Chambersburg's African-American Civil War Veterans

The Mt. Vernon and Lebanon Cemeteries in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, are the final resting place of over 50 African-American Civil War veterans.  In Spring 2010, Shippensburg University history majors under the direction of Steven Burg set about the task of recovering as much of their life stories as possible.  The result is the book Dum Spiro, Spero: Chambersburg's Black Civil War Soldiers and Sailors, published under the auspices of the Shippensburg University Center for Applied History.  Today many still remember hostility to returning Vietnam War soldiers, but the greatest disrespect for U.S. veterans was unquestionably that shown to African-Americans in earlier times, who had to battle racism during and even after their military service.

Much of the material on the actual lives of the soldiers is scanty, with pension files as the most commonly cited source.  Because of this, we usually know more about their lives after the war than we do before.  We also know their units, and thus where they fought.  At the time of the Civil War, Chambersburg's Franklin County had the highest percentage of African-Americans in Pennsylvania, and the area around Green Township was even known as "Little Africa."  Many of the veterans were born into slavery, and perhaps escaped to Franklin County via the Underground Railroad.  Most were foot soldiers, though George Tall was in the navy and Ebenezer Massey in the drum and bugle corps.  The Siege of Petersburg which ended the war, the Battle of Honey Hill in Georgia, and sentry duty at Point Lookout POW camp were common scenes of action, but two of the men, David Hogan and David Kelly, wound up patrolling the Rio Grande.

The book includes sixteen brief essays on what is known of a soldier and the context for their individual lives and service.  An appendix includes an additional 35 capsule biographies.  As far as I can see, the book has three potential audiences.  One is those interested in the local history of Franklin County, especially regional Civil War history.  Another is history educators interested in what such a class research project might look like.  Finally, those with professional academic interests in the topic might find uses for some of it, such as for developing prosopography.

Field Hockey Champions

Congratulations to Shippensburg University's field hockey team, which tonight brought home the schools first NCAA national championship trophy in any sport:

The fate of the 2013 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship rested Sunday afternoon on the stick of Shippensburg University All-American senior forward Bre White.

Convert a penalty stroke – five minutes into sudden-death overtime – and win a national championship...

White converted right side through a small window between the outstretched left arm and left leg of the LIU Post goalkeeper as SU knocked off the previously-unbeaten Pioneers, 2-1, on a chilly, windy afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex on the campus of Old Dominion University.

Shippensburg's nine-member senior class – White, Katie Shoop, Carenna Neely, Taylor Bender, Lauren Taylor, Danielle Proctor, Brynn Seidenstricker, Megan Jett and Brittany Jett – conclude an historic four-year run with a 75-10 record, three appearances in the NCAA Semifinals, two appearances in the NCAA Championship Game and one NCAA Championship.

The team's final record on the year is 20-1.

Shippensburg International Studies

Shippensburg University is all but certain to have an international studies major up and running for Fall 2013 and beyond:

The SU Council of Trustees approved the creation of the major, tentatively scheduled to begin this fall, at its March 15 meeting. The proposal now needs final approval by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Board of Governors; that could come in April.

The addition of a major to SU’s international studies program, which started in 1996, is a natural and needed progression, according to Jonathan Skaff, professor of history and director of international studies...

Shippensburg has 122 courses in international studies spread across 21 disciplines in the College of Arts and Sciences, the John L. Grove College of Business and the College of Education and Human Services — more than enough for a major, Skaff said...

Tracy Schoolcraft, associate provost and dean of graduate studies, said the PASSHE board must approve a new major after a vote by an individual university’s trustees. The board will consider the proposal at its April 10 meeting.

Conservatives and Higher Education

This study finding that only 21% of American conservatives have a favorable view of college professors and doubt the value of higher education more broadly is unsurprising:

"The importance of ideology to the value that the typical American attaches to higher education is tremendous. When I construct a statistical model that accounts for a person's income, gender, education, race, where they live, and whether or not they are the parent of a minor child -- conservatism is the single most powerful predictor of whether a person thinks a college education is important to financial success, the effect a person thinks college has on political ideology, and their opinion of college professors. In fact, political ideology is more strongly associated with a person's views on college professors than it is their views on President Obama! When compared to liberals, the amount that conservatives discount the value of college is about the same amount that persons with high school diplomas discount college when compared with college graduates."

I found myself reflecting on this last week when I was on a panel at a Shippensburg University Criminal Justice Department symposium on the death penalty. I was there to add an international perspective, talking about the death penalty in the Middle East. The other three speakers talked about the economics of the death penalty, the history of executions in the United States, and public opinion on the topic. The question period, however, was dominated by conservatives who were apparently inclined to disregard the established ground rules that the symposium was not a political debate and aggressively question whether the panel was adequately balanced with people for and against capital punishment.

