Colleagues: Please take some time to announce this to your Juniors and Seniors. We are extending the deadline of this essay contest until May 29th, 2009. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions (406-243-2988). Thank you for your help with this.
Mansfield Essay Competition For Montana High School Juniors & Seniors
In a life spanning nearly a century, Mike Mansfield left enduring marks on Montana, the U.S. Senate, and international diplomacy. Born in humble circumstances, Mansfield emerged from the copper mines of Butte to lead the U.S. Senate and serve as America’s envoy to Japan, bridging the administrations of six presidents in the process. However, Mike Mansfield was admired as much for what he stood for as what he achieved, serving as a respected symbol of modesty, personal integrity, ethical behavior, and bipartisanship. He was also respected for his broad cultural vision. His love for the people and cultures of East Asia, in particular, led him to develop expertise on that region that he shared first as a professor of East Asian history at The University of Montana and then as an enlightened force in U.S. policy toward the region during his government service.
Despite his extraordinary contributions, however, Mansfield’s name and deeds are fading from public consciousness in Montana. Through the generosity of two good friends of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, we hope to remind young people of the Mansfield legacy through a public essay contest for Montana high school students.
The competition: Montana students in grades 11-12 are invited to submit essays focusing either on 1) the important ethical and other personal attributes that Mike Mansfield displayed during his life and distinguished government career, or 2) the significance of Mansfield’s commitment to East Asia. Students must note in each case how Mansfield’s legacy has influenced his or her own life or thinking.
The essay that readers judge to be the most impressive will win an award of $500, with the runner up being awarded $300 and the second runner up $200. You either e-mail your essay to Christopher Marlow at Christopher.marlow@mso.umt.edu or mail it to:
Mansfield Center Essay Contest MLIB 4th Floor The University of Montana Missoula, MT 59812
The essay needs to be 12 fonts, double-spaced and no longer than 10 pages. If e-mailed, please include your contact information. Essays will not be accepted after May 29, 2009. Questions can be e-mailed to the above address or called into (406) 243-2988.
Christopher Marlow Program Coordinator Mansfield Center MLIB 4th Floor The University of Montana Missoula, MT 59812 P: (406) 243-2988 F: (406) 243-2181
I sat down to watch what I thought was going to be a boring movie. This movie was Frost/Nixon. Frost/Nixon is about the four part interviews between David Frost, a night time talk show host in Australia, and the former president of the United States Richard Nixon. The movie takes place in 1974 right after President Nixon resigned from the presidency for the Watergate scandal. Many Americans were outraged to hear their beloved president had broken into the Democratic offices in the Watergate Hotel. They were even more furious when President Ford pardoned Nixon of all charges against him. The movie comes in the night of the resignation, it shows Nixon giving his speech and also shows Frost watching it at the same time. The movie is basically a flashback, with different characters telling different parts of the story. One of the most surprising moments of this movie was the beginning credits because I found how many big name actors are in this. Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Frank Langella all have big parts in the movie. I also was not aware that Academy Award winning director Ron Howard was at the helm of this film. All the actors did an amazing job, especially Frank Langella, who was dead on as the former president Nixon and Michael Sheen as the quick witted David Frost. Kevin Bacon and Sam Rockwell also did amazing jobs. Kevin Bacon as the right hand man to the president and Sam Rockwell as the reporter helping Frost bring Nixon down. Oliver Platt was funny, but he didn’t really shine in this movie, but I think that was the point. Ron Howard did an amazing job as director, using great lighting techniques and dramatic angles really set the mood for the story. The screenplay written by Academy Award nominated writer Peter Morgan was also stunning. Even though the movie seems like a drama, there is a lot of comedy in this, including one scene when Nixon asks Frost if he had fornicated the night before right as the interview begins taping. If you check out my trailer, that scene is in it. All in all this movie was highly underrated. The acting was magnificent along with the direction and the writing. If you have not seen this movie yet, please check it out, it is informational and entertaining.
In our American History class, we studied WWII and the American Home Front. For further knowledge, we had the honor of a couple of historians from the Women's Museum to come into our early morning class and tell about their museum. The beginning of their speech, the women told our class about the history of women's rights. According to them, Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote. It wasn't until years later when the United States granted women's rights. The powerpoint presentation revolved around the significant roles women played on the war.
Before WWII, women carried out chores around the house including cleaning, farming, and cooking. When the United States entered into the war, numerous men went over seas to fight for the nation. With the men gone off to war, many companies were short workers and were in need of employees. Women would see the ads saying that work was needed and they took advantage of the opportunity. Even though they were being paid less than men and were working long hours, women were proud to be apart of the work force. During the war women did numerous jobs that aided the war. For example, many women workers helped built planes and planes and more countless supplies. During the presentation, an interview on a parachute worker. The interview described what kind of work she delt with and under what conditions.
After the dropping of the atomic bomb, thousands of Japanese citizens died. Towards the end of the powerpoint presentation, the women who worked at the museum interviewed a Japanese woman. In the clip on the bottom of the page, one of the historians describe the interview to our class.
When the war ended, surviving soldiers returned home, taking the women's jobs. Due to the war and the assistance of the women in the work force, the United States won the war and saved the country from depression.
As extra credit, our class is wondering on your thoughts about the role of women in WWII. Our question to you, the reader, is how do you think the United States and the world would be different if the women were not apart of the working force during World War II?
