Hello everyone!

The first week of our class has come to a close and i’m so excited to see where this project will lead me. When it came to starting a wordpress blog, I did get an introduction last semester in my American Studies course. I was a little rusty at first when I started to make this blog my own, but I think I’ll get the hang of it soon. As far as the project goes, I left today’s class ready to start digging into the history of the region surrounding UMW. I have lived here my entire life, so I’m curious as to what has happened around me that isn’t always broadcasted or highlighted in the average history book. The first thing that always comes to mind when people associate conflict with Fredericksburg is the Civil War. That’s one avenue I’m sure Alyssa and I could find lots of information on, but I decided to go further and just do some generic searches to see what else I can find. On one of the many historical society pages associated with Fredericksburg, I found an interesting article on how the prohibition went down in the city and how the city voted to stay dry and, as was the situation with the majority of the country during this period, was met with opposition in the form of speak-easys and smugglers. Another path we could take that I stumbled upon was the John J. Wright training school that brought education to African American children and the opposition the school received and the role of the Spotsylvania Sunday School Union in protecting the right for these children to be educated.

Another potential lead I stumbled upon while searching history articles from our local newspaper was the Eagle Shoe Factory strike of 1895 that occurred on Hanover Street, which is in close vicinity of our university. Another avenue that has received recent attention and controversy that we could explore is the Loving vs. Virginia case that ultimately lead to the lifting of the ban on interracial marriages. Finally, there is one that hits close to home that I remembered from when I was younger. Ralph Bunche High School, which is located in King George County minutes from my house, was a school for African American children during the time of Segregation that was eventually desegregated. It became a site of conflict and controversy about a decade ago when some people called for its demolition and some for its preservation. Eventually it was made a historical landmark, but it would be interesting, now that I’m older, to further investigate what occurred during that time of conflict and how that resolution was reached.

Through this initial brainstorming, I have confirmed my assumption that this project could literally go in any direction. These are all interesting potential beginnings of our project and I can’t wait to work with Alyssa to find one we are both passionate about  and to go from there to start building on the foundation.