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What key decisions influence whether a community thrives?

Most early Iowa settlers lived on farms. Some, however, were merchants, lawyers, doctors, newspaper publishers, ministers or craftsmen who lived in the new towns springing up across the prairie. Not all the towns survived. Some never attracted many people and others lost population when conditions changed. The result was Iowa "ghost towns" that exist across the state.

Iowa Ghost Towns

Most early towns came into existence to serve the surrounding farm population. When a trip to town could take several hours, farmers wanted services and supplies close at hand, and towns sprang up every five to six miles apart. The coming of the railroads in the 1870s and 1880s both helped and hindered Iowa. Towns along the rail lines became trading centers where merchants could receive goods from the East and farmers could sell their cattle and hogs for shipment to eastern cities. Towns that had no railroad connection lost customers and usually became ghost towns. Sometimes the railroads even created towns due to the fact that steam engines needed coal and water. This impacted western Iowa especially as rail lines arrived before major waves of population.

Some towns were created with a special purpose. This is especially true of those based upon coal mining, a big industry in Iowa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The railroads again were a major factor because trains were the main buyers for Iowa coal. Many small coal mines sprang up in southeastern and central Iowa. Miners and their families occupied cheap housing nearby, and the rail company sometimes operated general stores and other services for their workers. When the coal ran out in the mine, the mine closed and the miners moved away. Sometimes the houses and other buildings were loaded onto trains and moved to a nearby location where a new mine was opening up.

Buxton

The town of Buxton in southeastern Iowa was unique in that a majority of its residents were African-American. The Consolidated Coal Company worked for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Having a hard time recruiting white miners, Consolidated Coal sent agents to southern states to hire black workers. In 1873, it founded the town of Buxton and opened nearby mines. It grew quickly and, according to one source, became the largest coal town west of the Mississippi. In the 1905 census, the town boasted 2,700 blacks and 1,991 whites. The town supported black doctors, lawyers and other professionals, and an African-American YMCA with a gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and many programs for Buxton residents. The town was proud of its baseball team, the Buxton Wonders. White residents included immigrants from Sweden and elsewhere, and they existed peacefully with the African-Americans throughout the community's history.

Buxton coal production peaked during WWI but afterward, mechanization and conversion of train engines to diesel fuel decreased the demand for coal. Several severe fires ravaged the community and the mines. By 1919, Buxton's population had declined to only 400. The last mine closed in 1927. Residents moved away but fondly remembered their Buxton days. Many blacks moved to Des Moines or Waterloo. Very little physical evidence of the town remains today.

There have been many articles and several books written about this unique African-American experience in rural Iowa. While it is only one of Iowa's many ghost towns, it is probably the most famous.

Supporting Questions

How was Buxton a unique community?

Benjamin C. Buxton, Founder of Buxton, Iowa, Date Unknown (Image)

Postcard View of Center Street in Buxton, 1908 (Image)

Panoramic View of Buxton, 1910 (Image)

Postcard Showing Buxton Coal Bank in Shaft of #12 Mine, 1910 (Image)

Postcard of Miner with Mule-Drawn Cart in a Shaft of Buxton's #12 Mine, 1910 (Image)

Monroe Mercantile Company Opening, 1911 (Image)

Monroe Mercantile Company Interior, 1911 (Image)

Monroe Mercantile Company Employees, 1911 (Image)

Map of Bluff Creek Township (Buxton), 1919 (Map)

In what ways did Buxton prosper?

What caused Buxton to turn into a ghost town?

Benjamin C. Buxton, Founder of Buxton, Iowa, Date Unknown

Description

Benjamin Buxton was the namesake of and main planner of the town of Buxton. Benjamin Buxton took over as superintendent of Consolidation Coal Company from his father, John Buxton, in 1896, when he was just 25 years old, until 1909. The town of Buxton, established in 1900,...

