Introduction
The Gunn Scholar program had always appealed to me. It was something unique and special. By then, I knew that I wanted to study history in college, and the program’s emphasis on original research really piqued my interest. I wanted to know what being a historian was like, and the Gunn Scholar program offered me that chance. So, I talked to the school’s archivist Mrs. Krimsky, and submitted my proposal. Being the eve of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I decided to do my project on Civil War soldiers from The Gunnery. My proposal was accepted, and I was to become the next Gunn Scholar. My adventure into historical research and presentation was only just begun.
This was all before the end of my junior year of high school. The official announcement was made on Prize Night. I was very excited about the year ahead. I was to begin with a trip to Virginia to visit the battlefields with my grandparents during the first couple of weeks of summer In truth, the two events were completely coincidental, but it worked to my advantage nonetheless. I didn’t learn anything specific about my project while in Virginia, but the experience was enough. To be able to see the battlefields, and hear of their history was something truly special. It made the war feel personal, and not something that is only written about in dusty old textbooks.
When school started in the fall, the project also quickly started. The first thing to do was to decide what exactly the project was going to be. It was then that I was introduced to Charles P. Goodyear. I didn’t know much about him at the time; I think all I was told about him was how he tried to join a colored regiment. Yet, he still interested me. We had a collection of eight letters of his in The Gunnery archive. I set about reading the letters, and I soon learned why he interested me. His way of writing, and the content of the letters, showed not only a man who could think and write, but also showed a devotion to country, family, and friends. I liked him, as a person. I wanted to learn more about him, and so I set out on a quest to do as much. It wasn’t always easy. My teachers, Mrs. Krimsky and Mr. Alter, were not so sure about my approach. They wanted many soldiers, not one. I agreed with them, but I still wanted to focus everything I had on that one man. I think they humored me a little in letting me have my way.
Only six of the letters had been transcribed before I began my project. That meant there were two letters that still needed transcription. It was decided that I was to transcribe those two letters. It was a lucky experience for me, spending nearly a month to transcribe two letters of quite some length. I certainly learned a lot about myself, chiefly that I was not meant to be a prolific transcriber. Even so, it was still rewarding. It turned out that the two letters that I transcribed were also to be my favorite reads, and also the most interesting. I learned a lot about Charles’ character from the letters, but I still needed to do actual research into his history.
So I set myself down at a computer, and typed in the URL for Google. Throughout the project, Google has singlehandedly been the most important resource for me. This project could never have reached its current fruition without the research tools available on Google. Google’s vast collection of government documents has especially been important for my research. From more than a few sessions with Google, I was able to find out that Charles Goodyear was not only successful in war, but also in his life after the war. I learned that he went to Brunswick, Georgia to become a lawyer. I learned that he proposed a method of blasting out silt in the harbor to allow ships to pass through again. I learned many things about Charles, most of them things that I did not expect.
While most of my effort was on Charles, I also put an effort into his friend, Romulus C. Loveridge. Romey, as Charles referred to him as, was an obvious friend of Charles: he was mentioned in nearly every letter. However, we did not have any letters, or anything, from Romulus: only a name and a brief mention in the records of Gunnery students. But with a combination of documents procured via the internet, and some phone calls to schools, we were able to piece together the story of Romulus. The single most exciting thing that happened while researching him was our trip to Yale and its library. There we got his obituary, a piece of his writing, and much more. Too bad getting some of that information was also an adventure.
Research was only the first phase of the project. What followed was the writing. Usually, the writing phase of the Gunn Scholar project includes the writing of a long formal paper. That didn’t happen this year (though we do still plan to publish a book). Instead, we have a website. The idea actually came from Mr. Alter, who believed that the project should showcase the letters written by Charles. I agreed, and so set forth to make a website. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to have digital versions of the letters online, and use them as a teaching device by annotating the letters. I admit, before I began in earnest there was some apprehension by my teachers. They were afraid that the quality of the website would not be as good as a written paper. I hope that I proved them wrong.
