Phi Alpha Theta—Alpha Alpha Lambda Chapter
The Historian
OCTOBER 2009
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2
Congratulations, New Members!
by Phi Alpha Theta Vice President Chris LeSuer
This month, the Alpha
Alpha Lambda chapter
of Phi Alpha Theta, the
national history honorary, accepted twenty new
members.
Receiving an acceptance letter to this prestigious organization is no
walk in the park. Applicants must have taken at
least twelve credits in
history during their time
here at Grove City College, and must also
maintain an overall grade
point average of 3.00.
As members of Phi
Alpha Theta, these scholars will receive The Historian, the quarterly journal of history published
by Phi Alpha Theta,
which
coincidentally
shares its name with this
newsletter. They are also
eligible to participate in
the annual Phi Alpha
Theta conference, where
members from across
Western
Pennsylvania
will present their outstanding papers. In addition, members are also
invited to numerous social events throughout
the semester.
These new members,
along with our spring
inductees, will be formally initiated at the
annual Lupercalia Roman feast and toga party
at the Graham residence
next February.
To all new members:
Congratulations and welcome to Phi Alpha
Theta!
New Members:
In this issue:
Brodie Bazo
Kevin Gallagher
George Klaeren
Matthew Koval
Mallory Marlin
Elizabeth Mubarek
Joshua Nelson
Charlotte Nichols
Justin Olson
Jonathan Riddle
Rebecca Ritter
Devon Sawyer
Corrie Schwab
Carla Shula
Jeffrey Socher
Katherine Stephanis
Kathryn Suffern
Katie Tubb
Margaret Williams
 The history professors
share their favorite historical figures. Page 2
 Bored with history
classes? Add a second
concentration. Page 3
 A monument to the start
of the French Revolution
in… 1788?? Page 4
Laura Lee Winkler
Record Turnout for History Picnic
by Phi Alpha Theta Vice President Chris LeSuer
On September 19, the
students and professors
of history at Grove City
College gathered at Memorial Park for the annual History Picnic.
The event, which has
seen increasing attendance every year since
its inception, continued
the trend this year, drawing over sixty students
out for an afternoon of
food, games, and catching up after summer
break.
Fortunately, the
weather held out, with
temperatures surprisingly
Phi Alpha Theta president
Sara Clossen and secretary
Amy Hivner prepare a
smorgasbord.
nearing sixty degrees and
the sun staying out for
the entirety of the afternoon. This weather allowed the students, along
with professors and their
families, to enjoy a delicious picnic lunch in one
of the park’s many pavilions.
Following lunch,
many of the students
(and a few professors)
got down to business and
competed in the annual
ultimate Frisbee game,
while others stayed in the
pavilion area to chat
about their summer excursions and their classes
in the coming year.
The history picnic
was the first event of the
year sponsored by Phi
Alpha Theta. Watch The
Historian for news about
future history events!
Phi Alpha Theta treasurer Chris Rigby mans
the grill.
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2
Page 2
Ask the Professors:
“Which historical figure do you find the most fascinating?”
William
Jennings
Bryan. His
unique combination of
political,
economic
and religious views would
strike many Americans today
as peculiar but he held them
together in a (usually) consistent way. . . . He was a sharp
critic of some of the abuses of
corporate capitalism, plus an
outspoken opponent of teaching Darwinian evolution in
public schools. He also came
pretty close to being a pacifist
in terms of international relations. He’d certainly challenge the thinking of many
American evangelicals today. I recommend Michael
Kazin’s recent biography of
Bryan.
-Dr. Harp
Cato the Younger -- both for
his own life and his continued
influence. A renowned grouch
and loyal to his ideals until
the end, Cato ultimately inspired the most powerful man
in the world (Julius Caesar) to
write the Anti-Cato. Nero
hated his memory so, that he
punished by death anyone
who dared write
about him. Cato
comes out alright
in the end though
as Dante makes
him one of only
two pagans who
are saved in the Divine Comedy. Plus, George Washington
orders Joseph Addison’s play
Cato performed at Valley
Forge. . . . [In] Cato we see
what one man (as opposed to
large, blind sociological
forces) of character (as opposed to political, military, or
financial power) can accomplish in both his lifetime and
the centuries beyond
- Dr. Edwards
CharlesMaurice de
TalleyrandPerigord. The
only man to
serve EVERY
French government from Louis XVI to the
Restoration in 1815 and
LIVE. If any other recommendation is needed, we have
Napoleon's memorable epithet
that he was "a piece of ---wrapped in a silk stocking."
