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1840s Column Essay

The Bottle Titmouse and its Nest

The Bottle Titmouse and its Nest

Author Unknown
Annotations by Jessica abell
Original illustration from The Youth’s Cabinet p. 103.

There is a great deal of ingenuity displayed by many birds in their manner of building nests. But perhaps there is no bird which constructs one so curious as that species of the Parus vulgarly called Bottle Titmouse, or more familiarly, Bottle Tit. The bird is not a native of the latitude of New York, though it is found, I think, in the southern part of the United States. It will be interesting to the reader to know that it belongs to the same family with the snow-bird, that sings his “chick-a-de-de” so merrily during the winter. The little bird called the Bottle Titmouse, is called in the technical language of the ornithologist, the Parus Caudatus. The engraving on the preceding page is an accurate representation of the male and female of this species, with the nest they have so ingeniously built. This little bird is about five and a half inches in length. The bill is very short, and the head round and covered with rough feathers. It has a very long tail, as will be seen by the picture. The bird is most commonly found in low, moist situations, that are covered with underbrush, and interspersed with tall oaks or elms. Its nest is generally placed in the forked branch of a tree overhanging the water. The number of eggs it lays varies from twelve to eighteen. The eggs are spotted with rust color at the larger end. Few of our birds, except the humming bird and the wren; lay an egg so small. The building of their beautiful nest, costs the birds at least a month’s hard labor. The basis is composed of green mosses, carefully woven together with fine wool. The outside consists, in a great measure, of white and grey tree lichens, in small fragments, intermixed with the egg nests of spiders, from the size of a pea and upward, part of which are drawn out to assist in the weaving process—so that when the texture of the nest is stretched, portions of fine, gossamer-like threads appear along the fibres of the wool. Having neatly built and covered her nest with these materials, she thatches it on the top with tree moss, to keep out the rain, and to hide it from the eye of any enemy that may chance to come that way. Within she lines the nest with a great number of soft feathers—so many, that it is a matter of wonder to those who examine the beautiful structure, how so small a room can hold them, and how they can be laid so closely and ingeniously together, as to afford sufficient space for a bird with so long a tail, and so large a family. The nest is of an oblong shape, not unlike that of a pineapple, and somewhat resembling a bottle, from which circumstance the name of the bird was given. On one side (as some say, uniformly on the eastern side) of the nest, is a small door, scarcely large enough, one would suppose, to admit the occupants, which, nevertheless, serves for ingress and egress.

The food of this bird consists of the smaller kinds of insects, and the larvae and eggs of other insects, which are found deposited in the bark of trees. Its sight is remarkably acute. It flits with the greatest quickness among the branches of trees, while in pursuit of its food.

Knight[1], in his entertaining volume on the “Habits of Birds,” says he once saw a flock of Bottle Tits, just at dusk, in a noisy dispute as to the places where they were to roost respectively. That circumstance is not much to their credit, perhaps, and shows, that with all their intelligence and good qualities, they are not altogether destitute of foibles. The ground was covered with snow at the time—so says the observing man on whose authority the statement is made in Knight’s volume—and they were beginning, no doubt, to be cold, as the night approached, and were making preparations for passing the night in as warm a place as they could find. Then commenced a contest for the best spot, which seemed to be a hollow in the neighboring tree of large size. When they had all assembled on the under bough of the tree, they began to crowd together, fidgeting and wedging themselves between one another, evidently quarreling for the coziest corner.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN. “THE BOTTLE TITMOUSE AND ITS NEST.” THE YOUTH’S CABINET 4, NO. 4 (MARCH 1849): 104-5.

[1] Charles Knight’s The Domestic Habits of Birds was first published in London in 1833.

Contexts

The bottle titmouse is a member of the Parus genus of the Paridae family. This family includes titmice and chickadees. The bottle titmouse is more common in Europe than in the U.S. The author suggests that they can be found in the southern states but are not as common as other titmouse varieties, such as the bridled titmouse which resides in the southwest, the black-crested titmouse in the midwest and eastern and central Mexico, the juniper titmouse in the western U.S., the oak titmouse along the west coast, and tufted titmouse along the east coast.

Resources for Further Study
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1870s Column Short Story

Talks with Bertie: How the Apples Grow

Talks with Bertie: How the Apples Grow

By “Aunt Julia”[1]
Annotations by Kristina Bowers
“Young Men, Take Warning!” Youth’s Temperance Banner. 11, No. 1 (January 1876): 3.

I have ever so many nephews and nieces all over the country, but they cannot all come and see me as Bertie does. I hear his “tap, tap” at my door, and he comes bounding in with something to tell me or some question to ask. Pretty soon he is up in my lap, with his arms around my neck, and “Now, auntie, tell me a story.”

And it must be a true story, too. Indeed, I never tell him any other. There are far more wonderful things that are true than any that people can make up out of their heads. 

“Well, Bertie, what shall it be?”

Bertie thinks. “Oh! tell me how the apples grow.”

“Very well. Do you see that tree out there in the garden?”

“Yes, auntie.”

