Social Media Round Up 4/13/2020-4/19/2020

We hope you all are doing well. The Heritage Alliance is posting a lot of content online right now, both on our website and our social media pages. We decided to do a weekly round up so you all can find what you’re looking for in a more expedient manner. This will also help you know what posts to be on the lookout for.

 

Website – heritageall.org

Chester Inn Museum Virtual Exhibit – This week we launched a virtual exhibit that takes you inside two cases in the Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum. Check out Historic Preservation in Jonesborough, 1970-2020 now!

Historic Photo Exploration #3

 

Facebook – Heritage Alliance

Weekly posts about local businesses in Jonesborough, the history of the buildings, and what the businesses are offering now in the midst of Covid 19.

Information on local, Smallpox outbreaks in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

One of our tour guides submitted an At Home Amateur Museum Theatre video of her own that talks about early Jonesborough history and Jesse Walton.

A look at the Civilian Conversation Corps (CCC) and their impact on Northeast Tennessee.

Updates on marker cleaning in the Old Jonesborough Cemetery.

 

Facebook – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Weekly posts reflecting back on the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 with primary sources from Washington County.

We also launched our virtual exhibit this week! Check out Historic Preservation in Jonesborough, 1970-2020. 

 

YouTube – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Social Distancing with the Victorians – Video series examining how the Victorians would have practiced social distancing.

Make A May Basket – This instructional video talks about the history of May Day and the May Basket. It also includes a step by step guide on how to make your own May Basket. The McKinney Center in Jonesborough, located at 103 Franklin Avenue, has a make and take option for the May Basket. Swing by the Center and pick up the items you need to make your own May Basket. Craft materials are located in the green box outside the Center.

Historical Photo Exploration #3 – What’s Going On Here?

The archival collections of the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum are full of historical photos from all over Washington County. When the photos are donated to the museum, sometimes the donor knows all kinds of information about the picture, sometimes the person who took the picture left a whole lot of information on the back for future generations. Usually, though, the pictures come with no information at all. As historians, we have to look at several context clues within the picture to help us date when the photo was taken and where the photo was taken. What was going on in that particular moment in time when the photo was taken? Early photographic technology was not as instant as it is today. It took time to take a good photo, so photos were usually reserved for special occasions.

Each week, we’ll be posting a photo from our archives with some questions to help you explore the photo. We’ll also include some writing prompts if you feel like going a step further and turning this into a creative writing exercise as well.

If you are doing this activity with your student(s), the answer key is provided at the end of the post.

 

To see a larger version of the image, click HERE.

 

Questions to Answer:

1) What is happening in this photo?

2) What are some of the items you can identify in this photo?

3) What do you think the man is making?

4) What is written on the back wall of the shop?

5) What are some clues that can help you date when this photo was taken?

6) What does the word credit mean in this situation?

7) Why would he have suspended credit to his customers during the time this photo was taken?

8) Who do you think took this picture?

9) Why do you think this picture was taken?

9) What is the most surprising or shocking thing about this photo?

 

Creative Writing Exercise – What do you think this man was feeling in this moment when this photo was taken? Do your best to write like you’re from that time period. Go a step further and write an advertisement for this business based on what you’ve learned from this photo.

 

Answer Key:

1) This is a cobbler engaged in making shoes.

2) Hammer, leather, work bench, hat, glasses, apron, diagrams, etc.

3) Open ended answer, but he is actually making shoes.

4) “New Way No Credit for 1898-99”

5) The year is written on the wall behind him. This photo was most likely taken in early 1898.

6) “The ability of a customer to obtain goods or services before payment, based on the trust that payment will be made in the future.”

7) Maybe his customers weren’t actually paying him like they were supposed to? Also, the United States went through several depressions and panics in the 1890s that destroyed the economy. Many people didn’t have enough money to live on.

8) Might have been someone who knew the store owner. Might have been some one from the newspaper who was helping him advertise his new rules.

9) Lots of possible answers, but what we like best about this photo is the amount of detail.

Social Media Round Up 4/06/2020 – 4/12/2020

We hope you all are doing well. The Heritage Alliance is posting a lot of content online right now, both on our website and our social media pages. We decided to do a weekly round up so you all can find what you’re looking for in a more expedient manner. This will also help you know what posts to be on the lookout for.

 

Website – heritageall.org

Historians at Home – This week we launched our new crowdsourcing, archival project in response to the Covid_19 Pandemic. Own your history and submit to the program today.

Historic Photo Exploration #2

 

Facebook – Heritage Alliance

Weekly posts about local businesses in Jonesborough, the history of the buildings, and what the businesses are offering now in the midst of Covid 19.

Weekly posts about recreation through time, including gardening and Victory Gardens.

Photos and posts from our archival collection.

 

Facebook – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Weekly posts reflecting back on the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 with primary sources from Washington County.

 

YouTube – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Social Distancing with the Victorians – Video series examining how the Victorians would have practiced social distancing.

At Home Amateur Museum Theatre Presents: Andrew Jackson vs. Waightstill Avery – Video series examining interesting stories from Jonesborough’s past.

 

Instagram – Heritage Alliance

Featuring Spring inspired pictures from our archival collection.

Historical Photo Exploration #2 – What’s Going On Here?

The archival collections of the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum are full of historical photos from all over Washington County. When the photos are donated to the museum, sometimes the donor knows all kinds of information about the picture, sometimes the person who took the picture left a whole lot of information on the back for future generations. Usually, though, the pictures come with no information at all. As historians, we have to look at several context clues within the picture to help us date when the photo was taken and where the photo was taken. What was going on in that particular moment in time when the photo was taken? Early photographic technology was not as instant as it is today. It took time to take a good photo, so photos were usually reserved for special occasions.

Each week, we’ll be posting a photo from our archives with some questions to help you explore the photo. We’ll also include some writing prompts if you feel like going a step further and turning this into a creative writing exercise as well.

If you are doing this activity with your student(s), the answer key is provided at the end of the post.

 

To see a larger version of the image, click HERE.

 

Questions to Answer

1) What is happening in this photo?

2) What is a cornerstone?

3) Where is the Courthouse in this photo?

4) What are some clues that can help you date when this photo was taken?

5) Who is included in this picture? (Look for clues to gender, age, and race.)

6) Who is not included in this picture? (Look for clues to gender, age, and race.)

7) Who do you think took this picture?

8) Why do you think this picture was taken?

9) What is the most surprising or shocking thing about this photo?

10) Would you be able to walk across an open construction site in the United States today? Why or why not?

Additional Study Question – Why was the Courthouse so important to Jonesborough?

 

Creative Writing Exercise – Pick a person in the photo and write a paragraph from their point of view. What were they feeling and thinking in this moment? Do your best to write like you’re from that time period. Go a step further and write a letter as the person in the photo describing the event you saw today.

 

Answer Key:

1) Placing of the cornerstone for the new Washington County Courthouse on Main Street, Jonesborough.

2) The cornerstone is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

3) The Courthouse is currently just a hole in the ground in this photo. The old Courthouse had been torn down and a new one was being built.

4) This photo is actually dated, but other points of reference are the electric and telephone poles and the clothes being worn by the people in the photo.

5) There is a mixture of men, women, and children. People in the photo appear to be predominantly Caucasian. There are not many African Americans in the photo.

6) There are a few African Americans in the photo. Where are they located in relation to everyone else in the photo? (Not in the foreground) Why do you think this is? (Answers could touch on segregation and that African Americans were a minority within Washington County’s population.)

7) Possibly someone from the newspaper or a town official.

8) To commemorate the placement of the cornerstone for the new Courthouse.

9) Open ended answer, but one big surprise is the people walking over the hole in their finest attire across stacked boards.

10) Mostly no, and that has everything to do with changes in law and safety standards.

Additional Study Question – You can find the answer to this question under local history on our website, or by conducting a Google search on Jonesborough’s history.

Historians at Home: Crowd Sourcing History

The COVID-19 pandemic has created numerous uncertainties and challenges, but the Heritage Alliance is working hard to make the current “safer at home” order an opportunity to create a new type of historical record. This week, The Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia launched a crowd-sourcing collection project entitled “Historians At Home.”

 

Historians At Home is a letter-collecting campaign that gathers, saves, and shares first-person accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic from local residents. It allows The Heritage Alliance, a local history non-profit, to engage with the public remotely, and collect original, first person materials from this highly irregular historical moment. Contributors are asked to write a letter or email detailing their experience and perspective, and are provided with a series of starter questions to consider. Historians At Home is a great activity for all ages, and also fits well into a home-school curriculum.

 

In 2019, The Heritage Alliance served over 36,000 people, including local residents and out-of-town visitors. Despite museum and office closures, Historians At Home allows The Heritage Alliance to continue facilitating a relationship between history and the public from afar. So consider submitting a letter via email, including a completed Written Release, to historiansathome@gmail.com. You can also mail your letter and release to The Heritage Alliance at 212 E. Sabine Drive, Jonesborough, TN 37659. The Heritage Alliance would love to hear from you, and all of the other Historians At Home.

 

To access the packet, questionnaire, and release form, click HERE.

Social Media Round Up 3/30/2020 – 04/05/2020

We hope you all are doing well. The Heritage Alliance is posting a lot of content online right now, both on our website and our social media pages. We decided to do a weekly round up so you all can find what you’re looking for in a more expedient manner. This will also help you know what posts to be on the lookout for.

 

Website – heritageall.org

Cholera Epidemic Primary Source Activity

Historical Photo Exploration #1: What’s Going On Here?

Chester Inn Museum Coloring Book

 

Facebook – Heritage Alliance

Weekly posts about local businesses in Jonesborough, the history of the buildings, and what the businesses are offering now in the midst of Covid 19.

Weekly posts about recreation through time, including bicycling and hiking.

Photos and posts from our archival collection.

Sears Modern Home Historic House Hunt – Round One 1908-1914

 

Facebook – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Weekly posts reflecting back on the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918 with primary sources from Washington County.

 

YouTube – Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum

Social Distancing with the Victorians – Video series examining how the Victorians would have practiced social distancing.

Make Your Own Buzz Saw Toy Video

 

You can also follow the Heritage Alliance on Instagram @heritage_alliance. Check back here every week for another recap!

 

Historical Photo Exploration #1 – What’s Going On Here?

The archival collections of the Jonesborough/Washington County History Museum are full of historical photos from all over Washington County. When the photos are donated to the museum, sometimes the donor knows all kinds of information about the picture, sometimes the person who took the picture left a whole lot of information on the back for future generations. Usually, though, the pictures come with no information at all. As historians, we have to look at several context clues within the picture to help us date when the photo was taken and where the photo was taken. What was going on in that particular moment in time when the photo was taken? Early photographic technology was not as instant as it is today. It took time to take a good photo, so photos were usually reserved for special occasions.

Each week, we’ll be posting a photo from our archives with some questions to help you explore the photo. We’ll also include some writing prompts if you feel like going a step further and turning this into a creative writing exercise as well.

If you are doing this activity with your student(s), the answer key is provided at the end of the post.

To see a larger version of the photo, click HERE.

 

Questions:

1) What is happening in this photo?

2) How many types of transportation do you see in this photo? List them.

3) What are some clues that can help you date when this photo was taken?

4) What was the train hauling?

5) Who is included in this picture? (Look for clues to gender, age, and race.)

6) Who is not included in this picture? (Look for clues to gender, age, and race.)

7) Who do you think took this picture?

8) Why do you think this picture was taken?

9) Where was this picture taken? (Hint, the location is in Johnson City.)

10) What is the most surprising or shocking thing about this photo?

 

Creative Writing Exercise – Pick a person in the photo and write a paragraph from their point of view. What were they feeling and thinking in this moment? Do your best to write like you’re from that time period. Go a step further and write a letter as the person in the photo describing the event you saw today.

 

Answer Key:

  1. Clean up of a train wreck with spectators looking on.
  2. Three – horse and buggy, trains, and automobiles (This is a great opportunity to talk more about changes in transportation over time.)
  3. Telegraph poles, way people are dressed, cars, type of cars – This photo was taken sometime between 1910-1920.
  4. Coal and lumber – This can lead to further questions about coal and why a train would be hauling it. Same questions can be asked about lumber.
  5. Men, women, children, there may be some members of the African American community included in the photo, but it’s hard to tell.
  6. The people in the photo are predominantly Caucasian.
  7. We don’t know who took the picture, but it could have been taken by the newspaper, the railroad company, or a spectator.
  8. To document the train wreck, perhaps for the newspaper.
  9. This picture was taken in Johnson City on Walnut Street where the old Burlington Mills factory is located. This is before the train tracks were moved to their current location.
  10. Open ended answer, but it’s interesting to note the crowd of people just watching. Also, some of them drove their cars to watch the train wreck be cleaned up. There’s a saying about something being a “train wreck” but not being able to look away from it. Perhaps this is where that particular turn of phrase comes from?

Chester Inn Museum Coloring Book

The Chester Inn State Historic Site and Museum is currently closed to the public, but we wanted to offer our coloring sheets to you for free! Seven coloring pages featuring some of Jonesborough’s historic landmarks are available to download and color! We could all use a bit of bright color in our lives right now, so feel free to share your finished work with us on the Chester Inn Facebook page with the #historyart

 

Coloring Book Download

Heritage Alliance Extending Closures Until Further Notice

We hope you all are doing well and staying safe. In keeping with the most recent guidelines from the CDC and the Federal Government, the Heritage Alliance has decided to extend the closure of our office and museums until further notice. If you need us during this time, we can still be reached by phone at 423-753-9580 or by email at info@heritageall.org. Continue to check our content on our website, Facebook page (Heritage Alliance and Chester Inn Museum), Instagram, and YouTube under the Chester Inn Museum.

As we have additional updates, we will post them.

 

Jonesborough Cholera Epidemic of 1873 Primary Source Activities

Cholera was one of the most deadly and feared diseases of the nineteenth century. An infected person could show no symptoms for several days, spreading the bacteria without even realizing it. In some cases, cholera caused vomiting and diarrhea so severe that a patient died within hours of showing signs of the illness.

In 1854, Dr. John Snow found a link between people who came down with cholera and contaminated water sources during an outbreak of cholera in London, but his theory that the disease spread through water sources was not widely accepted or well understood. In 1883, Robert Koch used a microscope and finally identified the specific bacteria that cause cholera.

In 1873, when cholera broke out in New Orleans, doctors could do little to stop the spread of the disease or treat sick patients. People could not prevent cholera, but they tracked the deaths as the disease spread along transportation and trade routes. Cholera spread up the Mississippi to Memphis, where state prisoners working on the railroad contracted cholera and carried it back to Nashville. From Nashville, the outbreak spread along the rail lines, causing deaths in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Greeneville. In Jonesborough, anxious readers followed the approach of the disease in the pages of the Herald & Tribune.

Primary Source Activity:

You are now a history detective, use the newspaper articles from 1873 to follow along as the cholera epidemic sweeps through Jonesborough. Pick a name from the Citizens’ List below. While reading the paper, see if you can determine what happened to the citizen you picked. Were they a survivor, or were they a casualty of the epidemic? The accompanying Organizational Chart will help you keep track of the epidemic and your thoughts as you read. The Post-Activity Questionnaire will encourage you to look to other sources for additional research.

Note to parents, you can add an additional question to the Organizational Chart. You can also add two more names to the Citizens’ List.

 

Here are all the materials you will need to complete this activity. This activity is recommended for fifth grade and above. There are several, good vocabulary words included in the newspaper, you’ll most likely find them as you read along.

Herald & Tribune Primary Source

Citizens’ List

Organization Chart

Post-Activity Questionnaire

 

Some other thoughts to consider, how has our understanding of germs and diseases changed since 1873? Who were the helpers during the cholera epidemic? What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? How did the epidemics of the late 1800s change the United States? Are we as a society today better prepared for a massive outbreak of a disease?

For additional research, this is a great link – https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/history-of-cholera

Above all, remember that historians are here to remind you that a future is possible. Moments such as the cholera epidemic might be difficult to look back on and study, but they teach us so much. Historians look to the past to give context to the present and to help inform the future.