Monday, June 22, 2009

Debate Team Trip: Penn (Monday)

Gettysburg and Hershey Pennsylvania...what a way to spend our last day on the trip....tomorrow is a travel day and we will be home...today was our last day of sightseeing.

The first place that we went to was Gettysburg National Cemetery. The cemetery was formally dedicated on November 19, 1863. Around 10,000 citizens attended the dedication. It was at this site that Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. His address lasted for under 3 minutes. The main speaker at the event was Edward Everett. He delivered an address that lasted over two hours.


Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Around the cemetery are tablets with stanzas from Theodore O'Hara's poem, The Bivouac of the Dead. The cemetery is the final resting place of soldiers from the country's major wars and conflicts after the American Civil War. There are approximately 3,512 Union soldiers buried in the cemetery. 979 of the soldiers are unknown.



The Bivouac of the Dead

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last Tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

No rumour of the foe's advance
Now swells upon the wind;
No troubled thought at midnight haunts
Of loved ones left behind.
No vision of the morrow's strife
The warrior's dream alarms;
No braying horn, nor screaming fife,
At dawn shall call to arms.

Their shivered swords are red with rust,
Their plumed heads are bowed;
Their haughty banner, trailed in dust,
Is now their martial shroud.
And plenteous funeral tears have washed
The red stains from each brow;
And the proud forms, by battle gashed,
Are free from anguish now.

The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle's stirring blast,

The charge, the dreadful cannonade,

The din and shouts are past;

Nor war's wild note, nor glory's peal,

Shall thrill with fierce delight;

Those breasts that never more may feel
The rapture of the fight.

Like the fierce Northern hurricane
That sweeps the great plateau,
Flushed with triumph, yet to gain,
Come down the serried foe;
Who heard the thunder of the fray
Break o'er the field beneath,
Knew the watchword of the day
Was "Victory or death!"

Long had the doubtful conflict raged
O'er all that stricken plain,
For never fiercer fight had waged
The vengeful blood of Spain;
And still the storm of battle blew,
Still swelled the glory tide;
Not long, our stout old Chieftain knew,
Such odds his strength could bide.

For many a mother's breath has swept
O'er Angostura's plain,
And long the pitying sky has wept
Above its moldered slain.
The raven's scream, or eagle's flight,
Or shepherd's pensive lay,
Alone awakes each sullen height
That frowned o'er that dread fray.

Sons of the Dark and Bloody Ground
Ye must not slumber there,
Where stranger steps and tongues resound
Along the heedless air.
Your own proud land's heroic soil
Shall be your fitter grave;
She claims from war his richest spoil,
The ashes of her brave.

Thus 'neath their parent turf they rest,
Far from the gory field,
Borne to a Spartan mother's breast
On many a bloody shield;
The sunshine of their native sky
Smiles sadly on them here,
And kindred eyes and hearts watch by
The heroes sepulcher.

Rest on, embalmed and sainted dead,
Dear as the blood ye gave,
No impious footstep here shall tread
The herbage of your grave.
Nor shall your glory be forgot
While fame her record keeps,
For honor points the hallowed spot
Where valor proudly sleeps.

Yon marble minstrel's voiceless stone
In deathless song shall tell,
When many a vanquished age hath flown,
The story how ye fell.
Nor wreck, nor change, nor winter's blight,
Nor time's remorseless doom,
Shall dim one ray of glory's light
That gilds your deathless tomb.

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/gncem.htm
http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm
http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/gettncem/bivouac.htm

After visiting the cemetery we made a stop at Little Round Top. This is the location that Joshua Chamberlain and the 2oth Maine were located.... The movie Gettysburg and the book Killer Angel did a great job of telling the story of these men.



After Little Round Top we made one final stop. We stopped at the area that is known as the High Mark. This is where the Union soldiers were organized. It is also the location that Picket's Charge was focused on taking down. General Hancock was in charge of the men and was shot while the battle was going on. He refused to leave the battle. His friend, Confederate Lou Armistead was also wounded at this location. Armistead did not survive his injuries. Hancock later ran for president of the United States.


One conversation that came up was the idea of dog tags...when were they first used? No one knew the answer so I decided to do a little research.
  • During the Civil War - some soldiers pinned paper notes to the backs of their coats (name, home address)
  • Spanish American War - crude stamped identification tags were purchased by soldiers
  • Franco-Prussian War - 1870 - Prussian Army issued tags.
  • World War I - War Department General Order No. 204 (December 20, 1906) - identifiation tags
  • July 6, 1916 - two tags were issued per soldier. (one to stay with the body and the other with the person in charge of the burial
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_tag_(identifier)

From Gettysburg we drove to Hershey Penn where we stopped at only one location. In this location was a store for Hershey a ride, food, and trolley ride, and a movie. We didn't have a lot of time so went on the ride as well as did a little shopping...Ms. Edwards ended up buying another sweatshirt...just what she needs......