“You see there are no leaves on it now; but in the spring-time, when the frost goes away, and the sun shines all the long day, and the warm rains fall, by and by the buds begin to swell, and then they open, and the little green leaves come out, and the blossoms open pink and white and sweet all over the tree. And right in the middle of the pink and white blossoms the little apples begin to grow, not larger than a pea. Pretty soon the pink and white leaves fall to the ground, but the little apples stay on the tree; and the sun shines and the rains fall, and the apples grow larger and larger, till they are as big as Bertie’s thumb. Then they grow on till they are as big as Bertie’s fist, and by and by they are as big as auntie’s fist. Then they turn all red and yellow[1], and striped and sweet and juicy.”

“And will they be good to eat then?”

“Yes, they will be good for us all to eat; and Henry shall take a basket and go up into the tree.”

“On a tall, high ladder?”

“Yes, on a high ladder, and he will pick the apples and bring them down, and Molly will wipe them clean and put them on the dinner-table, and we will all have them to eat—papa and mamma and Bertie, and all the rest. God made them just right for us to eat, and they will do us good. God is very good to give us so many good things to eat.”

“And then what else do we do with the apples, auntie?”

“Oh! we make them into sauce and pies and puddings, and a great many good things.”

“And what else?”

“Oh! you tell.”

“Why, they make them into cider.”

“Who told you that?”

“Jimmie Barton. And he said they drink it[2], and that it is real good. How do they make cider, auntie?”
They put the nice good apples into a big machine[3], and they crush them all to pieces, and then they squeeze out the juice, and they throw away the good apple or give it to the hogs. The juice they put into a big barrel, and let it stand till it gets all rotten and poison, and it makes people sick that drink it, and sometimes it makes them crazy too. It is horrid bad stuff. I think it is wicked to waste the nice rich apples that are so good for us in that way—spoil them so that they are not fit for anybody.”

“Don’t you drink cider, auntie?”

“No, Bertie; I never drink cider. I don’t wish to be poisoned. I would rather have the nice apples just as God made them to grow for us. Wouldn’t you, Bertie?”

“Yes, auntie, I would. I don’t want any cider. Oh! there’s mamma,” and away he goes; but to-morrow he will come back and ask to hear more about cider.

Anonymous. “Talks with Bertie: 1. How the Apples Grow.” Youth’s Temperance Banner. 11, No. 1 (January 1876): 2-3.

[1] Aunt Julia appears to be a pen name or a character who “authors” the Talks with Bertie series.

[2] It was common for children to drink diluted version of cider from colonial times through the 19th century.

[3] A cider press is the name of the machine Aunt Julia is describing.

Contexts

The Youth’s Temperance Banner was a periodical aimed at adolescents discouraging the consumption of alcohol and other harmful substances. It was published by the National Temperance Society and Publication House, a semi-religious society founded in 1865 aimed at promoting temperance, or abstinence from drinking alcohol. [1]

Cider, specifically, was popular in colonial America up until the 1800s due to poor water quality and the ability to preserve large apple harvests through fermentation. The Industrial Revolution, the rise in beer consumption in urban areas, and the temperance movement all contributed to the decline of cider’s popularity in the 19th century. [2]

Resources for Further Study
Contemporary Connections

Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign, D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), and various campaigns to prevent underage drinking are all modern examples of the temperance movement. These organizations and community strategies aim to prevent children and teenagers from engaging with drugs and alcohol.

Categories
1840s Column

Gleanings for the Mind’s Treasury

Gleanings for the Mind’s Treasury

By M.B. Walker
Annotations by Jessica Abell
The Scholars’ Leaf of the Tree of Knowledge. 1849. The tree is filled with words: eminence, humility, peace, power, influence, truth, excellence, happiness, philanthropy, health, and aspiration. Under the tree is the word “liberty” which is the foundation of all.

FRAGMENTS OF KNOWLEDGE. As gold is most frequently found in small grains, and seldom in large masses, so with knowledge. He who would gather much and become rich, must be content with obtaining a grain at a time. But let him not become wearied, or discouraged, because of the slowness of his gains; for he may rest assured that by patience and perseverance he will, in time, amass as much as he wants.

There are misers [1] in knowledge as well as in worldly possessions and pecuniary matters; men who accumulate knowledge for the mere sake of amassing it, and the pleasure of contemplating their riches. Such mistake the true end of acquiring knowledge. It is not for the mere sake of itself, or having it, but the use it may be of, and the advantages it may bring. As gold and silver are useful for a circulating medium in commercial affairs, so knowledge is a circulating medium among men of sense and learning. And there is no barter so pleasant and useful as the interchange of thought and opinion.

The real value of a thing is not always to be estimated by what it costs; for it is sometimes the case that things almost or quite worthless have cost very much, and, on the other hand, things very valuable have cost scarcely anything. Value must be estimated by utility in whatever way we may regard that. Wright’s Paper[2].

PERSEVERANCE.–How easily are some persons discouraged. If they try some project for an hour without success, they fret, get angry and give up. Such characters never did accomplish anything worth naming, and never will. Wieland[3] states that he was three days and a half on a single stanza, which he was endeavoring to translate; one word only was wanted, and that he could not supply. It is said that Gray was ten years in writing the “Elegy in the Country Churchyard.”[4] Yet you are discouraged in an hour. Shame on you!

