Aquinas College :: History

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Outstanding Senior Awards 2009

Graduating seniors John LaCross and Sarah Zawacki were honored as the History Department's Outstanding Seniors for the 2008-2009 academic year.

History Student visits Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara

by John LaCross

As a supplement to my research on the Battle of Lake Erie for Dr. Pinheiro's HY 401 The Fragile Union 1783-1815, I visited the Erie Maritime Museum and U.S. Brig Niagara in Erie, Pennsylvania, during spring break 2008. Erie was the site of the construction of Oliver Hazard Perry’s fleet which defeated a British squadron on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, securing America’s northern border along the Great Lakes rather than the Ohio River as the British had hoped. I would venture to say that the battle was decisive in assuring that Aquinas College is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, rather than Grand Rapids, Ontario!

The museum itself was fascinating, featuring many exhibits and, most interestingly, a live fire exhibit. The museum performed a novel study in the destruction of naval gunnery by constructing a portion of a ship’s hull and firing upon it with carronades (short cannon) loaded with varying sizes of shot up to 32 lbs. The devastated hull section was on display in the museum. The highlight of the visit, though, was the Niagara itself, a traditionally built and fully functioning replica of Perry’s relief flagship during the battle. The brig, when fully rigged, as it is when it sails the Great Lakes and the Atlantic seaboard during the summer months, is 198 ft. long and its main mast towers 118 ft. in the air. Pacing the weather deck on which 20 deadly guns were once mounted and hunching over beneath the 5 ft. clearance in the cramped spaces below deck where 155 men once ate and slept brought me closer to the Age of Fighting Sail than I had ever been.

More importantly for my research, the museum housed many important primary documents which related to the battle. I was able to explore Perry’s correspondence and the sailing log of his initial flagship, the Lawrence, which suffered over 80% casualties during the battle, along with the museum’s collection of rare books. The Director of Education at the museum graciously collected pertinent resources for me and lent me five volumes of transcribed primary documents which I found very useful and interesting.

My visit to Erie both personalized the history I was studying and provided important sources to guide the development of my work.

History Student Works as Interpreter

By Brandon A. Sexton

I spent the summer of 2006 as an Historical Interpreter at Historic Mill Creek, in Mackinaw City, which is part of the Mackinac State Historic Parks. I worked as a lumberjack, showing how the felling axe and broad axes were used.

I took a round log, scored it with the felling axe, and then would hew the log with the broad axe. This allowed me to get a square beam to cut into board or frame a house. This process takes about one hour and a half, with a 20 foot long beam.

To cut the log into boards, they would use ramps to get the beams onto a sawhorse and cut it into boards using a pitsaw. Two men working all day 12-14 hours would cut about one board every 30-45 minutes. They would use this process to construct houses on the frontier or to get beams to frame a building. This process would be used before the sawmill was built or if the sawmill was just too far away to be practical.

In the pictures above, the axe I am using when I am on top of the log is the felling axe. The two person saw is the pit saw. When I am standing on the sawhorses I am the tillerman, and the person underneath in the period clothing is the pitman. It is the tillerman’s job to guide the saw, and the pitman does most of the cutting.

My job at Mackinac helped increase my interest in history, and allowed me to share that love with others. After I graduate in 2009 I hope to go on to a museum career or something that involves being a historical interpreter.

History Major Awarded Fellowship

By Jenny Coulon

My name is Jenny Coulon and I am a senior History major at Aquinas. I was given the opportunity to go to New York City under the Gilder Lehrman History Scholars Finalist Program in the summer of 2005. I had to turn in an application along with a sample of my historical writing, two letters of recommendation and a resume. I was chosen with forty other students out of over hundreds of applicants for the one week program in NYC, all expenses paid. There were students from all over the country, all serious history majors interested in pursuing a career in history. The point of the program was to foster an interest in American history.

We were housed in downtown NYC at the Columbia University dorms. We had walking tours everyday, led by an American history professor from Princeton University. We were given tours of colonial New York, the Gilder Lehrman Historical Archives, downtown Harlem, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York City Public Library archives, the New York Historical Society archives, and Central Park. We were given access to primary documents such as Paul Revere's drawing of the Boston Massacre and Abraham Lincoln's "House Divided" speech.

In addition to the historical walking tours, we also were given the wonderful opportunity to hear lectures from prominent historians. We heard lectures from Kenneth T. Jackson, Ric Burns, Pauline Maier, Gordon Wood, Ira Berlin and Sophia Lynn. The historians lectured to our group on their field of expertise in American history. We were also given the books they had published, completely free of charge. We were given the chance to ask questions, meet the historians and discuss the topics risen. Ira Berlin and Pauline Maier gave the most riveting talks, on slavery and then on the Declaration of Independence. We also had a panel discussion about graduate school led by students currently enrolled at Columbia University.

This was the best experience I have ever had. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in such a program. It allowed me to get a good idea of what other careers there are in history. I also learned so much from the historians and the walking tours. The experience can never be duplicated. The program comes around once a year (application begins in the spring) and I strongly encourage all history majors with American history as their specialty to apply.

