1989 Part II

Although the Chinese student led protests failed to bring changes to China's Communist regime, it was November 1989 that forever changed the world as we know it. 

I did not think that the reforms ushered in by the Communist bloc countries would lead to the fall of Communism and the symbol of a divided Europe, a divided Germany, and a divided city, the Berlin Wall.  We talked in great detail the changes happening in Europe in Mr. Bill Westfall's Government class.  Then on November 9 or 10, I get a call to go over to Mr. Westfall's house to witness the gatherings at the Berlin Wall.  The East German government has lifted the restrictions on travel to West Berlin and that was it!  Berliners (East and West) gathered at the Wall and began to break it down

 

 Twenty-Five years later I think of how these events in 1989 are never forgotten due in large part because they were televised.  Today, we have YouTube, Twitter, and smartphone apps that gives us the news, and history, in a matter of seconds.  What a difference 25 years has made.  

1989 Part I

It has been awhile since my last post.   I want to continue the goal of commenting on history and sharing these comments with students, friends, and anyone in the blogsphere. I am going to set aside a day of the week to update my blog.

I love the 30 for 30 ESPN Films. This past October, one of the 30 for 30 films featured the 1989 World Series and the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake.  I remember watching the ABC broadcast of game 3 and suddenly the broadcast halted because of the quake.  Here is what baseball fans and  I saw live on television

 Unfortunately, this occurred during rush hour and over 60 people were killed in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area.  One image that remains in my mind was the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct


After watching the film, I stopped to think about the power of live television.  As a history teacher, I note the importance of live television broadcasting some important historical events that year.  In the summer, June, there was Tiananmen Square Protest and this powerful visual of the "Tank Man" halting a Chinese Army tank brigade

A picture is worth a thousand thoughts of the past..

 

I want to thank the local history librarian, Ms. Norma Gonzalez, for visiting with my history classes this past Friday.  She showed a few photos from the CC Public Library Digital photograph collection. 

I found this photo on random search for Corpus Christi history photos.  It is a Caller-Times Throwback photo of a tractor working a sorghum field in 1984.  Ms. Gonzalez offered an interesting suggestion as another activity in our pursuit of local history.  If any student is reading my blog...Wait!  Its Saturday evening.  What am I thinking.  Only exhausted history teachers in their 40s who have no social life are blogging about local history on a Saturday night. I need a break.

Home is where history is (I don't think this is grammatically correct).

"I was born in a small town..." John Mellencamp

I have this goal of making history in the classroom relevant and "local"  Well there are other goals but for this post I'll keep it short.  I was born in Robstown, Texas.   I grow up on the outskirts of Robstown, on Petronila Rd. The road's name results from the road leading directly to the small (I mean very small) farming town of Petronila.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Petronila+Rd/@27.7805298,-97.6520862,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x86687cf432b6e905:0x639fab5ccf3587d2

I didn't like growing up far away from my friends but living out on the outskirts had its benefits.



Looking up at the night sky on clear days was awesome! I got lost in God's wonder.  My parents bought the home from my mom's oldest brother.  Before we moved, my family and I lived at my grandmother's (dad's mom) house on Nebraska.

 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nebraska+St/@27.786117,-97.6745762,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x86687c6b0dee1df9:0x85a7ade4a868750b

The street and its neighboring streets were named after the states of origin of Robstown's first settlers.  They arrived here on trains looking to buy good farmland being sold by local developer George H. Paul. 

Well that's a short but not short history of the streets I grew up living in Robstown.  

I love History!

I love history!  It is my passion.  I can talk for hours about history and those "unfortunate" students who asked a simple question know that I can give a "looooong" response.  I started this blog to share with my students, and others,  my history worldview. 

Everything to me relates to history:  news, movies, music, etc.  I can remember what I was doing when a 80s song comes on the radio.  I'll probably question the accuracy of a movie based on a historical event.  Don't get me started on Will Smith's Wild Wild West.  I just watched it for Salma Hayek. 

The goal of this blog is to reflect about history, contemporary events, and the on-goings of a very busy history teacher.  I hope to show readers how history can be relevant to everyone's lives and not just something to learn because you have to take the class.  This is my first blog, so I'm also going to learn and grow from this blogging experience. I look forward to this experience. So I hope anyone who reads this enjoys.