April 29, 1588: Sir Francis Drake led a pre-emptive strike that “singed the beard of the King of Spain.” Sailing a fleet into the Spanish ports of Cadiz and Corunna, Drake occupied the harbors and destroyed more than thirty naval and merchant ships delaying the attempted Spanish invasion of England by a year. April 30, 1904: The Louisiana Purchase Exposition or the St. Louis World’s Fair opened. Exhibits were staged by 62 foreign nations, the United States government, and 43 of the then-45 U.S. states. Nearly 20 million visitors attended the fair. May 1, 1884: Moses Fleetwood Walker became the first African American to play in a professional baseball game in the United States. Walker played one season as the catcher of the Toledo Blue Stockings, a club in the American Association. April 2, 1955: Tennessee Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It was the second Pulitzer for Williams who had previously won for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948. April 3, 1979: Margaret Thatcher was elected to her first term as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Remaining in office until 1990, she was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman (and only scientist) to have held the office. April 4, 1970: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent, Ohio the weekend before, opened fire on a group of student protestors, killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others.
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Folks need to find some time to get over to the History Museum on the Square. A delightful new exhibit dedicated to the famed Route 66 will be premiering this Sunday, April 28th and will run throughout the summer. Titled "Woodruff's Dream: The Mother Road through Springfield," this look back at the iconic road focuses on the central role Springfield played in the planning. Admission is just $5 for adults and $3 for children, and museum members enter for free! The museum is located at 155 Park Central Square ~ Springfield, MO 65806. Call 417.832.1200 or visit their web site at http://historymuseumonthesquare.org/ for more information. There are some exciting things in the works down at the museum, including a major renovation project that should greatly impact the square as a cultural hub for the region. Show your support by becoming a member of this fine organization! We had a wonderful time at the SHEM convention over the past few days. It was a pleasure to get the chance to speak with so many interested parents and students about the fair and potential projects. There appears to be quite a bit of enthusiasm about the new historical web site category. Many have already taken advantage of the early registration special we were offering during the convention. But if you did not get a chance to come out and visit with us, do not despair. We will be accepting registrations at the discounted rate of $4 per entry until May 31st. Registration forms are now available online at http://hhfo.weebly.com/.
Oh! You don't have project in mind yet! That shouldn't stop you. You have all summer to figure that out. Just go ahead and sign up and you can let us know the specifics later! Just head on over to our web site and click on our Registration page for all the necessary forms! The organizers of the history fair are excited to announce that we have changed the name from Southwest Missouri Homeschool History Fair to Homeschool History Fair of the Ozarks. This name more accurately reflects the regional coverage of the fair and our outreach to all local homeschoolers and history groups.
As organizers set out to put together the 2012 Southwest Missouri Homeschool History Fair, one of the goals of the event was to stoke greater interest in the National History Day in Missouri competition among area homeschoolers. Open to students in grades six through twelve, this event will be held on Friday, February 22nd, beginning at 9 AM in Plaster Student Union on the campus of Missouri State University. Students who participated in the Senior Division of the SWMO Homeschool History Fair are invited to build on their experience and enter this state-wide program. However, you must move quickly. Registration closes at 12:01 AM February 1, 2013. To assist entrants with the registration process, the NHD has provided an online registration video tutorial at http://nhdsupport.acuweb.com/public/. More information about the contest can be found at http://mo.nhd.org/. Website and Paper judging is scheduled to begin on February 8, 2013. This means students will be automatically locked out of their websites and papers will need to be submitted to Gail Emrie on this date. Papers must be delivered to the Missouri State University History Office by February 7th. The top three entries in these categories are selected and compete through interviews on February 22nd. Should you have any question or concerns, you may contact the Region 7 Coordinator, Gail Emrie at 417 836 5915 or by email at [email protected]. If you are looking for additional resources, please check out these useful links provided by Maggie Mayhan, Coordinator, National History Day in MO. Chronicling America: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ The podcasts on using Chronicling America are below. Excellent resource for teachers and students! Missouri Digital Newspaper Project: http://shs.umsystem.edu/newspaper/mdnp/index.shtml In addition to the MO papers available on Chronicling America, the MDNP also features Civil War-era newspapers that have been digitized through state grants. This is an expanding collection. More papers will be going up in 2013. Primary Sources Webinars (offered via National History Day in Ohio): https://connect.ohiohistory.org/historydayweb These webinars are FREE and open to anyone who wishes to register. Meet the Common Core Standards through NHD: see below. Best of luck to those testing their historical scholarship in this challenging competition! If you are looking for something to do on Saturday, you will find many options. However, if you are interested in the