I was a little interested in Hershey so I did a little research tonight.
  • Milton Snavely Hershey (September 13, 1857 - October 13, 1945)
  • Founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company and the town of Hershey Penn.
  • He dropped out of school after 4th grade and became an apprentice to a printer and latter to a candy maker.
  • He had several unsuccessful attempts at running his own candy making business
  • He eventually established the Lancaster Caramel Company (1883)
  • He eventually purchased 40,000 acres of land near his birthplace (Derry Church) and in 1903 started construction on the world's largest chocolate manufacturing plant.
  • 1907 - Hershey park opened
  • 1898 - married Catherine Sweeney.
  • 1909 - opened the Hershey Industrial School
  • 1918 - Catherine died and Hershey endowed the school with his stocks and assets (Milton Hershey School Trust)
  • Hershey and his wife should have been aboard the Titanic. They ended up canceling their reservation due to illness (Catherine)
  • During WWII - Chocolate bars were supplied to the US Military (Ration D Bars and Tropical Bars)
  • Hershey died at the age of 88.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_S._Hershey






From Hershey we drove to Wilkes-Barre. We are going to spend the night and head home...I am looking forward to sleeping in one spot for a while....Of course I will be heading to Bowdoin College in a few weeks for a TAH program with Ms. Edwards.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Debate Team Trip: Tennessee (Saturday)

We woke up this morning in our hotel 8 in Pigeon Forge Tennessee. The Internet access here is absolutely amazing....first of all I don't have to sit outside to use it. The speed is great as well. I will have no problem downloading pictures tonight after going to Dollywood.

A little history first....

Pigeon Forge:
A. Located in Sevier County, Tennessee
B. It is only five miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
C. It is a tourist resort

Dolly Parton:
A. She was born on January 19, 1945 in Sevierville, Tennessee.
B. She was the 4th of 12 children
C. She started performing as a child through local radio and television.
D. She moved to Nashville after graduating from high school.
E. Her first album was "Hello, I'm Dolly"
F. She married Carl Thomas Dean in 1966.
G. Dolly has had a career in country music, pop music, television, movies, as a song writer,
and much more.
H. She is the co-owner of The Dollywood Company, which operates the theme park
Dollywood, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, and Dollywood's Splash County.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dolly_parton

Dollywood:
A. Owned by Dolly Parton and The Herschend Family Entertainment Corportation
B. Has thrill rides, traditional crafts and music of the Smoky Mountain regions.
C. Has the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame
D. The park was originally named "Rebel Railroad" and was opened in 1961. The park
featured a steam train, general store, blacksmith shop, and a saloon.
E. 1966 - the park was renamed "Goldrush Junction"
F. 1970 - Cleveland Brown's football team purchased the park.
G. 1976 - Jack and Pete Herschend purchased the park and renamed it "Goldrush"
H. 1977 - Renamed the park "Silver Dollar City Tennessee"
I. 1986 - Dolly Parton became a c0-owner and the park was named "Dollywood"
J. Dollywood is ranked as the 24th most popular theme park in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dollywood

Great Smoky Mountains:
A. Mountain range along the Tennessee-North Carolina border.
B. Subrange of the Appalachian Mountains
C. best known for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
D. Smoky Mountains National Park was established in 1934. It is the most-visited national
park in the United States.
E. Highest point of the mountains is Clingmans Dome
F. Home of the densest black bear population in the Eastern United States
G. "Smoky" comes from the natural fog that hangs over the range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/smoky_mountains

Ok enough of the history.....time to to share some pictures of my day at Dollywood.

Dollywood is broken into ten themed areas: Showstreet, Rivertown Junction, Craftsmen's Valley, The Village, The Country Fair, Timber Canyon, Jukebox Junction, Dreamland Forest, Adventures in Imagination, and Wilderness Pass.




1950's section of the park. Ms. Edwards, Mr. Conant and I saw a show about with music from the 1950s and 1960s in this section of the park.



If you look closely you can see me sitting between these two potted people....There were several of these creative people located at the start of the park.



One of the many different roller coasters found in the park.....We didn't go on them....the kids said they were a blast though.


One of the water rides....the idea behind this ride is to sit in a boat and squirt as many people as possible......Of course other people are getting you wet as well. A nice ride for a hot day.


A real coal train that has been in the park since it first opened. The original train was called Klondike Katie (110-ton coal-fired steam engine). It was built in 1943.

The park was a great place to spend the day....There was something there for everyone. Unfortunately because of my height the only ride that I could go on was the train...for the rest I was too short :(

They need to make a park for little bears.

Debate Team Trip: Alabama (Friday)

Ms. Edwards, Chelsea, Abby and I went down to Montgomery, Alabama to see a few attractions that we didn't have the chance to see on Wednesday.

