Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening whenever you are reading this blog post and planning. This documentary just popped up on my feed and I am going to do a second documentary on Queen Nefertiti. This one is going to talk about the bust of Queen Nefertiti it is called The Beautiful Nefertiti: Who Owns Her and has a run time of 42:52.
The Berlin Museum houses the bust of the famous Queen Nefertiti. It is the museum’s biggest attraction. However, there are questions about who really owns the bust. The Egyptians miss having the bust in their possession. Since 1924, both France and Egypt have been challenging Germany for ownership. The Nefertiti bust was ancient Egypt’s best know discovery, so who really does own the bust? Art historian Benedicte Savoy explores the ownership question. Benedicte Savoy begins her exploration of the Nefertiti busts in Amarna where the bust was discovered. She wants to explore the story behind the discovery of the Nefertiti bust. In 1912, the bust of Queen Nefertiti was discovered by Ludwig Borchardt. He brought it straight to Berlin where it remains to this day. During the early 1900s, archeologists worked quickly to discover Ancient Egyptian history. It has never made an appearance in Egypt since its discovery other than copies of the bust. This bust has been the subject of man disputes for decades. The mummy of Queen Nefertiti has never been discovered, so the bust is a glance at how the beautiful queen looked. An unfinished bust of the late queen is on display in the Egyptian Museum. However, it is always compared to the Berlin Nefertiti bust. There are many Egyptians who long to see the Nefertiti bust back in Egypt. Sabah Abdel Razik, the director of the Egyptian Museum in Cario talks about the Nefertiti bust and her wish for the bust to come back to Egypt. Berlin is the next stop on this question of who owns the Nefertiti bust. Prussian kings established a museum area and filled it with treasures from around the world. The Nefertiti bust is the biggest draw to the Berlin Museum. So far there have been no official demands for the return of the bust. Egyptian ambassadors recognize that the bust is the best ambassador for Egypt and use the museum as a reception space. The bust was created 3,000 years ago out of limestone. The bust was covered in plaster and painted. How did this bust end up in the Berlin Museum? Benedicte Savoy explores the relations and their role in how museums gathered their collections. Savoy goes to the place where the Nefertiti bust was discovered and to the exact room where the bust was discovered. It was here that I was looking for a quick little discussion on the debate over the authenticity of the bust. However, it is here that there is a look at the documents about the discovery of the Nefertiti bust. Ludwig Borchardt knew what he had discovered and was going to find any way to get her back to Germany for display. There were laws in place that meant any finds that were discovered needed to be divided up equally for display. The bust was found in what would have been considered a sculpture workshop. It was found among other busts in this room. Savoy continues to explore the partnership between France and Germany and the exploration of Ancient Egypt. Who really owns the Nefertiti bust? Tune into the rest of this documentary to discover more about the debate. I would have appreciated hearing more about Queen Nefertiti herself as well as the bust. It would have provided additional context to the story of the bust. It should have been made clearer as to the context in which the bust was discovered. I would have skipped talking about the impact of the Arab Spring. Perhaps this documentary should have been made longer to add that context. I was waiting for Kara to make an appearance in the documentary, and when she did not I was left disappointed. This would be one documentary to skip showing to a history class and I would not even bother to use this for research purposes.
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Now for something different as part of my exploration of women’s history. This is a documentary on the Bronte Sisters part of Tony Robinson’s Walking Through History Series. I am going to go through this series over the summer, but since it is Women’s History Month a Tony exploring the life of the Bronte sisters would make an excellent addition to the blogs for March. The run time for this episode is 47:03 and is called Bronte Country.
