Grant’s Tomb Goes Unnoticed Despite 150th Anniversary of Civil War

The entrance to the memorial reads "Let Us Have Peace." 
Around 120,000 people visit the memorial each year. 
Photo by Bethany Kemming

The old joke asks: “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?”

The typical answer is Ulysses S. Grant.  But National Park Service Language Interpreter Huascar Morell will say no one.  That’s because Grant and his wife are not buried but entombed above ground.

Regardless of the answer, the Manhattan area memorial isn’t seeing many more visitors this year, despite recognition of 2011 as the 150^th anniversary of the Civil War, according to Morell.

If the average New Yorker has heard of Grant’s tomb, she may be unclear on the details. 

Just ask Elizabeth Suzio, where is Grant’s tomb? “Virginia?”

Located at 122^nd St. and Riverside Drive in Manhattan, Grant’s Tomb has on average 120,000 visitors per year.  Considering that over eight million people live in Manhattan, this number is a small percentage.

Colorful mosaic benches surround the General Grant National Memorial.
The benches were made by Pedro Silva in 1972 as he sought to commemorate
Grant for making Yellowstone National Park America's first national park. 
Photo by Bethany Kemming

The many New Yorkers that don’t visit the tomb won’t gaze down into the dark center and see the shiny, adorned caskets of Grant and his wife.  They won’t see the American Eagles crouching at the entrance, the mosaic murals, the orange yellow glass, and the long row of trees outside, all part of the renovations to the memorial made during the Depression.  They won’t rest on the colorful mosaic benches outside, made by artist Pedro Silva who wanted to commemorate Grant in 1972.

Melody Cole may not have heard of the tomb, but she’ll tell you that doesn’t mean she doesn’t think they’re important. 

“They’re very important to teach people about America that don’t know,” Cole said.

While many New Yorkers believe memorials and monuments are important, many of them simply go unnoticed.  The same city that fought in 1994 to keep the Grants here and not in Illinois, now houses many residents that know little about Grant, the memorial, and the Civil War.

Stone American Eagles guard the entrance to the memorial.

The eagles were added during the Depression, along with the 

yellow orange glass, mosaic murals, and a row of trees.  

Many of the changes were a result of the Works Progress Administration’s 

Federal Art Project that sought to help bring artists, 

craftsmen, and designers back to work. 
Photo by Bethany Kemming 

“I don’t know what it [the memorial] is…but I love America. America is the best,” New Yorker Freddie Dn said.

 

More information:  The memorial

New Yorker article on N.Y. Civil War memorials
New Yorker article on Civil War legacy

Waybright Student Center a Success?

One Year Later: A Look at the Waybright Student Life Center
By Bethany Kemming

A year after the Gregory L. Waybright Student Life Center’s opening, Trinity International University (TIU) students and staff have responded positively about the center and its role in bringing together undergraduate and graduate students.   

Freshman Benita Thorat and Sophomore Stephanie Plotsky encourage
students to donate Misericordia.  Many student groups and
off-campus organizations have used  the open area of the entrance
to the Waybright Center to set-up tables and displays.
(Times Observer/Bethany Kemming)

According to the Dean of Student Life Dr. William Washington, TIU looked for facilities in which community could flourish on campus, as community is one of Trinity’s core values, and were not satisfied with the places of community on campus. 

“We looked at our campus and didn’t feel the places we had for community didn’t meet our expectations…the student life center became one of the prime places of emphasis,” Washington said.

Before opening the center in January 2010, TIU staff had a goal of bridging community between the college, graduate, and divinity school students in one location.

The Deerfield, Ill. campus of TIU is composed of Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Trinity Graduate School.  While graduate and divinity school students share many of the same classrooms, the majority of the undergraduate student classes are in one building and on one side of campus. While the Lew Student Center was closer to the undergraduate housing, the Waybright Center is in a more central location, and closer to the library and graduate classroom buildings.  

The White Horse Cafe offers grab-and-go options as well as

hot meals. The grab-and-go station was previously located

in the McLennan Academic Building. 

(Times Observer/ Bethany Kemming) 

The addition of the Waybright Student Center meant the relocating of the White Horse Café, and of university student mailboxes. Graduate student mailboxes were previously located in the lower level of the chapel, and undergraduate mailboxes were located in the Lew Student Center. The name of the old dining hall, Melton Hall, was given to a new multi-purpose room in the Waybright Center, that is used by graduate and undergraduate students alike for a variety of activities, such as coffeehouse events, film festivals, and the State of the University address.

The Waybright Student Life Center is located near the James

E. RolfingMemorial  library and the Carlson Hall men's dorm building.  

The Waybright Center lantern lounge, the circular section of tan 

brick above, has been used for a variety of TIU events, such as 

forums and student government debates. (Times Observer/

Bethany Kemming)

While most reviews of the dining hall and new student center have been positive, complaints and issues have arisen. Students have complained of conflicts with meeting room assignments and the
size of the offices allotted to student groups and organizations.  While many students like the new Melton Hall, others feel the room is “too multipurpose.”

“It [Melton Hall] is not good for much of anything, the atmosphere is not that great because it’s just a big boxed room,” Trinity College sophomore Ethan Carlson said.

TIU provides other opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to come together through their Dual Degree programs. Undergraduate students can potentially fulfill their masters and bachelor degrees in five years or less through these programs, and interact with graduate students and professors. 

Audio Interview With Trinity College Dean of Students Dr. William O. Washington

Dr. Washington shares how the new student center came to be, the successful aspects of the center, and what still needs to be changed. 

Links: 

http://blogs.tiu.edu/blog/2010/09/24/tiu-dedicates-waybright-center/

http://www.facebook.com/notes/trinity-digest/waybright-center-remains-strong-by-ethan-shook/379713147949

http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/waybrightcenter

http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/giving/campusmasterplan

http://www.tiu.edu/tiu/dining-services/

http://www.tiu.edu/

First Audio Interview!

Following the release of a new NIV translation this month, I had the opportunity to interview one of the Biblical Professors at Trinity about the topic of gender translation issues in the Bible, along with other translation difficulties. Follow the link below to hear the interview!

http://www.mediafire.com/?itg14e3mgi9ca5k

On a side note, using audio editing programs is a lot more difficult and time consuming than it looks! : ) 

First New Video!

Today I downloaded Soundslides.

To experiment with the program I uploaded photos from missions trips to Cass Lake, MN over the past 2 years. It's not perfect, but it did help me get to know the program better. For my next video I hope to add captions and cutlines.

To make it into video format, you can follow these directions: http://video.soundslides.net/converter/

Gotcha Drenched!

Gotcha Drenched Finale

TIU Freshman Joy Hillyer (left) and Sophomore Valerie Farmer 

(right) were two of the last five competitors in the April 

   "Gotcha Drenched" competition.  Joy Hillyer planned to eliminate 

   Valerie from the game by waiting outside the Lew Student Center, 

        and enlisting the help of a friend to pretend to talk on the phone 

outside as a distraction. Valerie saw Joy coming, however, and 

and "shot" Joy first, giving herself five minutes of get-away time.

Racial Reconciliation Forum

I made this video for the Trinity Digest's facebook page.  The racial reconciliation event was hosted by the Multi-cultural Development Office at Trinity. The small groups afterward included a lot of interesting discussion as well!

Broomball Event Video

This video was made for The Trinity Digest's facebook page in March 2010.  College Union offered a Broomball and Skating Event for the first time, and offered a similar event this year as well.