History Club visits Erie Maritime Museum

 

On Saturday, April 20, the History Club, along with Dr. Pitt, went to Erie, P.A. to visit the Erie Maritime Museum.  There, students were welcomed graciously by staff and led on a guided tour of the bottom portion of the museum, before being escorted outside to step foot on, and explore, a replica of the U.S.S. Niagara.  After that, everyone was allowed to take their own tour of the museum, and learn at their own pace.  Afterwards, the club treated all trip-goers to a meal at Subway before returning back to campus.

Board Game Night - History/Math Collaboration

For the folks at Bonas, the History and Math Clubs are hosting a board game night this Friday Oct. 21^st from 7-10pm in the Damietta Center. Roll your dice, move your mice. History themed games will be played, but if that isn't your thing there will be a variety of games.

History Club Trips 2018-2019

This past academic year, History Club had a blast visiting Old Fort Niagara, the Buffalo Zoo, and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site.

Our first trip in November 2018 took us to Old Fort Niagara where we learned about the French construction of the fort in the late seventeenth century and the imperial contests that eventually led to the British conquest during the French and Indian War in 1759. Jacob Keenan served as an excellent tour guide, sharing his inside knowledge about the fort and life as a soldier in colonial America.

This is an excellent view overlooking Lake Ontario. You can
see the CN Tower in Toronto from this vantage point.
From Left to Right: Jessica, Oscar, Andrew, Christian, and Jacob.  

The main fort where French, British, and American soldiers lived,
traded with Native Americans, and served as the last line of defense. 

These revolutionaries are about to take up arms against the
tyrannical British or perhaps join the cast of
Hamilton: An American Musical. 

Jacob demonstrates the finer points of how to properly
hold a musket and march to the rabble above.

This tiger was quite friendly. 

History Club with Theodore Roosevelt.
From Left to Right: Andrew, Will, Oscar, Ashley, Tori, and Nick

Our second adventure took us back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when zoos and world's fairs became popularized in Europe and the United States. First, we went the Buffalo Zoo. Built in 1875, the Buffalo Zoo is the third oldest in the United States. Students enjoyed seeing the lions, tigers, and bears but Ashley's passion for turtles became a group quest to find the shy reptiles. After a fantastic lunch at a Mexican restaurant, we went to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site where Theodore Roosevelt was sworn into office after the assassination of President William McKinley at Buffalo's Pan-American Exposition in 1901. We learned a great deal about McKinley's assassination and Roosevelt's swearing in, including the story of Roosevelt's harrowing trip from the Adirondack's, where he was in the midst of climbing Mt. Marcy when he learned of McKinley's dire situation, to Buffalo.

Will found great satisfaction in exploiting his
workers to become a "Captain of Industry"
like the great steel baron Andrew Carnegie 

Will added a little fist-pump action for good measure.  

Checking out the seals at the Buffalo Zoo 

Watch out for that Rhinoceros horn, Tori! 

History Club Meeting

The History Club will be having a general interest meeting this Wednesday September 13, at 7 PM in Plassmann 201. We will be discussing events for the year, meeting times for the rest of the semester, as well as our off-campus trip location. The History Club is open to both History majors and non-majors and we welcome the input of all involved. Come and see what the History Club is all about!

Last Day of Classes, Let's Play Games

On Friday, the last day of classes, we got together in the Friedsam Library to play some games.  Everyone seemed to need to have some fun before finals.  Fueled with pizza, we played a bunch of games, including Risk, 1775, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, and a few others.

History Club Meeting

Have a passion for history? Join the History Club! We put on events like trivia nights, field trips to historical sites, and other ways to promote historical interest in the community. Join us Monday, February 1st at 7 p.m. in the first floor Plassmann lounge. 

History Club Events

The History Club has some cool events on the horizon.

November 12th- Trivia Night in La Verna- 7 p.m. Come with a team of three to test your knowledge on trivia (not just history). Top three teams win gift card prizes. 

November 13th- Friedsam Library, 2-?. Board Game Day. Join the History Club in the basement of the library in a Board Game jam. Enjoy playing familiar and obscure board games with friends and professors while enjoying pizza. 

November 14th- 8-4 pm. Field trip to Strong National Museum of Play and Nick Tahou's.  Enjoy a day in Rochester visiting Rochester's National Museum of Play (It's Sci-Fi Day!) and later getting lunch at Nick Tahou's- birthplace of the Garbage Plate. Transportation will be provided, first come, first served. Free of charge.

History Club at Organization Fair

(Mike Specht at the Fair)

The annual St. Bonaventure University Club and Organization Fair was held this past Wednesday, September 9, in the Richter Center. Members of the History Club were present in order to attract new members and inform new students about the different activities the History Club does throughout the year, such as going away on trips, hosting history related events on campus, and service opportunities. This event is targeted for the freshman class to see the many clubs and organizations that are present on campus, but is also open to upperclassmen looking to get more involved. In recent years the various events that the History Club has partaken in both on and off campus have been big hits and it has proven to be a place were history lovers can share in their common interests.

History Club Study Group

The History Club is hosting a session to help with papers this Thursday from 7-9 p.m. in the Friedsam Library, lower level conference room. Be there or be square. This is crunch time, so take advantage of this opportunity for help with assignments.

History Club Trivia Night

The history club is hosting a trivia night this Thursday , April 16 at 7 pm in Cafe La Verna. Dr. Horowitz is hosting (step aside Alex Trebek).