Tony Robinson does a four-day tour of the West Yorkshire Moors. It is there that he will be exploring the lives of the Bronte sisters. This is a place known as Bronte Country and provided the legendary Bronte Sisters with inspiration for their writing. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte were born on these moors amongst the mills. It was here they would produce literary classics such as “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights.” Their lives and their early deaths left an impact on West Yorkshire. Tony kicks off this episode with an exploration of the Bronte Sisters and tours the old wool exchange. It is currently a bookshop and Tony picks up a copy of Jane Eyre. He talks about the writing style of the Bronte Sisters, although he finds the writing style of the sisters a bit challenging. Both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are known worldwide and have been translated into every known language and have been made into movies. Tony will tour the country and explore the inspiration behind these novels. The first stop on Tony’s journey is the Bronte Home. Thornton kicks off the tour, where a curate was making a home with his wife. Mr. Bronte had brought his wife and two daughters to Thornton to take over the parish. The house where the Bronte sisters were born is now a coffee shop. Mr. Bronte complained that it was poorly built and not very convenient, but it would be a happy home for the Brontës. After taking in the ambiance of the coffee shop, Tony moves on to Haworth House. Patrick Bronte, the Bronte family patriarch took on a larger parish. A larger parish meant a larger house and the family moved to Haworth House. It is here that Tony gets his first taste of the Moors. Today, like yesteryear the moors are still a tough place to live. Tony tours the church and the parish home. The new Bronte home would have overlooked the graveyard. He tours the graveyard with the current curate of the church. Although beautiful now, when Bronte took over the parish the church was in rough shape. Life would have been tough for the Bronte Family. Haworth was one of the unhealthiest places to live. Forty percent of the kids never reached their fifth birthday. The previous curate performed 1,000 baptisms per year but never saw an increase in the parish population. The average life expectancy was twenty-five years. A year after the Brontës’ move, Mrs. Bronte passed away and then two daughters passed away after contracting tuberculous. Patrick would then raise the other children at home which forged a bond between the survivors. Tony explores the lives of the Bronte siblings growing up in this house. The Brontës were highly imaginative. They created their own fantasy world and they would chronicle their world through tiny magazines. Tony is allowed to handle the tiny magazines and this was a very nice touch in this episode. They wrote parodies and poetry. Charlotte and Bramwell were in charge of their world and chronicled the Glass Town very carefully. The Bronte children had extraordinary imaginations and loved storytelling and writing. Tony then looks forward to his walk across the moors a place that would have continued to fuel the imaginations of the Bronte family. How did their storytelling evolve? Would they manage to break through with their writing? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more about the Brilliant Bronte Family. This would be a very appropriate episode for an English literature class because of the emphasis on the Bronte family. Tony is a delight when it comes to his narration of the Bronte family and I would hope that he would do something beyond Walking Through History about the Bronte Family. I highly recommend teachers you add this documentary to your watch list. Good morning, I am going to be looking at a documentary on Katherine Johnson, whom was a girl wonder when it came to math. She was the genius behind the first space flights for the United States. The documentary is called Outlier: The Story of Katherine Johnson and the run time for this documentary is 54:12.
Katherine Johnson was an African American girl-wonder who was a mathematical genius. She loved mathematics and would count the steps going into church. Her genius helped catapult astronauts into space. She was an integral part of NASA and was profiled in the movie “Hidden Figures.” Her computations were important to the first missions to space. Who was this woman? Why did she have such an impact on history? This documentary features an interview with Katherine Johnson. Everything in mathematics has a solution, either you are right or wrong. The introduction to Katherine Johnson’s story is awesome, it really sets the pace for the documentary about her. She was born in West Virginia and her father encouraged her love of math and the love of learning. She was the youngest of four children. Katherine enjoyed math and loved going outside with her brothers. She was always prepared to defend herself against bullies. Katherine was ten when she was ready for high school. However, schools were segregated and so to go to high school was a challenge. Her family would move so she and her siblings could go to high school and earn high school diplomas. Katherine would have grown up in the Great Depression. The farm income was not enough to send four children to high school. Her father would get a job at an exclusive resort. Katherine would work at this resort on school break. Katherine was cleaning a room with a French woman. She understood the conversation and as a result, someone was able to help her out with learning French. Eventually, she would go to college and graduate with two degrees. One of those degrees was in French. In college she would encounter a math professor, Dr. Schieffelin Clayton and he was a mathematical genius himself. She took every single math class that the college was offered and so new classes needed to be created and Dr. Schieffelin Clayton was the one to do it. He also encouraged her to go into math research. Career opportunities for Katherine would have been limited and she became a teacher. She made the class interesting for her