Monday, April 30, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Friday, April 27, 2018
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
The Best from Beyond the Grave
If you wanna see the semester in review, click here to find the link to my youtube video on my blog post!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
End of Semester Video!
This is my end of the semester video, here! The quality, in the beginning, is not great because I had to save the pictures back to my computer, but throughout the video, it gets better.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Friday, April 20, 2018
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Kizoa Slideshow Demo: Bethel UMC Tour
Tonight I briefly introduced the class to Kizoa, a fun and easy to use platform for producing slideshows. I have asked the students to create a semester-in-review video and suggested Kizoa as a free and pretty easy way to make a high-quality visual project.
For this sample, I used photos I took in February when we visited nearby Bethel United Methodist Church where staff member Sue Bennett gave us a very interesting tour.
For this sample, I used photos I took in February when we visited nearby Bethel United Methodist Church where staff member Sue Bennett gave us a very interesting tour.
Edward Henry Strobel found at Unitarian Cemetery!
Have you ever been to Unitarian Church? If not, I advise you to go! Unitarian Church has been BY FAR my favorite church and cemetery I have ever visited. A few weekends ago I went to Unitarian Church which took my breath away (see picture to the below).
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| Unitarian Church |
It was a big, beautiful, yellow church and had an even more beautiful cemetery (see picture below). The cemetery is overgrown with wild flowers, bushes, and weeds growing over many tombstones, which made this cemetery unique from others I have visited.
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| Unitarian Cemetery |
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| Edward Henry Strobel's Obelisk Tombstone |
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| Front of Strobel's Obelisk |
After looking around for a little while, one obelisk tombstone really stood out, which was Edward Henry Strobel. On the front it said, “Sacred to the memory of Edward Henry Strobel, A.B. LL.B. LL.D. of Harvard University. Born in Charleston, S.C. December 7, 1855. Died in Bangkok Siam. January 15, 1908" (see picture above). Then, on the side of the obelisk it said, “He served his country as charge O’Affairs in Spain and as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Ecuador and Chile. His college as Bemis professor of international law” (see picture below). After seeing the size of the obelisk and reading the messages on the base, I decided to research Edward Henry Strobel.
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| Side of Strobel's Obelisk |
After visiting this grave, I googled Edward Henry Strobel and learned that he was the Secretary of Legation of the United States to Spain until 1890 and wrote a book on the Spanish revolution. This caught my attention because my great grandparents left Spain and moved to Chile because of the Spanish inquisitions. Strobel was also the Third Assistant Secretary of State, Secretary of Legation, Minister Plenipotentiary (as said above), head of a special mission, sole arbitrator between two powers, Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and the trusted adviser of a progressive oriental government. Wow!!! Strobel only lived until fifty-two years and accomplished so many admirable tasks!!
Other than Strobel’s accomplishments, he was born in Charleston from a family whose fortunes the civil war bore heavily. Strobel grew up in Charleston, went to preliminary school in Charleston, then went to Harvard, and graduated in 1877. In 1882 he took the bar exam to become a lawyer and passed. Then in 1884, Strobel participated in the presidential campaign where he wrote a pamphlet on Mr. Blaine (the Republican candidate in the 1884 election) and his foreign policy. The pamphlet seemed to have helped Cleveland win the election, considering he became president. After Cleveland won the election, he offered Strobel the post of Secretary of Legation at Madrid. Strobel accepted this position and worked in Spain for 5 years, where he worked as Charge d’Affaires for part of the time.
After working in Spain, in 1888 Strobel was sent on a special mission to Morocco. He spent two years in Morocco, moved back to the United States, and then in 1893 he was appointed the Third Assistant Secretary of State. In 1894 he became Minister to Ecuador and then also the Minister to Chile. From 1894-1905 Strobel traveled around the world working for the American Gorvment. In 1905 Strobel returned to the US after being poisoned in Egypt. Strobel suffered for fifteen months to fight off the poison. After he survived the poison, he returned to his work in Siam, Thailand, but Strobel never really fully recovered. He died three years later in Siam where he was greatly respected. Strobel entered relations with the Siamese Government knowing it was dangerous work, but took on the role as the General Adviser to the Siamese Government because he was a brave, highly respected man. I hope that one day I can accomplish a tenth of what Edward Henry Strobel had accomplished in his lifetime.
Sources Used:
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-election-of-1884-1773938
http://www.graveaddiction.com/unitarch.html
https://archive.org/stream/jstor-25130031/25130031_djvu.txt
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25130031?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Learn about CofC alum, Major Francis W. Capers!
For my old Charlestonian I have chosen Francis W. Capers. He is buried at Bethel United Methodist Church. Capers was born in 1819 to a Methodist Bishop and became a very prominent man along with his younger brother Ellison Capers. He was a Methodist just like his father and had six other siblings not including Ellison Capers. Records show he also had a half brother named Theodosus William Capers who died young. Francis Capers died in 1892 after leading a very full life and living to the age of 72.
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| Major Francis W. Capers |
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| General Ellison Capers |
As a young adult Capers studied at the College of Charleston and became a mathematics
professor there once he got his degree. Later on he served as the superintendent of the Citadel from 1843 to 1848 until he left to accept a job as the head of the Georgia Military Academy. It was during this time that the Civil War broke out and he became Brigadier General of the Georgia division of troops. He supervised the engineering efforts to protect the coast and fought in several battles before the war ended.
Following the war Capers once again taught at the College of Charleston and went on to become the President from 1880 to 1882 when he retired.
Capers' younger brother Ellison Capers led a very similar life. He graduated from the Citadel, became a professor at his alma mater, and became a Brigadier General in the Civil War. After the war he went back to South Carolina and held a government position along with being rector of Christ Church in Greenville.
