ARCHITECTURE IS COOL AFTERALL

Although I am physically drained from today’s events, I wished every day could be so interesting. Let me be the first to admit that I wasn’t totally excited when I looked at the syllabus back in January and saw that we would be spending an entire morning session on a Frank Lloyd Wright Studio Tour. I mean, I knew who he was because I like to watch the Antiques Road Show on PBS, but I really felt like it was just something I couldn’t possibly be interested in. Once again my preconceived ignorance about a subject put me in a position where I had to admit I was wrong. Now I must prepare to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to learn more about this topic in the future; who knew architecture could be so much fun?

This was truly an enjoyable experience and testament to how one person’s talent and confidence can inspire such an impact on society. What an American story! Could he really have only been 21 when he built that house? Think about it;

• A young genius comes up with a fresh and innovative approach to doing things
• He insists on doing it his way, even though others look at him oddly at first
• Others on a local level began to take notice, perhaps with envy
• He makes buckets of money doing the things he loves most
• Before long his influence begins to take over a city, in this case a very large city
• Eventually his ideas spread throughout the Midwest, then all of America
• 100 years later, teachers are still blogging about him on web pages
• Still others will watch rich people buy his things on the Antiques Road Show
• Is this a great country or what?

Next we got to traipse around Wright’s Oak Park neighborhood and see some of the houses he built. This was the most enjoyable part of the day. Even if the homes weren’t built by him, they were all beautiful; especially with the incredible trees surrounding them.

Next on the agenda was a visit to the monstrous Museum of Science and Industry, which was modeled after the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. After watching a couple of presentations about the “White City” we were once again on a walking tour around the complex. I found it curious that throughout the presentations, nothing was mentioned about the hypocrisy of the exposition as explained to us last fall by Montana State professor, Robert Rydell, an expert on the White City. Rydell’s edition of an original pamphlet by Ida Wells and Frederick Douglass called, “The Reason Why The Colored American Is Not in The World’s Columbian Exposition,” reveals how fair promoters excluded the contributions of African Americans and would not let them into the gates of the “White City.” If nothing else, the fair denigrated and ridiculed any progress of African Americans and even allowed a Harper’s Weekly circular with racist caricatures to circulate inside the walls with the title, “Darkies Day at the Fair.” A picture of the caricature is in Rydell’s book and it is pretty disgusting. The exclusion of that information almost seemed like a deliberate cover up since, just like 1893, promoters did not want bad publicity.

SPONTANEITY IN THE WINDY CITY

Today it was back to the Chicago History Museum with our instructor Chip Brady taking us through the Document Based Questions project, or DBQ. I was familiar with this method of teaching from a previous workshop at CSUP, but each time it gets a little bit easier. Brady’s topic was about Prohibition; more specifically, “Why did America change its mind?” This was a pretty crafty question for a lesson topic, because the only way your students will be able to answer effectively is to research why we decided to change the Constitution for a ridiculous amendment anyway. I will use this method when assigning writing assignments, and have my students follow the outline that he gave to us. His method of creating group assignments was very effective and something I will definitely use in my classes.

The walking tour of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, on the other hand, was a giant disappointment. Perhaps my expectations were too high since I was really pumped up about it the day before, plus I saw Sarah Marcus’ commentary on a Weather Channel documentary about the great fire. The only thing we saw of any interest was a small remnant of an original Chicago street in a back alley near the museum. I have to admit it was a real eye opener to see that just like everything else in the city at the time, even the streets were paved with wood! No wonder the fire was so devastating with that kind of tinder box. As we walked toward the lake, my heart really went out to those desperate people and animals running for their lives toward the water; especially since they would have nothing to return to when it was over.

When we reached the lake, I decided to act spontaneously, so I rented a bike and did my own personal tour of the Lake Michigan bike paths. What a blast! I was able to make the 16-mile loop and still have enough time on my rental to ride the streets into the heart of the city. Yes, that’s me in the top photo under the 25-foot- tall American Gothic Sculpture at Pioneer Court on North Michigan Avenue overlooking the Chicago River. I was able to see the boat tours underneath the bridge; I can’t wait until we do that on Thursday.