students. She would eventually get married to James Goble and she married him in secret. Married women at the time would quit their jobs at the time of their marriage. Even after her marriage she continued to work and continued her education. She enrolled in a master’s program. Eventually, she discovered that she was pregnant so she would quit graduate school and her teaching job. Katherine would go back to teaching when the rules were relaxed when it came to married women teaching. Eventually, Katherine would apply for a government job in Hampton Roads Virginia. The job required her to do research to help assist in improving airplane efficiency. At the facility, there was a wind tunnel that would test a variety of airplanes. There was a lot of data that was created during these tests and this data needed to be interpreted. The government would hire computers, people who were good at data interpretation and condensing that data down. These people would be a resource for the government to further aeronautics research. Katherine passed all the tests when she applied for the job and would eventually get a job with this government program. What would Katherine do with this job? Where would this job take her? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more about Katherine Johnson. The interviews with Katherine and her daughters were very good. I enjoyed listening to stories from her former students as well. The documentary was very well-paced and I enjoyed the narrator. This documentary featured a good deal of information on Katherine Johnson. It was also excellent in talking about the space race. Overall, this would be a documentary that I would show to a history class room and I would show this to a math classroom as well. Good morning, now I am going to look at a documentary on Emily Davison. She was a Suffragette who lost her life fighting for the right to vote. She would go down in history as the woman who threw herself in front of the King’s horse. The run time for this documentary is 46:52 and is called Claire Balding’s Secrets of a Suffragette.
Emily Davison was a British suffragette who protested for women’s right to vote. She stepped into history by stepping into the path of the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby. She was fatally injured. Claire Balding explores Emily Davison’s story. Growing up she was told that Emily threw herself in front of the King’s horse and that it was the end of it. However, Claire was to investigate the real story behind this episode in British History. Claire kicks off Emily’s story by looking at the video of the incident. She explores the lead-up to this incident even showing the train ticket Emily had in her pocket at the time of her death. What were Emily’s motives? Why would she throw herself in front of the King’s horse? The footage still shocks even today as forensic video examiner looks over the film. The commentary on the film was very well done. The examination of the film continues. The latest in technology is being employed to help learn what happened. Claire moves on to look at horse racing itself to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Emily’s protest. She meets up with her father and other members of her family to learn if Emily would be able to deliberately target the King’s horse. The Balding Family has been involved with horse racing for decades and her father trained a Derby winner. Her father Ian Balding said that it was not possible for Emily to grab a horse to stop it. She may have seen the king’s colors but not the horse itself. There was also no evidence that she intended on killing herself either. This was a very cool section to watch and I rather liked Claire’s interactions with her family. Emily Davison went to school and went to a school founded with the express purpose of educating women. She went to this school but was forced to leave because her father died. However, she continued to learn on her own and was able to get credentials. Suffragette women would have gone to school and Emily would have encountered these women during her short stay at this school. Claire then touches on the Pankhurst family and their impact on the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom. The Pankhurst’s were advocates of militancy and direct action when it came to gaining the right to vote. Emily Davison was attracted to this action and joined the suffragettes in 1906. The women would have bombed and burned their way in order to get the right to vote. Claire is shocked by the violence. Emily would have been arrested for storming the House of Commons. Eventually, it seemed that the women would get the right to vote and the Pankhursts suspended their militancy. However, it was a ruse and the bill was not brought to the floor of Parliament. Parliament would have been Emily’s target for this failure and she would have been suspended from Parliament twice. Claire is taken into the bowls of the Palace of Westminster to learn about the extent of Emily’s protest. Suffragette militancy was eventually seen as a threat to society and so Claire explores the files that were kept on the suffragettes. The contents shock Claire as she learns that the government beefed up the special branch and started surveying the suffragettes. What do these files contain? What else does Claire learn about Emily Davison? Continue to follow this documentary to find out. I was brought back to an episode of Manor House when I saw this documentary pop up. One of the episodes mentioned Emily’s protest and death. Claire’s investigation into Emily’s death was very thoughtful and I found her narration witty at times. The forensic examination of the video footage was very well done as well. Over all, this would be a good documentary to show in a high school and college class. Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog post. Today I am looking at a documentary about the Mitford Sisters. Particularly this documentary is about two sisters: Jessica and Diana. The run time for this documentary is 44:25 and is part of the Tale of Two Sisters series. This documentary is called A Tale of Two Sisters: Diana and Jessica Mitford.
