Professor Amy Morsman, who teaches American women’s history, designed the “Votes…for Women?” exhibit currently on display at the Middlebury Museum of Art. The exhibit highlights the achievements and complexities of the women’s suffrage movement in 19^th– and early 20^th-century America, in commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the ratification of the 19^th amendment next year. Professor Morsman shared her thoughts about the process of creating a museum exhibit and how it connects to her teaching.

What did you hope to achieve with this exhibit?

I aimed to help people understand that the arguments behind extending the vote to women were not obvious to many Americans, women as well as men. It was also important to me to expose the trouble within the movement, how people with good intentions can still be blind to other issues and can get in the way of justice and reform.

From the beginning, there was also a strong curricular aspect to the project. Richard Saunders, the director of the museum, suggested that I make the exhibit the focus of a first-year seminar, and so I did last fall. My brand-new students dove into the story of suffrage and identified the elements of this history that were interesting to them, and therefore potentially interesting to a viewing public.

So, what is the value of using a museum exhibit as a teaching tool?

I think it helps students feel like a part of something authentic. History research is important and can be meaningful for students in any assignment, but when they get the chance to actually have an impact on how the public understands something, then that will likely stick with them and deepen their learning experience.

What are the similarities and differences you’ve seen between designing a museum exhibit and teaching?

In my teaching, I find that questions are an effective way to inspire learning.  Students will get curious about a question posed to them, and they’ll gravitate even more towards the materials that might help them understand that question.  So instead of just telling people about the history of woman suffrage, I took the practice of asking questions and applied it to the exhibit.  The title serves as a good example: Instead of using the statement, “Votes for Women!” I wanted people to stop and ponder it as a question, “Votes . . . for Women?”  That question might challenge where museum visitors are coming from, and get them to realize at the outset that extending suffrage to the female half of the population was not a foregone conclusion or an easy process.

On the other hand, there is a layering that can happen with students who invest in the learning of a subject over time, whereas with the public, I really only have one shot to get something across to them. I can’t assume that the general audience knows anything about the subject, and so I have to try to provide grounding for them, while also raising important questions and highlighting key events in a concentrated space.  It’s trying to go from 0-60 pretty quickly.

Finally, what is your favorite piece in the exhibit?

One of my favorite pieces is actually heard, not seen.  It is a speech excerpt that a member of Oratory Now recorded for me last May.  It’s one of four speeches to which people can listen in the exhibit. It captures not only generational divides, but also disagreements over inclusion and equity in the suffrage movement. Harriot Stanton Blatch argued in this speech that her mother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was wrong in thinking that only educated people should be able to vote.  She made a good case for why working-class women needed the vote, and she elevated common sense over book learning in a citizen’s engagement with democracy.  Harriot dressed down her famous mother kindly but firmly and in public! You don’t see that every day.

Professor Burnham, who teaches medieval and early modern history, returned this fall from sabbatical. She spent much of her time here in Vermont, but also travelled to Italy and spent a month as a fellow at Yale researching medieval alchemy. These are some of the highlights of her year.

Can you describe something strange that happened while you were abroad?

“I had one day in Rome and I went to the Vatican Secret Archive, which is literally what it’s called. It was made public in the 19^th century, but they still call it the Vatican Secret Archive. I was trying to locate a bill of excommunication of a particular group of Franciscan friars. By the time it got to them, the monks had received notice that it was not valid, and there is supposedly a sentence on the back of the document that says something like ‘The friar read this stupid document aloud.’ The Vatican told me that their archive had been reorganized, and the document was missing. I thought I had figured out the problem—the document was written in February, but the town in which it was written marked the new year starting in March, so I thought someone could have misfiled it under the wrong year. I was convinced I would be able to find it. But I went through a lot of catalogues, and I have to say—they lost it. It’s gone. Is this a Dan Brown book in the making? I don’t know if I have Dan Brown story in me, but if I do write one it’s going to begin with this missing document.”

How will your research contribute to your teaching?

“Traditional Sardinian singing is unbelievably wonderful and strange and old. During part of my trip over the summer, I went to a museum in Sardinia all about this kind of singing. And they loved that I was from Vermont, because there just happens to be a traditional Sardinian singing group that lives in Vermont. It’s pretty much the only group that practices this kind of singing outside Sardinia. They’re actually media stars—they’re making a documentary—and I’m going to try to bring them to campus to perform.”

Did you meet any interesting people during your research?

