Category Archives: Theory and Practice

Primary Sources of DC

 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1914-02-09/ed-1/seq-1/

This is the newspaper “The Washington Times”. The date was for February 9, 1914. The newspaper shows things like weather, sales, jobs wanted, and government issues. The headlines of this newspaper are mainly presidential actions. The times in DC seem to show there wasn’t a lot going on other than government affairs. After reading these story lines, small crimes were more important and the money was a lot less, in the sense that today a lot of problems are dealt with hundreds of millions of dollars and here it was only $2.3 million. I found this source fairly difficult to work with because of the language used. It was hard to understand the government talk of the early 1900’s. A lot of this newspaper was about government issues so it would be boring and unappealing to a person like me who doesn’t like to read about politics. This paper corroborates well with other newspapers of this time because they all talk about government and local problems that don’t seem like very bad problems in the modern day. Things like someone not wearing the proper clothes to church would be broadcasted in the newspaper back then, however now it’s all about murders, bank robberies and other large crimes.

 http://www.loc.gov/resource/g3850.ct001206/

This primary source is a map of Washington D.C. in 1857. The city clearly wasn’t very defined and detailed at that point. however there are still the same roads and some same landmarks. The Captiol is also labeled in this map. Everything on this map seems to feed into the Capitol. The map also contains all of the house and building numbers. For the 1800’s, this was a pretty good map to read and go off of for directions and such. I think this map would be very good for someone who had no clue how to get around the area. It has house numbers, building names, and street names. The map also has an interesting section of notes that tell the population by the decade, explains how many certain pieces of infrastructure there are, and the size of the city. The notes section even explains how the roads are named and setup.

Current map of Washington, D.C.

Website Reviews

9/11 Memorial Website

The 9/11 Memorial website is more of a museum type website. The website is very user friendly and intriguing. The site shows different categories for people to be able to plan a visit to the memorial, donate to the memorial, tour the museum and learn about the 9/11 significance. The main purpose of this site is to show people how 9/11 affected America, and paying tribute to the lives that were lost during the tragedy. The site also gives the users the ability to view the 9/11 in memorial through a tour. There is also a Google Earth 3D tour available. There is also a way to sign up your email to receive updates on when the website has changes, news and events. The website seems a little to joyful with the colors when you relate it to the tragedy. Normally, a tribute to this kind of event would use darker colors to show sympathy and sadness. However, this site uses a bright blue and gives the affect of happiness and joy. Overall the website is very well off in the fact that it has a tour for any viewer, and the ability to become connected to a big part of patriotism in America.

A Chronology of American Slavery

The table of contents page is really unappealing and not something people would be interested in reading. This website is an archive site with a bunch of photos and letters attempting to show American slavery. The website is nice because you are able to send in your own comments to the page and you are able to sign up for newsletters and events. This website has very long pages and summaries on slavery during certain time periods, however unless the research was needed, many people would not take the time to read this lengthy website. This website would be good for research only purposes but as for someone who is purely interested in these facts and archives, they probably wouldn’t like the site because of how boring and unappealing it seems.

9/11 Memorial

HIST 390

My name is Alexander Koesters, but I go by my middle name Ryan. I am a freshman living on campus and I am a sport management major. I’m from Chesapeake, Virginia. Sports are a huge part of my life and I am a fan of the Denver Broncos, New York Yankees, and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Internet Use

My on line experience is very basic but very extensive. I have been using technology and the internet for about 10 years. I have been using social networking sights starting with MySpace and moving onto Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and using search engines like Google and Yahoo. The only reading I usually do online is on ESPN or NFL websites. I don’t read very much unless it is sports related. I have been texting and using the internet for a very long time and can do most basic operations with technology. I like to use technology and use it everyday. I hate the fact that colleges and other schools still use so many textbooks when they are so unnecessary. Almost everything can be accessed online and it would be cheaper, easier, and more efficient than textbooks. A lot of people know how to use the internet and computers and would be able to access resources needed for research. Even documents that are primary sources written in the 1400’s can be posted online and available for everyone to read. Technology makes a lot of things easier and being proficient with it will help everyone in the near future.

My preferred website to read