Trip to Salem's National Park

I learned a lot about Salem from the National Park Salem. Through my NPS reading, my fellow peers, the ranger, and from the place itself. We learned about the Maritime, the Custom House, the middle class, and the Polish Immigrants. My group personally researched the Polish Immigrants, and then got to teach the class about what we learned. We were also able to ask our questions to the park ranger!

Maritime

Salem Maritime- It was when ships came in to the ports and this is where their cargo would be weighed, inspected, and taxed. Interesting fact: The first elephant came over on a ship to Salem.

Custom House

Custom House- Salem was the leading trading site in the Country. They would mainly receive sugar, pepper, spices through trade. At the house they would use scales to weigh the cargo and calculate the tax and collect them. 

Original Eagle 

Narbonne House

Middle Class- We got to explore the Narbonne House. It had two rooms and six families inhibited it over 400 years from 1675- 1964. 

Derby House

Polish Immigrants- The derby house is the last Polish House standing in Salem, MA on Derby Street. Polish Immigrants came to Salem to escape Poverty and Starvation. They had their own community where they worked, and went to school and held social activities. 

More Information on Polish History in Salem

My Nature Journal!

Reflection on visiting NPS... 

Going on this field trip was extremely insightful, I loved being able to explore the different historical buildings! When first arriving at the site the first things I noticed was the smell of the ocean and more importantly the beautiful view. While exploring the old buildings it was amazing to see what was used back then in the Custom House, as well as seeing the old artifacts that were dug up out back of the narbonne house.

Walking around and learning some of the deep history that is a huge part of what Salem means to so many; allowed for me to add to my sense of place. Physically being able to go and see NPS allowed for me to add another place onto my place of where I could see myself going with friends and family in Salem. With the knowledge of history I have gained it has allowed me to be able to be like a tour guide for my family and friends! 

Questions...

1. Where does the path of the red line go around Salem?
2. What is the most famous part of history in Salem?

Storytelling to figure out ones place in Salem

Today in class we had two visitors come visit us to talk to us about their experiences and stories in Salem, MA, and finding our sense of place. One of our guest talked about her partnership with the Salem Farmers Market and the second one was a local historian who talked about his finding of a sense of place in downtown Salem. I found it really interesting when he was telling his story about the community he came a part of living on derby street and always going to RED's Sandwich Shop! This struck me because communities have always been a big part of my life growing up. To me being a part of a community helps create a sense of place.

I did not ask a question.  However I found out that a bar called in the pig's eye closed and it was a local tragedy. This came up with a question asked from a classmate who played guitar and was looking for a place to get a gig at. I found this interesting because live music events have always been an interest of mine.

I would love to learn more about the rich history of downtown Salem as it is always changing. Just from hearing about how our first speaker was talking about how REDS was in the past and how it s now, the whole atmosphere has shifted.

RED'S Sandwich Shop- "WHERE THE LOCALS MEET TO EAT" (redssandwichshop)
They like to pride them selves on being where the local go to eat. After looking at RED'S website I have learned that they have opened up a new location in Peabody. Also it has been a popular landmark for Salem for over 50 years! RED'S is definitely on my list to go check out with friends to get a sense of the community of Salem!
http://redssandwichshop.com/

In preparing for our speakers to come tell their stories to our class about Salem, learning some background on them was fairly helpful. It allowed for me to understand a deeper meaning on what they were actually referring to. Understanding the background information made listening easier and it made me more interested to hear more about their stories.

Both of the speakers mentioned places and ways to get involved in the Salem community to help identify a sense of place. For me these resources will help me to develop my sense of place and where i fit into Salem's Community. Our first speaker effectively made it interesting to listen to his story by making it relate-able and funny; while presenting important lessons on finding a sense of place. It could of been better to break up the days on which we heard from both speakers. This would of made it easier for me to fully engage in our second guest speaker's story. For our first guest I rated myself a two as being engaged with the experience. I gave myself a two for engagement because I was interested in what he was saying but it was very long and toward the end  I found myself loosing focus. For our second speaker I rated my engagement a 4 because my attention span was gone from listening to our first speaker and I found myself spacing out a lot and adding to my map of SSU. Although I did find what I payed attention to about the farmers market and the dog parade was very informative.