While half their colleagues were in breakout sessions with Professor Rosenow, the other half of the group were participating in map activities in Don Barbour. Putting the maps of Chicago in chronological order and using plat maps to decide where in Champaign county to lay railroad tracks was harder than our participants first expected, and required a lot of collaboration!
After lunch, we were joined by Dr. Roger Biles, professor of history at Illinois State University for a keynote and breakout sessions. After an excellent introduction by AHTC teacher Matt Goerss, Dr. Biles used maps to talk about changes in population and demography over time.
After the breakout session, we watched a clip from the documentary 500 Nations on Cahokia and then the documentary Springfield Had No Shame on the 1908 race riot in Springfield. We received a few evaluation comments asking where to purchase a copy of Springfield Had No Shame. The documentary was published by the University of Illinois at Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership's Office of Electronic Media. If you call their office, you can purchase a copy of the documentary for $12.00.
Overall, it was a very fun day, with a lot of information and activities that can be brought directly into the classroom. Thank you all for your enthusiastic participation in discussion and the activities; you all really brought the day to life. Additionally, the AHTC thanks Elaine Evans at the Illinois State Archives for providing us with such amazing resources and a poster for distribution at that workshop and Tom Huber at the Illinois State Library for his help getting copies of maps for Don Barbour's activity.