Wisdom requires three things; knowledge to discern, judgment to weigh, and resolution to determine.

Walker, M. B. “Gleanings for the Mind’s Treasury.” The Scholar’s Leaf of the Tree of Knowledge, vol. 1, no. 2, Jan. 1849, p. 16.

[1] A miser is someone who hoards wealth and spends very little money.

[2] Wright’s Paper was an American periodical written and published by Alfred E. Wright for the American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.

[2] The original text spells the name Wierland but the poet named here is likely Christoph Martin Wieland.

[2] Thomas Gray wrote “Elegy in the Country Churchyard.”

Contexts

The Scholar’s Leaf of the Tree of Knowledge is a weekly periodical that was published from January 1849-December 1850. It only had two volumes. In each volume is states that it is “devoted exclusively to the physical, mental, and moral elevation of scholars”. The original intention of the periodical was to have readers become contributors. The paper only lasted two years because of the publishers inexperience of running a periodical.

“Gleanings of the Mind’s Treasury” was a section that was included in each issue of The Scholar’s Leaf. It contains all kinds of different information and encouragements for readers.

Resources for Further Study
Pedagogy
  • How is collecting bits of knowledge like panning for gold?
  • What is the purpose of gaining knowledge?
    • Is knowledge something that should just be kept for yourself?
  • What is perseverance?
    • Why is perseverance important?
    • Is there a time when you have persevered?
Categories
1820s Column Essay

The Ant

The Ant

By Willis and Rand [1]
Annotations by Jessica Abell
Image from Ants in an Ant Hill by Writers’ Program, Pennsylvania. 1940

In eastern countries, Ants build their nests the height of from six to twelve feet, which is curiously formed, with numerous apartments and passages, consisting of regular walls and ceilings; these are made of bits of wood, sand, earth, and gum, and are usually built near some large tree and a stream of water. The body of the black ant is divided into head, breast, and belly. In its head are observed its eyes, under which are two small horns, or feelers, each composed of twelve joints, all covered with very fine silky hair. The mouth has two crooked jaws, in each of which there appear to be teeth. From the breast project six legs, each armed with two small claws. The Ants, like the Bees, are divided into three classes of males, females, and neutrals. The females are the largest, and the working tribe, or neutrals, are the smallest. The males and females have wings, which they sometimes lose.

So soon as the winter is past, these insects make their appearance, and the Ant-hill swarms with new life. On the first day they never leave home, but appear running about in all directions over the hill, as if to examine its condition, and to observe what repairs it may require. They then go to work with surprising activity to set all right, and pass the summer either in the employment of repairing their houses, or laying in a stick of food. It is a very curious sight to notice the laborious manner in which the bring various things home. If they meet with any thing too heavy for one to carry, several will assist, some dragging, others pushing; and thus in time they convey it home.

The fond attachment that the Ants have for their young is remarkable. In cold weather they take them in their mouths down to the bottom of their habitations, where they are less subject to the severity of the season. In a few days they remove them with the same care, nearer the surface, where they may be cheered with the warm beams of the sun.

At the slightest alarm, the Ants will sally out upon whatever disturbs them, and if they have time to stop their enemy, they show him no mercy. Sheep, Hens, and Rats, are often stung to death by multitudes of these merciless insects, and the flesh devoured to the bone. No anatomist in the world can strip a skeleton so clean as they; and no animal, however strong, when they have once seized upon him in sufficient numbers has power to resist them.

Anecdote.–In Africa, Ants are exceedingly numerous. Mr. Smith says, that during his residence at Cape Coast Castle, a body of these strange visitors came to the fortification. It was about day-break when the foremost part of them entered the chapel where some negro servants were sleeping. The men were quickly alarmed at the invasion of this unexpected army, and prepared as well as they could for their defence.–While the foremost battalion of these insects had already taken possession of the place, the rear-guard was more than a quarter of a mile distant. The while ground seemed alive and crawling with unceasing destruction. After considering a few minutes what was to be done, it was resolved to lay a large train of gun-powder along the path they had taken: by this means millions were blown to pieces, and the rear-guard perceiving the destruction of their leaders, thought proper to retire back to their original habitation.

Scripture References.–The few references that are made in Scripture to the Ant are of the considerable interest, , as they convey some important instructions. This active little insect is presented to our attention as a pattern of commendable saving, and increasing industry. Agur calls them exceedingly wise, and says of them, “The Ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meet in summer.”–Proverbs xxx: 25. He therefore sends the sluggard to them to learn wisdom, foresight, care, and diligence. The admirable order and harmony which prevail in their society, the amazing care with which they lay up their food, the unwearied industry and activity with which they pursue their work, and the prompt manner in which they run to lend their most friendly assistance to each other, all afford so many striking examples to mankind, that the Ant, though a most feeble creature in its nature, and most humble as it respects its station is yet well worthy to be regarded as a useful instructor of the human race, especially that part of them who mispend their time in improvident speculations, or wilful idleness, “Go to the Ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.” Proverbs vi: 6. The skill, the vigour, the amazing activity, which the little Ants display in digging under ground, in building their houses, in forming their apartments, in filling their granaries with corn for the winter, in forming channels to carry off the rain, and in brining forth their hidden stores that are in danger of being spoiled by moisture, and exposing them to dry by the sun and air, all afford many most useful lessons.–How much reason then had Solomon to point to its shining example as worthy of imitation, and how much reason also have teachers now to address their scholars and say, “Go thou and do likewise,” that ye may not only become learned in notion, but wise in practice.