Jessica and Diana Mitford were two aristocratic young women who were part of the famous Mitford family. There were four other sisters in the family and the sisters were fiercely competitive. Jessica and Diana were separated by only a few years but they had wildly different political views. Jessica would become a communist and Diana was a fascist. Europe was divided at the beginning of the 20th Century and was full of political tension and citizens were forced to decide what political views they wanted to adopt. This is the story of the two sisters and their political beliefs. The Mitfords were an aristocratic family in England. There were six sisters and one brother. Their names were Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. They were the most famous sisters in all of England. They were witty, beautiful, and eccentric. The sisters were primarily home schooled and were highly competitive with each other. They each sought out their own identities leading to many clashes in the family. Their world was isolated in a house in the countryside. They grew up in a changing world. One historian describes them as feral. The family did not have great wealth, and so the family constantly sold off land and houses. Eventually, they settled in a house in the country. Growing up Jessica idolized Diana. The girls were home schooled and were not sent to a public school. Often times their schooling was piecemeal. From time to time, they were taught by governesses, however for the most part they were self-educated. They were fiercely intelligent and had the run of the library. Jessica wanted to go to school like the other children, but it was forbidden. This would hint at future rebellions. Diana in the meantime wanted to leave home and she was considered a society beauty. She would eventually marry Bryan Guinness. He was handsome, intelligent, and wealthy. He adored her and they would eventually marry. They would have two children together. Unfortunately, Diana would discover her husband was quite boring. She would grow bored with this marriage and realize that the world was much bigger than she imagined. However, this marriage would fall apart when she met Oswald Mosley. He was the leader of the British Fascists. Mosley was a stark contrast to Guinness, and she gave up everything to follow Mosley. This affair would stun the Mitford family. Jessica would follow a different path. She was disturbed by the raging unemployment and thought Britain was going downhill. Her idolization of Diana would end and she would turn against Diana and her sister Unity. Unity would become obsessed with the Nazis as well. Unity would move to Germany and would often stalk Hitler in the restaurants he frequented. She charmed the dictator and she was invited to many different occasions. Diana would eventually come over and the pair would go to Germany together. Unity was Hitler’s close companion and she was ingrained in the Nazi Party. Jessica was repulsed by Unity and Diana’s action. She would elope with Esmond Romilly in Spain to participate in the Spanish Civil War. Romilly would fight on the side of the revolutionaries during the Spanish Civil War. What would Jessica face in the Spanish Civil War? What would prompt her to move to the United States? Would the sisters ever reconcile their differences? To learn more about Jessica and Diana continue to watch this documentary. I rather enjoyed AN Wilson’s participation in this documentary. He is very thoughtful in his analysis of the two sisters. I also found Hope Whitemore and Laura Thompson’s commentary very interesting and equally thoughtful too. Hope was rather measured with her presentation while Laura was more boisterous with her presentation. I enjoyed them both. This is a fascinating look at the dynamics of one family and the politics of the world between World War I and World War II. This would be one very good documentary to show to a history class because of the interwar year dynamics. Today I am going to look at a documentary about journalist and activist Masih Alinejad. It is Women’s history month and this is a documentary about a modern woman and her struggle against Iran’s brutal regime. This comes from the German DW YouTube Channel, which continues to provide me with some very good documentaries. There are some very disturbing images in this documentary and should be shown to older students. The documentary is called The Women of Iran Let Down Their Hair. The run time for this documentary is 51:56.
