History Committee, the ASKS, and spheres of influence

On the history committee, the group continues the work on a tour brochure of the green spaces and a booklet highlighting local history. However, our process is going slowly. We need to gather more information, especially history of Brooklyn. Our work will begin to come together days before the fundraiser day.

For the ASKS, the class talked about asking businesses especially local ones to support our campaign. The class will spilt the work for the ASKS by putting us in different areas such as inner Baltimore. I would work with Annapolis area since I live close. For the businesses, these should be local and green.

My spheres of influence are somewhat small. I am involved with taekwondo. I am planning to ask the owners of the Taekwondo School to consider donate since the owners grew up in Brooklyn. I might ask my neighbor since some have their own businesses. I am planning to go downtown Annapolis to give the ASKS because it has many local businesses.

http://www.historicinnsofannapolis.com/chesapeake-bay.aspx

 

Marc Steiner and the Pratt Library

http://www.steinershow.org/about/marc-steiner/

I watched two videos which were introductory video on Marc Steiner and video of Steiner’s lecture at UMBC.  First, I watched the introductory video about Marc Steiner. It was very interesting. My thoughts are that Steiner did a lot of social activism for many years. I can see that he was very passionate. I never knew that Steiner was the youngest civil rights worker in Maryland. It was obvious that he began his social activism at a young age. I thought it was cool that Steiner went to Baltimore City College (high school) since my dad did attend the same school during his teenage years.

The second video I watched was Steiner’s lecture at UMBC. Steiner talked about CEM (Center for Emerging Media) and “the importance of developing deep listening skills.” He addressed many things such as social activism, social justice, housing issues, history relating to Baltimore, and Baltimore itself as an important part of growing issues within the community. Overall, I thought it was interesting and learned several things that I never.

http://www.prattlibrary.org/locations/central/



                On the separate subject, I went to the Enoch Pratt Library last Thursday. I got my library card with the help of Prof. King. She and I went to the Maryland Dept. to look for information relating to Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyards. Both of us found many old articles about the subject. I uncovered numerous interesting things (facts and stories) about shipyards. I enjoyed reading and learning about it. I planned to come back to the library to look more. Plus the library itself is very beautiful with many architecture aspects.  

                While I was looking at the articles at the library, one of my interpreters and her husband were with me. Both of them were also reading the articles. As we were reading together, I discovered that both of them have connections with Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyards since both have uncles that worked at shipyards years ago and during in World War II. At one point, my interpreter’s husband saw a picture of an article containing several women who were labor workers at the shipyards. He thought that one of several women in the picture could be a former girlfriend of a family member. I thought it was very interesting!

Committee Work and Mapping Baybrook write-up

http://www.weymouthdramaclub.com/members

                For the committee work, I am involved in the History committee with Katie, Brendan, Calvin, and Dustin. Our committee focuses on local history, connecting with the community itself and selling products.



                For local history, we plan to have a walking tour brochure of the green spaces and a booklet highlighting local history. Both products are planned for people to take it home with them. Our committee plans to give a digital story of the garden since the event will have Wi-Fi. We thought about using layered transparencies to create a map that shows the changes over the years.

                For products, we plan to hold a bake sale and produce sale. We also discussed selling buttons and stickers. The designs of buttons and stickers could be pictures of Baybrook maps or our title of garden fundraiser.

                Overall, I thought the committee work was very interesting and gave the members of the class opportunity to learn to work together for the benefit of the Baybrook community. Hopefully, our work will be a success at the event along with our other committees.

                My Mapping Baybrook write-up is a challenge since my topic is Bethlehem Fairfield shipyards. It is a large subject to tackle. The shipyards have many stories local and general. It also has a long history that began in late 1880s. My goal is to take all the information and create a good story about the shipyards and how they affect Baybrook itself.

Committee work, Craft Fair, and Research...

Last week, the committee work is interesting to watch and participate. I have little experience with the committee work and I’m curious how it works within the class. Hopefully, the group I am participating in will have success with the craft fair and fundraiser.