Reflections.–To be wise, provident, and, and diligent in the affairs of this life if of much importance.–It is better to labour advantageously, like the Ant, than to skip abroad and take pleasure in the sunshine, like the Grasshopper[2]. The former has a store laid by to preserve its life in the winter: but the latter perishes when the sever weather comes.

It is, however, of a far greater importance that we should become wise into salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus, and lay up durable riches while the season of mercy continues. We are commanded to “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling,” and thus, by the blessing of God, provide for a state of never-ending duration.

Black Female Carpenter Ant. 1921

Writers’ program. Pennsylvania. Life in an Ant Hill,. Chicago, A. Whitman & co., 1940. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/details/lifeinanthill00writ.
Willis and Rand. “The Ant.” Youth’s Companion, vol. 2, no. 2, June 1828, p. 3.
“Black Carpenter Ant.” Smithsonian Institution, https://www.si.edu/object/black-carpenter-ant%3Anmnheducation_10002840. Accessed 9 Nov. 2020.

[1] Nathaniel Willis and Asa Rand were the publishers of Youth’s Companion and are the likely authors of “The Ant.”

[2] Willis and Rand are referring to Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper.”

Contexts

Youth’s Companion is a weekly turned monthly children’s periodical that ran from 1827-1929. It began as a Sunday School companion.

Resources for Further Study
Pedagogy
  • Have you observed ants acting in the manner described in the article?
  • What kinds of different ants are there?

Categories
1880s Column Essay

Care of the Eyes

Care of the Eyes

By Dr. J. H. Hanaford
Annotations by Jessica Abell
Artist unknown. Eye. Watercolor on ivory, c. 1900, Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery,
Washington, D.C. [1]

Having but two eyes, and both being absolutely necessary to good and accurate sight, measuring distances, &c.[2], it becomes necessary to take good care of our eyes, and to learn, not only what injures them, but how we can avoid danger, and improve the sight. If one supposes that he can see as well with one eye as with both, let him close one, and then try to quickly bring together two pointed objects, as two pencils, or the finger ends, one of each hand, first extending the arms, and he will learn that his sight is not very accurate, that he cannot measure distances accurately.

But how shall we avoid injury to sight? A glare of light is always more or less injurious to the eye, generally causing pain, which is usually a warning, a caution. When the eye “waters,” the ball feels sore, or aches, or smarts, when it seems as if “sticks” were in the eyes, as some children complain, it is as if the eye should say, “My little boy, or girl, take care; you are spoiling these eyes, and soon may become blind, unless you stop your abuse.” None would wish to exchange places with the blind, who see nothing—no beautiful flowers, no sunset skies, none of their friends; but grope their way through the world, or are led by some friendly hand.

We cannot look safely at the sun, even when in eclipse, without a “smoked glass,” seeing as “through a glass darkly.” A steady look at the sun, shining in all his brilliancy, would soon destroy the sight, as in the case of criminals, whose eyelids are sometimes cut off, in some barbarous countries, the poor creatures looking at the sun without any protection. For the same reason, the glare of the sunlight, reflected from new snow, is oppressive and painful, always injuring the sight. The same is true of very bright light, as that of gas, shining directly on the page when one is reading, or writing, &c., producing a glare and pain, particularly if the light is reflected to the eye. A shade on the lamp or gas, or one worn over the eyes, will do much toward obviating the injury. Again, while too much light, or too much of a glare, is injurious to sight, too little is also unfavorable. Reading, writing, sewing, &c., at twilight or by an inferior light, is nearly as bad, taxing and weakening the eyes, sometimes producing inflammation, or redness of the eyes. If we overtask the eye, or any member of the body, we are sure to suffer. While proper exercise, a proper use of any member or power, increases our strength, too much effort, or abuse, will always weaken or destroy.

Artist unknown. Eye Miniature on an Elliptical Ivory Box. Watercolor on ivory, c. 1800, Smithsonian American Art Museum and its Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Artificial light, such as that of a lamp, gas, &c., taxes the eyes more than the natural light—the light of the sun. So far as we are able, it is best to avoid taxing or straining the eyes by such light. If we must read, study, sew, &c., by lamp light, it is well to have our evenings in the morning—retiring early enough to secure sufficient time before the dawn of the day. Since the eyes are taxed more to read, &c. by lamp or gas light than by daylight, it is safer to use such light after the eyes have been rested by a night’s sleep, using them under the most favorable circumstances. It is also true that the eyes are taxes far less when we simply open them and let them see, than by straining them, trying hard to see, compelling them to see. We never gain time by using them at an improper time, or in an improper manner. Blindness, inflamed and painful eyes, weak eyes,—so weak that we cannot use them for a few weeks or months,—will teach us how much we lose in this way. What we seem to gain by reading, &c., at twilight, in the cars or under ay circumstances in which we overwork them, we lose in the end.