Masih Alinejad is an Iranian-born journalist who lives in New York City. She fights against the compulsory wearing of the headscarf in Iran. She is the most prominent critic of the regime in Iran. She is also under threat because there was an assassination attempt on her life. She has called on women in Iran to film themselves taking off the headscarf. She publishes the videos she receives and has more than seven million followers on social media. This film follows Masih’s story. The documentary begins with how Masih launched her campaign. It all began with a video of a girl standing on a box in the middle of Revolution Street. She had taken her headscarf off and was waving it on a stick. She wanted to know what happened to the girl. In the meantime, both men and women were sending her videos of removing headscarves and waving them around. Not wearing the headscarf was a crime that was punished with prison and sometimes even worse. The filmmaker is an Iranian exile in Sweden and she has lived in Sweden since 1979. The Iranian Revolution happened in 1979 and the mullahs seized power. They imposed an Islamic regime that limited the freedoms of the people. Women were forced to cover up and wear those headscarves. Masih and the filmmaker meet in New York and they together go over a film that Masih was sent from Iran from a girl who was arrested for singing in the street. Masih hosts a show called Tablet on Voice of America. She talks about the experiences of women in Iran. She talks about the express my freedom movement. Thousands of Iranian women sent her photos of themselves not wearing the headscarves. Then there is a discussion on her growing up in Iran at the start of the revolution. Her brother was given everything and Masih rebelled. She was a journalist in Iran who was a parliamentary reporter. She was thrown out of her job. She could ask the Members of Parliament anything. She challenged the MPs on their lavish lifestyle. If she did not cover her hair the MPs would routinely threaten her. Eventually, she went abroad to study. Punishments for not wearing the hijab was severe and many women are beaten and arrested by the morality police. Men, members of the morality police, have been shown beating the women. During the filming, Masih’s brother was arrested and taken by the secret police. At this point, it was startling to see the contrast between Masih’s high energy at the start and the sick with worry over her brother’s arrest. Masih travels to speak up against the Iranian regime. She speaks with politicians and talks about how these politicians how are partnering with murderers. Masih uses strong language she talks with these politicians. She is under threat from actors in the regime. However, she presses on with her protests and the Iranian people continue to send her videos of what is going on in Iran. To learn more about this Masih Alinejad continue to watch this episode to find out more. Masih’s story is fascinating and I am glad to be sharing this documentary. Masih is a personality and a half, she has such passion and drive you can feel it through the screen. The videos that were shown were very jarring. This documentary was hard and heartbreaking to watch at times. This film exposes what is going on in Iran. Due to the mature nature of the film, I would show it to older high school students and college students. This is a documentary about modern history and would be something that could be shown towards the end of the school year. Good morning! Today I am going to look at a documentary on Emmeline Pankhurst a leader in the British Women’s suffrage movement. The run time for this documentary is 51:20. The documentary is called Emmeline Pankhurst: The Making of a Militant.
