journal should be read and studied by anyone who has an interest in the history of medicine and the correspondence between the medical community and the general public of America in the 1800s.           

           

Works Cited

Jessop, Thomas. “Book of Diseases with Medicines Proper for Each.” 1791. N.p. 1-152. Print.

Skewe, Thomas H. “Notes on the Bottomley Family.” N.d. N.p. 10-13. Print.

Van de Walle. Etienne. “Towards a Demographic History of Abortion.” Population: An English Selection, Vol. 11. Institut National d'Études Démographiques. 1999. 115-131. Web.

           

Darius Green and his Flying Machine, Ashley Garreau, Mimicking the Birds

Ashley Garreau

Professor Teresa Coronado

ENG 226 American Literature to 1855

25 November 2014

Mimicking the Birds

John T. Trowbridge's poem, "Darius Green and his Flying Machine,” was published in a volume entitled “Vagabonds and Others” in Boston and New York by Houghton Mifflin Co., written in 1869.  This text is a once-famous now almost forgotten poem that launched the entire idea of boy geniuses and the creation of steam-driven machines, hence making it a big early contributor to the concept of steampunk.  The poem also tells a whimsical and playful tale of a very intelligent son of a farmer who takes his dreams and tries to make them a reality with clever invention. Besides being a symbol of an entire culture and a playful introduction to what the world has commonly used as a method of transportation, the airplane, it is also very inspiring to the American dreamer with the common human longings to do great things with their own mind and hands. It is important in understanding American culture before 1870 because the poem gives us a look into a simpler time before all the higher technology came around, when people were starting to get many ideas of invention and creations that have evolved  into what they are today from those simpler starting points. It is always important to see how things start because it seems to be a common pattern that history repeats itself. It is also significant to research to keep track of the beginning of a process to understand its evolution. Trowbridge shows a good representation of the start to creating a flying machine.

John T. Trowbridge was born in Ogden, New York on September 18, 1827 and had an early interest for literature and published his first poem at the age of 13 (Wikipedia).  He received a fantastic education growing up and started working as a teacher and on a farm for one year in Illinois (Wikipedia).  In 1847, he moved to New York City to become an author and there he was able to publish in periodicals as well as working in a pencil case engraving factory (Wikipedia).  Trowbridge later moved to Boston in 1848 and married in 1860, then in June 1867, he bought a house in Arlington Massachusetts where he lived until his death on February 12, 1916 (Wikipedia).  He wrote many adventure stories and juvenile novels and poems during his writing career and is today best remembered for his study, “The South: A Tour of Its Battlefields and Ruined Cities” in 1866 (Wikipedia). Trowbridge was a very good and “judicious” friend to Walt Whitman and they inspired each other’s writing careers. He became known for his work appealing to a more youthful audience.

Trowbridge was a very popular poet in the seventies and eighties, especially with the younger generation.  One critic wrote that Trowbridge started a new era in juvenile American literature (Modern Language Quarterly).  The poem, “Darius Green and his Flying Machine”, is about an intuitive farm boy who straps mechanical wings that he creates to his back and attempts to fly by jumping out of his barn loft. Trowbridge writes the verse, "Darius was clearly of the opinion / That the air is also man's dominion / And that with paddle or fin or pinion, / We soon or late shall navigate / The azure as now we sail the sea" (37-43). This was very prophetic to American culture with our progression in our abilities of aviation. Trowbridge dreamed of a successful flying machine and little did he know, they would be perfected and become a very common use of transportation. 

There are some very intriguing Greek mythology references within the poem relating to having the power of flight.  Trowbridge writes, “And wise he must have been to do more/ Than ever a genius did before/ Excepting Daedalus of yore/ And his son Icarus, who wore/ Upon their backs/ Those wings of wax/ He had read about in the old almanacs” (30-36).  Trowbridge is comparing the genius and heroism of Darius Green for his inspiring invention to the mythological Greek figures Daedalus and his son Icarus.  In the myth they are both trapped in a tower and since they cannot leave by land or sea, Daedalus starts fabricating wings for him and Icarus to escape and teaches him how to fly them. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too high for the sun would melt the wax of the wings and not fly too low for the sea would soak the feathers. Icarus ends up flying too close to the sun and melts his wings and drowns in the sea.  There is a historical parallel between the poem and the myth for Darius Green crashes at the end of the poem like Icarus when he attempts to fly.  It is an eye-opening example of mankind from many periods and cultures of time always having that desire to be like the birds and control the airwaves. As Darius reasons in the poem, “The birds can fly, ‘an why can’t I?” (48-49). Many more to come have attempted to take flight in imaginative and inventive ways, such as in the genre, Steampunk.

