Category: Uncategorized

University of South Carolina

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

University of South Carolina “Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros”   (Learning humanizes character and does not permit it to be cruel)

The University was founded as South Carolina College on December 19, 1801, by an act of the South Carolina General Assembly initiated by Governor John Drayton in an effort to promote harmony between the Lowcountry and the Backcountry. On January 10, 1805, having an initial enrollment of nine students, the college commenced classes with a traditional classical curriculum. The first president was the Baptist minister and theologian Reverend Jonathan Maxcy. He was an alumnus of Brown University, with an honorary degree from Harvard University. Before coming to the college, Maxcy had served as the second president of Brown and the third president of Union College. Maxcy’s tenure lasted from 1804 through 1820.

The namesake town, Sumter, South Carolina, erected a memorial to Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734 – June 1, 1832) a soldier in the Colony of Virginia militia; a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American War of Independence, a planter, and a politician. After the United States gained independence, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives and to the United States Senate, where he served from 1801 to 1810, when he retired. Sumter was nicknamed the “Carolina Gamecock,” for his fierce fighting style against British soldiers after they burned down his house during the Revolution.

The town is dubbed “The Gamecock City” after his nickname. (“Gamecock” is one of the several traditional nicknames for a native of South Carolina.) The University of South Carolina’s official nickname is the “Fighting Gamecocks.” Since 1903 the college’s teams have been simply known as the “Gamecocks.”

Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, a fort planned after the War of 1812, was named for him. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.

Curriculum Connections: Mascot (Gamecocks) Sectional Issues, Thomas Sumter,  James Hammond (Alumni)

 

 

University of Kansas

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

 

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University of Kansas  “I shall see this great sight, why the bush does not burn”. (Exodus 3:3)

Founded March 21, 1865, the university was opened in 1866, under a charter granted by the Kansas State Legislature in 1864[ following enabling legislation passed in 1863 under the Kansas State Constitution, adopted two years after the 1861 admission of the former Kansas Territory as the 34th state into the Union following an internal civil war known as “Bleeding Kansas” during the 1850s.

The University of Kansas is home of the Jayhawk, a mythical bird with a fascinating history. Its origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas settlers. The term “Jayhawk” was probably coined about 1848. Accounts of its use appeared from Illinois to Texas. The name combines two birds–the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Don’t turn your back on this bird.

During the 1850s, the Kansas Territory was filled with such Jayhawks. The area was a battleground between those wanting a state where slavery would be legal and those committed to a Free State. The factions looted, sacked, rustled cattle, stole horses, and otherwise attacked each other’s settlements. For a time, ruffians on both sides were called Jayhawkers. But the name stuck to the free staters. Lawrence, where KU would be founded, was a Free State stronghold.

During the Civil War, the Jayhawk’s ruffian image gave way to patriotic symbol. Kansas Governor Charles Robinson raised a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks. By war’s end, Jayhawks were synonymous with the impassioned people who made Kansas a Free State. In 1886, the bird appeared in a cheer–the famous Rock Chalk chant. When KU football players first took the field in 1890, it seemed only natural to call them Jayhawkers. How do you draw a Jayhawk? For years, that question stumped fans. Henry Maloy, a cartoonist for the student newspaper, drew a memorable version of the ‘hawk in 1912. He gave it shoes. Why? For kicking opponents, of course.

Stephen F. Austin State University

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) Striving For Personal Excellence In Everything That We Do

 Stephen F. Austin is a public university located in east Texas.  Founded as a teachers’ college in 1923, the university was named after one of Texas’s founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part of the homestead of Thomas Jefferson Rusk. Stephen F. Austin is one of four independent public universities in Texas (i.e., those not affiliated with one of Texas’s six university systems).

Curriculum Connections: Founder named after Texas founding father Stephen F. Austin; Migration to Texas 1820’s

 

Butler University

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.


Butler University  “Education, Research, Service” 

On January 15, 1850, the Indiana State legislature adopted Ovid Butler’s proposed charter for a new Christian university in Indianapolis. After five years in development, Butler University opened on November 1, 1855, as North Western Christian University at 13th Street and College Avenue on Indianapolis’ near north side at the eastern edge of the present Old Northside Historic District. Attorney and university founder Ovid Butler provided the property.

