Document Type
Report
Publication Date
2-17-2005
Department
Humanities
Abstract
In the fall of 2002, I was awarded a sabbatical leave for the spring of 2004 to study early American history and literature. I chose this topic out of personal interest, but also to prepare myself to teach my department’s early American literature course, an area of study in which I had little previous experience.
My project proposal consisted of two main parts. One was simply to read a selection of historical and literary works that are ordinarily taught in or used as background for that literature course. The other was to pursue original research into a family legend—my family—and then attempt to integrate that research into the broader subject of oral history.
This second part of my proposal turned out to be more interesting and educationally profitable than I had anticipated, inasmuch as I made some unexpected discoveries and ended up solving a mystery. In the process, I learned a great deal about one very small corner of early American history.
The following report is a summary, with pictures, of my research. The first half of the report recounts a trip I made to northern New York state and the research I did there; the second half summarizes some of the history of that region and attempts to explain how that history might have engendered the family legend.
I would not have undertaken any of this work had I not been granted a sabbatical leave to do it; I therefore wish to express my gratitude to Parkland College and the Board of Trustees for giving me this opportunity.
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Archer, Neil, "Sabbatical Report" (2005). Sabbaticals. 24.
https://spark.parkland.edu/sabbaticals/24