Flight also became a huge theme in the Steampunk subculture, with airships and various other flying machines becoming typically Steampunk, in which case Darius’s flying contraption, was like an early form of the popular subculture.  There are many popular tales of boy geniuses, one example is the cartoon, “Dexter’s Lab” from the nineties generation which comes to mind, But Darius was one of the first who launched the idea and was very influential on writers like Edward S. Ellis who some date as the beginning of steampunk next to Trowbridge’s poem.  Darius’s adventures launched the idea that continues to be popular today.  There are many inventors out there still trying to create new concepts, especially involving flight, such as the futuristic dream of jet packs and hover cars which is popular within the Steampunk genre.  Though in the poem, Darius does not succeed with his invention, many others took inspiration from his attempts and found ways to make it a successful one.

At the end of the poem, Darius jumps from the barn loft with his flying machine and crashes to the ground in a failed attempt.  In lines 212-216 Trowbridge states, “Shall we notice the moral here/ This is the moral: stick to your sphere/But, if you insist, as you have a right/on spreading your wings for a loftier flight/the  moral is take care how you light!” He explains that the moral is to stay on the ground and not fly, but if you do, to watch for lack of vision and perhaps lack of intelligence by referring to “light” or could also be referencing to the sun melting the wings like in the tale of Daedalus and Icarus which is referenced in earlier lines.  There could also be a religious connotation in relating to god’s divine light and trying to go against his plan since humans weren’t born with the ability of flight.  This may further be supported with the lines, “As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear, Heels over head, to his proper sphere” (190-191). Trowbridge states that humans belong on the ground which is originally as most would assume god intended.  As we know though, aviators today did not take Trowbridge’s advice in sticking to the earth, because flying machines have evolved greatly since the idea of Darius’s creation.  His story very much works parallel with that of the Wright Brothers in their escapades to invent a working flying machine.

Just as flight was a dream for Darius in the poem, it was also the same for the Wright brothers. Orville and Wilbur Wright were two American brothers, inventors, and aviation pioneers who are credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered ability of flight possible for humans in 1903.  Before and after the Wright’s demonstrations of powered, fixed-wing flight, Physicists concluded that nobody was going to leave the ground by strapping wings to their arms and flapping around.  This was heavily demonstrated in Trowbridge’s poem about Darius Green.  Darius learns in the poem that inventing and attempting to fly is very fun, but the crash landing is not.  Trowbridge established a hero that could be categorized with many others, who hoped to fly and be successful, which aviation historians classify as ornithopters which means “bird wings”.  The Wright brothers started off just as a couple of young Darius Greens and pushed on even after the crash landings.

Overall, the poem, “Darius Green and his Flying Machine” by John Townsend Trowbridge is a good representation of how American dreamers of that time could go to great heights, literally in the case of Darius Green, to perfect their invention, which is still relevant to how inventors are still coming up with new ideas every day.  Humans have always been fascinated and envious of bird’s power of flight. The airplane is somewhat of a romantic symbol in literature for the romanticized ideas of the power of flight, and even thinking religiously, it gets people closer to god.  Aviation is still a growing concept in the minds of many engineers and genius inventors and this poem is a symbol of that intelligent process of construction. There are many fans of Steampunk in this day and age as well as many Engineers out there that can appreciate the first and messy trials and errors to aviation and flying machines as well as the representation of the process of going through said trials and error when creating any new invention.  This poem is a good addition to the Great Lakes Canon because it’s all about the evolution of ideas which will always be essential to worldly growth and we will always be mimicking the birds.

Work Cited

"Daedalus and Icarus." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

"John Townsend Trowbridge." Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation, 16 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

 Coleman, Rufus A. “Trowbridge and Clemens.” EBSCO Host. 9: 216-223. Modern Language Quarterly 1948. Web. 16 November 2014.

Nevins, Jess. "Darius Green, the Boy Who Launched Steampunk." Io9. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

The Biography of John Townsend Trowbridge. "The Biography of John Townsend Trowbridge." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.

Trowbridge, John T. "Full Text of "Darius Green and His Flying-machine." Internet Archive. Houghton Mifflin Company, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014.