Emmeline Pankhurst led the suffrage movement in Britain. Under her, an army of women took to the streets of Britain to demand the right to vote. They acted at the time, contrary to what was expected of women at the time. Sally Lindsay an actress takes a look at the life of Emmeline Pankhurst. She takes a rare look at the woman whose personal loves and losses transformed her from a working-class woman into a militant activist. Who was the real Emmeline Pankhurst? The story begins with the words of Emmeline talking about the militancy of men versus the militancy of women. She was a resident of Manchester, England and Manchester formed her growing up years. It was a city that was full of campaigners. Sally interviews the nephew of Emmeline Pankhurst, which was a very nice touch to this documentary to interview family members. She learns more about Emmeline’s childhood. Emmeline was the oldest of eleven children and her parents were politically active in Manchester. The nephew talks about how she was a strong personality and was a voracious reader. Her father insisted on her reading the newspaper to him in the morning. Her parents campaign against slavery and for women’s rights. Emmeline’s earliest memories were of being with her mother collecting donations for the anti-slavery movement. Her father was active in the theater and was an actor. She would have learned how to talk and special awareness. These skills would come in handy later in life when she started campaigning for women’s rights. She was a woman who was between the Victorian and Edwardian Ages. Sally continues to explore what life would have looked like for the Victorian woman. She meets with Charlotte Wildman, a professor, to learn about how life would have been for women. Manchester was a city that was built for men, in fact, there were no public toilets for women. Manchester was a hotbed for radicalism and would eventually become the key to women’s suffrage. Charlotte introduces a little-known woman named Lydia Becker. She was one of the earliest advocates for women’s suffrage. Emmeline would have witnessed her speak growing up. This was a very interesting section learning about a relatively unknown woman in the women’s suffrage movement. Charlotte even shows how Lydia was depicted in the newspapers to Sally’s horror. Emmeline would have seen these images and knew what was going to come if she pressed for the women’s right to vote. Sally then introduces another little-known woman from the right for women’s suffrage: Lily Maxwell. Lydia Becker marched Lily Maxwell to the polling place in Manchester to cast her vote, fifty years before women had the right to vote. Lily was a widow who owned a shop. She paid rent and taxes. She found herself on the electoral registers for Manchester. This would have caused a sensation in the National Newspapers. There were headlines for this vote while there were others that were against it. However, there was a court case and a judge declared that women did not have a right to vote. Emmeline would have met Richard Pankhurst in Manchester and the pair would be dynamite together. They would marry within months of meeting each other and would have five children together. To learn more about this period in Emmeline’s life continue to watch the rest of the episode. I really wish one of the history channels such as Timeline or Absolute History would post Lucy Worsley’s documentary on Women’s suffrage. I thought that was really well done and could be shown in a classroom, but I would want to watch it again to make sure. That said, Sally did a really good job in exploring the life of Emmeline Pankhurst and was curious about the subject. This documentary was divided into chapters for easy mining for clips. Overall, it was very well done and I liked that family participated in the documentary. It would go on my list of potential documentaries to show in a history classroom and would be something for research purposes too. Good morning, we are looking at a little-known figure from Tudor History. She was called Bess of Hardwick and she was an important figure in Tudor England. This is part of the Secrets of the National Trust Series and this episode is about Bess of Hardwick and the spectacular hall she built. The run time for this documentary is 41:06.
Bess of Hardwick came from humble beginnings to become the second most powerful woman in England behind Queen Elizabeth I. She created one of the most spectacular houses in England. Her last husband would make her the Countess of Shrewsbury. She was Mary Queen of Scot’s jailer. She was at the center of Elizabethan politics. Her granddaughter Arabella Stuart would eventually end up being imprisoned in the Tower of London. Who was this woman to leave behind such a legacy? Bess of Hardwicks’s story begins at the spectacular house she built. It was a marvel of Elizabethan Britain. She retired here after living a spectacular life. Wish sheer determination and advantageous marriages she pulled herself up to the highest level of society. She was Queen Elizabeth I’s confidant. Bess may have been a woman limited by life in the 16th Century, however, she did not let those limitations stop her. Hardwick Hall is evidence of this and it inspired the rhyme, “Hardwick Hall more glass than wall.” Before the advent of glass, windows were covered by shudders. Bess would allow light into her home and this would demonstrate her power to the world. With each marriage, she moved up the ladder in society. The story begins ad a building not too far from Hardwick Hall. This house was where she was born. As she married, she inherited more houses and more money. When her last husband died, she was left wealthy. She retreated to her childhood home intent on upgrading the family home. She left her home as a poor noble and returned to a wealthy woman. She would be nicknamed “Building Bess.” She had fled from Chatsworth House after a dispute with her husband. Her husband was Mary Queen of Scot’s jailer and was deep in debt. Her husband did not appreciate her building Chatsworth Hall and spending money. So he brought in soldiers and she was forced to flee. This did not stop her from building at Hardwick. The old house is now in ruins, but the new house was being worked on at the same time. The new house