Our first stop was the Civil Rights Memorial which was created by Maya Lin. She was the same architecture who created the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. The Memorial is sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center and was created to memorialize the lives of 40 people who gave their lives to the Civil Rights Movement. The museum not only focuses on the Civil Rights Movement but also reflects on other examples of Civil Rights violations that are still going on in the world today. At the end of the memorial is a wall of tolerance....if you agree to speak up and stop tolerance you are to write you name on the wall.

The memorial focuses on the years between 1954 and 1968. The memorial was dedicated on November 5, 1989.


The building which houses the Civil Rights Memorial. It is located in Montgomery Alabama.


Five of the people who the memorial is dedicated too. The memorial is dedicated to the following people: Rev. George Lee, Lamar Smith, Emmett Louis Till, John Earl Reece, Willie Edwards Jr., Mack Charles Parker, Hebert Lee, Cpl. Roman Ducksworth Jr., Paul Guihard, William Lewis Moore, Medgar Evers, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Virgil Lamar Ware, Louis Allen, Rev. Bruce Klunder, Henry Hezwkiah Dee, Charles Eddie Moore, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Henry Schwerner, Lt. Col. Lemuel Penn, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Reeb, Viola Gregg Liuzzo, Oneal Moore, Willie Wallace Brewster, Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Samuel Leamon Younge Jr., Vernon Ferdinand Dahmer, Ben Chester White, Clarence Triggs, Wharlest Jackson, Benjamin Brown, Samuel Ephesians Hammond Jr., Delano Herman Middleton, Henry Ezekial Smith, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Part of the exhibit is focused on other areas in which civil rights violations occur in the world. There is a hallway full of pictures on both sides of the walls demonstrating where issues occur in the world today.


The wall of tolerance...If your name appears on the wall....it means that you want to see civil right violations end.


Outside of the memorial is a circle with a fountain it. The names that appear around the circle are those forty people whose lives were lost during the Civil Rights Movement because they spoke up for what they believed.

After leaving the memorial we headed over to the Dexter Parsonage Museum. This was the house that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife lived in while he was the minister at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Dr. King was the pastor of the church from 1954-1960.

Information about the house:
  • The house was the home to twelve pastors from 1920-1992.
  • Two of Kings children were born while they lived at the home (Yolanda King and Martin Luther King III)
  • King was 25 years old when he became the pastor of the church
  • King lived in Montgomery during the Montgomery Bus Boycott
  • King helped to found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at his dining room table.
  • King's house was bombed on January 30, 1956.
There is only one floor to the house. The house has been redone on the inside to appear like it did when the King's lived there during the 50's. The house includes some of the original furniture that the King's used as well as pieces of Dr. King's office. The house is worth visiting not only to better understand Martin Luther King Jr. but also to see what a 50's house would have been like.




No pictures were allowed inside the house....Ms. Edwards only took a few of the outside...


We ended our time in Montgomery with a trip to the Montgomery Zoo. It was a hot day...above 90 degrees...the girls ran around trying to see as many different animals as possible. Ms. Edwards and I decided to go on a train ride around the park and see a select few animals...Below are pictures that the girls took.









Here is a picture of the train that Ms. Edwards and I went on. It was an ok ride. We didn't get to see as many animals from the train as we would have liked to. We did have the chance to meet a friendly peacock and her child. They were walking around the food area looking for whatever was available....I have never seen so many birds freely walking around a zoo before.

Debate Team Trip: Alabama (Thursday)

A change of plans was made so that part of the group could return to Montgomery, Alabama for a day. Ms. Edwards and two of the students headed to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Before going into the Institute though we spend a little time at Kelly Ingram Park right across the street from the Institute. The park is actually historical. It was at this location that an organized boycott and protest was held in 1963. In May 1963 Birmingham police and firemen confronted the demonstrators (some of them children) with threats of mass arrests and eventually with police dogs and fire hoses. The park was named after Osmond Kelly Ingram. He was the first sailor in the US Navy to be killed in World War I.

Pictures of Abby, Chelsea and myself outside the park


Here I am sitting on top of one of the fire hoses that the police and fire department would have used to stop the protesters.

Here are two young adults trying to avoid the water hoses....The pressure of the hoses was so strong that it would knock you on the ground if you were hit directly.


Here is a close up of the two young adults who were being hit by the water hoses.


Here is a broken pillar that was located in one of the corners of the park. There were four pillars that were created like this to represent the four children who lost their lives in the bombing at the church. It is supposed to represent a life cut short.


Three of the minister who were taking part in the demonstration stood their grounds and decided to kneel and pray. They were arrested for protesting.


In the middle the park are four fountains. If you stand in the middle you can hear each of the four fountains...they all have a different tone to them.

One of the statutes in park are realistic looking dogs. As you walk through this area it appears that the dogs are going to attack at any moment and the only thing holding them back are the leashes.

