The Long and Winding Road--Back to Sacramento

To say I'm taking the long way home would be an understatement.  As I write this, I'm sitting at River's End, a trendy-looking restaurant-bar in beautiful Jenner, California.  My amazing view as I anticipate my lunch is of the spot where the Russian River meets the Pacific Ocean.

I have to say, the drive here was nothing like my drive from Fresno to Salinas after my last conference.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I was not impressed with the Sacramento Valley between my hometown and Chico. Leaving Chico and heading west, I was equally unimpressed.  It wasn't until I got close to the Coastal Range that things began to look a little less depressing.  In the shadow of the foothills, I saw neat rows of fruit trees and lines of grapevines.  Everything was lush and green--nothing like what I expect the place will look like in a few months.  Here there were no rusted warehouses and delapidated farm equipment, no mile upon mile of used car lots like I saw on the drive to Chico.  The surroundings made for a pretty scene.

I made my way slowly west and south, through the twisty roads into the Napa Valley and eventually along the Russian River to Jenner.  I went through some cute little towns, like Duncans Mills (who knew?) and some kind of ugly towns, like Clearlake.  I saw huge coastal redwoods and lots of people parked to take the hike at Robert Louis Stevenson state park.  I passed on RLS when I learned that the damn place has no actual RLS memoribilia.  The park surrounds the site where RLS and his new bride honeymooned in an abandoned shack back in the 1880s.  Even the shack is gone now, and the only thing left is a marker on the spot where it once stood.  It seems that the five-mile hike to the top of the park provides glorious views of the sea and, on clear days, even as far as San Francisco.  But a five-mile hike had nothing to recommend it to me on this beautiful spring day.

So, I came to Jenner.  There is a marine layer over the sun as I look out the window at the end of the river and the ocean front.  A few hardy souls are walking along the beach, and I hope to join them when I'm done with my lunch.  Mama needs some beach time after the big conference and before heading home to buckle down before exams.

The view from my table at River's End

I was lucky to stumble along River's End right as I entered town.  I had seen this on Yelp with great reviews, but I didn't want to go some place with a lot of people and hassle.  But, with a parking spot right in front of the door, I could hardly ignore the sign that beckoned me inside.  And I'm so glad I came in.  Lunch has consisted of a 101 North IPA with a burger and fries.  I'm currently awaiting the arrival of my favorite dessert, creme brulee. Yummy!!

101 North IPA - delicious!

Western burger with fries and this

fancy-tasting catsup

Who puts fruit in a creme brulee?

Bitches!!!

One thing that continues to disappoint during this drive is the lack of history I feel.  Nothing tickles me more than to imagine things as they might have been back in the past. In Fresno, I enjoyed the company of Jack London's fictional Billy and Saxon and could imagine the world they would have seen after the turn of the century.  But here, there was none of that.  Everything I've seen today seems to have sprung up during the 1960s.  It's all quaint and consciously rustic--it wants people to come and "enjoy the great outdoors."  But its like Highway 50 at the Y.  It's all a sham.  No history remains here that I can see.  The Native Americans that must have run up and down this part of the coast are obliterated.  I can't imagine old times here at all.  

That's not to say that there's no history here.  Of course, people have come and gone from here for centuries.  And I'm sure if I drove up the coast for 10 miles, I'd feel something at the sight of Fort Ross. I would remember the story of the Russian count who fell in love with the Spanish governor's daughter, and I would recall that John Sutter bought much of the Fort's goods for his own Fort in Sacramento.

But that's up the road, and I'm heading down the road....

....It's several hours later, and I'm back at home. It was an amazing weekend for me, winning the award and running all over the Northern California coast. I'm tuckered out, and will now need to gear up for the coming two weeks of exam-prep hell.  Yikes!!

Gettin' My History On

I begin this blog in the student union at California State University, Chico, named yesterday as C-SUC. Skipping the bagels and muffins here in favor of yummy breakfast at my hotel, I arrived with Tim in tow in time to hear the opening remarks from the Dean, the History Chair, and the PAT advisor. Then it was off to the first of the breakout sessions. 

Tim and I indulged our mutual love of the Tudor monarchs by attending the session on Lancaster, Tudor, and Restoration England. The three undergrad presenters did a great job, and I believe I now know where J.K. Rowling got the word "muggle" (yes, there was a guy named Muggleton that led an obscure religious sect in Restoration London). 