For the record, I do not know where my colleagues stood on the topic, and I was not asked when I was recruited. If I had answered, I would have said I oppose capital punishment because it is so differentially applied based on factors such as race and income, and because I don't trust courts enough to be able to dispense such ultimate justice in a fair and efficient way. The former probably qualifies as a liberal reason, whereas the latter aligns with a conservative suspicion of human reason leading to a desire to limit government power. The woman moderating the panel, trying to keep it on track and away from the "Are you politically balanced?" diversion, said she would favor the death penalty as long as it was applied to everyone who committed similar heinous crimes.

The question on my mind, however, is what I or anyone else would have said differently if our opinions were different? The application of the death penalty in Morocco and Saudi Arabia is what it is. The same is true of the rates of execution represented in graph form in American history, as well as preferred methods of education. I'm assuming that my colleague from political science did not falsify her data on continuing public support for the death penalty even as states move away from it. In other words, our opinions on what should happen was completely irrelevant to our portrayal of the way the world was.

This leads me to wonder, in my own discipline of history, what would be different if I had more conservative colleagues. There are, in fact, reputable conservative historians, but a lot of the basic information and interpretations isn't in dispute. The biggest thing you would have instead, I think, is different coverage. Conservatives might spend more time on the successes of the American political system at the expense of most African-American and women's history. Military history would also have a more prominent place in the academy. You would also, almost certainly, see the choice to have more "Western Civilization" courses and fewer "World History" ones.

That last division is the clearest example I can find pointing to what I think is a core part of the conservative discontent with higher education in the humanities and social sciences, and that is a view of education as an incubator of group loyalty in which people learn about their heritage. At this point, I want to qualify generalizations based on political movements, particularly those as large and, even today, as diverse as "conservatism." I do think, however, that the dominant trend of conservative approaches to history and literature is as I have described it. When faculty discuss curriculum, however, we usually think about what knowledge we perceive students as needing, and in a diverse world, that often involves knowledge of the Other. In history, we try to point out important themes, trends and events, but as far as I can tell no one kids themselves that we can dictate through what philosophy, religious convictions, or other value systems students process them.

This leads inexorably, I think, to what I see as the core flaw of today's American conservatism, and that is its failure of empathy. If the only knowledge you value is that which buttresses your own group identity, then you cannot understand the perspectives of others, and you often see them simply as malignant and threatening forces which alter and perhaps threaten the world you hold dear. It is this sort of logic that leads so many conservatives to see, in a contraception mandate clearly laid out as a response to concerns of women, one battle in a "War on Christianity" which is perhaps an expansion of a "War on Christmas." Given your frame of reference, you wind up seeing everything as about you. Much of contemporary conservatism is, in effect, motivated by a sense of victimization that is blind to the trials of others.

This is ultimately bad for conservatism as a philosophical position in American politics, as well as for the conservative Christianity that many conservatives claim is their primary concern. If you simply demonize people and make them your enemies, you can expect them to respond in kind. The flight of Latinos from the Republican Party is a case in point, as much of the GOP base neither knows nor cares much about them aside from the fact that immigration is perceived as a threat. You might temporarily gain the levers of government power that way, but in the long run, you won't bring about the change in social values you seek.

Shippensburg in Iraq

I don't intend to become my university's new publicist, but this month saw the beginning of an initiative to have Shippensburg assist with the development of business education in Iraq:

"The two-year grant has three components and different individuals will work on the components simultaneously. Their initial visit will be to assess the present situation. Kooti has no illusions about the state of colleges and universities in Iraq as 'higher education has suffered significantly since the 1980s and it has continued to decline until recently.'

"The first component will be to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a center for excellence in finance and banking. 'We will work with the government, the ministry of higher education in Iraq, as well as the private sector banking and financial (businesses) to see how we will be able to establish the center in Baghdad.'

"The second component will be to establish a center for excellence for Iraqi colleges of management and economics. 'The objective is to improve the business programs in selected universities to improve their curriculum to update and upgrade their programs. We will look at capacity building, working with their faculty and their staff to determine what resources are needed. It will be a center for teaching excellence.'

"The third component will be to use the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) standards to assure quality of the programs, the development of administrative capacity and guidance. Grove College has long held AACSB accreditation. By employing the process that AACSB provides, Kooti believes Iraqi colleges and universities will provide a high caliber education, which will be needed as Iraq transitions into a new government, economy and way of life."

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

Ship Student Watch

Another student from our applied history graduate program is out benefiting society:

"(Michael) Fauser, a graduate student in Shippensburg’s applied history, spent the recent semester break as part of the prestigious Lipper Internship Program Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Lower Manhattan. He was one of 16 interns who learned how to teach 20th Century Jewish history and the Holocaust to young people.