             The craft fair is a good idea for AMST class to start on a small scale. Hopefully, the class will learn from it and apply the experience on next one which is the fundraiser. I hope the craft fair will be a success for AMST class.

My research is very fascinating so far. I learned many things I never know before about Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard. The shipyard itself has a rich history and linked to the community and the events such as World War II. I will continue to research more since the shipyard is a critical part of the Baltimore and Baybrook community’s old memories of a thriving city that is all but forgotten.

http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2013/05/03/a-blue-collar-future-proposed-for-sparrows-point/

The field trip to Baybrook, last Saturday, was very interesting. It helped me to better visualize the image of Baybrook and understand the reasons to support the project’s fundraiser for Filbert Street Garden. I enjoyed Filbert Street Garden’s tour by Jason Reed. I liked the methods of using the garden to support the community itself such as school children learning about gardening and teaching the adults as well. Later, I glimpsed where Fairfield-Bethlehem shipyards. This was helpful since it is my research assignment. The shipyards were used in World War II to build Liberty ships. At the end of the war the ships were stripped apart for metal then sunk in the Baltimore Harbor which polluted the water. This caused a problem which continues to today.

                                

                           http://mappingbaybrook.org/?people=794

The oral history readings were fascinating and an important part to understanding Baybrook’s past. I can see how much effort is involved with oral histories and building stories to tell the audience about Baybrook. Catherine Leocadie Benicewicz’s oral history was a good one since she was lived and grew up in Curtis Bay. She provided the stories telling how Baybrook was in the past.  

For the research assignment, Katie has kindly given me some information about Fairfield-Bethlehem shipyards from her own research to start my own. The Fairfield-Bethlehem shipyards are certainty full of rich history. It was a vital part of World War II and Baltimore’s past that is slowly fading and being forgotten. I will continue to work on it. I plan to gather more information from the library, internet, and newspapers especially Baltimore Sun.  http://ghostsofbaltimore.org/2013/10/16/great-photo-bethlehem-fairfield-shipyards-1941/

Blog 3 Prompt

I am looking forward to meeting the art students today.  Unfortunately, I did not attend last Tuesday’s class so I’m curious what ideas they offer relating to creating a logo for Baybrook project and image(s) for the t-shirts. I’m interested how AMST students and art students will work together on numerous projects. I’m interested in how the two groups will work on the present and the past to represent the future of Baybrook’s history through art and documentation.

The Bringing to Life Baltimore '68: Riots and Rebirth—A How-to Guide by Jessica I. Elfenbein is very interesting to read. It shows lots of work and effort to provide an overview of Baltimore ’68. I noticed the documentation was difficult even with history information. It encouraged the universities and communities to work together for public history projects especially ours.     

For the research topic/focus, I found several topics of interest to me. First is Fairfield-Bethlehem shipyards WWII since I enjoy World War II history. The shipyards have a rich history with shipbuilding especially Liberty Ships for military assistance during the war. I’m curious about the shipyards’ past and present with Baybrook. I’m also interested in the neighborhood’s opinion of the shipyards such as is the shipyards a curse or blessing from the past to present. Overall, I hope I will learn more about the history of Fairfield-Bethlehem shipyards and how use it to support the fundraiser.

Second topic is food deserts. I’m interested in Baybrook’s history of deserts, the timeline of such as when it has their development, pre and past war. Food deserts are defined as:

“An area where the distance to a supermarket is more than ¼ mile, the median household income is at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level, over 40% of households have no vehicle available, and the average Healthy Food Availability Index score for supermarkets, convenience and corner stores is low (measured using the Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey).”
http://www.baltimorecity.gov/Government/AgenciesDepartments/Planning/BaltimoreFoodPolicyInitiative/FoodDeserts.aspx

I’m curious about the neighborhood’s opinion concerning food deserts. For example, how did they feel about their deserts in Baybrook. Same with the shipyards, I would like to learn more about food deserts.