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Postcard View of Center Street in Buxton, 1908

Description

This photograph, featured on a postcard, shows many people seen at a distance walking down "Center Street" in Buxton, Iowa, in 1908. Also called "coal chute hill," coal was moved from railroad cars at the bottom of the hill to the coal conveyor and chute at the top of the...

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Panoramic View of Buxton, 1910

Description

This "Panoramic View of Buxton, Iowa" was photographed in 1910. The image shows two water towers, a few two-story buildings, dozens of identical houses, along with streets of the town. Since Buxton was designed and built by the Consolidation Coal Company to be a central...

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Postcard Showing Buxton Coal Bank in Shaft of #12 Mine, 1910

Description

An unknown photographer captured this photograph inside Buxton #12 mine showing pieces of shale and coal that miners were working on moving in 1910. Miners entered the shaft with an empty cart and were paid based on the amount of coal that they brought out at the end of the...

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Postcard of Miner with Mule-Drawn Cart in a Shaft of Buxton's #12 Mine, 1910

Description

An unknown photographer captured this image that shows a miner in 1910 with mule-drawn coal cart in the shaft of mine #12 at Buxton, Iowa. In his interview, Paul Wilson remembers how mules and mine cars were used to move...

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Monroe Mercantile Company Opening, 1911

Description

Monroe Mercantile was the Consolidation Coal Company's company store. The original Monroe Mercantile building was destroyed by fire on February 21, 1911. By March 21, 1911, the construction of the new company store was underway, and they held the grand opening of the second...

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Monroe Mercantile Company Interior, 1911

Description

Monroe Mercantile was the Consolidation Coal Company's company store. It had a wide variety of products and is reported by some to have had fair prices and others to have been higher priced. The original Monroe Mercantile building was destroyed by fire on February 21, 1911....

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Monroe Mercantile Company Employees, 1911

Description

The photograph shows employees from Monroe Mercantile, which was the Consolidation Coal Company's company store. It had a wide variety of products and is reported by some to have had fair prices and others to have been higher priced. The original...

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Map of Bluff Creek Township (Buxton), 1919

Description

This atlas and plat map book of Monroe County, Iowa, was compiled and published by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. in 1919 and funded by the federal government. This image shows a plat map of Bluff Creek Township and Buxton. The township was divided into sections and the owners of...

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Buxton Wonders Baseball Team, 1915

Description

The Buxton Wonders Baseball Team was partially sponsored by the Consolidation Coal Company through the donation of land to play on, building bleachers and even paying for uniforms for this traveling team. It is reported that this team always had both black and white players...

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Interview of Paul Wilson, Born in Buxton, May 13, 1992

Description

This transcribed interview is of Paul Wilson, who was born in Buxton, Iowa, and grew up in the town. He then moved with his family, to Haydock, Iowa, and subsequently, to Des Moines, Iowa, where he spent the rest of his life. This interview was done in 1992 by Francis...

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"Back to Buxton," July 1, 2009

Description

This article by Eula Biss, entitled "Back to Buxton," was published in 2009 by the Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry at the University of Iowa. The article focuses on the general components of Buxton, Iowa, featuring its remarkable reputation as being a town where blacks and...

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Aftermath of Explosion in Buxton's #12 Mine, Date Unknown

Description

In 1914, an explosion at mine #12 in Buxton led to the shutdown of that mine. Coal dust is highly flammable, and explosions were not uncommon. There is no record of anyone being hurt in the explosion since it happened after the mine closed for the day. The Consolidation Coal...

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"Buxton Review" in the Iowa State Bystander, June 26, 1914

Description

This brief article about Buxton was published in the Iowa State Bystander on June 26, 1914. The article included parts about how a Buxton resident was glad that the coal mines have resumed work after several months. The lack of work has impacted community...

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Buxton: Work and Racial Equality in a Coal Mining Community, 1987

Description

Professor, researcher and author Dorothy Schwieder published "Buxton: Work and Racial Equality in a Coal Mining Community" in 1987. The first excerpt from this source is a table showing the annual income of selected workers in Buxton in 1914. It shows how lucrative jobs with...