"During his time in New York, he studied the museum’s exhibitions, heard testimony from Holocaust survivors and attended seminars led by the museum’s scholars. Having completed the initial program, he will visit high school classrooms to discuss the museum’s offerings and pave the way for the young learners to visit the museum in New York. Since the program started in 1998, interns have worked with more than 50,000 students from around the Northeast, according to museum information."

Shippensburg U.S. History Projects

Students in the first half of Shippensburg's U.S. history survey are challenged to do research and present it in different ways:

"At the beginning of the semester, the students are charged with the responsibility of presenting a balanced historical interpretation that is accessible and interesting to a broad demographic.

"'I want them to think of the professional, analytical and aesthetic concerns that they will face,' he said. 'I want to fire up their passions.'

"Last Wednesday, Dec. 7, the students in two sections of Dieterich-Ward’s Early History of the United States course had the opportunity to display their hard work to ‘celebrity judges,’ which included university faculty and community members...

"Many of the students were pleased with the opportunity to explore historical topics in more depth, and were especially excited about the challenge of displaying information in a dynamic and engaging manner.

"'This is one of the only times we get to go outside of what is taught in class and learn in depth one piece of history,' said Alex Kramer, 20, Philadelphia. 'I like that we can research our own ideas and can then form our own opinions about things...'

"For other groups, the challenge came in making the information come to life in dynamic ways.

"'We decided to design a voting booth because it was more interactive than a tri-fold,' said Rachel Tyrpin, 21, Pine Grove. The group explored the Freedmen’s Bureau’s role in the overall reconstruction efforts of the South in the decades following the Civil War."

Why Study History?

Historiann asks, "What is the point of learning history?" I like the answer of Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Mas'udi, called the "Imam of Historians" in premodern Muslim civilization:

"For any branch of knowledge to exist, it must be derived from history. From it all wisdom is deduced, all jurisprudence is elicited, all eloquence is learnt. Those who reason by analogy build upon it. Those who have opinions to expound use it for argument. Popular knowledge is derived from it and the precepts of the wise are found in it. Noble and lofty morality is acquired from it and the rules of royal government and war are sought in it. All manner of strange events are found in it; in it, too, all kinds of entertaining stories may be enjoyed. It is a science which can be appreciated by both the educated and the ignorant, savoured by both fool and sage, and much desired comfort to elites and commoners. The superiority of history over all other branches of learning is obvious. The loftiness of its status is recognized by any person of intelligence."

SUTV Emmy Nomination

Congratulations to Shippensburg University's student-run TV station's newscast for receiving an Emmy nomination:

"SUTV was nominated in the College Production — Newscast category. Also nominated in that category was Temple University. According to the NATAS website, this category is for outstanding achievement in a regularly scheduled newscast with entries to be judged on such areas as overall content, presentation, enterprise, writing and format.

"The program entered was broadcast March 31. According to the program description: 'SUTV’s Bubba Smith reports from Harrisburg on students' rally protesting the governor's proposed education cuts, an SUTV News/The Slate Newspaper exclusive with President William Ruud about the imminent tuition increases, Lucas Martin reports from the bus taking students to the rally in Harrisburg, and Rachel Snody explains how Facebook was a valuble resource in organizing the rally. Also, Casey Piell's forecast, Steph Horvat reports on professor's involvement with Peace Corps and the stories they share, Mariana Boguski's and Jim Gallagher's sports, how fake $10 bills have been found around town, and Anna Kerstetter takes us behind the scenes of Shippensburg's latest theatrical production.'"

What's funny about this is that I'm pretty sure that was the newscast for which they interviewed me on Libya, though I got bumped from the actual broadcast.

Shippensburg's 9/11 Commemoration

Shippensburg University has issued a press release about its 9/11 commemoration:

"With more than 6,500 American flags flying at Shippensburg University today (Sept. 11), hundreds of people honored the men and women who gave their lives in defense of the U.S. and freedom during the war on terror.

"Under a bright blue sky that belied the solemnness of the event, veterans, current service personnel, members of the campus and the Shippensburg community — everyday Americans all — joined to remember and thank those whose sacrifice keeps us safe and free...

"Guest speakers talked of honor, of service, of duty, but most of all they talked about the men and women who serve and our nation’s need to support — and remember — all our veterans."

Right now, the United States is engaged in a war in Afghanistan that is a direct response to the 9/11 attacks. One could also argue that, despite the deceptions involved, Iraq is related because 9/11 was an important milestone in the chain of events which led us there. For both these reasons, as well as the fact that American veterans and active service members deserve all the support they get, this means of marking the anniversary of 9/11 makes sense.

In the long run, however, and given the existing Memorial Day and Veterans Day commemorations, I'd advocate a decisive move toward focusing on those who actually died that day: The police, fire fighters, and other "first responders" who risk their lives all the time with little public recognition of the fact. I also think this most resonates with understanding the type of organization that struck the U.S. nine years ago, which Juan Cole has, in a model I am increasingly in agreement with, characterized as a vigilante cult.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)