HIST 100: Engineering The Past

15.1 Reflection

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In The Devil in the White City, one thing I never noticed was any signs or mention of segregation, discrimination, or really any African Americans. This is something that sort of made me think deeper about the book because I realize that the fair was not long after the Civil War and the north and south still had tension. It makes me wonder if the Exposition had any African American attendees, if so, I also wonder how they were treated by the Americans from all over the country and from people around the world. I do realize that Chicago is up North, so it may not have been as big of an issue as say St. Louis, but it is interesting to speculate.

I was also very impressed with how the city of Chicago was able to overcome such obstacles as the country still recuperating from the Civil War, the city being rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1871, poor soil to build on in most places, and many other obstacles. It was definitely an incredible feat to be able to overcome all of the obstacles that the planners had to and also to create the biggest and greatest fair the world had ever seen, while also being the first world exposition to turn a profit mind you.

I think this section of History 100 with its particular mix of content, activities, and assignments would be much better taught as a face-to-face course. The reason why is because I know I seem to work better in a class setting, being able to work on and get help/feedback on assignments in a class, and the visual learning would be better for me at least. I did like the flexibility of being able to work on the assignments whenever I could during the week and not being obligated to go to a class though. Overall I think this class would be better taught face-to-face because it would involve more interaction between the student taking the course, the professor teaching it to the student(s), and more feedback/constructive criticism.

 

pictorial essay

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Pictoral Essay

Farming is part of the foundation of not only modern society as we know it but the creation of Idaho as a state. Idaho and even Boise, its largest , ‘modern’ city is highly influenced by the culutre of farming . We proudly exclaim on posters both virtual and physical to buy local, delineate the importance of dairy in commercials that play so routinely that there is no question we have accepted this culture.  But farming has become extremely self-serving to industries such as Idaho dairy farms. Since 1993, the number of dairy cows in Idaho has nearly tripled, to 572,000 head, so that Idaho now ranks fourth among the states, just behind New York and just ahead of Pennsylvania report and High Country News article by Richard Manning. Whether you accept the evidence that not humans beyond infancy do not need milk  or it’s important to look at the damaging effects dairy farming has on our water supply and ecoystem. The dairy farms of Idaho state that they are interested in the building of a healthy state but the fact that their farms continuously pollute ground water which then harms our rivers says other wise.

In a yale article called As Dairy Farms Grow Bigger, New Concerns About Pollution by elizabeth grossman says that According to the EPA, a 2,000-cow dairy generates more than 240,000 pounds of manure daily or nearly 90 million pounds a year. The USDA estimates that the manure from 200 milking cows produces as much nitrogen as sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people. In relating this to Idaho, the idaho dairy indusry say’s that of the dairy farms in Idaho , 54.5 have 500 dairy cows or more, the greater estimate being upwards of 2,000 cows. This high volume according to the site says that since 1970, Idaho has seen a 125% increase in dairy production. Thats thousands of pounds of manure being produced daily that also produces methane gas.

Manure can and does have a place in farming produce. It fertilizes the ground helping crops to produce well. However when thousands of pound of manure is being produced daily that means crops are more that taken care of yet there is still so much to be accounted for. Most of it is stored in tanks, In artical by Peter Lane Taylor, a writer and TV producer, stated in his article “Florida Dairy Farms and Springs Protection: Got Solutions?,accessed June 17, 2008 he says that in regards to manure disposal , “In the first of these techniques, the mixture is spread in a thin layer over a large field by truck so that the nutrients can be absorbed as fertilizer by a variety of nitrogen absorbing plants like alfalfa and other grasses. In the second, cow manure mixture is further diluted with water and sprayed over a large area by a center-pivot irrigation system. In reality, neither of the techniques is full proof; a percentage of the nutrients bypasses the root system and enters the underground aquifer.”  and simply, when the waste is not disposed of it seeps into the ground contaminating local water supplies.

Manure contains multiple pathogens possible e-coli and pharmaceuticals such as growth hormones and antibiotics given to the cows that when consumed by people can be responsible for serious health concerns of the endocrine system says Grossman.

 

Primary

https://www.hcn.org/issues/46.13/idahos-sewer-system-is-the-snake-river?b_start:int=2#body

Secondary

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_dairy_farms_grow_bigger_new_concerns_about_pollution/2768/

 

photos

http://blog.midwestbiosystems.com/blog/topic/sustainable-farming

http://www.watersafe.co.za/2010/05/24/groundwater-pollution/

Final Project

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https://www.pinterest.com/PeteWCook/1893-columbian-exposition/

FinalProject.docx

1893 Columbian Exposition

Figure 1 is a partial map of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. This is a good way for visitors of the fair to be able to know where to find the different exhibits they want to attend. The planners would have sent a map like this to the other countries of the world in order for them to see what the layout of the fair would look like, how they could find the exhibits, what exhibits would be at the fair, and in order to draw attention and people to the fair. I chose the map to show sort of an aerial view of the what the fair looked like, in order to give a better visual.

