Cleveland Abbe

Guest Post by Avery Schulze

My Twitter reenactment character for History 450 at UW-Milwaukee is Cleveland Abbe. Cleveland Abbe, born in New York City December 3rd 1838, was raised by a prosperous family of the era. He went on to be most notably known as being among the very first weathermen in the nation. Abbe was a founder of the National Weather Bureau in 1870, which now known as the National Weather Service, which remains a top source of information on dangers presented by weather along with forecasting aimed at providing safety and information for the nation. Abbe was well educated, studying at prestigious universities of his time like Harvard. He was a man of great scientific background and exceptional observational skills with a keen eye for scientific process. He has many recordings of observational work in the science field, including published scientific observations on solar eclipses, sunspots, earth temperatures and more. Cleveland Abbe, leading up to his contributions to the founding of the National Weather Bureau, worked at the Cincinnati Observatory as the executive director. He went on to work directly with Increase Lapham in the creation of the very first official weather report in the United States in the wake of a deadly and powerful storm in 1869 that acted as a sort of wake up call to people of the time. He would go on to continue a successful career, being appointed as chief meteorologist in 1871 and the chief editor of numerous weather bulletins. Cleveland Abbe is also the founder of the scientific journal Monthly Weather Review, which he founded in the year 1872. For this year’s Twitter reenactment for History 450 at UW-Milwaukee I will be using the twitter handle @AbbeCleveland.

A Weather Prophet

 Guest Post by Jonathan Santiago

My character’s name is Joe. He is a 26-year-old white man who was always curious about the weather and who was also in desperate need of a job. This is how he ended up stumbling upon the career work of a weather prophet. He made good money banking on the curiosity of folks and even increased his prestige further after his publication UNDERSTANDING THE SKY gained a lot of traction. He wanted to keep this job; however, with the advancement of science as well as educated folk like increase Lapham around, things were not exactly in his favor, which greatly upset him considering the reputation he’s built for himself. So, as you can imagine, he was not happy when the huge first Milwaukee weather forecast event went down.

As indicated above, my Twitter character is known as a weather prophet. They were those that used to predict the weather since there was no way of telling what the weather would be like day in and day out. Therefore, they took on the responsibility to predict and prophesize the weather to people and would gain attention since no one knew what the weather would be like before Increase Lapham came along. They were real people I believe who used symbolism and folklore to make their weather predictions. They did not think fondly of those who were involved in science as well as other educated folk who were in the field of weather forecasting because they had seen this as a loss to their business and prestige. Their relationship with the theme of the Twitter re-enactment is that they would predict the weather before Increase Lapham came along, so with the huge event of the first weather forecast this would surely not only affect the people but also the weather prophets as well. They would also try to discredit increase Lapham or others in general who were involved since this event affects their livelihood.

The Widow Doomship

 Guest Post by Alexa Safer

My Twitter reenactment character is the Widow Doomship. She is a fictional composite character. Her Twitter handle is @Widow_Doomship. I imagine her being born in New York in 1819, getting married in 1838 to a young ship hand named Amadeus Doomship, and having her first child, @Captain_Doomship, in 1840. She moved to Milwaukee in the summer of 1849 with her husband and her first 4 children. She is a devout Catholic and has 5 children with Amadeus. He eventually rose in the ranks to become a captain but drowned during the storm of 1869. The storm and resulting death of her husband had a profound impact on her life. I imagine her being very nervous about her eldest son risking his life in the same way her husband did. Her outlook will be hopeful but also reflect the magnitude of her loss. Her relationship with @Captain_Doomship will offer an element of personal interaction. She will represent how everyday people’s lives were affected by the weather and how they may have reacted to the new storm alert system.