was adorned with her initials and countess coronet throughout the house. The great hall would have been richly decorated with her tapestries and the fireplace was adorned with her coat of arms with the coronet. She wanted it known that she was a countess, it would be something that you would not be able to forget if you were in the presence of Bess of Hardwick. Bess of Hardwick also included the coat of arms of Elizabeth in her quarters. However, her granddaughter Arabella Stuart would run afoul of the crown and would eventually be imprisoned. Bess would have built up a grand estate around Hardwick Hall, and a show host explores the mill Bess had built to make flour for bread. The mill would have made flour for the big house and the estate workers. Flour was the sustenance of the nation. The wealthy would have had white bread while the lower classes had brown whole-grain bread. The mill was restored and continued to grind grain into flour for the bread. To continue to learn more about Bess of Hardwick and her extraordinary house continue to watch this episode to find out more. It was a rather interesting tour of Hardwick Hall seeing places that the public does not see. The hosts were shown more than Lucy Worsley did in the History of the Home Series. The house only hints at the extraordinary woman who built it. Lucy mentioned that she was reminded of a “footballer’s wife” who married well and got all the money. You had the same sense of that phrase in this episode. This episode would be better for a history fun day and for research purposes and not for the history classroom setting. Good morning today I am going to explore a documentary on Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst, who were two sisters who shaped the history of Women’s Suffrage. The run time for this documentary is 43:51 and is called Christabel and Sylvia: A Tale of Two Sisters.
It was one of the biggest political changes in the Twentieth Century: women gaining the right to vote. It had taken decades of successive governments before women obtained the right to vote. The Pankhurst Family fought hard for the right to vote. They campaigned in public and were militant suffragettes. They would have many encounters with law enforcement. However, behind the scenes, there were some serious tensions in the family which would lead to one member being expelled from the suffragette movement. Christabel Pankhurst was born to Emmeline and Richard Pankhurst. Her parents were radicals and they were politically active. The pair were keen advocates for women’s suffrage. Sylvia would follow two years later. Three more children would follow. The Pankhurst children were encouraged to think about politics and they were encouraged to be creative. The Pankhursts were a tight-knit family and were very close. They did not go to school until they were teenagers. Richard Pankhurst always encouraged his daughters to be of service to others and that if they were their upbringing would have been for nothing. Their upbringing would have impacted each sibling differently. Christabel basked in the attention. Sylvia would have felt left out. She was taught between the talented Christabel and her younger siblings. She would retreat from the world. Eventually, they moved to London for a time because Emily thought that Richard would have been an excellent parliament member. Unfortunately, the youngest Pankhurst child died and the family would encounter financial difficulties. They would return to Manchester. It was in Manchester; all the members of the family would become members of the Independent Labor Party. This party had the aim to get a working person into Parliament. Christabel was a young woman who started speaking out on suffrage and would join the woman’s working organizations. She studied law and was fed up with the limitations that were put on her. She would thrive in this movement. Sylvia would find her own path and she was an artist. She drew and painted. She was inspired by the artist William Morris. Unfortunately, tragedy would strike the Pankhurst family. Richard would suddenly pass away leaving Emmeline a lone parent. She would throw herself into the Woman’s Movement and would establish her own organization. The Independent Labor Party would raise money for the family but Emmaline would refuse the charity even though they were impoverished. The Independent Labor Party would build a hall in honor of Richard Pankhurst. However, this hall would not allow women to enter and become members. Christabel said that she had left the cause of Woman’s suffrage down. Eventually, Emmeline would establish the Women’s Social and Political Union. The WSPU was formed on a shoestring budget and there was no formal constitution. Governments had ignored women’s suffrage. It was to be women only and they were going to take action to get the right to vote. Christabel and Anne Kelly would act in the political atmosphere. They would interrupt men’s political meetings demanding a question be answered by a politician. Christabel and Anne would be arrested and choose to be imprisoned. This visible action would get everyone’s attention. The WSPU finally caught the attention of the press. Everyone was fascinated by Christabel Pankhurst. She was well-read and intelligent. She was also good-looking. The press normally would ridicule the women’s suffrage movement. The Suffragette movement gained ground. However, the WSPU would split because of the dictatorial leadership of Emmeline Pankhurst. Some women believed that they were fighting to expand democracy a dictatorship was not appropriate. Sylvia Pankhurst was uncomfortable with the dictatorship and tried to talk Emmeline out of the leadership style. She would be sidelined. So how would this initial fracture impact the Pankhurst family? What demonstrations would be organized to get the right to vote? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more. This was a very well-done and enjoyable documentary on the women’s suffrage movement. IT presented the facts of the movement. I would consider putting this on my list of documentaries to show to a history classroom. Good morning, today I am looking at a documentary on Calamity Jane. The run time for this documentary is 52:42 it is called Calamity Jane: Legend of the West.