U.S. Constitution or are familiar with contributions of Dr. Duane G. Meyer, you may want to make your way to the Crystal Room in Kentwood Hall at 2:30 pm for the Greene County Historical Society's upcoming fall program, which is admission free and open to the general public. Dr. Kevin Pybas The event will feature a presentation commemorating the 225th Anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, "'If Men Were Angels:' The U.S. Constitution and the Problems of Majority Tyranny and Governmental Despotism," presented by Dr. Kevin Pybas. An alumnus of Oklahoma State University, Dr. Pybas holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia and a law degree from the University of Tulsa. He teaches in the Department of Political Science at Missouri State University. Dr. Duane G. Meyer The Society will also honor Dr. Duane G. Meyer with a Lifetime Achievement Award. President Emeritus of Missouri State University and a distinguished historian, Dr. Meyer is a longtime member of the Greene County Historical Society. Additional tributes will be given by national, state, and local officials, including Greene County Commissioner Harold Bengsch and State Senator Bob Dixon. This event will include greeters from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution in period costume, including the uniform of a Revolutionary War soldier, as well as music from the period. Kentwood Hall Kentwood Hall is located at 700 E. St. Louis Street in Springfield. Free parking will be available in Lot 34 near the entrance of the building. You will not want to miss this meeting! Nathan Boone Homestead Days Festival In our effort to support local organizations and to help spread the word about resources and events related to history that might be of interest to the homeschooling community, we would like to make you aware of a very exciting opportunity for your family coming this weekend. The Nathan Boone Homestead is holding its annual Homestead Days Festival this Saturday and Sunday, October 20th and 21st. The Homestead would like to invite you to join them in their celebration of this historic site and the invaluable history preserved there. According to Amanda Rego, a MSU anthropology student who works at the site, "The Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site tells the story of the great pioneer Nathan Boone and his family. Nathan, born in 1781, was the youngest son of the legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone. Throughout his life, Nathan was a hunter, an entrepreneur, a surveyor, a negotiator, a military leader and a father. He assisted William Clark in the negotiation of a treaty and the establishment of Fort Osage in 1808, defended the Missouri frontier as a captain of the Missouri Rangers in the War of 1812, and served as one of the forty-one delegates in the Missouri constitutional convention in 1820, to name a few of his accomplishments. He continued his military service after the war as a captain of the Dragoons, a mounted ranger force, eventually climbing to the ranks of lieutenant colonel. When he finally retired from the military, he was seventy-two years old, and had assisted in the establishment of a number of forts in territories that at the time formed the border of the American frontier, as well as facilitating several treaties between the US government and the local tribes. The Homestead not only preserves the memory of Nathan Boone; the beautifully restored cabin and expansive fields also memorialize Nathan’s family and the frontier lifestyle they maintained. The cabin was built in the 1830s by Nathan’s three sons and two of the family’s slaves. In 1837, Nathan and his wife Olive moved the family from their home near St. Charles, Missouri to join their sons in the cabin in Ash Grove, following the frontier as their families had always done. Although most of the buildings that would have composed the Boone farm have been lost to time, the cabin still stands proudly, a testament to the persevering spirit of the American pioneer. The site is also home to several species of native plants and grasses, a garden containing various fruits, veggies, and herbs grown from heritage seeds, the site office which houses several artifacts from the Boone property and neighboring farms, approximately three miles of well-maintained walking trails, and two historic cemeteries: the Boone slave cemetery and the Boone family cemetery, final resting place of Nathan and Olive Boone. Between the months of March and October, the 400-acre historic site is open for guided tours seven days a week. The park stays open during the winter months as well, although at a reduced schedule. During the summer, the site hosts an event highlighting some aspect of frontier life on the third Saturday of each month, with our premier event being the weekend-long Homestead Days festival in October each year. This is a fun and educational experience for the whole family, with living history re-enactors, craftspeople, food vendors, live music and frontier lifestyle demonstrations. This year’s festival will be held Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21 from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Stop by for some whole-family fun and learn about one of the great figures from local history! We hope to see you there!" We hope that area homeschoolers will shoe there support for fine work being done at the Nathan Boone Homestead and will show up in large numbers for this very important event.For more information about the Homestead, visit the website at http://mostateparks.com/park/nathan-boone-homestead-state-historic-site. The historic site is located at 7850 N. State Hwy. V, Ash Grove, MO 65604-8159. You may reach the park office by phone at 417.751.3266. Rachel Donelson Chapter DAR Occasionally, one will encounter homeschoolers frustrated with a relative dearth of programs available for older home-educated students. These folks observe that there are a host of activities and events designed to appeal to younger children, but once children pass a certain age, the opportunities become increasingly