In the District

When I was in middle school, the biggest event of 8th grade was going on the Washington, D.C. trip.  For most of my peers, it was probably a big deal to go on a trip without their parents.  For me, the excitement came from going to Gettysburg and then getting to see the nation's capitol first hand.  For a "history geek" in the making, nothing could be more exciting.  There are days when I still am thankful for that trip, for Richard Smith (my middle school history teacher), and that may parents let me go on it!

I have been to D.C. multiple times since then, most only research trips.  The last time I left in the middle of a snow storm.  But this year I had the opportunity to come out to the District and teach an intensive seminar on D.C. and the Civil War as part of Butler University's Semester in Washington, D.C. program.  The students in my seminar are drawn from Butler students who are here, as well as several from our partner school, Centre College in Kentucky.  Over the course of the past two days, we have talked a good deal about the war, and today we did some tours that tied some of our discussions together.






Our first stop was the U.S. Capitol.  Our tour was facilitated by Indiana Congresswoman Susan Brooks.  It was wonderful to get to take my students into the very rooms so much of the history we had discussed.  From the dome (which was being worked on during the Civil War)....


....to the Old Supreme Court room, where the Dred Scott decision was rendered by Chief Justice Roger Taney......




....to the Old Senate Chamber, where the Compromise of 1850 was put together, and where Charles Sumner's desk was/is (where he sat when Congressman Preston Brooks nearly killed him by beating the abolitionist with his cane).

After we were done on the Hill, we headed out to Arlington National Cemetery.  Here we visited Robert E. Lee's mansion, which holds connections to George Washington and to the Civil War (as it was occupied by Union forces early on in the war, which led to the plantation grounds becoming a cemetery).





But for me, one of the highlights (beyond getting to spend time with some really great students) was finding the grave of Marion Anderson, Butler's Civil War Medal of Honor Winner.




I have really enjoyed the opportunity to teach this course, and to do "history on the ground."  It is something I would do again, and that I would encourage others in my profession to do as well.