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<\/a>For the visit, I really wanted to bring this letter to life for them. What could we learn about this letter? I created a handout for each student with a full color copy of the letter, a transcript of the letter and a short list of questions.<\/p>\nHere is the transcript:<\/p>\n
Head Quarters 31st<\/sup> March 1778<\/p>\n Sir<\/p>\n I have received your Letter of this date inclosing [sic] your Commission. The frequency of resignations throughout the army is truly alarming, in the Virginia line this spirit unhappily seems to rage like an epidemical disease \u2013 I am at a loss to account how Gentlemen can reconcile such an abandonment of the public interest. At this crisis of our affairs, either with the principles of honor or their duty to selves and the Country \u2013 if however you think yourself warranted, and are determined to quit the army \u2013 I must at least insist upon your retaining your commission till the arrival of more officers in Camp.<\/p>\n I am Sir Your most Obed. Serv.<\/p>\n GWashington<\/p>\n Our first question to answer was, \u201cWhere was Washington\u2019s HQ in March of 1778?\u201d The answer was Valley Forge! We then discussed the writer, the recipient and the conditions in Washington\u2019s army at that time. I asked the students to think about tone \u2013 what sort of mood was Washington in when he wrote this letter? Then we discussed word choice based on what I had just told them about the previous winter for Washington\u2019s army, we noted the words \u201calarming\u201d, \u201cabandonment\u201d, \u201ccrisis\u201d, \u201cquit\u201d,\u00a0 and in particular the phrase, \u201c\u2026rage like an epidemical disease.\u201d \u00a0We agreed that these words tell us a lot about Washington\u2019s state of mind at this time. Over the winter he had lost thousands of troops to hunger, disease and the elements. Today we might say he was at the end of his rope .<\/p>\n It was quite a success! Each student had their handout, a pencil (this is the archives\u2026pencils only please:~) and a good thick book to use as a lap desk as they sat on the floor. When they were finished with the GW portion of the visit, Linda Petrie (former government documents librarian and now working here in the Archives) directed them to stop a minute and look at the book they had been using as a desk. They were special too, she added. Turns out that Linda had pulled some Civil War bound government documents for the students to use. They had been nicely rebound in the not too distant past and looked like any mid-20th<\/sup> century library book. The students were delighted that they could hold old books and that this paper had been around since the Civil War. Wow!<\/p>\n We moved to the next portion of the visit where we had set out two long tables full of other items for the students to see. Among these items were a Lincoln Civil War commission, a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible, dance cards with pencils still attached, postcards of Crawfordsville, old Wally Wabash, invitations to visit with the President and Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt at the White House and a Bible that pre-dates the King James version. We had so much fun sharing these odds and ends with these bright kids.<\/p>\n But without question, the best things to come from the visit were the thank-you notes from Mrs. Harris\u2019 class.<\/p>\n Here are some pictures of the items we received\u2026<\/p>\n Here is an image of the inside of one of the dance cards\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a>Clearly the dance cards made an impression as the majority of the thank you notes were created as dance cards.<\/p>\n<\/a>Some other students created post cards and a couple made little books as their thank yous. The package came in a large brown envelope, also decorated by one of the students. Here is her interpretation of the day\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a>As you can see from this remarkably accurate drawing, we displayed the Lincoln commission along with our magnifying glass for the students to study the 16th<\/sup> president\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n