CALEB CALARCO

USING ONLINE RESOURCES TO BRING PRIMARY SOURCES TO THE CLASSROOM

ONLINE

Local History Project8-B-1

Introduction to the Project

This project will be a compilation and a finale to the Pennsylvania History subject during the halfway point of the school year before we shift to Civics. My students will do an in-depth research project of the 1925 Pottsville Maroons football team compiling primary sources while learning the story. During the first few slides I will give my students a brief history about the football team and afterwards explain what they will include in their project while giving them examples of what they can include. The project will get my students looking into the past while learning about a famous local story from the county from which we live in. Students can present their story as a written presentation with visual aides or PowerPoint presentation. I wanted to incorporate elements of the final project for this class in the this project for my PA History class.

THE STORY OF THE LOCAL PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM FROM THE

PENNSYLVANIA COAL REGION WHO’S NFL CHAMPIONSHIP WAS TAKEN AWAY IN

1925 .

The Pottsville Maroons

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

Introduction

In this project you will be compiling information on the Pottsville Maroons who were a Professional football team in the NFL during the 1920s. The Maroons, from Schuylkill County, were a dominant team during the 1920s and decimated their opponents during the 1925 season and ended up winning the championship against the Chicago Cardinals in the championship 21-7.

Here is a brief history/story of what happened during that season.

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

The Brief Story

The Pottsville Maroons were the big story in 1925 and were seen all over the country. During this time period college football was very popular and a push was made to have the Pottsville Maroons face the University of Notre Dame All-Stars which included the famous “Four Horseman” who led Notre Dame to the 1924 collegiate championship. This game was to be an exhibition which included the best football players in the country.

How did the game turn out?Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Four_Horsemen_Notre_Dame.jpghttp://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

The Brief Story - continued

The Maroons would defeat the Notre-Dame All-Stars 9-7 on a last second field goal by captain Charlie Berry solidifying the NFL as a legitimate league in the country. The game was played in Philadelphia instead of their field, Minersville Park, which was a high school stadium. The attendance to the game would be at an all time high and not be able to hold everyone in their stadium so they played in Shibe Park, near Philadelphia. The Frankford Yellow Jackets protested since that was in their franchise territory.

How did the league respond?

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

Pottsville defeats the Notre Dame All-Stars!

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

The Brief Story - finished

They played the game and the league suspended the Maroons during the league’s winter meetings and would ultimately strip their title away and awarded the Chicago Cardinals the NFL champions that year, although they never accepted it. The Maroons would never win another championship and the team relocated to Boston in 1929. The Boston Bulldogs would fold that season thus ending the franchise.

However, the story of the 1925 Pottsville Maroons would live on!

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

1929 Boston Bulldogs

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

The Project

Project Options:

Written Presentation

PowerPoint Presentation

What to Include in your Project:

You will be researching the story of the 1925 Pottsville Maroons.

You will be providing the following: The Story

3-5 page paper (Written) or 10-15 PowerPoint Slides (PowerPoint)

Primary Sources (Both presentation types) At least 5 pictures Provide 1 of the following:

Video clip or audio clip Works Cited

At least 5 sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are “first-hand” accounts. A photograph taken at a train wreck, a journal or diary entry. In order for an item to be considered a primary source, the item must come from the person experiencing the event.

Retrieved from: http://pls.rsmart.com/xsl-portal/site/5331fee3-1d5a-493e-a89f-2abe3ad2eab5/page/72bf4eb7-5111-423e-8e8f-fa731fdfff94

http://www.northwesthistoryexpress.com/timeline/transportation1800.php http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/lincoln/aa_lincoln_subj.html

The Research

A few questions to consider while doing your research:

What is the background of the Pottsville Maroons? When did they arrive in the NFL? How long were they in the league? Where did the Maroons play? Were they successful during their years in the league? Who are they? (the players) What is the main controversy that surrounded the team in 1925?

What is the entire story? Why did they have their title taken away? What is the news today concerning the Maroons? Has there been any attempts to reinstate their 1925 championship?

Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pottsville2.jpg

The Research

Besides researching the Pottsville Maroons you will be learning about the culture of the time period.

What was life like in the 1920s? Give examples of what the culture was like?

This will be a good opportunity to provide audio or video clips. (music, movies, etc.)

Websites to Consider

http://www.pottsvillemaroons1925.com/This official website of the Pottsville Maroons provides an overview of the team, their story, and the controversy that hit the team in 1925. This site also provides a link to the book written about the Maroons called “The Breaker Boys” written by David Fleming which provides extensive research on the subject. Researchers will find a well put together website with good information.

Retrieved from: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=fleming/071004&sportCat=nfl

Websites to Consider

http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

This website provides a brief history of the Pottsville Maroons and their entire five year history. The Maroons are well known for the 1925 Championship that was won and taken away from them. This site provides a more comprehensive look at the entire team’s existence. There are also numerous primary sources from newspaper clippings, to the team photo, and individual player photos.

