Progress and Poverty:
The Gilded Age in American Politics and Literature,
1877-1901
A National Endowment for the Humanities
We the People 2009 Landmarks of American History and Culture
Workshop for Community College Faculty
May 17-22, 2009 or May 31-June 5, 2009
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Fremont, Ohio 43420
Dear Colleague,
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center invites you to participate in a weeklong
workshop for community college faculty titled Progress and Poverty: The Gilded Age in
American Politics and Literature, 1877-190. The workshop examines the crucial social,
political, and economic issues of the Gilded Age through the eyes of its key reformers,
social critics, and utopians. Established in 1916 as the nation’s first presidential museum,
library, estate, and home to be integrated as a single historical site, the Center opens its
extensive archival facilities to you in a valuable and informative week of interaction with
established experts and community college faculty from across the United States.
Theme
In Progress and Poverty: The Gilded Age in American Politics and Literature, 18771901, we evaluate and reexamine the Gilded Age through an intensive examination of the
actions and writings of former President Rutherford B. Hayes, Henry Adams, Henry
George, Edward Bellamy, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and others with
renowned scholars while exploring the resources of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential
Center (including the Library, the Hayes Home, Museum, and extensively wooded
grounds known as Spiegel Grove). Opportunities for thoughtful discussion, study, and
research during the workshop will help you to inspire your students to think critically
about Gilded Age issues and how they relate to the modern era.
The Gilded Age represents a period of tremendous social, political, and economic change
in the United States. This period, which was bisected by the Presidency of Rutherford B.
Hayes (1877-1881), witnessed a broad range of historical events including the formal end
of Reconstruction, the Railroad Strike of 1877, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,
Pendleton Act (1883), Haymarket Riot (1886), and Homestead Strike (1892). It also
witnessed continuing questions about the conditions facing Native Americans in the West
and the rise of modern metropolises dominated by skyscrapers and marred by squalor.
These aspects reflect some of the anxieties of the time and perhaps all time - fear of
immigration, distrust of politicians, concerns about corporate responsibility.
President Hayes, to a remarkable extent, stands as a barometer of the era. As either an
active participant or diarist, Hayes interacted with many of the Gilded Age’s key forces
and figures. This makes the Hayes Presidential Center an ideal place to study and
reexamine the Gilded Age using an expansive array of political cartoons and periodicals
and newspapers from the era as well as President Hayes’ personal (and sometimes
annotated) copies of the key printed works of Bellamy, Howells, Twain, and others. The
Center’s collections also includes copies of Hayes’ diaries and letters and manuscripts
from other political, social, and literary figures of the era.
Content, Readings, and Guest Scholars
Progress and Poverty examines the period from 1877-1901 through an analysis of its
contemporary commentators and critics. As part of the examination of each day’s theme,
we explore different aspects of the Hayes Presidential Center as a national landmark.
Sunday: Welcoming Reception
After arriving at your accommodations, you are transported to the Hayes
Presidential Center for a welcoming reception where we meet each other and the
staff.
Monday: Introduction to the Gilded Age
On the first day, Dr. Rebecca Edwards, author of New Spirits of the Gilded Age,
1865-1905 and Angels in Machinery: Gender in American Party Politics from the
Civil War to the Progressive Era,
http://history.vassar.edu/faculty/bios/edwards.html provides an overview of the
Gilded Age, and Dr. Brooks D. Simpson,
https://sec.was.asu.edu/directory/person/106257 author of The Political Education
of Henry Adams and The Reconstruction Presidents and Reconstruction,
examines the role of Henry Adams and other contemporary critics in shaping and at times misshaping - perceptions of the Gilded Age. We also tour the Hayes
Museum, Library, and Archives.
In the evening, optional Library research time or a tour of Fremont are offered.
