Primary Sources to collect at Spencer Library
Activities and Essential Questions for the Primary Sources
1. Poem from William Quantrill – There are very few artifacts directly connected to William Quantrill. This poem by William Quantrill was written to his mother and has his actual signature on it. It is supposedly his last autograph.
Differentiated activities
Read the poem carefully and write a reaction to this poem. What do you think about the writing? Does the man match the poetry? What irony do you see here?
Write your reaction to the poem in a poem.
2. Photos of William Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson, James Lane and Charles Jennison – These truly were the bad guys in the Border War between Kansas and Missouri. Remember there are always two sides or more to every story!
Differentiated activities
Using the website http://voicethread.com, input each photo and speak or write for the different parts of each photo. The voice threads need to include the pieces of your created anatomy.
Using the NARA photo analyzation form, analyze the photos carefully. Create an anatomy of a bad person. Were these men bad people or just a product of the times they lived in? Why or why not?
3. William Connelly’s map of Quantrilll’s route - Getting to Lawrence was so important for Quantrill and his men that they kidnapped Jacob Rote along the way to be sure they actually got there. Almost a dozen men lost their lives helping that night and when they could take the raiders no further they were shot.
Differentiated activities
Analyze Connelly’s map carefully. What is the copyright of the map? Who is the creator of the map? How reliable is the map? Is the map accurate? How do you know or how could you find out? Is the map a primary or secondary source? Explain.
Using the story The Abduction of Jacob Rote to create a map from the story parts. Using a T-Chart, compare and contrast the book’s map with William Connelly’s map.
4. Death List of 188 victims – None of the “Who we want” lists that Jacob saw the Raiders checking has ever been found. Students always want to know about “The List.”
Differentiated Activities
Check the list of the victims and see if you recognize any of the names. Are any of the names you read about in the The Abduction of Jacob Rote on the list? Explain why there are some victims that are not named, but still part of the dead.
Using Inspiration, put your lists in a graphic organizer format.
5. Picture from Smithsonian of a Colt revolver or Sharp’s Rifle – The weapons that were used the morning of the raid were very effecient and deadly.
Differentiated activities
Do a Venn Diagram of all the aspects of a Colt Revolver and a Sharp’s Rifle using the pictures from the Smithsonian Institute. When you finish the diagram write a paragraph about which weapon would have been more efficient for the raiders to use during the raid on Lawrence. http://www.smithsonian.org Why were the wide streets of Lawrence an advantage to the raiders?
Research and find out why Quantrill’s men were such formidable fighters.
6. Picture of Reverend Cordley - Reverend Cordley was a target of Quantrill yet survived the Raid along with his wife and daughter.
Differentiated Activities
Research the part he played in the Underground Railroad and ultimately documented Quantrill’s Raid. Find out how Reverend Cordley survived and what he lost in the process. Is the document created by Cordley a primary or secondary source? Explain the document’s significance to history.
In the narthex of Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, Kansas, a monument is imbedded in the wall for Reverend Cordley. It reads “………………….” If you were writing a message for a Jacob Rote monument what would it read like? Where would you put the monument?
There are no known photos of Jacob Rote. Draw a picture of what you think Jacob looked like. The picture may be in any format and using any materials you think are appropriate, ie: chalk, paint, crayon, collage, Voki, etc.
7. Copy of telegraph from man that wrote his father that he had survived the raid - Communication the morning of the raid was very difficult. A new bridge was being built across the Kansas River and the telegraph lines were not finished yet so there was no way to get information quickly out or in to Lawrence.
Differentiated Activities
Obviously not all the men in Lawrence were killed that morning. Look carefully at the telegraph. List five specifics that you learned from the telegraph. How were people able to communicate after the raid? What communication techniques were available to people in Lawrence at that time, in the United States at that time? Create a T-Chart showing communication on August 21st, 1863 Lawrence, Kansas and September 11, 2001, New York, New York.
From the T-Chart, write a five paragraph essay on the importance of communication in a disaster or traumatic event. 138 years from now how might communication have changed? Explain.
8. Picture of 2nd Eldridge House Hotel –
Differentiated Activity
Analyze the photo of the Eldridge House Hotel using the NARA photo analyzation sheet. Realize that this was the second Eldridge House Hotel. What was it originally called? Why is this building significant to the raiders? The State Provost Marshall, Alexander Banks, surrendered the hotel without a fight on that morning. Historians have long discussed whether this was a good or bad decision.
Write an editorial for the August 21, 2008 edition of the Lawrence Journal World newspaper about what would have happened had Banks gathered all the guns in the hotel and fired at the raiders instead of waving a white sheet for surrender.
9. Picture of the gravestone marker on New Hampshire about the deaths of the recruits –
Differentiated Activities
Why do communities or countries put up markers for historical events? Why did Lawrence put up these monuments or markers? List 5 monuments in your own town, five national monuments, and 5 international monuments. Using Photo Story create a short photo story including pictures and captions about these monuments. The story should somehow include your reasons for monuments.