The west was a vast plain that was inhabited by the First Nations. However, these lands would become invaded when gold was discovered. Thousands of pioneers went out west to make a new life. It was here that Calamity Jane found herself. She was the first legendary woman of the West. She had plays written about her. She was the most famous woman in America and a living legend. A peak in South Dakota was named for her. New York depicted her as the Queen of the Plains. Who was the real woman behind the legend? Calamity Jane was born Martha Canary. As a young woman, she dreamed about marrying and settling down. She would have two children: a son who died young and a daughter whom she adored. Unfortunately, she could not maintain a stable relationship because of her alcoholism. It may have been begun in childhood. Martha Canary was born in Princeton, Missouri on a small windswept farm. She was the oldest of nine children and her family were poor farmers. In the surrounding areas, her family had a bad reputation. Eventually, the Canary Family sold off the farm and moved further west to chase after gold. Martha would have been eight years old when the family pulled up roots and moved west. It would have been a long arduous journey. Martha would help take care of the horses, discovering that she enjoyed working with the horses. Unfortunately on this journey, her mother died and her father ran off. The children were divided and Martha was forced to do women’s work. She preferred soldiers to woman’s work. Eventually, she would find herself at the Three Mile Hog House and would become a prostitute. Then there was an interesting discussion on the different levels of prostitution in the West. In 1875, Martha Canary sneaked along with an expedition scouting the west. It was the first time she would make her way into history. A journalist took a picture of her and this picture caused a sensation. The Civil War prompted thousands of women to disguise themselves as men in order to fight. However, Martha found men’s clothing comfortable which shocked the people. Journalists described her as a strange creature and that the soldiers nicknamed her Calamity Jane. However, she was tossed out of the expedition. She was not deterred and she joined up with another regiment. It was here a variety of stories that came out about her. Many soldiers talked about how they met her but they could not remember where they met her. Eventually, she would join up with Wild Bill Hickock’s convoy on their way to Deadwood. Here, she became known as a storyteller, a skill that she excelled at. Wild Bill Hickock did not care about her and would disappear when she started telling a story. She was a colorful character and would soon become associated with Wild Bill Hancock. Deadwood would spring up when gold was discovered. It was crowded with people who lived in temporary houses and tents. The streets were filthy. It was smelly. There were plenty of saloons in this town. Calamity Jane would meet a journalist who would write about her and send stories about her east. Everyone enjoyed the stories and there was a writer who would put her story in a dime novels. These dime novels would contribute to the mythology of the West. How did Calamity Jane get her nickname? The one solid rumor was that she was involved in so many calamitous actions and that tragedy followed her seemed to hint at why she got the nickname. Eventually, she would help the miners through a smallpox epidemic. Eventually, she would leave Deadwood and would get married. She had a baby boy who died shortly after he was born. To learn more about Calamity Jane, continue to watch this episode to find out. Overall, this was a good look at Calamity Jane and her life. You felt bad that she could not turn her life around. This would be good for research. |
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |