8-grader Doug Bahr Encouraged entered the Washington State History Day Contest in 1984 with his essay "Grandma Walks from Coast to Coast." An author and scholar Linda Lawrence Hunt was one of the contest judges that year who was inspired to research more on it. She first wrote "A Victorian Odyssey," that was published in the summer 1995 issue, which she then developed into the book “Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America”.
On May 6, 1896, Norwegian immigrants 36 year-old Helga Estby and her 18 year-old daughter Clara begin an unescorted journey from their home in Mica Creek to New York City. Their walk was a risk that was expected to bring them $10,000 to save their family farm from foreclosure. Following the railroad tracks east, they walk 25 to 35 miles a day on a seven-month trip across America. They pass mountains, fight severe storms, and face severe cold
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Helga and Clara had a mother-daughter portrait taken in Spokane that was made into “carte de visite” prints that they planned to sell as souvenirs. They also carried calling cards and $5.00 cash. Helga and Clara were in long gray dresses and high boots. They would change clothes in Salt Lake City and wear a new short bicycle riding skirts. At the end of the trip, they would wear out 32 pairs of shoes. Not to get lost they walked rail lines, first the Northern Pacific to the Union Pacific, then the Rock Island line to the Burlington and Reading, giving them access to some railroad section houses. Often, citizens gave them overnight lodging. Helga and Clara spent about 8 or 9 nights without shelter. To pay for a stay, they cooked, cleaned, and sewed. When they arrived in a city or town, they first headed to the local newspaper office to talk with reporters. They also sent occasional progress reports to the New York
In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby goes through a mental phase that makes him go completely crazy. He is not the only character that goes through this phase. Most of the main characters went through it and ended up harming one another. This caused everyone to go through a mental journey.
Many Americans know the journey of Christopher Columbus and Daniel Boone, but a smaller percentage of the population knows about other journeys their fellow Americans have taken. Our job at PBS is to “create content that educates, informs, and inspires (PBS mission statement).” By including different or lesser known journeys for our new series, we can inform and ignite a curiosity for American history that is not often talked about. Two journeys that should be included in this project is the plight of the Native Americans during the 19th century. These forced migrations are not frequently talked about for various different reasons, such as the history behind them or their controversy, but it is our job to present these without biases to inform our viewers.
The small community of Hallowell, Maine was no different than any other community in any part of the new nation – the goals were the same – to survive and prosper. Life in the frontier was hard, and the settlement near the Kennebec Valley was no different than what the pioneers in the west faced. We hear many stories about the forefathers of our country and the roles they played in the early days but we don’t hear much about the accomplishments of the women behind those men and how they contributed to the success of the communities they settled in. Thanks to Martha Ballard and the diary that she kept for 27 years from 1785-1812, we get a glimpse into...
Summary: Why Gatsby failed to achieve Daisy? To some extent, it may be a tragedy of society and Jay Gatsby’s fault. He was born and grew up in an era of decayed social and moral value. Further more, he can’t know himself and others distinctly Jay Gatsby was born in rural north Dakota and spent his childhood there. Because he grew up in the rural area,as usual he could bear trouble and difficulty in his life. But he was not of that kind of poor children. From his early youth, Gatsby despised poverty and longed for wealth and sophistication. He dropped out of St.olaf College after two weeks, Because he couldn’t bear the tiring and difficult job with which he was paying his tuition. He was hunger for wealth ,but he just had the desire which didn’t work.
... countries. “During the month of the year 1901, there were over 388,931 thousand immigrants that landed on Ellis Island in New York harbor or on angel islands in San Francisco Bay.” The journey to America was most difficult for immigrants who travelled for the cheapest thus experiencing the poorest accommodation’s. Below the deck on the ship was were the poorest immigrants ate, slept, and socialized with one another with little ventilation throughout the journey lasting weeks. With the eagerness and excitement in the hearts of these immigrants, they were determined to endure the journey with the goal of starting a new life for themselves and their families. However, not all immigrants that arrived of the ferries got off. “Persons with contagious or incurable diseases were sent back, and a far greater number of others on the ground that were likely to become sick.”
In The Great Gatsby the main themes were pursuit of happiness, the decline of the American dream, and greed. It portrays the decline of the American dream due to excess of wanting material wealth and never being satisfied. It also shows Gatsby, who despite living the American dream and having every material thing he could ever want he still was not satisfied because he realized that happiness does not come all from material things. On the other hand, Daisy and Tom had no cares in the world and no compassion for any other humans, not even each other. They felt that just because they had money they could do and get away with whatever they pleased. They represented the decline of the American dream in the film by being very greedy and not working
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” (Pg. 180) the last line of the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, meaning there is a hopeless with respect to personal progress and ultimately our destiny does not push us forward but alas backward into the past. Hence we are tethered to our past forever. In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald swept his readers away with his imaginative and somewhat of an autobiographical portrayal of the 1920’s terms, “old money” and “good money.” In this imaginative and autobiographical portrayal of the 1920’s, Fitzgerald also tells of a man named Gatsby and his desperate search for a lost dream. Ultimately, however F. Scott Fitzgerald writes The Great Gatsby with much complex characters, symbolic references, and themes to enhance and enrich his electric, 1920’s novel.