9. Picture of Mayor Collamore – Mayor Collamore’s story is a tragic one. Not only did he die that morning but his friend did too. Plus, Mr. Lowe had actually survived the raid and was just trying to help Mrs. Collamore when he agreed to go into the cistern and find the mayor.
Differentiated Activities
Using the photo, as well as books, research his fate that morning and write an obituary for the Lawrence newspaper.
Create obituaries for the two other men that died with him that morning.
10. Picture of the Griswolds –
Differentiated Activities
Analyze this picture. Complete the NARA photo analyzation sheet. What specifics can you ascertain from the picture? Make a factual statement about Dr. and Mrs. Griswold based on this picture.
There is a monument today behind the site of the Griswold’s home. It says simply “Here Griwold, Thorpe, Baker and Trask were shot on August 21, 1863.” Research and find out why the four men warranted a monument. What happened to the four families living in the Griswold’s home. Write a reaction to the fate of the Griswolds that morning in the form of a newspaper article in the Leavenworth newspaper the next day. Why would the article have to have been in the Leavenworth paper and not the Lawrence paper?
11. List from Lawrence Grocer that survived the raid – When you see the grocery list how can you tell it's a primary source? How was it destroyed?
Differentiated Activities
Analyze this list carefully. Make an inference about what Lawrence was like in 1863. Would we find these items in our grocery stores today? Why? Why not?
Using the items in the 1863 products list, video tape a Rachel Ray cooking show in 1863, where these items are used for a particular recipe.
12. Picture of James Lane – The man that escaped to the cornfield behind his house wearing his red long johns was none other than Senator and General James Lane. On his death bed, Quantrill was asked why he came to Lawrence and his reply was “……to kill James Lane. Had we found him we would have burned him at the stake.”
Differentiated Activities
13. Picture of post card of Raider’s reunion and the Lawrence Survivors 50 years later – Of all the artifacts at the Spencer University Library, these two are probably the most fascinating to students.
Differentiated Activities
Look carefully at both pictures. Analyze them carefully.
Activities and Essential Questions for the Primary Sources
1. Poem from William Quantrill – There are very few artifacts directly connected to William Quantrill. This poem by William Quantrill was written to his mother and has his actual signature on it. It is supposedly his last autograph.
Differentiated activities
Read the poem carefully and write a reaction to this poem. What do you think about the writing? Does the man match the poetry? What irony do you see here?
Write your reaction to the poem in a poem.
2. Photos of William Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson, James Lane and Charles Jennison – These truly were the bad guys in the Border War between Kansas and Missouri. Remember there are always two sides or more to every story!
Differentiated activities
Using the website http://voicethread.com, input each photo and speak or write for the different parts of each photo. The voice threads need to include the pieces of your created anatomy.
Using the NARA photo analyzation form, analyze the photos carefully. Create an anatomy of a bad person. Were these men bad people or just a product of the times they lived in? Why or why not?
3. William Connelly’s map of Quantrilll’s route - Getting to Lawrence was so important for Quantrill and his men that they kidnapped Jacob Rote along the way to be sure they actually got there. Almost a dozen men lost their lives helping that night and when they could take the raiders no further they were shot.
Differentiated activities
Analyze Connelly’s map carefully. What is the copyright of the map? Who is the creator of the map? How reliable is the map? Is the map accurate? How do you know or how could you find out? Is the map a primary or secondary source? Explain.
Using the story The Abduction of Jacob Rote to create a map from the story parts. Using a T-Chart, compare and contrast the book’s map with William Connelly’s map.
4. Death List of 188 victims – None of the “Who we want” lists that Jacob saw the Raiders checking has ever been found. Students always want to know about “The List.”
Differentiated Activities
- Research “Bleeding Kansas” and make up your own “Who we want” list. The list must include at least 10 real people that lived in Lawrence at the time of the raid and reasons why they would have been on the list. When you have completed the list, check the Memorial list for those Lawrencians that didn’t survive and list the fate of your lists’ members.
Check the list of the victims and see if you recognize any of the names. Are any of the names you read about in the The Abduction of Jacob Rote on the list? Explain why there are some victims that are not named, but still part of the dead.
Using Inspiration, put your lists in a graphic organizer format.
5. Picture from Smithsonian of a Colt revolver or Sharp’s Rifle – The weapons that were used the morning of the raid were very effecient and deadly.
Differentiated activities
Do a Venn Diagram of all the aspects of a Colt Revolver and a Sharp’s Rifle using the pictures from the Smithsonian Institute. When you finish the diagram write a paragraph about which weapon would have been more efficient for the raiders to use during the raid on Lawrence. http://www.smithsonian.org Why were the wide streets of Lawrence an advantage to the raiders?
Research and find out why Quantrill’s men were such formidable fighters.
6. Picture of Reverend Cordley - Reverend Cordley was a target of Quantrill yet survived the Raid along with his wife and daughter.
Differentiated Activities
Research the part he played in the Underground Railroad and ultimately documented Quantrill’s Raid. Find out how Reverend Cordley survived and what he lost in the process. Is the document created by Cordley a primary or secondary source? Explain the document’s significance to history.