By 11:00 a.m., it was time for my panel and me to strut our stuff.  Our commentator/moderator was pretty harsh right off the bat.  I was scolded because he did not have a copy of my full paper--a scolding he reiterated three times.  In the end, though, I'm happy he didn't have a copy.  My co-presenters, one on the Dada art of Hannah Hoch and the other on photography during the Crimean War, were mercilessly critiqued by the guy, who founds flaws in their methodology, their use of sources, and in their conclusions.  With me, he couldn't read my full paper to find fault, so he quizzed me with questions, including asking if I cherry-picked the films I used during my presentation.  Hah, buddy!  I was ready with my answer on how I identified the movies and how I watched all of them myself.

Shirley Temple graced my first slide

Making eye contact with the audience

With the exception of the commentator/moderator, everyone in the audience was very nice.  I got great questions, although a few I couldn't answer because they concerned matters I hadn't included in my paper (but great ideas for later research).

After my session, it was time for lunch.  Salad, garlic bread, and a very weird veggie lasagna were on the menu.  What's up with lasagna that has giant chunks of carrot in it? I mean big-ass wedges of carrot?  But the conversation at our table more than made up for it.

Which leads me to this special section on how I will no longer call California State University,Chico, by its defunct nickname, C-SUC.  It does not, in fact, actually suck.  Sitting at a table with both CSU Chico faculty and students, it became clear that the faculty here is very engaged with their students in a way that just impresses the heck out of me.  Many of the history department staff from Chico were in attendance, some as moderator/commentators and some apparently just to be supportive.  Faculty from the other Nor Cal universities that had students presenting were also in attendance, with a large contingent up from CSU Stanislaus.  

The noontime speaker was Dr. Kate Transchel who gave a wonderful talk on Ukraine, its history and its current situation.  Certainly helped me make sense of what's going on in that part of the world and why its unfolding the way it is.

After lunch, it was Tim's turn to be on a panel.  As usual, he presented with a very polished style and a wonderful PowerPoint that included a cartoon of James Madison ("little Jemmy Madison" as Dr. Dimare says) punching King George in the nose and causing blood to stream out from the King's nostrils. While Tim was teased for not being patriotic (he says the U.S. did not actually "win" the War of 1812--but I don't think he'd ever say that to Ol' Hickory's face), he still managed to win the favor of the commentator/moderator on his panel and his audience.

Future Professor Tadlock

It doesn't matter what Lorraine thinks,

the U.S. did not win the war!

With the end of Tim's panel, it was time to go to the big conference room for last announcements and for awards. Unlike the Fresno conference of a few weeks back, at this one all presenters submit their entire paper for review and judging.  Awards are given for first, second, and third in undergraduate papers and the same for graduate papers.

The young gal who won first place in the undergraduate category truly deserved her honor.  I watched her presentation (she was on the same panel as Tim), and she put forth a really unique interpretation of Thomas Jefferson's republican ideal of the yeoman farmer and the role of land ownership.  Then it came time for the graduate awards.    I didn't get to see either of the third and second place winners present, although I did talk with the guy who took second about his topic as he was seated with us at lunch.

Then came the big moment.  Tim and I didn't even know whether our papers had been in consideration for the prizes, as we had turned them in late.  And when Dr. Lewis of CSU Chico (formerly C-SUC) announced that the first-place winner was from Sacramento State, I'm pretty sure we were holding our breaths.

And then....

Tim won at the 2013 Conference--this year was my turn

It was like winning an Oscar--but I didn't have to thank all the little people.  Needless to say, I floated out of the university and into my car, got hugs from Tim and Steph and the kiddos, and came back to the hotel.  Of course, I called Mom and bff Yvette to share the news, and immediately began bragging on Facebook.  

But now the glow is wearing off, and I've got to get back to the very real business of passing my exams and geting that M.A. after my name.  With the NASCAR race on television and a couple of books about Andrew Jackson and the Second Bank of the United States, I should have one hell of an evening.

One last thing, here were the judges' comments on my paper....

Ms. Herbon's essay was an extremely well written exploration of a fascinating and relevant subject--history as seen through the eyes of the media.

Her focus on Americans' continuing fascination with a nostalgic, romanticized and often inaccurate past demonstrated a commanding grasp of the subject.  It presented an insightful and persuasive critique concerning the "Lost Cause" picture of Civil War America as it is presented in film.