Both of the Capers brothers had a passion for education and remained committed to the schools where they earned their degrees. In their honor a hall at the Citadel was christened Capers Hall.
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| Capers Hall at the Citadel |
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| Major Francis W. Capers' Grave |
I chose Capers because he lead a very full life and I admire his dedication to academics. To me he seems like a good person and I wish I could have met him.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Final Exam Study Guide- Test is Friday, April 27, 7:30 p.m.
There will be several elements to this test: terms/definitions, multiple choice, matching, lists, short answer and an essay. There will not be anything on this exam that is not included in this study guide.
10 Point Video Project: This is due at the start of the exam and should be posted on your blog and the class blog. If using Kizoa, slideshow must be properly embedded on your blog with appropriate set up writing, two/more links and label words. With iMovie and other platforms, be aware that if your project exceeds 100 MB, you cannot put directly onto Blogger- you’ll need to upload to YouTube first.
Ninety Point Final Exam Material To Study and Know:
Course Textbooks:
“In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston’s Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry”
- Chapter 3, “Confederacy Legacy”- read about the six Confederate generals at Magnolia Cemetery on pages 98-109- be able to match their names with their significant contributions or distinctions in the war/battles (students did in-class handout on this)
- Chapter 4, “The Children of Magnolia Cemetery”- review the array of illnesses and diseases that claimed the lives of infants and children in the 19th century, and be familiar with some of the statistical data given in the beginning of this chapter indicating the high child death rates back then
- Chapter 6, “Epic Epitaphs”- know the origin of the word “epitaph” and the most common sources of epitaph wording (bible verses, poetry, songs, etc.)
- Chapter 9, “The Way It Was” (pages 192-200)- be able to list some buildings and other structures that Magnolia Cemetery once had that are no longer there
“Stories Told in Stone: Cemetery Iconology- A Manual for Genealogy Research”
- Pages 13-21, “Glossary of Historic Diseases”- know the name and description of the following 20 illnesses and diseases: atrophy, cholera, consumption, diphtheria, encephalitis, falling sickness, French pox, Grocer’s itch, horrors, infantile paralysis, meningitis, myelitis, palsy, paroxysm, scarletina, ship fever, smallpox, St. Vitus’s dance, stranger’s fever, thrombosis. Be able to match the disease with the description from this book.
- Pages 22-23, “Glossary of Major Epidemics/Pandemics”- South Carolina is mentioned only once on this list. Know the year and the disease.
Other Course Material:
- Review this Post and Courier article about Elizabeth Jackson
- Dr. George Dickinson talk information (linked here).
- Review also this previous Dickinson post
- "How Different Religions Bury Their Dead” (handout and link here)
- “Funeral Rituals Around the World” --Tibetan, Torajanese (Indonesia), Australian Aborigine, Scandinavian Vikings
- Prezi: “Magnolia Cemetery (and Charleston’s) Confederacy Legacy”- review facts, details and names given in this presentation; be able to list some of the things Charleston “contributed” to the start of the Civil War; review “The Truth About Sullivan’s Island” piece about its little known role in slavery and the slave trade; and review the article on the causes of secession
- Prezi: “Victorian Splendor/Victorian Tragedy”- Review data and diseases mentioned, the information about the Lincoln and Davis families, and how Dr. John Snow tamed cholera
Also, expect a question at the end asking your thoughts about “what old cemeteries tell and teach the living”- the idea behind this course.
Test Summary:
1. Semester in Review Video/Slideshow (remember to put on class blog): 10 points
2. Multiple Choice- 16 questions 32 points
3. Short Answer- 6 questions 12 points
4. Matching Diseases- 12 24 points
5. Matching Magnolia Cemetery Confederate Generals- 6 12 points
6. Short Essay- 1 10 points
100 points
Extra Credit Blog Posts: Will be accepted until Friday, May 4. After the exam date, you need to let me know if you do extra credit work so that I will look for it.
Final grades: Must be posted by noon on Monday, May 7.
Thank you for an excellent semester! Keep on bloggin’!
Friday, April 13, 2018
Victorian Splendor/Victorian Tragedy (Prezi)
This presentation looks at the high death rate in the mid-to-late 19th century, which is well represented in the old cemeteries and graveyards in Charleston. Click here if you cannot access this Prezi.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Mysteries of Magnolia
check out my latest blog post about our visit to the beautiful Magnolia Cemetery!
Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Euphemistically Speaking: The American Way of "Kicking the Bucket"
We may laugh, giggle or cringe when hearing that someone "kicked the bucket," "is pushing up daisies," "bit the dust," or "gave up the ghost."
Each is a way to say someone died; each is a euphemism. Euphemisms, in simpler language, are ways to soften, to avoid harsher wording. There can even be humorous ways to refer to the finality of death and funerals. This site lists dozens of dozens of death-related euphemisms, including my personal favorites: "buy a pine condo,""go to a necktie party," and "he's past his sell-by date."
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| Dr. Dickinson has taught courses on death and dying since 1975 |
Each is a way to say someone died; each is a euphemism. Euphemisms, in simpler language, are ways to soften, to avoid harsher wording. There can even be humorous ways to refer to the finality of death and funerals. This site lists dozens of dozens of death-related euphemisms, including my personal favorites: "buy a pine condo,""go to a necktie party," and "he's past his sell-by date."
Monday, April 2, 2018
Confederacy Legacy: Charleston and Magnolia Cemetery (Prezi)
We will go through this presentation in advance of our visit to Magnolia Cemetery.
Speaking of Magnolia Cemetery....a few years ago I produced this video that highlights my favorite Magnolia Cemetery grave marker and monuments.
Speaking of Magnolia Cemetery....a few years ago I produced this video that highlights my favorite Magnolia Cemetery grave marker and monuments.
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