Retrieved from: http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?player_id=94

Websites to Consider

http://republicanherald.com/sports/pottsville-maroons-won-t-give-up-fight-1.352192

This is a great link to the local Pottsville newspaper that provides an article about the Pottsville Maroons. David Fleming, author of “The Breaker Boys”, is a �guest writer to the newspaper and provides a detailed look and update about the Maroons. This is a great source for researchers to get a real close local look at the team in Schuylkill County.

Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Pennsylvania_highlighting_Schuylkill_County.svg

Websites to Consider

http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/PottsvilleMaroons.html

This website also provides a brief overview of the Pottsville Maroons infamous 1925 season. It also provides a few pictures from actual artifacts from the Maroons. One artifact is from 1967 where surviving members of the 1925 Maroons carved out their own championship trophy out of coal. It is now located in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Researchers can get a brief overview of the Pottsville Maroon story and some pictures from the team.

Retrieved from: http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/PottsvilleMaroons.html

Websites to Consider

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ptb/1925.htmThis website provides a complete list of the Maroon roster as well as the team schedule and results from the infamous 1925 season. This primary source provides actual statistics from the time period. It is interesting to see what kind of season the Maroons had and what the individual players did during the season. Researchers can get a good idea of how the Pottsville Maroons performed during the 1925 season.

1925 Pottsville MaroonsFranchise Index: Next SeasonRecord: 10-2-0, Finished 2nd in NFL NFL Season SummaryScored 270 points (22.5/g), 1st of 20 in the NFL.

Allowed 45 points (3.8/g), 2nd. Differential of 225 points (18.8/g), 1st.

Expected W-L: 11.8-0.2. Coached by Dick Rauch (10-2-0)

Retrieved from: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ptb/1925.htm

Primary Source Pictures

Written Presentation If you choose this route you must provide a poster

with at least 5 primary source pictures.

PowerPoint Presentation Within the presentation there needs to be at least 5

pictures.

Examples of Primary Source pictures: photographs, posters, maps, paintings,

advertisements, etc.

Primary Source Pictures

Photographs

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

Primary Source Pictures

Newspapers are great primary sources!

Retrieved from: http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm

Primary Source Pictures

Posters, advertisements, and contracts are also great primary sources.

Retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/Pottsville_Maroons.pnghttp://www.pottsvillemaroons1925.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/contract.jpghttp://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-1480

Primary Source Video or Audio Clip

Written Presentation You can provide the clip using the computer and

projector.

PowerPoint Presentation Provide the clip on one of the slides.

Primary Source Video or Audio Clip

Audio Clip Can be an example of music from the time period (1920s).

http://www.archive.org/details/PaulWhitemanAndHisOrchestra-1925This website directs you to Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra one of the most popular bands of the time period. One of their most famous songs is the “Charleston”. The year 1925 is the main year from which �my local history project will take place. This music shows what the culture of music was like during this time.

Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Whiteman

Primary Source Video or Audio Clip

Video Clip Find a video clip concerning the Pottsville Maroons or

the culture of the 1920s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHu8id_tm0

This video is from YouTube which details the history and story of the Pottsville Maroons.

Retrieved from: http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/PottsvilleMaroons.html

The Final Product

When your project is finished you will have a complete report on the 1925 Pottsville Maroons, their history and their story

Written Presentation 3-5 pages, 5 pictures, 1 audio/video clip

PowerPoint Presentation 10-15 slide presentation, 5 pictures, 1 audio/video clip

Conclusion

To conclude the presentation my students will have done research on an interesting local history topic that is very important to our area. In the 1920s, the town of Pottsville had a professional football team in which the town cherished and loved. Even today the town remembers the Pottsville Maroons and the story of the 1925 NFL championship that they won and lost.

Works Cited

http://www.pottsvillemaroons1925.com/ http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/Maroons.htm http://republicanherald.com/sports/pottsville-maroons-won-t-give-up-fight-1.352192 http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/PottsvilleMaroons.html http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ptb/1925.htm http://home.comcast.net/~ghostsofthegridiron/pic_Maroons_ND.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/Pottsville_Maroons.png http://www.pottsvillemaroons1925.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/contract.jpg http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-1480 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pottsville2.jpg http://www.archive.org/details/PaulWhitemanAndHisOrchestra-1925 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBHu8id_tm0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Pennsylvania_highlighting_Schuylkill_County.svg http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=fleming/071004&sportCat=nfl http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/lincoln/aa_lincoln_subj.html http://www.northwesthistoryexpress.com/timeline/transportation1800.php http://pls.rsmart.com/xsl-portal/site/5331fee3-1d5a-493e-a89f-2abe3ad2eab5/page/72bf4eb7-5111

-423e-8e8f-fa731fdfff94 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Four_Horsemen_Notre_Dame.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pottsville2.jpg http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.aspx?player_id=94