Never rub the eyes, either when dust get into them or when grieved. If the dust, &c., has sharp corners or edges, such rubbing is sure to injure them. It is safer to draw the lids away from the eye, and let the tears wash the dust, &c., away; or, with a syringe, throw warm water into the eye for the same purpose, which is easily done, and not painful. Soft water is said to be the best “eye-water.” Wash them out with such in the morning, and wear a wet cloth, several thicknesses, over them at night, if they are red, hot, or inflamed, keeping them and the head cool.

Hanaford, J. H. “Care of the Eyes.” Oliver Optic’s Magazine: Our Boys and Girls 5, no. 127 (June 1869): 363.

[2] &c. is used throughout the text to mean etcetera.

Contexts

Oliver’s Optics Magazine: Our Boys and Girls was a weekly magazine published from January 1867 to December 1875. It was edited by William Taylor Adams, who used the pen name “Oliver Optic” for this publication. The magazine contained fiction, essays, dialogues, illustrations, and puzzles for its readers.

Eye health was an important topic in the late 19th century, and several periodicals published guides to eye care, such as this one from the Philadelphia Times and Register 26, no. 49 (December 1893): 1124.

Resources for Further Study

This tiny painting measures only three-quarters of an inch high and wide, and the one below is three-quarters of an inch high by one and five-sixteenths inches wide. From the Luce Center label for both: “Small paintings of eyes first became popular during the late eighteenth century. They reminded wearers of a loved one, whose identity remained a secret. The single eye also symbolized the watchful gaze of a jealous partner, who feared that his or her lover might stray. One of the earliest known eye miniatures was painted in 1786 by the English artist Richard Cosway for the Prince of Wales, later King George IV. The miniature showed the eye of Mrs. Fitzherbert, the prince’s mistress. The eye miniatures shown in the Luce Center would have been set in lockets, brooches, rings, or small boxes.”

Categories
1890s Column

Our Little Gray Helper.

Our Little Gray Helper.

By Myrta Lockett Avary
Annotations by Kathryn t. burt
Mark Fenderson, I’m so desperately afraid of earthworms, 1911, pen and ink on paper. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010715629/

We have a little gray helper who cannot hear, nor see, nor make any noise. He wears a little gray coat, and he lives in tiny caves which he burrows out for himself. Our little gray helper has no feet, so he crawls.

He works busily for us all day in the ground under our feet, coming out chiefly to get his food. Then he does not take anything which anyone wants, but only fallen leaves and bits of stuff which no one cares about, and which are best out of the way.

Although much less fortunate than we, having neither legs, nor feet, nor hands, nor eyes, nor ears, he has all that is necessary; and since our little gray helper has all he needs, and does his work, and does it well, we may think of him as being quite content and happy. And since the work that he does for us is very necessary and important work, and since he does it excellently well, we need not regard him with less than respect.

He has a system of blood-vessels[1], a nervous-system[2], and—yes, a brain. When you come to consider him under a microscope and in relation to the work he has to do, he is quite an interesting and exquisite bit of mechanism. He uses his brain, and has wisdom to know what to eat and how to get it. Though he has neither eyes nor hands, before taking anything into his cave, he examines it carefully by means of his one sense (touch), and with his little upper lip, which the scientists call prostomium. This lip is very sensitive.

He is prudent[3] and thrifty[4], always dragging into his little house enough to secure him against the coming day, for blind and deaf as he is, he knows it is not wise to be out in the day-time, for the birds and their babies like him entirely too well. He also knows that, being of a chilly nature, he will need to be wrapped up a bit when he goes to sleep in his cave, so he makes his own little bed of blades of grass and bits of leaves which he has dragged in with the little lip that does so much. He seems to like fresh air when he can get it, so he rests with his head near the mouth of his cave; and Mother Nature, realizing that this might give Robin Redbreast an unfair advantage of him, provided him with a head-covering darker than the rest of his coat, and very nearly the color of earth.

Now, do you want to know what work it is our little gray helper does for us? To look at him you could never dream how important it is. Perhaps we might call him a farmer, since he tills the soil. Do you know that lands where trees and plants and flowers and fruits and abundant grains and grasses grow would be barren deserts but for the little gray worker?

Darwin watched the ways of this little gray worker for years and years, and found that his office was to prepare and fertilize the soil. He carries down layer after layer of stuff, and brings up layer after layer of loam, thus giving each layer its chance at sunlight and air. That which he carries down into Mother Earth’s workshop is bits of dead leaves, decomposing matter, and unsightly stuff; and Mother Earth feeds with this the roots of flowers and trees and vegetables and grain and grasses. To do this important work well, there is needed a great number of little gray workers: about 57,000, it is said, to an acre of pasture-land, and more to keep a garden what it should be. For every acre the little gray workers turn up from seven to eighteen tons of earth annually.

Do you know, now, who our little gray helper is? I will tell you. He is only the little earth-worm—crawling along, blind, deaf, and dumb[5] at your feet!

Avary, Myrta Lockett. 1898. “Our Little gray helper.” ST. NICHOLAS: AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE FOR YOUNG FOLKS, ED. MARY MAPES DODGE, 25, no. 2 (May 1898 – Oct 1898): 673. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101065275008&view=1up&seq=157.