In Indianapolis, Ovid established a law firm with partners Calvin Fletcher, Simon Yandes and future Indianapolis mayor, Horatio C. Newcomb. Butler became interested and active in political and social issues. In 1849, Butler established the political and abolitionist newspaper Free Soil Banner. Due to bad health, Butler gave up his law practice in 1849, seeking retirement.

Curriculum Connections:   Sectional Issues, Founder Ovid Butler, Abolition

 

 

University of Wisconsin  

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

University of Wisconsin  “Numen Lumen”   (The divine within the universe, however manifested, is my light)

The University of Wisconsin–was founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison is the official state university of Wisconsin, and the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It was the first public university established in Wisconsin and remains the oldest and largest public university in the state. It became a land-grant institution in 1866

Miners who moved to the area in the 1820s and 1830s wasted little time in constructing shelters. Without shelter in the winter, they had to “live like badgers” in tunnels burrowed into hillsides, earning miners the nickname “badgers.” The tools and techniques involved in lead mining in these early years were relatively simple and inexpensive, allowing lucky miners to strike it rich with little personal expense.

University of Wisconsin Professor Frederick Jackson Turner

Vietnam War era at University of Wisconsin: 50 years ago, ‘Dow Day’ left its mark on Madison

 

 

 

James Madison University

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

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James Madison University “Knowledge is Liberty”

Founded in 1908 as a women’s college, James Madison University was established by the Virginia General Assembly. It was originally called The State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg. In 1914, the name of the university was changed to the State Normal School for Women at Harrisonburg. At first, academic offerings included only today’s equivalent of technical training or junior college courses; however authorization to award bachelor’s degrees was granted in 1916. During this initial period of development, the campus plan was established and six buildings were constructed. The university became the State Teachers College at Harrisonburg in 1924 and continued under that name until 1938, when it was named Madison College in honor of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States whose Montpelier estate is located in nearby Orange, Virginia. In 1976, the university’s name was changed to James Madison University.

I work the James Madison into my course when I cover the following topics:

Plain, Honest Men – Philadelphia 1787 In an atmosphere of crisis, fifty five delegate met in Philadelphia and forged a radically new of government through conflict, compromise, and fragile consensus.

Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution [1787-1788]The ratification debate, waged in the newspapers, through pamphlets, and on the floor of the state conventions, led to heated arguments about our new government’s structure and function.

 

 

San Diego State Aztecs

This post is part of the APUSH Gameday series.

San Diego State University “Leadership Starts Here”  San Diego State University (SDSU, San Diego State) is a public research university in San Diego, California, and is the largest and oldest higher education institution in San Diego County. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university in the 23-member California State University.

After the athletic teams were established in 1921, media referred to the teams as “Staters” or “professors”. The school newspaper tried to encourage “Wampus Cats” during its coverage of the 1923-24 school year. In the fall of 1924, Athletic Director C.E. Peterson urged the students to select a nickname and the school newspaper, The Paper Lantern, invited suggestions. Over the next few issues, names such as Panthers, Balboans and Thoroughbreds were suggested and submitted to a committee of Dean Al Peterson, C.E. Peterson and a student. In 1925, student leaders chose the nickname “Aztecs” over such other suggestions as “Balboans”. They felt the terminology was more representative of a southwest image and the selection met with no dissent. In February of 1925, President Hardy gave his formal approval to the “Aztec” nickname and teams adopted that identity within a week.

 

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I work the San Diego State Aztecs into my course when I cover the following topics:

From Pangaea to Paradise – The Americas Before European Conquest [1491] Pre-Columbian indigenous populations were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness,  rather, a vastly more populous and sophisticated civilizations that actively shaped and influenced the land around them .

The Spanish Mission System – “A Wealth of Souls to Harvest”The Spanish clergy, particularly Jesuits and Franciscans, played a critical role in settling the Southwest using the mission system.Over the centuries, this became the most effective means of “civilizing” natives.

APUSH Gameday

This year I decided to work my favorite TV show into my Advanced Placement United States History course.  College Football Gameday goes on location Every week the crew from Gameday typically broadcasts from the campus of the team hosting a featured game being played that day and features news and analysis of the day’s upcoming games.

While on they were hosting from campus of James Madison University I thought I could have some fun weaving a college’s history (founding mascots, and notable alumni) into my curriculum.  So it began, I ordered a bunch of College Polo’s from Fanatics.com using money I made selling resources on my TeachersPayTeachers site.  I will be posting info about the colleges I choose to incorporate into my course as we move through the semester.