Julia Lapham

Guest Post by Lillian Pachner

Julia Alcott Lapham was a real historical figure. She was the daughter of Increase A. Lapham. Julia Lapham wrote extensively about her father's work with the weather. She wrote of the trials and tribulations her father went through to get people to get on board with his idea of a weather forecast. Julia also did a lot of work in local history and made a name for herself apart from her father. According to A Standard History of Sauk County, Wisconsin, Julia did work in women’s clubs. According to this same book, Julia, like her father did work preserving Native American burial mounds. She was even a chairwoman on the Landmarks Committee in Wisconsin. Interestingly she had a personal relationship with poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Julia is also known for founding the Oconomowoc Library, and being its second Librarian. I will be using the twitter handle @JuliaAlcottLapham to tweet as her in the twitter re-enactment. Her relationship with the theme of the twitter re-enactment theme is that she was the daughter of the key figure, Increase Lapham, and was involved with his work.

 

Syllabus for History 450, Fall 2020

If you are interested in how I set up History 450, The Growth of Metropolitan Milwaukee, please feel free to follow this link to the syllabus. All of the major assignments in the course are public facing, and the course as a whole is ungraded.

Thinking about the Fall Semester

Dear History 450 Students

The truth is, I am full of doubts.

In the early summer, I requested that the university give us a classroom to meet in during the fall semester. I was (and am) excited to debut History 450 in its new form, in partnership with the Milwaukee Public Museum. I felt some optimism that Wisconsin’s infections would fall. I had never taught online, and I had some anxiety about whether what I could offer online would rise to the level of quality I expect from my face-to-face classes. Asking the university for a classroom was the only way to keep open the options for the planned in-person experiences, including behind-the-scenes professional development opportunities with MPM staff.

Now, with just over two weeks before we are scheduled to start meeting, my feelings are in constant flux and pulled in different directions. I have spent most of the summer studying how to teach online and building our course, and I am now confident that I can offer you a strong course experience through Canvas. The university has given us a classroom with an adjusted, socially-distant capacity of 30 people, half again as much space as the minimum we require with twenty students registered for the class. Since the introduction of mask mandates in July, Milwaukee County’s numbers have fallen sharply. Wisconsin’s numbers are in a slow decline, or perhaps steady. Several Ivy League universities abandoned their plans for undergraduate in-person education before the semester started. Yesterday, a week after starting the semester in person, the University of North Carolina abruptly shifted all of its undergraduate classes online after four separate clusters of cases emerged. I am full of doubts and questions, but I also have a strand of hope pulling me forward: working with you.

My plan for History 450 has some important flexibilities built in.

First, I have made the entire course available through Canvas so that you never have to come to our classroom if you do not want to. If your best rational judgment or your gut-level instincts tell you to stay away; if you are ill or quarantined or caring for someone who is sick or immune-compromised; if you have to supervise children whose schools are operating virtually; if you have recently been in a situation where you might have been exposed, such as a party or a work environment; or if something happens and there isn’t time to check with me—just do the work for the week as indicated on Canvas. You don’t have to ask to be excused; just show up in the online spaces instead of in person.

Relatedly, at any time we can also decide as a class that we would prefer to operate virtually instead of in-person. We can decide this on a week-to-week basis. We can decide to spend part of the semester operating remotely and then come back to our classroom later when things look better. We can decide to do most of our work online and then come together only for the live Twitter reenactment on November 5. You can decide individually, and we can also decide together.

Additionally, the course is ungraded instead of graded. That means that you are in charge of deciding what each assignment is worth to you in terms of time and effort. I will give you feedback, but you will assess your own work. At the end of the semester you will tell me what grade you think you earned and will show up on your transcript. My hope is that the ungrading approach will reduce the pressure on you to perform and increase your learning and the fun we can have as a class, even in these anxious times.

Two weeks from now, my feelings might not be the same as they are today. And there are twenty of you—you surely all have different hopes, fears, and expectations for the fall semester. And, like mine, they are probably constantly changing.

Please feel free to reach out to me and let me know how you are feeling about how our class should operate. This class foregrounds two skills: collaboration and communication. Both start with honesty and are embedded in relationships. I want to know what you think we should do.

This pandemic is unprecedented for all of us. This is our class. We are in this together.

Sincerely (truly),

 

Amanda

History 450 trailer