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"As I Remember" by Minnie London, 2003

Description

This article was written by Minnie London, who first moved to Muchakinock as a bride and then to Buxton a few years later. London writes of her life as a coal miner's wife including scheduling time to place orders with the company store, how people from many states moved to...

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Additional Resources:

Images of America: Lost Buxton by Rachelle Chase (2017): This recent publication is loaded with rich images and meaningful quotes from dozens of Buxton citizens. The author synthesizes many sources to concisely tell the story of Buxton with meaningful details.

Buxton: Work and Racial Equality in a Coal Mining Community by Dorothy Schwieder (1987): Professor, researcher and author Dorothy Schwieder provides details and explanations of many causes and effects of the formation and decline of Buxton.

CRI News Package: Home from Buxton, Iowa: This two-minute video tours a house from Buxton that was moved to Oskaloosa around the 1920s, and then was moved again to the Nelson Pioneer Farm during October 2008.

"Searching for Buxton" Documentary (Part One and Part Two): A young African-American goes searching for his family's past in a long-disappeared Iowa coal mining town and discovers that much of the prosperity and goodwill his relatives enjoyed nearly a century ago is elusive today. Narrated by Simon Estes.

Reclaiming Iowa's Abandoned Coal Mine Lands: This eight-minute Iowa Outdoors video focuses on Iowa's coal mines. A century ago, southern Iowa was home to hundreds of surface coal mines. As the coal boom died so did the companies that mined for it, leaving those mines abandoned and open to the elements. Today, decades after the industry died, efforts slowly continue to clean up the deserted mines and reclaim the ground that was once rich with coal.

"Editor's Observations" from the Iowa State Bystander (Oct. 29, 1909, pg. 4): This newspaper article by John Lay Thompson, editor of the Iowa State Bystander, describes the success of African-Americans in Buxton, Iowa. During an era of Jim Crow laws in the South, those who were recruited from Virginia to come and work for Consolidation Coal Company experienced a far different reality in Buxton than they had in Virginia. In his editor's column, Thompson writes about the demographics, businesses, prominent citizens and services located in Buxton, Iowa, in or around 1909.

"The Buxton Souvenir Number" from the Iowa State Bystander (Dec. 6, 1907): This additional resource includes eight newspaper pages of photos and articles about Buxton.

C. & N.W. Ry. Depot in Buxton, Iowa (1905): A photo of a train depot for Chicago and Northwestern Railway in Buxton, Iowa, in 1905.

Additional Buxton Photographs from the State Historical Society of Iowa

Iowa Core Social Studies Standards (2nd Grade)

Listed below are the Iowa Core Social Studies content anchor standards that are best reflected in this source set. The content standards applied to this set are elementary-age level and encompass the key disciplines that make up social studies for 2nd grade students.

SS.2.7. Explain how people from different groups work through conflict when solving a community problem.

SS.2.10. Determine effective strategies for solving particular community problems.

SS.2.12. Identify how people use natural resources to produce goods and services.

SS.2.16. Using maps, globes, and other simple geographic models, evaluate routes for people or goods that consider environmental characteristics.

SS.2.17. Explain how environmental characteristics impact the location of particular places

SS.2.18. Describe how the choices people make impact local and distant environments

SS.2.20. Determine the influence of particular individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical change.

SS.2.24. Describe the intended and unintended consequences of using Iowa's natural resources.

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What key decisions influence whether a community thrives? Most early Iowa settlers lived on farms. Some, however, were merchants, lawyers, doctors, newspaper publishers, ministers or craftsmen who lived in the new towns springing up across the prairie. Not all the towns survived. Some never attracted many people and others lost population when conditions changed.