[1] Blood vessels are very small tubes that the body uses to push blood through. The process is similar to how you might move soda through a straw by sucking it up or blowing it out.

[2] The nervous system is your body’s electrical wiring, which is all hooked up to your brain. These wires, made up of nerves and neurons, send signals back and forth between different sections of your body and your brain. When you touch something hot, your nerves tell your brain to watch out!

[3] Practical or showing thought for future needs and events

[4] Careful to avoid unnecessary waste, especially wasting money

[5] In this case, “dumb” means that earthworms cannot speak, not that they are stupid.

Contexts

The brief reference to Darwin is an indication that Avary was familiar with his 1881 book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, With Observations on Their Habits. The book was an extensive study of earthworm behavior in which Darwin claimed, “It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures” (313). According to Anna Henchman, this final work of Darwin’s is noteworthy because “he urges his reader to think about how topics ranging from sentience to agriculture look different when we begin with earthworms, rather than starting with the human as our prototype for perception, cognition, and civilization.” Avary’s work here is very much in the same spirit as Darwin’s, as she takes care here to show young people the value of all lives, even that of the small and seemingly inconsequential earthworm.

Resources for Further Study
  • Most of the information we have about Myrta Lockett Avary is because of her correspondence, notes, sketches, and drafts, which are now kept at the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center.
  • Unfortunately, while there are many wonderful texts that depict young characters exploring and learning about the natural world, these characters and the texts they live within are largely designed for a white audience. For more on the importance of representation in children’s nature literature, see Ashley Fetter’s excellent article, “Where Is the Black Blueberries for Sal?”
Pedagogy

Is your child or student interested in further exploring the natural sciences? Consider finding a citizen science initiative to take part in! With citizen science, everyday members of our society voluntarily participate in the scientific process, usually by collecting and submitting data to researchers collecting a large repository of information for analysis. For example, see the Earthworm Watch project for an excellent example of citizen science initiatives that encourage everyday people to participate in the data collection process. While the project leaders are not currently accepting data, the procedures and findings are available on their website for the public to explore and draw inspiration from. You can learn more about what citizen science is at CitizenScience.gov. For currently active projects, check out the following resources:

Categories
1850s Column Native American

Stars

Stars

By Ga-Yu-Ga[1]
Annotations by Jessica Cory
Image of hooked rug with beige and red border and the inside with a white crescent moon and eleven stars.
“Hooked Rug with Stars, Crescent and Fret.” Artist unknown. Wool on Burlap. Held in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

When the golden clouds in the West have faded away, and the hours of twilight approach; when the wayward zephyrs bear on their bosoms the rich perfumes of Flora’s domains; how beautiful is the faint glimmering of the first tiny stars.

Soon all is wrapped in the deepest shade of night; then the heavens are filled with those bright luminaries sending forth their pale light to guide the weary traveller [sic] on his way.

The stars are the wonder and admiration of the world. How little children love to gaze on them, and with what strange imaginings do they fill their minds. Some think they are the eyes of angels looking down upon them from above. Others think they are lamps lit up, or blazes in the sky to give light at night.

I have heard of one who asked if they were not holes in the floor of heaven, to let the glory through. I remember when quite a child, thinking they were windows in heaven, and that at each one a little angel was placed to watch the children on earth, to see when they did right and wrong.

Who can look at the stars without thinking of their Maker? They seem so much nearer to Him than the rest of his works.

It may be that after this world is destroyed, the Saints will be permitted to visit the different stars to see and admire still more the works of their Glorious Contriver.

Well might the Psalmist exclaim, while gazing upon them, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him. [sic]

ga-yu-ga. “Stars.” a wreath of cherokee rose buds 2 no. 1 (August 1855): 3.

[1] While some residential schools at the time kept and have digitized student records, no information was available regarding Ga-Yu-Ga’s tribal affiliation or identity beyond just her name.

Contexts

The many references to Christianity within Ga-Yu-Ga’s “Stars” is likely expected, as she was a student at a seminary. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for Native peoples to be employed as Christian ministers (such as William Apess and Samson Occom).

However, Ga-Yu-Ga’s references do harken back to the ways in which the Christian religion has been used as a tool of colonization of Indigenous peoples across the globe. In fact, religion, not race, was the primary excuse used by early colonizers to commit genocide on Turtle Island and many other territories. As this interpretation explains, the Doctrine of Discovery, an international law, allowed for lands that were not inhabited by Christian peoples to be conquered and settled, even if they were sovereign nations. Later in 1823, the decision in Supreme Court case Johnson v. Mc’Intosh upheld notions of the Doctrine of Discovery, essentially arguing that Britain was the original “discover” under the Doctrine and that the U.S inherited their ownership when the thirteen colonies won their independence from Britain. An extension of the Christian settler colonialism can also be evidenced in that many of the residential schools that Native youth were forced to attend were also run by religious organizations. On the whole though, Native Americans and Christianity is a very complex topic that cannot be fully explored on this page.