“I’m writing a section in my current book about what it was like to practice alchemy in the 14^th century. So while I was at Yale, I went through ten different manuscripts of alchemical recipes. One of them was so cool because it had so many notes from so many different readers in it. I found one commentator that didn’t believe anything in it. And he kept writing ‘No’ in the margins. So there was this one really skeptical guy who read this book. That, and there was one book which was clearly written by a charlatan. I mean, there were a few honest to God alchemical recipes in there, but there were many more pages about how to fake things and fool people. It was so much fun to look at.”

What were some challenges for you?

“I had to learn more about chemistry than I imagined. I never studied chemistry in high school—never. So I would be sitting there in the library, and I would have Wikipedia open looking up substances I never heard of. I never imagined medieval history would lead me there.”

Historic Sites in Vermont That Every History Student at Middlebury Must See!

As a student of history living in Vermont, one must take this opportunity to explore the unique past of the state. As one of the earliest settled territories in the US, Europeans explored the region as early as 1609. Furthermore, Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery and grant universal male suffrage in its first constitution, adopted in 1777.

Vermont’s special history continues to be preserved in several historical sites, with some of the most exceptional ones being near Middlebury. Here is a short list of some you must see before you graduate!

The Rokeby Museum

The Rokeby Museum, located in Ferrisburg, tells a vivid story of the Underground Railroad and a Vermont abolitionist family’s role in aiding escaped fugitive slaves. Once a thriving farm, the museum now houses nine historical buildings with hundreds of artifacts.

The Robinson family started their lives in Vermont in 1792 and continued lived on their farm until the site became a museum in 1961. The most current exhibit is called Free and Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont, which tells the stories of two fugitives from slavery, Simon and Jesse, who escaped and lived in Rokeby in the 1830s. The exhibit includes audio recordings, historic documents, and other artifacts that bring their stories to life.

The Davis Library Special Collection at Middlebury College also houses over 15,000 letters of the Robinson family dating from 1757 to 1962 and allows students endless opportunities for research.

The Rokeby Museum is just a 25-minute drive from the college, at 4334 Route 7, Ferrisburgh, VT, 05456.

The Frost Farm

Between 1939 and 1964, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Frost spent his summers and falls in a cabin at his farm in Ripton, Vermont. During this time, Frost was closely involved with the college and wrote many of his most memorable poems in the peaceful hills of Vermont. In fact, Frost owned five farms in the Green Mountain State, and many of his works were inspired by the beautiful landscape of Vermont.

Frost was a cofounder of and taught at the Bread Loaf School of English, and often shared his work at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences. Middlebury College now owns the Frost property, where visitors can follow the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail featuring scenic views of the Green Mountain National Forest and Middlebury River. Several of his poems can be enjoyed on plaques throughout the trail.

The Frost farm is located just a 20-minute drive from the college at 4229 Route 125, Ripton, Vermont, 05766.

The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History

The Henry Sheldon Museum is the “oldest community-based museum in the country,” and has been welcoming visitors since 1884. The museum documents and preserves the historic memory of Addison County, and allows guests to enjoy the rich culture and history of our community. For example, the Judd-Harris House was built in 1829, and contains many objects that depict the life of ordinary people in nineteenth century Vermont.

The research Center also houses a large archival collection documenting the history of the region, and allows free admission for students with ID. This gem is located right in the heart of Middlebury, at 1 Park Street, Middlebury, VT, 05753.

Marjorie Lamberti joined the history department faculty at Middlebury College in 1964, and in 1976, was the first woman to be appointed full professorship in the department. Her academic career gives great insight into the past of the History Department at Middlebury, which she strongly believes should be commended for a tradition of gender and racial diversity.

Lamberti was educated at Smith College in the 1950s and emphasizes the lasting impact of her experience at a women’s college. To be educated in an environment where her abilities and competency were “never questioned” was a unique and empowering experience for a woman at the time. She had strong role models in her female professors and felt optimistic about her prospects after college as many encouraged her to pursue graduate school and a college-level teaching career. Lamberti is careful to highlight the unique nature of her experience, as the majority of women at the time did not have such supportive families, strong female role models, and access to higher education.

After beginning her academic career at Middlebury College, Lamberti accomplished countless feats ranging from winning fellowships and grants to support her research abroad, to being appointed to an endowed Charles A. Dana professorship. She noted the obstacles that women faced in academia because “as a woman, you had to be much more competent to achieve the same level of recognition as men,” and thus she was particularly impressed by the high levels of intelligence and determination that characterized Middlebury’s female faculty in the 1960s. However, Lamberti recalled that the history department seemed to be exceptionally accepting of women, especially in comparison to other departments at Middlebury College at the time. Many women left their teaching jobs at Middlebury due to hostile work environments, as women were not respected and given the same opportunities as men. In the history department, however, several women had the opportunity to be pursue tenure track, and only chose to leave for personal reasons.