Recently in class we were able to have the experience of having first hand examples and primary source explanations of how women were treated and how they were able to help out in World War II. This experience was able to open our eyes to how women were able to become an active part of the war and hear real life stories of how lives were changed. With Amelia McDanel, Marion Cadwell and Sara Schantz presenting to us along with Marion Cadwell’s war life story. Here is what we were able to learn.
Marion Cadwell was a native Montanan, parachute rigger, technical illustrator, and feminist. During her childhood she was “kept in a state of not belonging” and believed that, “military was a dream especially with the glamour of the uniforms.” She first was ready to become part of the war when she saw an article in the Billings Gazette that the government had sent out that asked for leather and canvas workers that could sew very well. To her this was a route out of Billings.
Her first assignment was to design her own uniform and her other jobs were to repair flight suites that were made of leather and had sheep skin linings. She was also required to pack parachutes. She was able to also make an example to other women by being involved in the war which may have encouraged other women to help. This was a big deal for her along with other women to be part of the war. Women hadn’t had the chance much before this to be part of such a public event. As the war preceded women were given chances to become involved.
When asked what she remembered about Victory of Japan Day she said, “I remember thinking this is the end. This is such an end because I was all alone in that particular moment,” she added, “that is the remembrance that I have of that particular moment. Yet she wanted to make sure that we all knew, “I have been in it, and I won’t forget it.” She also wanted us to realize that she thought about herself in one particular way, “I felt I was a feminist long before the word existed.” After giving her first hand account of what was going on she stated as a conclusion, “War is hell!”
How do you feel about the way women's rights changed in WWII? Explain thoroughly.
During World War II many women had to join the work force to compensate for the men from the United States who had to leave and fight over seas. On April 21, 2009 One of the ladies who joined the work force named Marion Cadwell came in and talked to the history class of Skyview Highschool to explain to us the jobs women did while the men were at war. As a child Marion Cadwell grew up in Roundup and as a teenager went to Billings High which is now known as Senior High.
At the age of twenty Marion Cadwell wanted to join the job force. Her father did not want his only daughter to join the work force because he believed that it was not a woman's job, but in the end Marion joined anyways and went to Spokane to work as a parachute packer. Because of her experience sewing, Marion was put on sewing the parachutes together and to pack them into the packs. She did this for the remainder of her work force. One of the facts she told us was that before the war started men and the women who did work were paid thirty five cents an hour which was still during the depression, and by the end of the war Marion was getting paid a dollar twenty one.
At the end of the war Marion ended up marring a veteran bomber pilot and learned how to fly which was one of the things she longed to learn. Also she enrolled in Bozeman College to get a degree in art with the money she had saved with V-bonds.
With the information you have just learned about Marion, and the other information you have learned about the women's work force movement create a Wordle and send to fettigb@billings.k12.mt.us
Imagine it's 1942 and you're a twenty year old female and your country was just bombed by Japan. Marion Cadwell was just one of the heroic women who joined the workforce to do her part in the war effort. Many women were denied jobs because of the stereotypes that have existed throughout history. WWII was a great start to help women begin their independence from men. This is a common story in the beginning of World War II. Many women did various jobs to help with the war such as parachute rigger, riveter, and ship builder. Take a look at the video above and research job opportunities for women during WWII and decide what job your would do and why. Also would you be OK being payed less and treated worse than men?
The iconic "Can Do" attitude shown by Rosie-the-Riveter and other Americans during WWII commands respect and admiration from later generations examining this era. To push on--despite enormous odds--defines perseverance and the quest of working for the greater good. Presenting a classic struggle, WWII required that every citizen step up to the plate and contribute to the war effort. And as often plays out, times of great struggle often present opportunities for great change.
American history is rich with examples of theintegral roles women playin wartime. WWII, however, presented a new challenge. Charged with "building the arsenal of democracy" and coupled with labor shortages, American women poured into factories in large numbers and excelled at jobs that had been typically reserved for men. According to the Office of War Information, the ability to sell the conflict as "a woman's war too" was vital to attracting the needed laborers. As stated in The Basic Plan for Womanpower (Office of War Information): "These jobs will have to be glorified as a patriotic war service if American women are to be persuaded to take them and stick to them. Their importance to a nation engaged in total war must be convincing presented." In surveying popular Americana of that age--from posters, to articles, and songs--it was done effectively. Rosie's call to toil as an American worker was patriotically pitched.
That said, changing popular mindset regarding femininity and the workplace, would prove a harder sell. As examined in "The 1943 Guide to Hiring Women," stereotypes and misconceptions regarding women's (dis)abilities were abundant. One Skyview junior noted, "It's like they're describing another species or something." A common goal uniting these workers was the need to prove that they could do the job right, as good as any man. In doing so, many gained the respect of their male counterparts.
But, all was not necessarily "rosie." While positions were often advertised as permanent work, some women discovered they were no longer wanted in the workplace, once the war was over. Also, women performing the same tasks as men (often in concert with them) found their pay to be anything but equal. Even so, Rosie-the-Riveters paved the way for many new occupations in the workforce, along with the belief that women could shoulder the work.
Guest lecturers from the Museum of Women's History are scheduled to address Ms. Fettig's juniors on Tuesday, April 21st. In addition to sharing their stories and observations, primary source documents and artifacts will be examined. In regards to the presentation, each class period will feature a post on this blog for further commentary. Some of these posts will alos appear on wikis and blogs within Billings Public Schools for additional dissemination, particularly with Heights elementary schools.
_DS.jpg)