Friday Afternoon Gaming

 As mentioned in previous posts, the History Department and History Club hosted a game event as part of Leah's independent study on game design and gamification in history.  We had a good turnout, as you can see in the pictures, as folks played a variety of games including traditional winner-take-all games like Risk and cooperative games like Flash Point,  Ticket to Ride proved popular although, sadly, there were no takers for Settlers of Catan.  We'll have to fix that in the future.  We also broke out a micro game and a Civil War themed combat game.  While this was part of an academic event, perhaps more importantly lots of people had lots of fun with some pizza.

History Class Workshop

The History Club is continuing its workshops on how to do well in a history class this Thursday at 7 p.m. in the lower seminar room in Friedsam Library.  If you are taking a history class and want help with a paper, test, or other assignment stop by and get some feedback and help.

The History Club is Gearing Up for the Spring Semester!

Now that the semester is well under way, the History Club is discussing which activities and field trips to organize this spring. Join the conversation by attending the club's meetings! Feel free to get in touch with the co-presidents, Harrison Leone and Alexandra McCumiskey, to find out more. You can also contact Dr. Robbins, the History Club's faculty advisor. We hope to see you there!

Remembering the History Club's Ghost Tour on Halloween (by Harrison Leone)

A tingle down your spine. A disturbing and unshakeable sense of being watched. A slammed window, a knock on the door, the patter of footsteps down an empty hallway; probably a drunk roommate, but possibly…a ghost, a phantom or a spirit of the undead.

As with any 150 year old institution that is populated by rickety buildings and flanked by dark forests, St. Bonaventure has its fair share of ghost stories. The history club, in the spirit of the Halloween season, hosted a ghost tour to hear the tales of the school’s most famous purported paranormal phenomenon. The tour was guided by the wonderful Chris Brown, the Director of First-Year Experience and Orientation, who shared his unparalleled knowledge of St. Bonaventure history, lore and legend with the nearly forty students and faculty in attendance.

Mr. Brown regaled the group with some of Bonaventure’s most famous tales of terror, including the green light of De La Roche, the Dev Runner and, of course, the famous 5th Dev ghost. According to legend, the green light, which supposedly can be seen in the third floor windows of De La Roche, is the tortured spirit of a student who perished in a fire while attempting to finish a research project. The student is now condemned to eternity in his laboratory, working on his assignment until the end of time. The Dev Runner, as anyone who has lived or spent time in Deverux Hall, is the name given to phantom footsteps heard in the cavernous corridors of St. Bonaventure’s oldest dormitory. The ghost of 5th Dev has its origins in the period when the floor was opened for student housing. The supernatural happenings on this famous floor are related to an alleged “black mass” performed by some of the students in an attempt to summon some sort of dark, occult power.

History Workshops Continue

With papers due now and finals around the corner, the History Club and Friedsam Library will continue holding sessions to talk about doing well in history classes.

If you want to talk history, and history assignments, with the History Club go to the The Lower Level Seminar Room on Mondays and Thursdays from 8:00-10:00 p.m. starting Monday, November 17 (next Monday) through Thursday, December 4 (the day before the last day of classes).

Upcoming History Club Meeting

Join the History Club at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, in the Plassmann Lounge. The group will discuss future plans for activities, among other items. All are welcome, you need not be a history major!

History Workshop

Want help with that history paper? How about some tips on preparing for an essay test? How do you figure out what is important in preparing for the final? What does the professor want you to take away from the reading? The History Club and Friedsam Library are hosting a workshop for all students enrolled in history courses to answer these questions and more. Bring your questions and concerns about doing well in a history class to the downstairs Instruction Lab at 8 p.m. Thursday night, Nov. 13. Librarians and history majors will be on hand to offer tips, strategies, and advice.

If you have a particular topic or a suggestion for the workshop email Shannon Conheady (conheask11@bonaventure.edu), Alex McCuminsky (mccumiae11@bonaventure.edu), or Harrison Leone (leonehj11@bonaventure.edu).

The History Club's Trip to Mumford (by Harrison Leone)

What do Lucifer’s hoof-print, a horse treadmill and a 30-run baseball game have in common? They can all be found at the Genesee Country Village and Museum in Mumford, New York, and the history club was lucky enough to see all three.

The club journeyed to the sprawling living history museum just outside of Rochester for this semester’s trip, having gone to the Teddy Roosevelt National Historic Site last fall and to the World War 2 museum in Eldred in the spring. While both of those trips were fun and informative, the Genesee Country Village gave us the opportunity to step inside the lives of 19th century villagers and settlers.

History came alive as we made our way through the Village’s three different eras: the Pioneer days, Antebellum New York and the Turn of the Century Village. Each had its own distinct charm, whether it was the hard-scrabble self-reliance of boiling and dying your own thread with the Pioneers, perusing a 1830s general store or the gaiety of gloveless baseball games.

The history club was lucky enough to see the Village at harvest time, when tents packed to the brim with homemade jams, jellies and honey spreads were dotted among the historical buildings. Corn was being threshed and ground in the town square (hence the horse treadmill), and mouth-wateringly fresh New York apples were being pressed into buckets full of frothing apple cider. The smell of woodstoves burning mixed enchantingly with the cool October wind to let all at the Village that day know that fall had most certainly arrived.

History Club Meeting!

The History Club will have its first meeting of the year at 7 p.m. this coming Thursday, September 11. It will meet in the first floor Plassmann Lounge. All majors are welcome. You need to like history! Help decide what trips and activities the club will engage in this year. Last fall, the club went to the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural site in Buffalo, followed by the Anchor Bar for wings. In the spring, the club went to the Eldred WWII museum with lunch at Red and Trudy's. Where will the club go this year? Come and find out.

History Club Meeting on St. Patrick's Day!

The History Club will meet at 5:30 p.m. today in the Plassmann Lounge. This semester's trip will be discussed, among other topics. You need not be a history major to join!