Resources for Further Study
  • For additional information on the first Cherokee Female Seminary, please take a look at my other work.
  • Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Tribe of Wisconsin Ojibwe) writes about the issues with missionaries on reservations and includes first-person narratives.
Pedagogy
  • The Unitarian Universalist Association’s video would be helpful in explaining the Doctrine of Discovery to middle grades and older students.
  • The Pluralism Project’s discussion of Native peoples and Christianity does a good job of capturing the complexities of the matter.

Categories
1850s Column Native American Water

A Small River or Creek

A Small River or Creek

By Quale-U-Quah[1]
Annotations by Jessica cory
Black and white image of a man standing in a river with mountains in the background.
James Mooney. Cherokee Country of North Carolina. Black and white glass negative, 1888, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. The photo shows the Oconaluftee River with the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background.

There is a small river which runs along about a mile from my home; it is a very beautiful one; its banks are covered with large fine trees, grass and various kinds of flowers. In the spring, it is very pleasant to sit on the bank and look at the water gliding along. Many a happy hour I have passed at this creek with my sisters and schoolmates, looking at the water and gathering flowers, making boquets [sic] and gathering grapes and berries. There are a great many fine nut trees on the bank with their large branches hanging over the water. A little way up the creek is a mountain. It has some large rocks on it. When we go on the top of the mount [sic] and get on one of these large rocks and look down on the creek running below, it is very beautiful. There is one place at this mountain where there is a way to go down like steps, and the rocks are placed one after another, and look as if some one [sic] had made them that way. Between some large rocks, there is a place almost in the shape of a house. It is square just like a room, and it has a beautiful spring in it, and the water come from out the rock, runs down to the bottom and goes into the creek. It makes a great noise when it falls off the rock. There is an open place like a door, and just in front of the door is the creek. It is pleasant to sit in there and see every thing [sic] looking so fresh and beautiful.

Quale-u-quah. “A small river or creek.” A wreath of cherokee rose buds 1, no. 2 (august 1854): 4.

[1] While some residential schools at the time kept and have digitized student records, no information is available regarding Quale-U-Quah’s tribal affiliation or identity beyond just her name.

Contexts

This piece first appeared in A Wreath of Cherokee Rose Buds, a publication of the first Cherokee Female Seminary. The seminary, which opened in 1851, was a residential school for female Native American students in the U.S. located in Park Hill, Oklahoma, just outside of Tahlequah (the capital of the Cherokee Nation). The seminary (and other similar seminaries, many of which were for males) differed significantly from the industrial boarding schools for Native youth. While still teaching many subjects to encourage assimilation and refusing to teach the Cherokee language or culture, the seminaries’ curriculums were what we might think of today as college prep, rather than readying students for occupational labor. The student body also contrasted with boarding schools, as seminary enrollment was optional, tuition was expensive, and students generally came from upper-class and mixed-blood backgrounds.

Because of the residential nature of the seminary and the fact that it accepted students from many tribes, some of whom may have been far from home, the longing for familiar landscapes expressed by Quale-U-Quah was likely also felt by other students. Unfortunately, because there is no available biographical information about Quale-U-Quah, we can’t know more about the place she called home.

The Youth’s Companion published this piece on September 7, 1854, as “A Small River” in the “Indian Youth’s Newspaper” section.

Resources for Further Study

When learning or teaching about Cherokee history, it can be easy to get caught up in Removal (also known as the Trail of Tears) or other atrocities which the Cherokee faced. However, it’s important to also teach about Cherokee recovery and resistance. The Cherokee are still here, and that recovery and resistance in the face of settler colonialism and genocide is the reason why.

  • The Association for Core Texts and Courses offers many wonderful materials to teach about the Cherokee from pre-contact through contemporary art and culture, focusing on reclamation and renewal.
  • The Zinn Education Project, named after Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, offers a treasure trove of history and social studies lessons for all grades. Here are some for teaching about Native Americans, including this activity, which analyzes Andrew Jackson’s speech about Removal from a critical perspective.
Contemporary Connections

The rebuilt Cherokee Female Seminary (reconstructed at a different site after an 1887 fire ruined the original) is now part of the Northeastern State University campus known as Seminary Hall. The Cherokee Heritage Center now sits on the original Park Hill site. The rebuilt seminary is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Categories
1880s Column Education Essay Native American

Our Young Folks

Our Young Folks

By The Indian
Annotations by jessica cory
The header of The Indian newspaper. Volume 1 in the left hand corner, number 7 in the right hand corner. Hagersville, Ontario and Wednesday, April 14, 1886 in the middle.
Header for the issue of the The Indian containing the new column, “Our Young Folks.”

Under this head we propose to establish a new feature in our journal. The bulk of the matter hitherto appearing in the The Indian has been to mature and older heads. This, our new departure [sic] is calculated to be especially for the Indian children, but answers and questions will receive all due attention, no matter from what source they come. We propose publishing continuously an interesting story suitable for juvinile [sic] readers, also a series of questions of a general character: Historical, Geographical, Mathematical, etc, and also conundrums, graded to suit our young readers and to come within their scope of knowledge. The answers to these questions will be published in each following issue with the names of those who answer correctly. We shall be glad to have questions sent to us by those who have any which they may deem worthy of publication. Our object in this is to create a spirit or desire for knowledge among the young of our people to whom The Indian comes. As soon as we can arrive at an opinion as to the capacity of our readers to grapple with the problems of a varied character, we shall offer prizes and awards to successful candidates. This feature will be added to this department from time to time. We commence this issue with the following:—

                1) Find the cost of a 160-acre farm at $11.25 an acre.