Tuesday: Politics and Economics
Professor Edwards examines electoral politics and economic developments in the
post-Civil War era, focusing on the South and the West. In the course of her
presentation, she includes an analysis of Lucy Webb Hayes’ association with the
WCTU. Professor Simpson’s presentation focuses on the role of Henry George
and his key work, Progress and Poverty, in shaping the movement toward reform.
Hayes Presidential Center Executive Director Thomas Culbertson offers a focused
presentation on Hayes’ attitudes toward the rights of labor as well as the paradox
between Hayes’ hopes for the post-war South and the reality which ensued.
Drs. Edwards and Simpson engage in small group discussions and Hayes Library
Head Librarian Rebecca Hill leads you in utilizing the research resources of the
Library.
In the evening, as a testament to Hayes’ concern with species propagation, you
enjoy a walking tour of Spiegel Grove, Hayes’ extensively wooded estate.
Wednesday: Capital and Labor
Dr. Timothy Messer-Kruse http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/acs/faculty/messerkruse_t.htm leads a discussion of capital and labor in the Gilded Age. In “All
Things New: Individualism and Community,”
Dr. Robert Fogarty examines practical and utopian reactions to the conflict
between employers and laborers in the writings of Henry George and Edward
Bellamy. http://www.antioch-college.edu/Academics/faculty/robert_fogarty.shtml
Drs. Messer-Kruse and Fogarty engage in a question and answer session. Thomas
Culbertson leads tours of the Hayes Home. Curator of Manuscripts Nan Card
leads you in an examination of manuscripts, including copies of correspondence
and manuscripts of William Dean Howells.
In the evening, an optional demonstration of Edison phonographs and recordings
is presented.
Thursday: Realism and Utopianism in American Literature: Howells and
Twain
Dr. Steven Culbertson offers a brief analysis of Hayes’ interactions with William
Dean Howells and Mark Twain and his response as an informed reader of
Howells’ A Hazard of New Fortunes and Annie Kilburn Twain’s and A
Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court and The Prince and the Pauper.
In his presentation titled “The All-Seeing Eye of W.D. Howells: 1885-1895,” Dr.
Sanford Marovitz introduces you to William Dean Howells’ social fiction.
Concentrating on A Hazard of New Fortunes, Annie Kilburn, and A Traveler
from Alturia, Dr. Marovitz examines Howells’ role as both a realist and a utopian.
Dr. Michael J. Kiskis
http://www.elmira.edu/academics/directory/bios/mkiskis begins a two-part
discussion of realism and utopianism in American Literature and their impact on
Gilded Age culture. Using The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee
in King Arthur’s Court as his reference points, Dr. Kiskis explores the intersection
of Mark Twain’s life with the larger questions of progress and poverty in midnineteenth century America. While he examines the social criticism in these two
major novels, he also suggests that there is much to be gained from placing Mark
Twain’s work within a domestic context - personal, literary, and social - as part of
an exploration of Mark Twain’s writings that spread through 1877-1901.
The afternoon features a series of rotating small group sessions with Drs.
Marovitz and Kiskis. Head of Photographic Resources Gilbert Gonzalez presents
a workshop utilizing images from the Center’s Photographic Collections
(including photographs of key figures Howells, Twain, Hayes, etc.) and events
(political rallies, strikes, etc.). He also addresses the challenges and possibilities
of using historic images in classroom presentations. Time also is set aside for
working with the Manuscript Collections and doing research in the Library.
In the evening, the options of Library research and a tour of Fremont are
available.
Friday: Case Study American Realism and Utopianism
Drs. Marovitz and Kiskis continue their investigation of late 19th-century realism
and utopianism.
In the afternoon, you present your initial findings to the group.
Research and Teaching Projects
Hayes Presidential staff members designed the workshops to assist you in your teaching
and research in the Gilded Age time period. You have the opportunity to choose from two
tracks: developing materials to support your Gilded Age work in the classroom or
conducting research to support a paper for presentation at a conference or for publication.