The website was a long time coming. I put a lot of work into it, which I hope everyone can see. I wanted to make a site that people could use to study the Civil War from the perspective of a Civil War soldier. If I accomplished nothing else with this project, I will be glad to know someone learned something from it. But I accomplished more than just that. I learned plenty from the project, much of it personal. I am apparently awful at organization. But I also learned that this is something that I want to continue doing.
Zachary Bodnar 4-27-11
This was all before the end of my junior year of high school. The official announcement was made on Prize Night. I was very excited about the year ahead. I was to begin with a trip to Virginia to visit the battlefields with my grandparents during the first couple of weeks of summer In truth, the two events were completely coincidental, but it worked to my advantage nonetheless. I didn’t learn anything specific about my project while in Virginia, but the experience was enough. To be able to see the battlefields, and hear of their history was something truly special. It made the war feel personal, and not something that is only written about in dusty old textbooks.
When school started in the fall, the project also quickly started. The first thing to do was to decide what exactly the project was going to be. It was then that I was introduced to Charles P. Goodyear. I didn’t know much about him at the time; I think all I was told about him was how he tried to join a colored regiment. Yet, he still interested me. We had a collection of eight letters of his in The Gunnery archive. I set about reading the letters, and I soon learned why he interested me. His way of writing, and the content of the letters, showed not only a man who could think and write, but also showed a devotion to country, family, and friends. I liked him, as a person. I wanted to learn more about him, and so I set out on a quest to do as much. It wasn’t always easy. My teachers, Mrs. Krimsky and Mr. Alter, were not so sure about my approach. They wanted many soldiers, not one. I agreed with them, but I still wanted to focus everything I had on that one man. I think they humored me a little in letting me have my way.
Only six of the letters had been transcribed before I began my project. That meant there were two letters that still needed transcription. It was decided that I was to transcribe those two letters. It was a lucky experience for me, spending nearly a month to transcribe two letters of quite some length. I certainly learned a lot about myself, chiefly that I was not meant to be a prolific transcriber. Even so, it was still rewarding. It turned out that the two letters that I transcribed were also to be my favorite reads, and also the most interesting. I learned a lot about Charles’ character from the letters, but I still needed to do actual research into his history.
So I set myself down at a computer, and typed in the URL for Google. Throughout the project, Google has singlehandedly been the most important resource for me. This project could never have reached its current fruition without the research tools available on Google. Google’s vast collection of government documents has especially been important for my research. From more than a few sessions with Google, I was able to find out that Charles Goodyear was not only successful in war, but also in his life after the war. I learned that he went to Brunswick, Georgia to become a lawyer. I learned that he proposed a method of blasting out silt in the harbor to allow ships to pass through again. I learned many things about Charles, most of them things that I did not expect.
While most of my effort was on Charles, I also put an effort into his friend, Romulus C. Loveridge. Romey, as Charles referred to him as, was an obvious friend of Charles: he was mentioned in nearly every letter. However, we did not have any letters, or anything, from Romulus: only a name and a brief mention in the records of Gunnery students. But with a combination of documents procured via the internet, and some phone calls to schools, we were able to piece together the story of Romulus. The single most exciting thing that happened while researching him was our trip to Yale and its library. There we got his obituary, a piece of his writing, and much more. Too bad getting some of that information was also an adventure.
Research was only the first phase of the project. What followed was the writing. Usually, the writing phase of the Gunn Scholar project includes the writing of a long formal paper. That didn’t happen this year (though we do still plan to publish a book). Instead, we have a website. The idea actually came from Mr. Alter, who believed that the project should showcase the letters written by Charles. I agreed, and so set forth to make a website. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to have digital versions of the letters online, and use them as a teaching device by annotating the letters. I admit, before I began in earnest there was some apprehension by my teachers. They were afraid that the quality of the website would not be as good as a written paper. I hope that I proved them wrong.
The website was a long time coming. I put a lot of work into it, which I hope everyone can see. I wanted to make a site that people could use to study the Civil War from the perspective of a Civil War soldier. If I accomplished nothing else with this project, I will be glad to know someone learned something from it. But I accomplished more than just that. I learned plenty from the project, much of it personal. I am apparently awful at organization. But I also learned that this is something that I want to continue doing.
Zachary Bodnar 4-27-11