The youngest of five children, Clarissa Harlowe Barton was born on December 25, 1821 to a middle class family in North Oxford, Massachusetts. In this rocky New England countryside, Clara, as she quickly became known, learned the value of hard work and hard principles through her labors on the family farm. From the beginning, Clara's family had an immeasurable influence on her. Her older siblings, who were all quite intelligent, helped educate Clara and could scarcely keep up with answering her never-ending barrage of questions. Her active mind readily absorbed new lessons and novel stories about famous ancestors. Something of a tomboy, she portrayed exceptional equestrian skills and could play sports with surprising aptitude, compliments of her brothers and male cousins.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby can perhaps be argued to be one of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century. Almost a century a later, “It seems to find its way to the top of the lesson-plan book” (Dowling 109). There are a multitude of reasons that make this exceptional work of fiction immensely popular and adored many. Fitzgerald’s style of writing and creativity produce an original storyline with convoluted characters making this award winning novel a breathtaking work of art celebrated in almost every English class across the nation. The intricate construction of Gatsby 's character and relatable themes helps readers better comprehend the storyline and develop an emotional connection. Gatsby’s character is more
These people were mostly abolitionist -people who wished to see the abolishment of slavery- they came from all races and backgrounds, many of these people were Methodists and Quakers. Many of the guides had previously used the railroad to escape slavery so the journey was very personal. The railroad traffic peaked between 1840 and 1860, especially when the U.S passed its Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which gave slave trackers the right to hunt and capture enslaved persons in places they would otherwise be free. This lead to several attempts to kidnap escapees in Canada and return them to their
Considered as the defining work of the 1920s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, when America was just coming out of one of the most violent wars in the nation’s history. World War 1 had taken the lives of many young people who fought and sacrificed for our country on another continent. The war left many families without fathers, sons, and husbands. The 1920s is an era filled with rich and dazzling history, where Americans experienced changes in lifestyle from music to rebellion against the United States government. Those that are born into that era grew up in a more carefree, extravagant environment that would affect their interactions with others as well as their attitudes about themselves and societal expectations. In this novel, symbols are used to represent the changing times and create a picture of this era for generations to come. The history, settings, characters, and symbols embedded in The Great Gatsby exemplify life in America during the 1920s.
The United States is a nation deeply committed to the proposition that “all men are created equal” and that all lives matter. We are enthralled by tales of individuals willing to take great risks for great rewards, confident in their ability to make their dreams come true, and willing to constantly reinvent themselves in the pursuit of success and personal fulfillment. Laura Ingalls Wilder is just such an individual. As a young pioneer on the Western frontier, she lived a life of great risk, requiring her and her family to rely almost entirely on their own ingenuity and effort to survive. In her later years, she again took great risk and reinvented herself as a children’s writer, sharing her stories of the American Frontier with new generations. Laura Ingalls Wilder has become an American Icon due to her life-long willingness to take risks, practice self-reliance, and repeatedly reinvent herself.
Women Adrift by Joanne J. Meyerowitz portrays the life of women who had moved to Chicago between 1880-1930. Chicago provided many unique opportunities for women who had grown up across the United States in rural environments. The new economic sector of Chicago allowed for many people to find work and move from the outside country life, to the more urbanized metropolis that was Chicago. This also allowed for a new interdependence for women who had once lived in the country and journeyed away from the farms in hopes of finding work in Chicago. Meyerowitz’ Women Adrift helps capture the struggles of the women wage worker who often took a leap of faith leaving her home life in hopes of finding a new life in the great urban city of Chicago. Meyerowitz argues that Chicago provided new opportunities for women, dispelled the idea of the Victorian woman, and the exploitation of the women wage earners.
In small New England town; mid 1800s an upcoming Christmas looked like it would be a bleak affair to the four March girls. With their father at the Civil War battlefront, and their saintly mother, Marmee, as they called her, working to support her family, the holiday would be void of many of its traditional pleasures. With the dollar Marmee said they might spend, the girls each settled on buying simple gifts for their mother and for the Hummel family down the road; and receiving, in kind, surprise treats of ice cream and bonbons from rich old Mr. Lawrence next door.
Professor Catherine Lavender for History 386 (Women's Pasts--Women in New York City, 1890-1940), The Department of History of The College of Staten Island of The City University of New York, Fall Semester 1998.