While it would be useful to pursue additional insights into all the stages of life represented in the concluding chapter of Schlereth, it would hardly be practical. Following up on Thursday's assignment, I'd like you to download and look at these as representative samples, recognizing that the experiences represented are quite distant from the direct experiences of many Americans of our era. Obviously I've chosen the the stage for today partly because of the stage of life which preoccupies you now. The number of Americans who experience this stage in the Gilded Age directly was minuscule. However, then, as now, Americans experienced many things vicariously.
NOTE: There is an error in the bookmark for this essay. It actually begins on page 429, not page 424.
His College Life , (William De Witt Hyde, Scribner's magazine, 1895)
These two together will give you some idea about the differences between college life and college expectations for men and women. In both instances the emphasis is a bit more on the “lighter side” of college life, and you may want to compare the experiences of these students of about one hundred years ago with experiences of your own.
For Thursday, December 8 Sampling the Stages: Mortality
Download and Read, from the Internet.
For Tuesday, December 6Sampling the Stages: College
The National Government and the Public Health I: John H. Girdner, MD pp. 733-741 II Alvah H. Doty, M.D., pp. 741-748, III C. M. Drake, M.D., pp. 748-753 from the North American Review, Plus the other two following. December 1897.
These look at the recurrent problems of epidemics and a beginning consciousness of the role in government in fighting them.
The illustration represents the boy's ward at the hospital at Tuskegee Institute. Not hospitals were this immaculate: not all children this fortunate.
The last of this day's readings provides a brief overview of 19th century attitudes toward death and dying. Give yourself some time with the last of these. Nineteenth Century attitudes toward death were very different from our own, and mourning practices were far more ritualized.
These two together will give you some idea about the differences between college life and college expectations for men and women. In both instances the emphasis is a bit more on the “lighter side” of college life, and you may want to compare the experiences of these students of about one hundred years ago with experiences of your own.