You will use original manuscripts, books, photographs, periodicals and artifacts
discussed in the Landmark section of this letter to develop classroom materials or support
a paper. In conjunction with these resources we tap into the expertise of the Center’s
staff, including Executive Director Thomas Culbertson, Curator of Manuscripts Nan
Card, Head of Photographic Resources Gil Gonzalez, and Head Librarian Rebecca Hill.
Workshop Landmarks
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library opened as the first presidential library in
1916. It incorporates Hayes’ personal library, which exceeds 12,000 volumes - a
testament to Hayes’ personal literacy and level of intellectual curiosity as well as a clear
response to those who would dismiss his period as one of simple graft and unquestioned
corrupt business practices. These volumes, which are sometimes annotated in his own
hand, bear witness to his having read and reacted to the reform writers of his age
including Henry George (Progress and Poverty) and Edward Bellamy (Looking
Backward, 2000-1887). In addition to books addressing his time in office (1877-1881),
the Library’s other 75,000 books cover the Gilded Age, genealogy, and local history.
The Manuscript Division contains more 4,500 linear feet of documentary material in six
major areas: Rutherford B. Hayes and the Hayes family, the Gilded Age, the Charles E.
Frohman Collection (Great Lakes and Erie Islands), Local History of Northwest Ohio,
Local Government, and Special Collections. The Manuscripts Collection also contains a
rich array of political and editorial cartoons (separately and in bound magazines and
journals).
The Hayes Museum
The Hayes Museum, built in 1916 and expanded in 1922 and 1968, houses 13,000
artifacts, of which 1,785 are on permanent display. Exhibits combine historical artifacts
and manuscripts to explain Rutherford B. Hayes’ Civil War service as well as his record
as Congressman, Governor, and ultimately, President of the United States.
The Hayes Home
Architecture played a key role in the Victorian Age. As Geoffrey Blodgett’s The
Architectural Psychology of the Gilded Age has noted, “Perhaps no other generation of
Americans left an architectural deposit more disconcerting to the tastes of its successors
... still there is no denying that post-Civil War buildings bear a distinct stamp peculiar to
their time. They are heavier, more stolid and elaborate, both in the massing of forms and
the texture of surfaces. To our eye there seems to be an overstuffed quality to many of
them.” The Hayes Home and comparable structures located near Spiegel Grove offer
unique insights into this Victorian architecture.
Spiegel Grove
Hayes’ 25-acre wooded estate known as Spiegel Grove highlights the President’s interest
in conservation and propagating new varieties of plants and trees. In this effort, he was
both of his time and ahead of his time. As early as 1882, President Chester A. Arthur, had
sounded an alarm concerning the Nation’s woodlands: “The condition of the forests of
the country and the wasteful manner in which their destruction is taking place give cause
for serious apprehension. Their action in protecting the earth’s surface, in modifying the
extremes of climate, and in regulating and sustaining the flow of springs and streams is
now well understood …” Hayes’ personal diary, which is available both in print form and
on-line via the Presidential Center’s website, http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/diaries/
provides extensive documentation of his interest in preserving forestland.
Logistics
Who
The program is open to full- and part-time community college faculty in the United States
in any field, but is most valuable to instructors in the humanities and social sciences.
When
Each workshop begins Sunday evening with an informational reception and ends Friday
afternoon. There are two workshops to choose from: May 17-22 or May 31-June 5, 2009.
Please indicate your order of preference regarding the week you would like to attend.
Participants should arrive on Sunday May 17 or Sunday May 31 in time for the 6:30 p.m.
opening reception that evening. The staff of the Hayes Presidential Center will welcome
participants, facilitate introductions and share essential information about the workshops.
Where
The workshop sessions will be held, for the most part, at the Rutherford B. Hayes
Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio. Fremont is located 40 miles southeast of Toledo
and 90 miles west of Cleveland just off the Ohio Turnpike, I-90. The preferred airport is
Cleveland Hopkins, which is about 90 minutes from Fremont. Once participants are
selected, the Hayes Center will make limited airport shuttle arrangements to transport
them to the Center. However, participants may wish to have a car, especially if they want
to explore the area before or after the workshop.