infrequent. This may be the reality facing parents of older students, or it may be a reflection of inefficient communication by parties who would take an interest in the needs and desires of the homeschooling community. One of the goals placed before fair organizers has been to make local civic organizations dedicated to humanities education aware of the vibrant homeschooling population living in the area and help these organizations begin to develop more lasting fruitful relationships within it. To that end, we are pleased to help the Rachel Donelson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution announce an exciting program that local homeschoolers should become involved in. In the academic year 2012-2013, the DAR will be holding two essay contests. The first is the DAR American History Essay Contest, open to students who would be in grades five through eight. Young essayists are instructed to "Focus on the often unrecognized people and groups, including African Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, and others who provided military, patriotic, and public service in support of the American Revolution. Describe a particular person or group and how they supported the cause for American Independence. Explain why it is especially important to honor the unsung heroes and often forgotten patriots." The title of prospective entries should read, "Forgotten Patriots Who Supported the American Struggle for Independence." The deadline for the DAR American History Essay Contest is December 1st. Further information can be found here. The second opportunity sponsored by DAR is the Christopher Columbus Essay Contest. Open to students who would be in grades nine through twelve, students are challenged to explain the ways in which "high faith and indomitable courage" were "demonstrated in the life and actions of Columbus." Inspired by the inscription of a monument dedicated to the explorer in Washington, D.C., one hundred years ago, the DAR asks that submitted essays be titled and respond to the following question, "How did the faith and courage of Christopher Columbus give to mankind a new world?" The deadline for the DAR Christopher Columbus Essay Contest is December 1st. Further information can be found here. In the case of both contests, one essay submitted to the Rachel Donelson Chapter of the DAR will be selected to participate in the state-wide competition. Please consider getting involved in this wonderful opportunity, brought to us by a venerable organization. Questions concerning these competitions should be directed to Mary Christiano at [email protected] or by telephone at 417.887.6235. And remember, the 2012 Southwest Missouri Homeschool History will feature numerous programs designed to appeal to older students. Even if you were unable to submit a project, do not miss this opportunity to engage historians and civic organizations interested in preserving and celebrating our shared heritage. October 7, 1949: Following the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in Western Germany, the soviet-occupied zone in East Germany is reorganized as the Democratic Republic of Germany. The nation's first president was Wilhelm Pieck. October 8, 1871: The Great Chicago Fire began. The fire lasted two days and killed between 200 and 300 people. Over 17,000 buildings were destroyed, costing $200 million dollars in damage, an equivalent of $3 billion today. October 9, 1934: The Gashouse Gang wone the World Series. This St. Louis Cardinals team, led by Ozark native Dizzy Dean, defeated the Detroit Tigers in the seventh game of the series. October 10, 1935: Porgy and Bess premiered on Broadway. George Gershwin, partnered with novelist DuBose Heyward, created what many people consider to be the first great American opera. October 11, 1968: Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, launched on an 11-day orbit of earth. Astronauts Walter Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunningham were aboard. October 12, 1870: Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, died at the age of 63. Following the war, Lee served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, where his body was interred. October 13, 1775: The Continental Congress authorized the construction and administration of the first American Naval force. We are pleased to announce that the Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded a grant of $1,000 to our partner organization, the Greene County Historical Society (GCHS) in support of the upcoming, 2012 Southwest Missouri Homeschool History Fair. The MHC is the only state-wide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliated of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971. The grant will help to ensure that organizers are able to offer fair visitors and participants.a first-class educational experience. On the day of the fair, families are invited to the Strong Hall for what will amount to a full “day of history.” Besides the wonderful projects developed by area students, visitors will be treated to a variety of presentations and workshops featuring local scholars, historical societies, and civic organizations, including the National Endowment of the Arts’ Picturing America program, demonstrations by experts in historical clothing, presentations by the Titanic Museum Branson, and musical performances by Roy “Dusty” Rogers, Jr., The Back Porch Players, and The HonkyTonk Renovators. It will be a day both fun and informative. And, of course, admission is free to all. Organizers would like to thank the MHC for their generous support. We hope the friends of the fair might take few moments to express gratitude to this fine organization, as it continues in their work to nurture the study of the humanities in our region. For information about the grants program of the Missouri Humanities Council, call 314/781-9660 or 800/357-0909 or write to the MHC, 543 Hanley Industrial Court, Suite 205, Saint Louis, Missouri 63144-1905 or visit the MHC online at http://www.mohumanities.org/ |
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