Process Paper
There are an infinite number of NHD projects waiting to be researched. All the information becomes so overwhelming that it is nearly impossible to choose a topic. At the beginning we were suffering from a bout of indecision on our topic, Michael’s grandfather, a former history professor, told us about the New York City Draft Riots, and when we approached our history teacher about this topic, he mentioned the Port Washington Draft Riots. As soon as we heard, we knew it was the topic for us. We are both very interested in the American Civil War; this was something that we had no background information on. Additionally, this topic was a study of our own history in Wisconsin; we knew that its proximity would also allow us to conduct good research.
Our quest for good information led us to many different sources to help out with our project. Many groups have a good deal of Internet sources in their project. For us, that is not the case. We knew that not all of the information online is reputable, so we decided to not take any of the few sources we had found. However, we knew that various historical societies might have information, so we contacted them. We eventually ended up visiting the Port Washington Historical Society twice, the Ozaukee County Historical Society once, and we went to Madison to conduct research at the Wisconsin State Historical Society. We found a few books at the central Milwaukee branch, and at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but the real wealth of information was from newspapers. Newspapers, which were partisan at the time, still offered first-hand accounts of the event. We arranged several interviews, one with the Chair of the History Department at Marquette, James Marten. We also interviewed the Provost of Marquette, Dr. John Paul who is an expert on Civil War newspapers. We also have an interview with Lance Herdegen, a Civil War historian, and Jay Ranney, an expert on the Civil War and legal matters.
My partner and I enjoy using various forms of multimedia and looking at the internet. We also liked the fact that a website could be worked on anywhere, anytime. We relished the challenge f being innovators in the website category. Using this, and the fact that none of the other options seemed to appeal to us, we went with a website. It has been a good decision.
We chose this topic because this project hits close to home. While it may have basically happened in our own backyard, almost no one has heard about it. We also think that the riots are interesting and warrant a study. Our project relates to the theme in many different ways. The Port Washington riots were a revolution against the oppressive force of conscription. The rioters were reacting to the proclamation by Governor Salomon and the quotas that were set. All in all, we enjoyed our project and the National History Day experience.
Our quest for good information led us to many different sources to help out with our project. Many groups have a good deal of Internet sources in their project. For us, that is not the case. We knew that not all of the information online is reputable, so we decided to not take any of the few sources we had found. However, we knew that various historical societies might have information, so we contacted them. We eventually ended up visiting the Port Washington Historical Society twice, the Ozaukee County Historical Society once, and we went to Madison to conduct research at the Wisconsin State Historical Society. We found a few books at the central Milwaukee branch, and at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but the real wealth of information was from newspapers. Newspapers, which were partisan at the time, still offered first-hand accounts of the event. We arranged several interviews, one with the Chair of the History Department at Marquette, James Marten. We also interviewed the Provost of Marquette, Dr. John Paul who is an expert on Civil War newspapers. We also have an interview with Lance Herdegen, a Civil War historian, and Jay Ranney, an expert on the Civil War and legal matters.
My partner and I enjoy using various forms of multimedia and looking at the internet. We also liked the fact that a website could be worked on anywhere, anytime. We relished the challenge f being innovators in the website category. Using this, and the fact that none of the other options seemed to appeal to us, we went with a website. It has been a good decision.
We chose this topic because this project hits close to home. While it may have basically happened in our own backyard, almost no one has heard about it. We also think that the riots are interesting and warrant a study. Our project relates to the theme in many different ways. The Port Washington riots were a revolution against the oppressive force of conscription. The rioters were reacting to the proclamation by Governor Salomon and the quotas that were set. All in all, we enjoyed our project and the National History Day experience.