Samuel “Golden Rule”
Jones. Jones was a committed Christian who sought to
apply his faith to his work as
a Progressive politician. Jones
spent the last ten years of his
life overseeing
his “Golden
Rule” factory,
serving four
terms as
Toledo’s
mayor (18971904), exhorting Americans
to practice the Golden Rule in
their political, economic, and
social life, and trying to provide concrete examples of
how following this principle
improved the administration
of a city and the operation of
a factory. [He] sought to use
his office to promote human
brotherhood and to provide
civic conditions that he
thought were consistent with
biblical norms and advanced
the public welfare.
- Dr. Mitchell
- Dr. Smith
Charles I, King
of England.
This king's conduct during his
trial (and his
execution...until the sword
came down on his head) convinced many Parliamentarians
to renounce their hardened
attitudes (albeit a little too
late) and even led to Charles
being made a martyr and saint
in some Anglican churches.
Prester John: The Myth Lives On
by Phi Alpha Theta President Sara Clossen
The mysterious quest taken by crusaders, explores, popes, and kings to find the famed, Prester John,
Christian King and Eastern bulwark against the Muslims, has finally been solved by none other than
Marvel Comics. According to them, in the 1960s, John, after being held for centuries in suspended
animation over Africa by the Chair of Survival, began fighting against the Fantastic Four, Iron Man,
and Thor with his special suit of medieval
body armor and the Evil Eye. Though the
mystery has finally been solved, a disappointed Dr. Graham tearfully lamented the
transition of John from popular hero to villain. However Prester John’s shaky alliances with both the heroes and the
villains and his affiliations with the would-be messiah, Cable, Head of MultiReligious Studies for the island nation Providence may calm Grove City history majors’ doubts.
VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2
Page 3
Invest in Yourself—Learn a Foreign Language
by Phi Alpha Theta Historian Luke Smeenk
Parlez-vous Français?
Hablas español?
?‫אתה מדבר עברית‬
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Μιλάτε Ελληνικά?
Do you speak Chinese?
You probably understood
the last question, but how
many of the others can you
translate or decipher their
origins? Although you may be
able to identify the languages,
are you fluent in any of them?
In all likelihood, you have
some level of fluency in one
of the previously mentioned
languages thanks to the college’s requirements.
Are you thinking about the
practicality of that knowledge
in your future? If you’ve already completed the classes,
will you continue to practice?
Even if you are not a double
major in one of them, the importance of learning one or
more foreign languages has
become increasingly important to graduate schools and
employers. In this time of
economic
recession
and
tougher competition for advanced degrees, fluency has
become a significant value or
a critical prerequisite.
I advise you to determine
the amount of significance
this asset has on your future
goals. You may find new possibilities, or as another article
in the past edition noted: you
“may not [understand your
career path] quite yet.” This
search can help you get
started on determining your
needs. In connection with the
previous edition of The Historian, one of my “regrets as a
senior history major” is not
investing in the opportunity to
maintain my fluency in
French or not discovering the
desire and possible necessity
for a foreign language until
my final semesters. So I recommend you take up another
language, and you may just
enjoy it; invest in yourself.
contribute to the
next issue of The
Historian, e-mail Chris
[email protected]
by November 20. We
by Phi Alpha Theta Vice President Chris LeSuer
toward becoming a teacher. I
registered here as a history
major, with a certification in
secondary education. And the
rest, if you’ll forgive the pun,
is history.
With three years of education classes, seminars, observations, and clearances behind me, I am now in the
midst of the final gauntlet on
my way to becoming certified
as a teacher: a full semester of
student teaching.
Some would say you have
to be crazy to take on this
task—and maybe they’re
right. Who among us would
want to go back to the high
school schedule, getting to
school before eight in the
morning while their roommates sleep blissfully until ten
minutes before their ten
o’clock class? Who would
prefer to suit up in shirt and
If you would like to
LeSuer at
Life as a History Zombie
I’m sure you’re familiar
with the situation—as I prepared to venture off to college
over three years ago, wellwishers continually quizzed
me on my plans. This interrogation consisted of four questions, the answers to which
became nearly automatic:
“Are you excited to go off
to school?” (Yes.)
“Where are you going?” (Grove City.)
“What are you studying?” (History.)
And finally, the question
that some of you may not
have even yet found an answer to:
“And what are you going
to do with that?”