When asked whether or not female students experienced these obstacles and hostilities, Lamberti was proud to say that she always tried to encourage women in her classes and empower them the same way she was encouraged at Smith. With a proud grin on her face, she remarks that she is “in awe” at what women at Middlebury today are able to accomplish. “Women today are so self-confident and assertive,” she exclaims and points to the “Fat n’ Hairy: Ways I’m Failing the Patriarchy” display currently in the lobby of Davis Family Library, “you never would have seen that in my day!” The cards, described by Lamberti as “sparkling,” are filled with women unapologetically declaring ways they are failing the patriarchy, ranging from challenging the institution of marriage to receiving an education.

When I visited the display after my meeting with Lamberti, one particular card stood out to me, it said “I’m failing the patriarchy by being a good man.” While this seems rather open to interpretation, it reminded me of how Lamberti partly attributes the historic acceptance of women in the history department to the fact that many of her male colleagues recognized and respected women’s intelligence and contributions and did not discriminate against them because of their gender. She speaks particularly fondly of Nicholas Clifford, who was the chair of the department for several years during her career. Lamberti describes Clifford as a man of morals and fairness who was influenced heavily by strong women in his own life, including his highly educated mother, his wife who was a “gifted writer,” and his own four daughters.

In addition to her efforts to empower female academics, Lamberti contributed to the diversification of the history department’s courses. She notes that in the 1960s and 1970s, many universities had very Eurocentric history curriculums. However, it was the opportunity to reach beyond what we know here and now, and the “exhilaration of crossing cultural boundaries” and inspired Lamberti to pursue history in the first place. In this era, Middlebury’s history department was unique in having professors teaching courses outside of Europe and America, such as Professor Nicholas Clifford, the Asian historian, Professor John Spencer the African historian, and Professor Elizabeth Dore, who specialized in South America.

Lamberti herself had an expansive view in teaching history, and in 1971 designed a course on revolutions with a global and comparative outlook, which was the precursor to the Global Studies program at Middlebury College. Several professors in the history department pioneered many courses that reached beyond the narrow confines of Eurocentric education and created programs in Jewish, Asian, African, and Latin American studies. Lamberti was the first to introduce courses on the history of the Holocaust and Jews in Europe, which led to an interdisciplinary Jewish Studies Program at Middlebury. In the history department today, there are professors who specialize in a wide range of fields from environmental history to the Middle East, and this diversity can be attributed to the early efforts of the History Department to expand the study of history.

Through Lamberti’s extensive and colorful career, we can get a glimpse into the past and the growth of the History Department at Middlebury. The department was one of the university’s earliest advocates for women faculty, and pioneered a diverse and global outlook on the study of history. The history department continues to celebrate and embody this diversity, and encourages students to demonstrate the same curiosity, determination, and open-mindedness that Marjorie Lamberti championed decades earlier.

 

 

The Rokeby Museum, located in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, presents the important involvement of an abolitionist family, the Robinsons, in the Underground Railroad through exhibits in the historic house. The most recent exhibit, Free & Safe: The Underground Railroad in Vermont, highlights the story of two fugitives from slavery and their journey to freedom and shelter at Rokeby. The Robinsons lived in the house for four generations, and the farm is now a National Historic Landmark praised for its historical integrity and the important history it tells. Not only is the site beautifully preserved, the lasting artifacts portray the artistic talents of the family as well. Rokeby represents one story in the important abolitionist and social reform movement in 19^th century America and more specifically, the Vermont experience during this era. More information on Rokeby can be found here.

Rokeby has many opportunities for Middlebury College students to get involved in including marketing, producing exhibits and programs, developing social media campaigns, fundraising activities, and cataloging collections. The majority of Rokeby’s primary documents are stored and cared for by Middlebury College’s Special Collections, and thus are easily accessible to students who wish to be involved in research work. However, students would also have access to the archives at Rokeby consisting of legal and account documents, diaries, books, papers, ephemera and photographs numbering over 15,000. For those interested in history, social reform movements, museum studies, and artifacts and primary documents related to 19^th century America would find working at Rokeby Museum very rewarding. As the opportunities at Rokeby are diverse and open ended, students will have the opportunity to be proactive in their work, contribute their own ideas, and work closely with museum staff.

Rokeby is looking for students to get involved as soon as possible, with opportunities starting in the Spring semester and are ongoing as long as students are interested in being involved. This could be a summer internship, or even an opportunity for history majors to pursue research for their thesis. If interested, please contact the museum’s director, Catherine Brooks at director@rokeby.org, or Dean Leary at dleary@middlebury.edu.