Her essay accomplished an admirable two-fold objective:

True to historical studies, it informed

True to Hollywood, it entertained. 

 

 

The Town that Bidwell Built

Greetings from lovely Chico, California.  Once known as the Mexican land grant Rancho Arroyo Chico (although I swear our tour guide called it something else), this little town is home to the lovely campus of California State University, Chico (known by me as C-SUC).  And that's where tomorrow's presentation at the 2014 Northern California Regional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta will occur.

So, it was a nice drive up here.  I had my buddy Tim for company, and we chitter-chatted all the way up Highway 99.  Thank heavens, because the landscape was nothing to look at it.  With the exception of the Sutter Buttes in the distance, there's really not much to see.  Unlike my drive through the lush farm lands between Fresno and Salinas, the orchards along the route between Sacramento and Chico seem somewhat lifeless and boring.  And the towns along the way are grim spaces where traffic backs up and the overall impression is one of hard economic times.  Just lifeless, in spite of the life all around.

My Chico Home

But enough of that.  We arrived in Chico with enough time for me to check into my hotel before we headed over to the Bidwell Mansion, kick-off site for the conference.  First about my hotel.  Charming, spacious room, big bed, good-size bathtub (always important with me), and, best of all, a 24-hour little store on the first floor with a fridge well-stocked with--wait for it--liquor!  Several kinds of bottled beer, including Stella Artois, and lots and lots of different wines.  How cool is that?

John and Annie Bidwell's Chico Home

Now the Bidwell Mansion.  Lovely Italiante architecture, built in the late 1860s, with a visitor's center next door with a tiny museum and a conference room where all the conferences attendees met.  The Phi Alpha Theta (PAT) chapter up here is very active, with two wonderful faculty advisors who are very active and engaged.  The students served some veggies, chips, brownies, and such, and we heard some opening remarks.  Then it was off to tour the mansion.

Check out star-spangled curtains!

The tour guide was a C-SUC (yeah, I love it) graduate who now works at the Mansion.  Some things became clear from the very beginning--he loves trees and he loves John and Annie Bidwell.  The house itself is beautifully restored, with some pieces original to the Bidwells and many period pieces as well.  With three stories and many, many bedrooms, it's quite clear that the Bidwells were quite the partyers.  Among their guests over the years was President Rutherford B. Hayes, General William T. Sherman, Susan B. Anthony, and John Muir.  John and Annie were quite active in both the prohibition movement (where is a Frances E. Willard Avenue right next to the Mansion) and in the women's suffrage movement.  In fact, the coolest thing in the whole house was a four-volume set of books in the library on the history of the women's suffrage movement--all with personal notes to the Bidwells from Susan B. herself.

With a tour group full of history students,

Mansion staff is lucky these were under

lock and key

Another wicked cool feature of the house is a chair that sits beside the life-size oil painting of John Bidwell in the foyer.  The chair, rescued during a remodeling of the United States Senate chamber, was the seat belonging to Daniel Webster.  John Bidwell acquired it, and it was his most prized possession.

Excuse me, Daniel Webster, may

I have a seat?

A word about the huge painting of the master of the house--Bidwell's eyes follow you around the foyer, like something from a creepy (or perhaps a Mel Brooks) movie.  The house itself was filled with lots of photographs of the Bidwells, but the best picture in the place was that of William T. Sherman in Bidwell's office.  Who wouldn't want a photo of Sherman over their desk?  Well, maybe not Scarlett O'Hara....

There's a lot more I want to know about John and Annie Bidwell, but the gift shop had only a couple of non-scholarly works about them.  I'm not interested in fluff; I want to know the down-and-dirty.  So I'll try to remember that I'm not a California historian while I'm here--at least not until exams are over.

Tim's wife, Steph, and the kids came up from Sacramento, and we went for Mexican food for dinner.  Delicious margarita, by the way.  It's late now, and I'm snug in my room.  Oh, and to impressive my readers, my room is next door to the Presidential Suite.  I may have to tell Barack and Michelle to keep it down tonight.

My Life as a Grad Student

Oh, the end is so close I can almost taste it.  I imagine myself in my graduation gown, the same one that I wore for my under-grad ceremony and that Heidi posed in for pix. I imagine standing in line with my pals to have the cowl placed over my head (my hair looks amazing in my imagination).  And I imagine what it will be like come the end of May when I, for the first time, will not be already thinking about classes beginning in August.

