Three cheers for our amazing Master Teacher Mike Biondo!  He just won the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award for Illinois.  Read more about it in this Chicago Tribune article.  Notice his interest in all things GAPE, answering that he'd love to go back in time to visit the 1893 World's Fair.

We've been working over here to review and select our participants for the 2016 cohort of Rethinking GAPErs.  There were so many great applications and it was wonderful to see everyone's passion for the period and the themes we explore.  

I'm sworn to secrecy until March 30, but thanks to all who applied!  Keep up the good work in your classrooms.  

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.” Susan B. Anthony told the  New York World in 1896.

The rise of the bicycle as a means of transit in America was not without controversy. This week JSTOR Daily highlighted the interesting 2010 Michael Taylor article from the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, "Rapid Transit to Salvation: American Protestants and the Bicycle in the Era of the Cycling Craze.  JSTOR is now available to all check out Taylor's article. 

The Chicago Architecture Foundation is calling for designs to create a graphic novel update to the 1911 Wacker Manual.  The original document was created to teach the city's 8th grade students about Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago.

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This selection from the Introduction of the original, written by Walter D. Moody, is particularly inspiring:

It is becoming a recognized fact that the power, growth and advancement of a city is limited only by the measure of united civic interest of its people. The stronger and more vital the Community, the greater and more influential the city. It is this spirit which gives Chicago its great world distinction-an indomitable, living, throbbing love for the city, expressing a demand of its united people that the city shall deserve and achieve greatness.
Conditions, then, demand that this new impulse of love for this city shall be fostered, and that our children shall be taught that they are the coming responsible heads of their various communities. We direct the national patriotic impulse into the paths of duty, and it is vital that we do the same with the new impulse for civic good.

What do you think? What do you do to help your students become future leaders in your city?

How do you foster both civic understanding and engagement?

SHARE YOUR IDEAS IN THE COMMENTS!


Here are some other interesting links about the Wacker Manual:

• You can find the rest of the original document here. 
• The Encyclopedia of Chicago also includes mention of it in this article on "Schools and Education."
  
• This recent radio spot on WBEZ explains the CAF's new goals for the graphic novel.  
  
• ​http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/wacker-manual (43 min talk from 2009)
• http://www.planetizen.com/node/29243 (article)
• https://buildingchicago.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/the-plan-of-chicago/ (blog on 1909 plan)

Some great links raising fundamental questions of the institute and connections to today.


MPR interviewed our wonderful Academic Director, Robert Johnston, for this piece on defining progressivism in history and its relationship to the presidential race. 

 
Leon Fink, our visiting Labor historian writes here about labeling Bernie and using "socialism."
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Do we live in a Second Gilded Age?  

• James Livingston argues against that comparison here. 
• Heath Carter also raises the question and looks to both politics and religion to find his answer.  
• Michael Lansing looks to frustrations of the electorate to take his position.

In honor of our friends at the Chicago Teacher's Union we are giving away an "Ode to Labor" Prize Pack.  It will include a CD of labor songs, a map of key labor sites, and a poster .  See the descriptions of the prizes below and be sure to enter!

​Anywhere but Utah- The Songs of Joe Hill by Bucky Halker
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From his website: Bucky Halker, Ph.D., is a singer-songwriter, performer, and scholar with fifteen recordings to his credit, including Welcome to Labor Land, a recording of Illinois labor songs from the past; and the all-originals Wisconsin 2-13-63, vols. 1 & 2; a 2012 personal tribute of original and cover songs “The Ghost of Woody Guthrie”; and this new release in celebration of the life, legacy and talents of Joe Hill. Bucky is also the author of For Democracy, Workers, and God: Labor Song-Poems and Labor Protest, 1865-1895 and is the producer-scholar for the Folksongs  Illinois CD series.

Labor Trail Map

From their website: “The Labor Trail: Chicago's History of Working-Class Life and Struggle,” is a map of 140 significant locations in the history of labor, migration, and working-class culture in Chicago and Illinois. The Labor Trail is the product of a joint effort to showcase the many generations of dramatic struggles and working-class life in the Chicago area's rich and turbulent past. The Trail's neighborhood tours invite you to get acquainted with the events, places, and people – often unsung – who have made the city what it is today. In addition, the statewide map is just a starting point for further exploration of Illinois' labor heritage.

During the Institute we visit some of these sites.  You can also visit their Interactive Labor Trail site with your students!
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​Labor Movement Poster
Activist artist Ricardo Levins-Morales wrote the following about this poster, “The social gains of humanity did not invent themselves and will not defend themselves. Only organized people can do that.”  The poster measures 11''X17''.

Be sure to check out the Zinn Education Project for some great materials about labor!
http://zinnedproject.org/teaching-materials/?themes=labor

Thanks to all who entered our giveaway, if you weren't a winner stay stunned for another one in the coming days.  I didn't update the blog for a few days so I'm going to share a few great links we missed!

Ellis Island Photos
There is something about these images that really moves me.  It conjures up so many questions about the sacrifices of leaving and what they experienced as they arrived.  Danny Greene leads some provocative discussions with our participants about immigration and Americanization.  I think these photos could trigger interesting conversations in your classroom.  Did these individuals assimilate?  How and why did it occur?

Time Travel back to 1910
Curious City, a radio program produced by WBEZ, created this great interactive site that allows you to travel through Chicago in 1910.  You choose an identity and visit different sites in Chicago.  There are photographs and historic quotes. It really could be a great activity for your students do and then possibly recreate in other places or other characters.  Be sure to also listen to their podcast on the this 1910 trip!  

Gilded Age Artistic Furniture at the Met 
The New York Times featured the Met's new exhibit on Artistic Furniture.  It is always fascinating to see the craftsmanship some Gilded Age families could afford.  If you're in New York be sure to check it out!  ​Here's the link to the Museum exhibit itself.

There were some great articles and radio pieces last week that could be used to expand your knowledge of the era or could be used in the classroom to generate discussions on contemporary connections.  Here's are some of the highlights:

Radio Piece on the political impact of the Chicago Defender
This WBEZ interview with Ethan Michaeli on his book, Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America, provides a great look at the Chicago Defender and its significant legacy.  ENTER OUR AMAZON GIVEAWAY TO WIN A COPY OF THE BOOK!
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Article on Progressivism in the 2016 Election
This article from the New York Times Magazine explores the use of "progressive" in the 2016 Presidential Race as candidates try to lay claim to this label.  Beverly Gage provides a good overview of the "big-tent" progressives have occupied in the past.

Investigation into racism in the Temp Industry
This story about the struggles of temporary workers from the Center for Investigative Reporting works on many levels.  How do modern journalists expose abuses of power?  How do workers unite across racial lines?  The second segment does a great job connecting this modern day issue to the past and the third segment explores the long struggle against job discrimination.

We are an institute for all K-12 teachers, with that, we created a source for teachers of the younger grades to use as they prepare lessons on the period.  Take a look and let us know how you use it!  We are just getting started on Twitter so you can find us @RethinkingGAPE or you can shoot an email to [email protected].