For me, the answer was
easy: I’ve known for years
that my passion for history
and ability to communicate
ideas combine to drive me
For more career and
graduate school advice,
plus information on
history events, classes,
and faculty, visit the
department website at
http://www2.gcc.edu/
dept/hist/
tie daily, rather than wander
to class in a hoodie and
sweatpants? Who would trade
a piece of scholarly literature
on their favorite historical
subject for a broad-stroked
middle school textbook entitled Call to Freedom?
Indeed, the evidence appears to mount against the
student teacher. And I will
admit that the sleep schedule
associated with this intense
apprenticeship could cause
you to mistake me for a member of the living dead as I
amble my way to Hicks for
my single on-campus meal of
the day.
But this is only half of the
story. True, the history I wind
up presenting to my students
is fairly juvenile. But in writing my lessons, I further my
own knowledge of the topic at
hand by doing research. And
are always looking
for contributions
from other history
majors for this
newsletter!
while the schedule is arduous, I get up every day knowing that I get to share my love
of history with a room full of
students who are, to some
degree, just like I was five
years ago.
Am I excited to return to
the “college schedule” next
semester? Absolutely.
Is it worth it to pick up a
concentration in education,
even if it means losing a little
sleep? I think you know my
answer to that question.
Page 4
The Fountain of Place Notre Dame
The Historian
Volume 3, Issue 2
Editor...............Chris LeSuer
Contributing
Writers .............Chris LeSuer
.........................Luke Smeenk
.......................... Sara Clossen
.................. the GCC History
Department Professors
.......................... Justin Olson
Phi Alpha Theta
Alpha Alpha Lambda
Chapter
Officers
President ......... Sara Clossen
Vice President Chris LeSuer
Secretary .......... Amy Hivner
Treasurer ........... Chris Rigby
Historian ........Luke Smeenk
Historian ..........Luke Young
Advisor .. Dr. Mark Graham
Mail to:
«first_name»
«last_name»
Box # «cam-
pus_box_nu
m»
by Justin Olson
The fountain of Place
Notre Dame in downtown
Grenoble, France is a casein-point oxymoron.
It’s a monument to the
French Revolution, stating
that the Revolution began in
1788. As you look at it from
a café table below and enjoy
your double shot espresso,
you just know something
isn’t right about it. You say
to yourself, “The French
Revolution began in 1789.”
Well, the locals would have
you see it differently.
Long before the storming
of the Bastille, King Louis
XVI and his nobles were
still fighting over tax reform. The French minister
Charles-Alexandre de Calonne, imagined the unthinkable: taxing the nobles. He
didn’t go about it in the best
way.
After the nobles made it
clear that they didn’t want to
pay for country’s fiscal
problems, Calonne tried to
force the issue anyway. Resistance came from the provincial assemblies called
parlements, and the parlement of the province of the
Dauphiné was the first to
call for an Estates-General
to solve the financial crisis.
Grenoble happened to be the
capital of this province.
At this point, they only
wanted to call an EstatesGeneral for the province, but
Louis XVI responded to
their idea by ordering a couple thousand troops to remove the nobles from the
city. The troops arrived on
June 7, 1788, on what would
later be known as The Day
of
the
Tiles.
As the
troops
entered
the city,
they were
met by
hundreds
of local
inhabitants,
standing
u p o n
rooftops
as they
showered
the sold i e r s
below with clay roofing tiles.
The effort was enough to
send the troops running. The
event marked the first use of
violence in the Aristocratic
Revolt that would eventually
lead to the popular revolt a
year later.
So what’s ironic about the
fountain? If you could see it
you would find, elevated by a
large rectangular column,
three figures. One dressed in
the robes of a monk from the
Benedictine order, one
dressed in courtly robes, and
another wearing the culottes
of the middle class. It’s a
monument to the three estates
of pre-Revolutionary France
united in an effort to resist
the crown.
The overall image communicates a kind of unity
between the orders, one that
explains why townsmen
would scale their roofs to
defend their nobles. It’s a far
cry from the nature of the
relationship that would ensue
when the guillotine become
the symbol the old ties that
had been severed.
The Day of Tiles may have
marked the beginning of violence (of sorts) but it was certainly not representative of the
societal redefinition that would
eventually replace the old order. Seen in this light, the
fountain of Place Notre Dame
is more provincial propaganda
than a real monument to history.
This fountain tells us two
things. First, it shows us how
local folk tradition is good at
preserving an incomplete view
of history. Every institution
and locale commits this type
of chronological snobbery at
some instance or another.
Second, it reminds us that
the egalitarianism ushered in
by the French Revolution was
a new idea—so new, that
when the city of Grenoble
built their fountain, they could
not imagine of representing
The Day of Tiles any differently.