There are never enough photos of

Clark on any woman's blog

My time as a grad student at Sac State is winding down. I'm right now going through the hell that is exams.  For readers unfamiliar with this particular form of torture, here's the run-down.  First, you have to decide just what the hell you actually want to focus on--what time period, place, movement, category of analysis, whatever.  For me, after having test-driven several different points of historical focus, from an early love of California history to a mild flirtation with Medieval Europe, it wasn't until last spring that I realized there is an entire field of study devoted to how people remember the Civil War.  As a lover of Gone with the Wind since junior high school, I was delighted to find that scholars actually look at things like why that book (among lots of other things) was so popular, what story it told, how it fits in the Civil War narrative, etc. 

Area of focus determined?  Check!

Then you have to find advisors, one for a major field and one for a minor field, who are willing to work with you on preparing and conducting your exams.  At CSUS, that's not as easy as you'd think.  While there are amazing professors who conduct classes on American history, it seems that there are only a handful of tenured or tenure-track professors who are actually Americanists.  And even these are somewhat locked into specific areas of focus, like history of American women, African-American history, or economic history.  But a pal recommended one Dr. Burke (not the same Dr. Burke who Christina Yang left at the alter), whose broad interest was American cultural history, including the nineteenth century.  So I approached her and, to my great delight, she was willing to work with me on a major field of study that included the Civil War, the memory of the Civil War, and Reconstruction and the long Civil Rights Movement.  Dr. Burke assigned 24 hefty books and a long journal article, and set me about my business.

I so want a locket like this!

Then there was the issue of the minor field advisor.  Enter Dr. Castenada.  This fine educator was my professor in my graduate-level research and writing class, better known as History 209.  Under his watchful eye, I completed my research paper entitled "Perpetuating the Myth: The Lost Cause in the Films of the 1930s."  I approached him in conjunction with a classmate, Logan, also taking his exams this semester.  Together, we all came up with a minor field of study and....voila!  Andrew Jackson versus the Second Bank of the United States.  For those of you who know me, you won't be surrised that I jumped at the chance to learn more about my beloved Old Hickory.  Dr. Castenada then assigned a bundle of books on the subject, and off I went.

Exam advisors acquired?  Check!

Jon Stewart can show you how Civil War

Memory is still contested

Then the hard part.  All that reading!!  Book upon book upon book--almost all of which I have enjoyed. But getting through the reading, and understanding and remembering the materials I've read, is nothing but up-hill sledding (sounds like how my Nana got to school on those wintery mornings in Oshkosh).  But I've made it through the majority of the books, and I have learned so much.  From the giant works by James McPherson, Eric Foner, and Walter Johnson, to my favorites by David W. Blight, Stephanie McCurry, Drew Gilpin-Faust, and Nina Silber, I've been given wonderful insights into the past.  I have learned the different ways in which these scholars look at events and people, how they interpret everything from single events to huge movements.  Most of all, this has solidified for me my love of Civil War memory as a field of study.  Even now, 150 years after the events of 1861-1865, Americans still struggle with their memories of that period, how things were, how they turned out, why it all happened in the first place. Hell, if you don't believe me, check out these two episodes of the Daily Show to see the divergent viewpoints of Americans on the Civil War.

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/fr7m1i/denunciation-proclamation - When disputing the idea that slavery was withering on the vine and would have died of natural causes: "The South was so committed to slavery that Abraham Lincoln didn't die of natural causes."

http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/abrzf9/exclusive---the-weakest-lincoln - The Weakest Lincoln game show, hysterically funny and including historian Eric Foner on its panel of judges.

Yes, when I'm not watching clips from my pal Phoebe's favorite television show, I am actually doing my reading.

Get the reading done?  In progress!

Soon, it will be time to demonstrate for my advisors just how much of these 35 books I've been able to take in.  I'll be expected to understand and explain the historical theories at work as well as the actual historic events, places, and people.  I'll have to give opinion based on what I've read and to write knowledgeably on the wide range of works that encompass my exams reading lists.  I'll be set before a computer on April 25, and I'll spend an entire day (with an hour for Diet Pepsi consumption at lunch) writing four essays, two on my major field and two on my minor.  Then will come a harrowing wait to see if I am invited back for an oral interview, at which point my instructors will again see just how well I've digested the material they've given me and if I'm ready to be awarded that Master of Arts degree.

Nervousness about the whole thing?  Oh, definitely in progress!