Figure 2 is the beautiful Administration building, which is very recognizable with it’s gold dome. It consisted of a 55,000 square foot gold-domed building which was designed by Richard M. Hunt of New York. It served it’s purpose as the headquarters of the chief officers of the Exposition. It was also the primary introduction to the main architectural theme of the 14 prominent buildings of the Exposition, known as the Beaux-Arts style. Burnham and Root wanted to create a uniform and unique architectural style for the main buildings of the fair and they incorporated their Beaux-Arts training into the structures. The main buildings had a uniform cornice height, they were geometrically logical, covered in the same material (white staff), and produced an identical but somehow unique gathering of buildings. Burnham and Root wanted to the show the American value of innovation and excellent architectural skills.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/tour.html

Figure 3 is the Ferris Wheel. George Ferris was the mastermind behind this invention. It consisted of a revolving wheel 250 feet in diameter and 36 cars that could hold 60 people. “The wheel would propel 2,160 people at a time three hundred feet into the sky over Jackson Park, a bit higher than the crown of the now six-year-old Statue of Liberty, (pg.185 Larson).” This piece of the fair was one of the main things that made the Columbian Exposition better than the Paris Exposition because of its new sensation that topped Eiffel’s Tower. Not only was it an amazing sight to look at, it also gave the “rider” a new experience to feel themselves being lifted into the air and be able to see the fair all around them. The planners wanted something built that would show their value of bigger is better, competition, and innovation. Burnham wanted a feature to show America could practice modern engineering and create original, magnificent architectural features, and the Ferris Wheel did exactly that. (pgs. 156,185 Larson).

Figure 4 is the Transportation Building. This building was built by the Chicago architectural firm Adler & Sullivan. Daniel Burnham had told Sullivan that instead of the old method of having two entrances, he should instead create one central feature that would impress the fairgoers. As it turned out, that one magnificent entrance was the talk of the fair. There were many exhibits in the building from around the world such as, Japan, Russia, England, and a few others besides the United States. Some of the exhibits included American cars, locomotives, and a vast amount of railway appliances. The builders wanted to show the value of innovation with the exhibits in this building and they had what I listed in the previous sentence, as well as, the “Railways of the World” from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.

http://www.domu.com/chicago/history-map/columbian-exposition-transportation-building

Figure 5 is a view of what the fair became famous for, it’s beautiful and attractive appearance as a dream “White City”. It was popularized as the White City because of the blue from the sky and the lake made the massive, towering white buildings look even brighter due to the clear blue sky and the reflection of sunlight from the lake and park’s water features onto the buildings. The White City was a complete opposite of the Black City, Chicago, as the fair’s builders wanted the White City to depict the values of both them and Chicago. It was supposed to show the values of having a clean city, pure water, sanitation, clean buildings, and to be free from crime, garbage, ash, and the rotten smells of slaughterhouses. The builders had planned for this city to be an example of what a city ought to be and what it ought to look like. (pg. 197,247 Larson). The value that the builders wanted the fair, or White City, to display was cultural parity. America wanted to show the world that it was finally equal to such powers as those in Europe. Another value that they wanted to show was unity and a utopian society. Poor, corrupted government, filth and garbage, disease and poverty were nowhere to be seen in the White City, which was appealing to the masses.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/reactions.html

Figure 6 is a view of what it looked like to walk along the Midway Plaisance. The Midway was a “pleasure garden” that stretched over a mile, from Jackson Park to Washington Park. It was to be “an exotic realm of unusual sights, sounds, and scents, (pg. 160 Larson).”It included attractions such as belly dancers, camels, a hydrogen balloon that took people into the sky, mirrors, optical illusions, wax museum, authentic villages from around the world, and of course the crown jewel, the Ferris Wheel. (pg. 267 Larson) The planners of the fair wanted to give the American people what they wanted, and that is the value of learning but, also, the desire to be amused, and to have fun. The Plaisance offered the tourists a getaway from the “high culture” of the White City and allowed them to enjoy themselves, experience new sights, sounds, smells, and have fun learning about new things. The planners wanted the value of education to be exercised through the use of the Plaisance, and they believed that through everything along the Plaisance they could achieve this value. Although the Plaisance did not exploit what the education that they had intended, it did give the American people, and other tourists, the amusement they wanted and a form of education by seeing what was out there in the world.

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/reactions.html

 

Works Cited

“World’s Columbian Exposition: The Official Fair–A Virtual Tour.” World’s Columbian Exposition: The Official Fair–A Virtual Tour. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/tour.html.

“Columbian Exposition – Transportation Building.” Columbian Exposition – Transportation Building. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://www.domu.com/chicago/history-map/columbian-exposition-transportation-building.

“World’s Columbian Exposition: Reactions to the Fair.” World’s Columbian Exposition: Reactions to the Fair. Accessed May 07, 2016. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma96/wce/reactions.html.

Cook, Pedro W. “1893 Columbian Exposition.” Pinterest. Accessed May 07, 2016. https://www.pinterest.com/PeteWCook/1893-columbian-exposition/.