Hello, Everyone. Hope you’ve enjoyed the last post, “The Craft Report Part 1.” If not, I‘ll have to knock sense into you. LOL! Just kidding.
Part 1 set the stage for the Phi Alpha Theta regional conference on
Saturday, February 23, 2013, and evaluated the presenters on Panel 2: “Civil War and Slavery in the United
States” in Massey Business Center 109.
And now, “The Craft Report 2:” Phi
Alpha Theta regional conference, Session II...
For
Session II of the PAT conference, I attended Panel 13: “The Progressive Era in the United States” in Massey 413 since I
was on Panel 13 along Pam D’Antonio and Sarah Nelson, and Union University’s
Professor Henry Allen chaired and moderated this panel. In order of presenters
on Panel 13, I succeeded D’Antonio and preceded Nelson. But ladies first, so
let’s talk about my colleagues before my very groovy presentation on Eugene V. Debs.
D’Antonio shared her Francis
Benjamin Johnson, Female Photographer and Innovator in the Progressive Era with the audience. I’ve had a class or two
with D’Antonio before attending her PAT presentation. She had good ideas, but I
would have enjoyed even more discussion and evaluation of those ideas. That is
not to say, however, I didn’t enjoy her presentation.
As
for D’Antonio’s paper itself, it primarily alternated its focus from the
titular Johnson and the history of photography. D’Antonio opened the door to
her paper with this knob: photography
had, up until the late 19th century, been primarily a man’s hobby. The titular Francis Johnson went against the
grain with her headstrong intentions and chose to become an artist,
photographer, and journalist. D’Antonio
said Johnson’s style was specific for several reasons, such as that Johnson
implemented historically favorable photography techniques while simultaneously
incorporating an artistic perspective.
Johnson’s legacy shaped fields of photography via documenting and
therefore immortalizing architectural history. D’Antonio stressed the
importance of Johnson’s systematic and uniform collection and, if I remember
right, concluded her presentation with this statement: Johnson left behind many
of her own personal documents for society’s posterity.
Nelson’s topic and presentation
thereof fascinated me: The Scopes Trial and the Myth of the American Community. Like Nelson announced in her oral
introduction, her paper was more of a discussion of ideas than a narration of
life stories. Indeed, the titular Scopes Trial,[1]
said Nelson, presented a fundamental chasm between the Christian community and
the progressive community within the United States. Christianity cultivated a
spirit of dissension from the agnostic, humanistic public. The United States
cannot allow Christianity to have any authority in determining public policy,
especially public education, if Democracy is to stay intact. Nelson had tons of
good and interesting ideas, and I enjoyed her presentation. But I would have
enjoyed her paper more if she was more careful in her use and examination of
evidence. The Scopes Trial was not as black and white as Nelson portrayed it.
And ladies and gentlemen, the main
event: Eugene V. Debs: The “Forgotten Red Saint…”
Like I said in a previous post,
I’ve never done anything like presenting at a conference before, nor had my
good friend Seth Granda who assisted me in presenting. I didn’t have the large audience I expected;
nevertheless, I know Seth and I nailed it all the same! I owe this success to
Seth’s practiced oratory and Dr. Wyeth Burgess’s gracious help in abridging the
original 20+-page version of my paper. I couldn’t have done it without either
of them. If I had used my laptop’s reader software or my Lightwriter
communicator to perform the oration, it would have sounded mechanical, and if I
had abridged the original text by myself, it might have sounded choppy and
rushed. So, thank you. Thank you, you both!
I also feel I responded and refuted
the sadly weak questions posed by Prof. Allen, my dad, and my good family
friend Larry Lewis. I expected more from my dad. He’s a trained critic,
analyst, and orator as a lawyer. Such a disappointment. :( Think they didn’t hear the explanations and answers
to their questions given in the abridged text.
After Session II concluded at
11:45a.m., the various student presentations were over. The attendees and I were
then treated to an Italian luncheon catered by Sodexho at 12:00p.m.-1:00p.m.
The food was pretty good, better than the food usually is in the campus
cafeteria. But I’m not a food critic, so let’s not focus on the luncheon. The
after-lunch activities were threefold: First, a national PAT representative
spoke briefly about the honor society’s goals, accomplishments, and stuff.
Second, Dr. Kuryla introduced our guest speaker, Vanderbilt University’s
Professor Richard Blackett, Andrew Jackson Professor of History. Prof. Blackett
shared with us his Going Into the
Belly of the Beast: The Underground Railroad and the Attack on Slavery, which was quite
an intriguing story, but sadly I can’t recall any specifics. :( Third and last, the Best Paper Awards were
announced and presented. Sadly, Debs and I didn’t win any – if you ask me, my
Debs paper was nominee-worthy. But I’m proud to say that three of our very own
each won an award: David Suell, Steve Gallo, and Sarah Nelson. :) Way to go, everyone!
Thanks a bunch for reading,
lovers of history. Stay tuned.
MML,
HI
[1]
In 1925, Tennessee public schools were not allowed to teach the theories of
evolution, but one John Scopes defied the law and was tried, convicted, and
later acquitted due to a legal technicality. “Scopes Trial,” Conservapedia, 25 June 2012. http://www.conservapedia.com/Scopes_Trial.
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