Alumni

The Aquinas College history department has had a fine track record in recent years of launching students into careers in education, journalism, law, and other fields. See the list below for an example of what some Aquinas history grads have been up to.

Kristin Anderson-Bricker ('90), Ph.D., Associate Professor of History & Director of the Honors Program, Loras College
Cassandra Armstrong ('04) Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme
Jacob Baum ('05) Program in European History, University of Illinois
David Berault ('96) John Marshall Law School, Chicago
Elizabeth Chamberlain ('07) Ph.D. Program at Wayne State University
Michael Deeb ('57) Author of Duty and Honor
Andrew Demshuk ('02) Ph.D. Program in Modern European History, University of Illinois
Rachel Drenovsky ('92) M.A. Learning Center Coordinator, Michigan Supreme Court
Matthew Garner ('05) Marquette University, School of Law
Maria "Lupita" Garza-Grande ('01) M.L.S. Indiana University
Christopher Hekman ('02) Wayne State University Law School
Sandra Kay Hines ('05) Pastoral Associate, St. Pius X Church, Grandville
Kristen Kaniewski ('03) Graduate studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Paul Konggaard ('05) Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Matt Krevda ('05) Graduate studies, University of Southern Indiana
Brandon Lacic ('04) Editor, Ionia Sentinel-Standard, Ionia, Michigan
Meghan Luckett ('01) Soccer Coach, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Jonathan Marko, Esq. ('05) Law Clerk to Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly of the Michigan Supreme Court
D. Wade McConnell ('98) Attorney, Siebers Mohney, Plc.
Nate Mehren ('04) Musician & Producer, Dynamite Sound Project
Marius Nielsen ('01) M.A. in Medieval History, Western Michigan University
Andrea Petz ('03) ESL Teacher
Lars Petzke ('03) American Studies Program, University of Alabama
Jordan Raubolt ('04) Journalism School, Columbia College, Chicago
Ragan Savara ('03) Syracuse University, College of Law
Tonya Schafer ('02) Technical Writer, Smiths Aerospace, Grand Rapids
Jason Shoup ('01) M.A. Program in Medieval History, Western Michigan University

Faculty

Prof. Jason Duncan wins 2008 Sr. Amata Fabro Award for Excellence in Library Usage.

Dr. Duncan had this to say when accepting the award:
"In the year and a half since it opened, the Grace Hauenstein Library really has become the center of the campus, of the college's intellectual life. Every time I walk into this library, I feel good about Aquinas College and its potential, and I think the Library is going to be central to our efforts to make the next leap in the ranks of liberal arts colleges."

(At left: Library Co-Director Shellie Jeffries, Prof. Jason Duncan, Library Co-Director Francine Palielo)

From GW to GW

by John C. Pinheiro

(left to right) Ted Crackel, Christine Patrick, President Bush, Philander Chase, John Pinheiro, Bruce Cole

When I accepted appointment as assistant professor of history at Aquinas College in 2004, I figured that leaving Charlottesville, Virginia, meant I would not be visiting Washington, D.C., for quite some time. But on April 29, 2005, I had the opportunity to discuss presidential history with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office at the White House.

The occasion was the publication of a book containing George Washington's correspondence that I co-edited while assistant editor of the "Papers of George Washington," a grant-funded project at the University of Virginia.

The 800 page volume, number 12 in the Presidential Series, documents the transition of "the first GW" (as White House staffers call him) from his first to second administrations. It was published in early 2005 as "the second GW" was going through a similar transition. We presented the book to the president.

Our small delegation included my co-editor, Christine Patrick, a past and current editor-in-chief, and Bruce Cole, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Only two other NEH-sponsored editing projects have enjoyed this honor. The first volume of the Thomas Jefferson Papers was presented to President Truman in 1950, and the first volume of the George C. Marshall Papers was presented to President Reagan in 1981.

After greeting the president and briefly discussing the book, we posed for photographs. Next, Bush gave us a tour of the Oval Office, explaining why he chose the various paintings, portraits, and busts.

About history in general, Bush remarked that presidents who worry about their legacy are worrying about the wrong thing and failing to do their job because they're too busy worrying about their legacy. "A president can't take criticism personally. If he does, he will be unable to make decisions because he will always be second guessing himself." A president has to do his job and let historians worry about the legacy.

We spent about 30 minutes discussing Lincoln and Washington, the presidents Bush most admires (in that order). Our conversation was non-political. Bush was casual, had a good sense of humor, and proved well-read about Washington. Lincoln still remains his favorite, he said, because what Lincoln wrote still seems fresh and applicable today.

What really impresses Bush about Washington is that he knew he was just a man occupying the office. Bush said Washington helped "make the office bigger than the man. Any man that comes to the presidency thinking that he is bigger than the office is bound to fail."

The "Papers of George Washington" came into existence in 1969, and in 2005 the project was awarded the National Humanities Medal. Its goal is to publish an accurately transcribed, comprehensive edition of Washington's papers, over 135,000 documents. The complete edition will consist of approximately 90 volumes. Each heavily researched and annotated volume takes between two to three years to produce. Fifty-two volumes were finished as of 2005.


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