                2) A fence is 38 rods long. How many feet long is it?

                3) How many cords of wood in a pile 32 feet long, 12 feet wide, 14 feet wide?

Pictured is a yellowed newspaper clipping with the page's text included on it.
The original column in The Indian from April 14, 1886. Original is held by The Newberry Library in Chicago, Illinois.
“Our young folks.” The Indian, April 14, 1886, 82. https://webvoyage.carli.illinois.edu/nby/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&v1=1&BBRecID=494884.

Contexts

The Indian was published by The Indian Publishing Company from December 30, 1885 until December 29, 1886. According to the American Indian Newspapers database, “The Indian: A paper devoted to the aborigines of North America and especially to the Indians of Canada was established by Peter Edmund Jones – or Kahkewaquonaby – a Mississauga Ojibwa chief. The first newspaper to be published by an Indigenous Canadian, The Indian was circulated across Ontario’s Indian Reserves and intended to inform the First Nations people about Canadian legislation.” Not many Indigenous newspapers at the time contained features specifically for children, and it’s notable that features, such as this one, would contain environmental themes like cords of wood or farming, as these topics would’ve been familiar to readers, including youth.

Though no way way to know for certain, the column’s title, “Our Young Folks,” may have been inspired from the popular U.S. children’s periodical Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls that circulated in the 1860s and ’70s.

Resources for Further Study

Categories
1910s Birds Column Creation stories Myth Native American

Tradition of the Crows

Tradition of the Crows

By Louis George (Klamath)[1,2]
Annotations by Jessica Cory
The bird seated on a branch, facing right in profile.
“The Crackle, or Crow-Blackbird” by Ernest Thompson Seton, 1893. The drawing is held in the Cooper Hewitt gallery at the Smithsonian Design Museum.

The crows were once beautiful birds, loved and admired by all the fowls of the air.

The crows at that time dressed in the most gorgeous colors, and their heads were decorated with red feathers that glistened like fire when the sun reflected upon it. The crows had many servants, who attended upon them. The woodpecker was the head servant, and his helpers were the sapsuckers, yellow hammers, and the linnets. They faithfully performed their duty of combing the beautiful heads of the crows, and would now and then pluck a feather from the crow’s head and stick it in their own, at the same time making the excuse that they were pulling at a snarled feather, or picking nits from his head.

So one day the crows got very angry at losing their beautiful feathers from their heads and when the servants heard of this they immediately formed a plot against the crows.

So one morning, as the servants were attending upon the crows, they overpowered them and plucked all of their red feathers from their heads and rolled them in a heap of charcoal, thus coloring them black to this very day. Any one can see for himself, the crows are not on friendly terms with their former servants, for they still possess the red heads that the crows once had. [3] 






George, Louis. “Tradition of the crows.” The Red Man, 2 no. 10 (June 1910): 42.














[1] In the original document (and on additional Carlisle School paperwork), Louis’ name is spelled “Lewis.” However, on the school application, apparently filled out by this mother, Jennie Martin, it is spelled “Louis.” Following what was likely his mother’s chosen name, I’ve used “Louis” here.










[2] Louis George is noted by the Carlisle Indian Industrial School as belonging to the Klamath Nation. Today, the Klamath Tribes encompass the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin peoples. Their ancestral territory is in modern-day southwest Oregon and northern California. 










[3] While it is likely that the Klamath have traditional stories involving crows or ravens, as many tribes do, I was unable to find this particular story replicated elsewhere.


















Contexts





The Carlisle School, located in Pennsylvania, was the most well-known of the residential schools for Native Americans in the US, which existed from 1860 until the late 20th century.  It was founded by Henry Pratt, infamous for his views on the necessity of Native American cultural destruction. Native children were forced to attend the school, where they were given new names, forbidden to speak their languages, and frequently abused and even killed. Because the Carlisle School published this Native student’s story, we should recognize how power and censorship shape such texts.










Resources for Further Study





  • Becky Little explains a bit of the history behind the residential school system in the U.S., and looks specifically at the Carlisle School in particular.
  • Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe) writes of her mother’s experience as a student at Saint Mary’s Catholic Indian Boarding School, exploring the intergenerational trauma, disconnection, and other long-lasting impacts that such schools caused.





Pedagogy





When teaching about the history of Native American boarding schools, it’s important to couch these forced “educations” within the larger context of attempted genocide and settler colonialism, as well as to explore the often traumatic outcomes for Native Americans for which these institutions are responsible.









Contemporary Connections





While Canada has formerly apologized to its Indigenous citizens for the impact that the residential schools had on the affected populations (though Indigenous Canadian peoples still face systemic and individual discrimination and many scholars, such as Dian Million and Audra Simpson, have explained the complexities of reconcilliation), the United States has refused to offer any sort of apology or reconciliation to its Native peoples.  
















		


	


	

		
	


	



	




	


		


			
			
				

			
		


	


	
			

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