This statute is a young man who is being held by a police officer. It appears as if the dog is about to attack the boy. Photos of this can be found in many museums and several books.


Looking through these bars it appears as if the children are behind bars. Many children were arrested during Civil Rights Protest.

In one of the corners of the park is a statute of Martin Luther King Jr. He is looking across the street to the location of the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church. The girls and I were lucky enough to be able to walk around the park with an individual who lived in the area during the movement.

Near the 16th Street Baptist Church is a memorial to the four girls that were killed in a bombing that took place on September 15, 1863. The bomb was set by members of the Ku Klux Klan. It has been proven that Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Herman Rash and Robert Chambliss were involved with the bombing. Addie Mae Collins (14), Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14) were killed in the blast. 22 other individuals were injured.

Here is a picture of the church. The bottom of the church has a memorial for the girls. We weren't able to go into the memorial because it didn't open until 1:00 AM.

After walking around the park we went into the Civil Rights Institute. No pictures were allowed inside the museum. The museum traced the civil rights movement from start until its end. There was a room in which you could listen to first hand accounts by different individuals who were a part of the movement.

One of the displays that I found to be the most interesting was one that time lined how long it took for the individuals involved with the bombing at the church to be charged and convicted with the bombing.
  • It wasn't until 1978 that Robert Edwards Chambliss was prosecuted and found guilty for four murders. He was sentenced to several terms of life imprisonment. He died in 1985.
  • Thomas Edwin Blanton Jr was convicted in 2001. He was sentenced to life in prison
  • Bobby Frank Cherry was convicted in 2002. He was sentenced to life in prison.
  • Herman Frank Cash died in 1994. No charges were ever filed against him.
After leaving the Institute we met up with the rest of the group and went to a What A Burger for lunch. Not a bad meal at all. After lunch we headed to the Speech Finals. The finals were held in a Civic Center like location. We were there for over four hours and heard some amazing speeches and partner speeches.

It was nice to see the best of the best in the country competing with each other. There were three rounds of competition that we sat through: Humor, Dramatic, and Dual.


During the competition there were awards given to coaches who reached diamond levels. They were awarded these levels based upon their years of service and overall scores. It was interesting to see the different people receiving their awards and the level that they had achieved through the years.

Debate Team Trip: Alabama (Wednesday)

The group went into two separate directions for the morning. One group went and listened to another round at the speech tournaments and the decided to have a late start to the morning and breakfast at Waffle House. After breakfast the two groups meet up and headed to Montgomery, Alabama for the afternoon.

The first stop for the group was the capital. The group walked around and the capital and checked out the different statutes that surrounded the building. After walking around the capital building the group headed over to check out the first capital of the Confederacy.

Montgomery resident William Lowndes Yancey was a supporter of states' rights and supported the idea of secession from the Union. Alabama voted to secede from the Union on January 11, 1861. On February 4, 1861 in Montgomery Alabama representatives from Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina formed the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President of the Confederacy and Montgomery became the first capital.


The house was rented to the Confederacy by Colonel Edmund S. Harrison for $5,000 per year. The house came fully furnished. The house remained the home of the Davis family while the capital of the Confederacy remained in Montgomery. The capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia in May of 1861.

Here are pictures of the different rooms that were in the first white house of the Confederacy. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.



Here are pictures of the dates that the different states left the Union.

A picture of a painting of the Davis Children.

One of the bedrooms that appears in the house.

Another one of the bedrooms in the White House of the Confederacy

After leaving the White House the group decided to head to a visitors center and catch a trolley ride around town. One of the best ways to learn about a new city is to take a tour of the city. Because of the lateness of the hour the group wasn't able to get off and visit different locations. We were able to see the following though:
  • Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church
  • The Capitol Building
  • Hank Williams Museum
  • Civil Rights Memorial Center
  • Dexter Parsonage Museum (Home of Martin Luther King Jr.)
  • First White House of the Confederacy
  • Rosa Parks Library and Museum
  • Much More
Here are pictures of the group sitting on the trolley.


Here is a picture of the trolley that we rode on around the city.

After the trolley ride the group made the decision to head out of town. The group decided to eat at an Olive Garden in Montgomery and stopped for a few pictures along the way. One of the placed the group decided to stop at was the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. The group wasn't able to go into the church because it was closed. We were able to get a few pictures outside of it though.

Here is the plaque that was outside of the church

Here is picture of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. served as the pastor at this church from 1954-1960.

After leaving the church we had dinner at Olive Garden.....amazing desserts.

On the way back to Birmingham the group stopped at Vulcan Park. The park has the world's largest cast iron statue. The statute was designed by Italian artist Giuseppe Moretti.



Here are pictures of the city from Vulcan Park



After Vulcan Park the group headed back to the hotel and and planned for the following days activity.