Accommodations and Meals
Our Lady of the Pines
While in Fremont, we encourage you to stay at Our Lady of the Pines, a beautiful
retreat center that has been reserved by the Hayes Presidential Center. The Pines
is located about one-half mile from the Hayes Presidential Center. A shuttle will
be provided daily to and from the Hayes Presidential Center. The dorm-like
rooms are private with private or shared bath accommodations (separate women’s
and men’s baths). Breakfast and dinner are included in a cafeteria-style setting.
The Pines is designed to promote a quiet, collegial atmosphere. To enhance this
goal, it is undergoing renovations which will install all-new windows as well as
individual heating and air conditioning units for each room. The cost for the
week, including breakfast and dinner, is $300.
The Comfort Inn
Fremont has a number of available hotels as well. The Comfort Inn is the closest
option. It offers a continental breakfast and nearby restaurants serve dinner.
Participants staying at the Comfort Inn will be expected to attend evening sessions
at Our Lady of the Pines. They also will need cars, as there will be no shuttle
service to the Center.
Communications
There are no phones, televisions, or internet access available in the rooms at Our
Lady of the Pines. You may use computers at the Hayes Presidential Center to
access email during the week. The Comfort Inn has free wireless internet access.
Lunches
The Hayes Presidential Center will supply your lunch each day. Please specify
any special dietary needs, such as vegetarian or food allergies.
Traveling with Family Members
Our Lady of the Pines will not be able to accommodate families. Participants who
wish to travel with family members should plan to stay in a hotel such as the
Comfort Inn and to drive or rent a car. The NEH does not allow family as auditors
in the sessions, but family may attend social events.
Stipend
You will receive a stipend of $750 to help cover the cost of food and lodging and to help
defray travel costs. The stipend will be distributed at the close of the workshop.
Participants may qualify for additional travel assistance, particularly for those traveling
long distances. Travel assistance is considered on a case-by-case basis at the conclusion
of the workshop.
Attractions in Northwest Ohio
Northwest Ohio offers a variety of recreational and educational attractions. Cedar Point
Amusement Park in nearby Sandusky, Ohio is surrounded by three indoor waterparks.
The Toledo area features Fort Meigs, a historical site from the War of 1812, Side Cut
Metropark (part of the former Miami and Erie Canal), the Toledo Zoo, and the worldrenowned Toledo Museum of Art. Again, participants who wish to visit these sites will
need to do so before or after the workshop.
Application
You will need to complete the application, following the instructions outlined in the
attached NEH document. Please collate and staple your application in the following
order: cover sheet, essay, and resume. The four components of the application are
1.
2.
3.
4.
The application cover sheet, which should be completed online. The
application cover sheet is available at
http://www.neh.gov/online/education/participants. (Click on “Landmarks”
grant. Submit one copy electronically to the NEH.) Three hard copies will
also be submitted by mail to the Project Director at the address below.
A one page double-spaced typed essay. The essay, which is the most
important part of the application, should include information about your
professional background and interest in the subject of the workshop; your
special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the
workshop and how the experience would enhance your teaching or
research. Please submit three hard copies to the Project Director.
Three hard copies of your resume submitted to the Project Director.
A letter of recommendation from your dean or department head. This
should be mailed or given to the applicant with the dean’s or department
head’s signature across the envelope flap. Only one copy is needed.
Your completed application must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2009 and
addressed as follows:
Steven L. Culbertson
Project Director
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Spiegel Grove
Fremont, Ohio 43420
Successful candidates will be notified by April 15, 2009. If accepted, applicants must
confirm their participation by April 24. Once participation is confirmed, you will receive
a packet of information that includes a detailed agenda, workshop readings, and travel
and housing information.
Should you have any further questions about the workshops, please do not hesitate to
email, call, or write me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Steven L. Culbertson
Project Director
steven_culbertson@owens.edu
(419) 332-2081