In the narthex of Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, Kansas, a monument is imbedded in the wall for Reverend Cordley. It reads “………………….” If you were writing a message for a Jacob Rote monument what would it read like? Where would you put the monument?
There are no known photos of Jacob Rote. Draw a picture of what you think Jacob looked like. The picture may be in any format and using any materials you think are appropriate, ie: chalk, paint, crayon, collage, Voki, etc.
7. Copy of telegraph from man that wrote his father that he had survived the raid - Communication the morning of the raid was very difficult. A new bridge was being built across the Kansas River and the telegraph lines were not finished yet so there was no way to get information quickly out or in to Lawrence.
Differentiated Activities
Obviously not all the men in Lawrence were killed that morning. Look carefully at the telegraph. List five specifics that you learned from the telegraph. How were people able to communicate after the raid? What communication techniques were available to people in Lawrence at that time, in the United States at that time? Create a T-Chart showing communication on August 21st, 1863 Lawrence, Kansas and September 11, 2001, New York, New York.
From the T-Chart, write a five paragraph essay on the importance of communication in a disaster or traumatic event. 138 years from now how might communication have changed? Explain.
8. Picture of 2nd Eldridge House Hotel –
Differentiated Activity
Analyze the photo of the Eldridge House Hotel using the NARA photo analyzation sheet. Realize that this was the second Eldridge House Hotel. What was it originally called? Why is this building significant to the raiders? The State Provost Marshall, Alexander Banks, surrendered the hotel without a fight on that morning. Historians have long discussed whether this was a good or bad decision.
Write an editorial for the August 21, 2008 edition of the Lawrence Journal World newspaper about what would have happened had Banks gathered all the guns in the hotel and fired at the raiders instead of waving a white sheet for surrender.
9. Picture of the gravestone marker on New Hampshire about the deaths of the recruits –
Differentiated Activities
- Of the 22 recruits, 17 were killed. Depending on what source you read and who wrote that source, sometimes the recruits have weapons and sometimes they are too young to have had weapons. Population statistics for Lawrence, Kansas also vary depending on the source. Why would these facts be significant to the record of this terrible morning? Create a graphic organizer showing both sides of these critical facts.
Why do communities or countries put up markers for historical events? Why did Lawrence put up these monuments or markers? List 5 monuments in your own town, five national monuments, and 5 international monuments. Using Photo Story create a short photo story including pictures and captions about these monuments. The story should somehow include your reasons for monuments.
9. Picture of Mayor Collamore – Mayor Collamore’s story is a tragic one. Not only did he die that morning but his friend did too. Plus, Mr. Lowe had actually survived the raid and was just trying to help Mrs. Collamore when he agreed to go into the cistern and find the mayor.
Differentiated Activities
Using the photo, as well as books, research his fate that morning and write an obituary for the Lawrence newspaper.
Create obituaries for the two other men that died with him that morning.
10. Picture of the Griswolds –
Differentiated Activities
Analyze this picture. Complete the NARA photo analyzation sheet. What specifics can you ascertain from the picture? Make a factual statement about Dr. and Mrs. Griswold based on this picture.
There is a monument today behind the site of the Griswold’s home. It says simply “Here Griwold, Thorpe, Baker and Trask were shot on August 21, 1863.” Research and find out why the four men warranted a monument. What happened to the four families living in the Griswold’s home. Write a reaction to the fate of the Griswolds that morning in the form of a newspaper article in the Leavenworth newspaper the next day. Why would the article have to have been in the Leavenworth paper and not the Lawrence paper?
11. List from Lawrence Grocer that survived the raid – When you see the grocery list how can you tell it's a primary source? How was it destroyed?
Differentiated Activities
Analyze this list carefully. Make an inference about what Lawrence was like in 1863. Would we find these items in our grocery stores today? Why? Why not?
Using the items in the 1863 products list, video tape a Rachel Ray cooking show in 1863, where these items are used for a particular recipe.
12. Picture of James Lane – The man that escaped to the cornfield behind his house wearing his red long johns was none other than Senator and General James Lane. On his death bed, Quantrill was asked why he came to Lawrence and his reply was “……to kill James Lane. Had we found him we would have burned him at the stake.”
Differentiated Activities
- Research James Lane. Why did Quantrill hate him?
- Do a 5 Ws on James Lane
- What was the fate of James Lane and how did it eventually affect the history of Kansas after the Civil War? Ie: Edmund Ross
13. Picture of post card of Raider’s reunion and the Lawrence Survivors 50 years later – Of all the artifacts at the Spencer University Library, these two are probably the most fascinating to students.
Differentiated Activities
Look carefully at both pictures. Analyze them carefully.
- Using the Venn Diagram, create a composite Lawrence “Survivor” and a composite “Quantrill’s Raider.” The composites can be in multiple formats, ie: drawing, computer-generated animation, poem, song, etc.
- You are a television correspondent for the local Lawrence, Kansas cable company or the Nevada, Missouri cable company. Your assignment, using one other student, is to take the composites and interview a survivor or a bushwacker. Create your interview questions. Using a digital video camera, capture the interview on camera. Use movie maker or I-Movie record the interview.