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Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration |

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University of Northern Iowa |Business and Community Services |Institute for Decision Making Strategic Marketing Services |Executive Development Center |Regional Business Center

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Chinese Cultural Center of America | Riverfront Gardens

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Situated on the east bank of the Des Moines River on a 1.7 acre site provided by the City of Des Moines, south of the Botanical Center, across the river from the Iowa Events Center, the CCCA Gardens will offer a vibrant and diverse quality of life for the people of Iowa, serve as a climactic destination attraction for the Principal Riverwalk, and supply a natural linkage between the Principal Center Street Pedestrian Bridge and the Des Moines Botanical Center.

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James A. Percoco Foreword by Milton Chen; Afterword by Cathy Gorn

In Take the Journey, author, historian, and educator James Percoco invites you and your students to the places where many events in American history happened. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a 180-mile National Heritage area encompassing such historic sites as the Gettysburg battlefield and Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello.

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In Take the Journey, author, historian, and educator James Percoco invites you and your students to the places where many events in American history happened. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a 180-mile National Heritage area encompassing such historic sites as the Gettysburg battlefield and Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello.

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By Jessica Lowe

Long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala.; more than a decade before Martin Luther King Jr. gave the historic "I Have A Dream" speech; prior to almost every major event in the Civil Rights timeline taught in classrooms; there was an Iowan beginning her own fight for equality - Edna Griffin.

Griffin was a leader in the Civil Rights movement before there was a name for the movement. Born on Oct. 23, 1909, in Lexington, Ky., Griffin was raised in rural New Hampshire, the daughter of a dairy farm supervisor and his wife. She studied to be a teacher at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., where she graduated in 1933. While at Fisk, Griffin met her future husband, Stanley Griffin. The couple moved to Des Moines in 1947 so Stanley Griffin could attend Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery, now Des Moines University.

"They moved to Des Moines ... and bought a home in the Beaverdale neighborhood on the northwest side of Des Moines where they raised their three children: Phyllis, Linda and Stanley," said Mikel Johnson, friend and former neighbor of Griffin's. "A black family moving into Beaverdale during that period of time certainly took some strength of character."

Not only did the family show "strength of character" for where they chose to live, soon Griffin would be faced with the decision to fight for her beliefs. It would be in Des Moines where Griffin would take her place in American history and forever change the racial culture in Iowa and the nation.

On July 7, one of the hottest days during the summer of 1948, John Bibbs, Leonard Hudson and Griffin, along with her 1-year-old daughter, Phyllis, stopped at Katz Drug Store in downtown Des Moines. Griffin ordered an ice cream soda, according to the University of Iowa's Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. The group was refused service because the store was "not equipped to serve colored people."

Griffin, Bibbs and Hudson, who were all active in the efforts to end discrimination against African-Americans and members of the Progressive Party of Iowa, did not take the incident lightly. According to Johnson, Griffin organized a boycott, conducted sit-ins and picketed in front of the store every Saturday for two months, which was located on the southeast corner of Seventh and Locust streets. Wanting to see change happen for everyone, the three filed charges against the store's owner, Maurice Katz, in November of 1948 citing violation of the 1884 Iowa Civil Rights Act prohibiting discrimination in a public place.

The criminal trial drew statewide attention when Katz was found guilty by a jury and fined $50. The drug store owner filed an appeal but the conviction was upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court in December of 1949.

While the appeal for the criminal trial was in progress, Griffin brought a civil suit in the Polk County District Court for $10,000 in damages from the July 1948 incident.

During the civil trial, Griffin was represented by local members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund. Her civil case was heard and an all-white jury sided with Griffin and awarded her $1 in damages, which her lawyer deemed a "moral victory." The landmark case meant that lunch counters, soda fountains and restaurants in Des Moines by law had to serve African-Americans.

"Edna Griffin fought for civil rights for African-Americans and all people, but she also fought for all people across all the protected classes," said Johnson, human rights specialist in the Des Moines Human Rights Department. "She was a true advocate for peace and human rights."
TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS STORY AND OTHER FASCINATING STORIES ABOUT IOWA HISTORY, subscribe to Iowa History Journal. You can also purchase back issues at the store.

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Edna Griffin: Civil Rights movement pioneer. Des Moines woman became known as the 'Rosa Parks of Iowa.' -

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By Jessica Lowe Long before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Ala.; more than a decade before Martin Luther King Jr. gave the historic "I Have A Dream" speech; prior to almost ... Continue reading →

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Letter on stationery depicting the Capitol building, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 1; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image

Transcription of letter on stationery depicting the Capitol building, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image
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Letter with drawing of camp, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 1; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image

Transcription of letter with drawing of camp, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, September 23, 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, September 23, 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, March 17, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 4; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, March 17, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 4; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, May 27, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 4; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, May 27, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 4; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter with list, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, August 27, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 3; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image

Transcription of letter with list, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, August 27, 1862; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 4; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, January 17, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, January 17, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, June 24 to July 25, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, June 24 to July 25, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, February 10, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, February 10, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, March 4, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, March 4, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, April 25, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, April 25, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Letter about Gettysburg, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, July 27, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 6; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image

Transcription of letter about Gettysburg, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, July 27, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image
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Letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, September 11, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Transcription of letter, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Petford, September 11, 1863; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 7; Brooklyn Historical Society.

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Letter on stationery depicting the Capitol building, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 1; Brooklyn Historical Society. click for image Transcription of letter on stationery depicting the Capitol building, Alfred Cranston to Elizabeth Cranston, circa 1861; Cranston family papers, 1994.013, box 1, folder 2; Brooklyn Historical Society.

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Iowa Museum Association : Online Collections

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Teaching Iowa History is a project of the Iowa Museum Association in partnership with the University of Northern Iowa, Simpson College, Iowa Geographic Alliance, Graceland University, Iowa Public Television, Iowa Department of Education, University of Iowa Museum Studies, and others. Teaching Iowa History Online Collections Database contains objects from many Iowa museum and historical society collections.

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Iowa Museum Association - Teaching Iowa History with Local Resources

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Iowa Museum Association - Teaching Iowa History with Local Resources

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Civil War Diaries and Letters Digital Collection - The University of Iowa Libraries

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This digital collection contains diaries and related items of soldiers from Iowa who fought in the American Civil War (1861-1865).

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One of the central challenges of the US history survey, which many professors will recognize, is that we ask students to absorb and understand massive political and societal changes over an extended period of time, yet few arrive with practice in recognizing the consequences of those changes. Conveying the process of change over time can prove equally challenging for students and professors, as societal transitions have often been subtle rather than overt, and are difficult to discern in the primary and secondary source documents that anchor any history course. My approach to this challenge took me back to the living history museums where my own career as a historian began.

Some years ago, my grandmother handed me her grandmother's glove stretcher, a tool used to individually stretch glove fingers stiffened by washing, and asked if I ever used one during my museum work. Looking at the glove stretcher in her 21st-century living room, I wondered how students would respond to an object that provided them with so few clues about its purpose and owners. Would they be cautious? Or would they feel free to interpret its use because they did not know what it was? And once they knew its purpose, would I be able to link this exercise back to the rest of the curriculum? Since then, teaching students to consider objects has become a part of my classes, and I cannot imagine teaching without my bobbins and tea sets, deck prisms and glove stretchers.

Deciding when and how to introduce historical objects to the classroom requires careful consideration. Sometimes I see an object in a museum or an antiques store and look for a way to add it to a class simply because I like the object itself. Other times I will notice students struggling to understand a particular point, and I will look for an object that will help illuminate that concept. In all cases, I want my historical objects to illustrate an idea better than can be done in words and to help train students to draw connections between historical events and their immediate social and cultural contexts. However, the objects also must be carefully embedded in the class, as objects without context serve little purpose other than catching students' attention (though I do sometimes use a flint and steel on the first day of class for that purpose).

For me, the obvious solution to these challenges was the wide array of artifacts reproduced for the living history/reenactment communities that I knew from my museum work. As they are not antiques, reproductions can be passed around a classroom without worry that students might damage them, and because they come from museum suppliers, I can be reasonably comfortable that they are accurate. Using reproductions also allows me to make an additional point. We think of objects from the preindustrial period as antiques and expect the ones we see in museums to be hundreds of years old, but all of these items were new when they were originally used.

I find historical objects particularly helpful when discussing broader transitions in labor, consumer goods, and trade networks. I pass a sugarloaf wrapped in blue paper around the room just before talking about taxation in the colonies in the 1760s. As the students feel the hard sugar beneath the paper, I ask them why 18th-century merchants chose to ship and sell their sugar in hard cones, rather than the loose sugar we buy now. Students eventually conclude that sugar was so valuable that merchants did not want to risk losing spilled sugar if a barrel broke open, and this can lead directly into a discussion of why sugar was one of the first products to be taxed by the British Parliament after the French and Indian War.

My lecture on the French and Indian War and Seven Years War finishes by examining the impact that emerging global trade networks had on middle- and upper-class households in the American colonies. To help illustrate these changes, I use the a tea set made for "Felicity," an 18th-century American Girl doll that has a tea cup without a handle and its saucer, a wooden tea chest, and a silver spoon. Many of the American Girl historical dolls are sanitized, contemporary-influenced versions of the past, particularly as they relate to race and gender-my husband, for example, refers to the Felicity doll as the "upwardly mobile shopkeeper's daughter." Nevertheless, the accessories made for the dolls are intended to be accurate reproductions of historical items, and they do provide a wide array of options for classroom use. The fact that they are miniatures (which students must be reminded of) means they are easily moved from office to classroom and back again.

I ask students to consider the way the cup was made: the lack of a handle denotes a cup made in Asia, which in turn suggests the family can afford imported china. Then I pass the tea chest around the room. Students sometimes struggle with the more abstract concepts posed by mercantilism, but a wooden tea chest brings to life the idea that wood was harvested in North America, sent to Britain to be planed and shaped into a chest equipped with metal handles, and then shipped back to the colonies for purchase as a finished product. As background for these discussions, I recommend Rodris Roth's article "Tea-Drinking in Eighteenth-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage," which links the objects and the rituals connected with tea drinking in the British Empire in the mid-18th century. ¹

The 19th century provides the opportunity to use objects to talk about the transition from artisan to factory. Some of my favorite objects for this point are from the Industrial Revolution, whether a shuttle from the Lowell mills or a bobbin from Slater's Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This point in the semester also provides opportunities for discussing the dangers of trying to interpret history with unknown or unidentified objects, as most students have now become ardent advocates of the advantages of studying history with period objects. And here is where the glove stretcher or another, equally unfamiliar, object-such as a deck prism from a 19th-century whaling vessel-enters my classroom. To help students with the process of identifying and interpreting the unknown object, I introduce a system for identifying objects loosely based on that of Jules Prown: examine and describe the object, consider the gender and social class of the people who possibly used it, and speculate about what the object was used for. ² Perhaps the most interesting part of this process is watching students become suddenly humbled by the fact that they have no idea what it is that they are holding. Toward the end, I begin giving clues; sometimes a student identifies the object, sometimes not. We finish by discussing what they've learned from the exercise and how these lessons can be applied to the written sources also used to study history in my classrooms.

Objects also play an important part in the evaluation of the students' learning outcomes. I've developed a variety of strategies for using objects in exams that have proved both interesting and rewarding to grade, as they give students opportunities to develop their analytical and contextual skills.

Perhaps the best part of using objects in the classroom is seeing students respond to them. I sometimes forget the power they hold, not to mention the importance of regional connections. I grew up in New England, where bobbins are almost a dime a dozen in antiques stores; I was fascinated when, in a classroom in Utah, a student picked up the Slater's Mill bobbin and looked at me with great delight. "This is so valuable," he said. "And you're letting me touch it!" I told him that I had purchased it for two dollars a few summers before. "No," he said, "it's not the money. It's the real thing. This is from Slater's Mills, where everything started." Paying attention to what is ordinary and what is extraordinary for students is a necessary lesson for me as well. Sometimes students connect to what is familiar; other times it is the unusual that draws them.

We live during a time when the use of technology at schools, universities, and museums is growing. While educators need to stay current, it is also worth remembering that our students already live in highly advanced, technological worlds. A computer is familiar; a sugarloaf or glove stretcher is not. In order to awaken interest in history and to help students better understand how their own material worlds came to be, there are few better methods than looking to the technology of the past.

Abby Chandler is an assistant professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She recently published a chapter titled "Captives, Slaves and Writers: Teaching Olaudah Equiano as Captivity Narrative," in Teaching Olaudah Equiano's Narrative, Eric Lamore, ed. (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2012).

Notes

1. Rodris Roth, "Tea-Drinking in Eighteenth-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage," in Material Life in Early America, 1600-1860, ed. Robert Blair St. George (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1988).

2. Jules Prown, "Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method," in Material Life in Early America, 1600-1860.

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Teaching with a Tea Set: Using Objects in the US History Survey

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One of the central challenges of the US history survey, which many professors will recognize, is that we ask students to absorb and understand massive political and societal changes over an extended period of time, yet few arrive with practice in recognizing the consequences of those changes.

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Lesson Plans and Curricular Materials | Geographic Alliance of Iowa

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Library of Congress: Primary Source Analysis Tool

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Library of Congress: Primary Source Analysis Tool

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Primary Source Analysis Tool | Teachers - Library of Congress

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Free online tool allows students to record responses to a primary source, and e-mail or print their work. Prompts help students to observe, reflect, question and further investigate the primary source. Part of the Teachers section at the Library of Congress.

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Take the Journey: Teaching American History through Place-Based Learning
By James A. Percoco
(Stenhouse, 2017 - Learn more)
Reviewed by Linda Biondi "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." - Albert Einstein
James Percoco, a 33-year classroom veteran and member of the National Teacher Hall of Fame, is the type of social studies teacher I wish I had had in school. His book Take the Journey: Teaching American History Through Place-Based Learning is the one of the best resources I've come across for teaching United States history.

Percoco, a teacher, historian, and author, invites you to have your students become actively engaged in their learning of American history. He invites you to "walk in the footsteps of the people who made history happen."

His work is nothing short of astounding and is a testimony to educators who are working with the Journey through Hallowed Ground Partnership, a non-profit, four-state enterprise "dedicated to raising awareness of the unparalleled American heritage in the region running from Gettysburg, PA., through Maryland and Harpers Ferry, W.VA., to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, VA."

This 180-mile National Heritage Area is teeming with history. I have to admit that I didn't know about the Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. Pulitzer Prize winning author Geraldine Brooks aptly describes the space (p. 2):

This remarkable region tells the story of how and where America happened. It has the power to transport us on the greatest journey of all; the journey of empathy and imagination into the lives of the people - famous and unknown, humble and distinguished - who shaped the country and made us who we are."

After reading this book, I felt even more passionate about bringing historic sites into the social studies classroom, whether through field trips or virtual visits. Although many of the lessons Percoco shares are "place-bound" in the Journey through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area along the East Coast, his overarching premise is that every community's history is crucial to the development of the United States.

The lessons embedded in the text are easily adaptable, and the book reads like a travelogue. You learn from Percoco's errors, successes, honesty, insight, and most of all, his enthusiasm and knowledge about teaching and history.

My first thoughts when I began to read this book were

✻ How many grants do you need to write to "get there" on this journey? None. You can do this with your local history.

✻ How can you cover the Standards? The lessons are Common Core based and rely predominately on primary sources.

✻ How can a teacher manage teaching, traveling, and coordinating everything? No problem. All the activities can be done without leaving the classroom (although I would dearly love to take students there!).

✻ Where can a teacher find the information to implement this in his/her classroom without spending day and night working on it? It's out there - primary sources are there via the Internet, whether you need the Declaration of Independence, a daily account of the Civil War, or speeches.

Linking past and present

I had chills as I read this book because Percoco writes from the heart. His purpose and passion were evident throughout as he examined, probed, and reflected on the making of our country. His book is not a sugarcoated journey of the United States but a journey that shows what makes our country great, despite its faults, and how to impart that wisdom and cultural understanding to our students.

For example, he demonstrates to the teacher how to connect historic content to the present by comparing what the students learn about Thomas Jefferson and the founding documents to how the Black Lives Matter movement is connected to Jefferson's ideas and principles.

This inquiry-based approach challenges students and teachers to think beyond the textbook. As I turned each page, I learned more about American history and how all of the puzzle pieces fit together to make a towering portrait of the United States of America.

Fashioning lessons from sources

Imagine being transported in time. Percoco writes about his own research journey in such a way that you can visualize the documents he is discovering. You can see the yellowed pages, smell the musty boxes of artifacts, experience the joy and excitement as he uncovers new information, and feel the exhilaration as he thinks of ways to present what he has learned to his students.

All the lesson plans in the book are teacher tested (by Percoco's own students and in the classrooms of partnership schools) and adaptable for use in place-based history education in any community across the United States. They provide the objective, essential question, documents, exit slips - whatever you need - and are engaging, hands on, and something that your students will always remember.

I am sure many educators have heard, "Why do I have to learn this? It's history. It happened a long time ago. What does it have to do with me?" With the guidance Percoco offers, students can become engaged and then invested as they learn how to brainstorm, analyze, organize, synthesize and respond to text, prompts and questions.

What I also appreciate is the book's hands-on, minds-on aspect that encourages students to share what they have learned through real world skills such as photography, movie making, writing, editing, and set design. Students practice inquiry, interviewing, public speaking, and research, all critical twenty-first century skills. In fact, through Percoco's guidance, service learning projects such as engaging in local historic preservation have evolved.

Attuned to instructional shifts

Wonder how it will link in with the current instructional shifts for social studies? The book is the most relevant and up-to-date teaching text I have read. You will continue to learn how to use "questions to spark curiosity, guide instruction, deepen investigations, acquire rigorous content, and apply knowledge and ideas in real world settings to become active and engaged citizens in the 21st century."( College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards).

Take the journey. I guarantee that you will be thrilled that you did. Follow Percoco's lead, immerse yourself in the techniques of place-based learning, and students will be "breaking down the door" to get into your classroom and ultimately share their knowledge and expertise with others - becoming better US and world citizens.

Be prepared for them to want to take charge of their learning. Be prepared for other teachers to ask you what are you doing to get them so excited about learning. Be prepared for YOU to be breaking down the door to your classroom, anxious to begin the day with your students.
Linda Biondi recently retired from her position as fourth grade teacher at Sharon Elementary School in Robbinsville, NJ. She has been the recipient of several educational grants, a Teacher Consultant with the National Writing Project, and a participant on the NJ Department of Education Teacher Advisory Panel and with ECET2 Celebrate Teaching. She hopes to continue her work in schools as a teacher mentor and trainer.

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journey through hallowed ground national heritage area

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Take the Journey Teaching American History through Place-Based

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Take the Journey: Teaching American History through Place-Based Learning By James A. Percoco (Stenhouse, 2017 - Learn more) Reviewed by Linda Biondi "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."

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We are committed to preserving and promoting the state's history and encouraging a public conversation about the story of Iowa. Our mission is to advance the understanding and appreciation of Iowa history among the state's students, scholars and general public. We have established a number of programs designed to heighten public awareness and interest in Iowa history, expand educational opportunities in Iowa history, and make this history more widely available.

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We are committed to preserving and promoting the state's history and encouraging a public conversation about the story of Iowa. Our mission is to advance the understanding and appreciation of Iowa history among the state's students, scholars and general public.