To be honest, this would be one of the few, if the only history class, when a written paper is not the expected final project. It’s a push out of my comfort zone, but I’m almost 100% positive that I would like to pursue a digital project. I am also taking Public History Practicum this semester, and my project for the course is at a historical house in Virginia called Menokin, the home of Declaration of Independence signer Francis Lightfoot Lee. For all that he did during the American Revolution, he has relatively little recognizable status today. His wikipedia article is tiny, and very few books have been written about him. Which is a shame – he’s a pretty interesting guy whose family had what is, in today’s terms, “reality TV potential.”
Inspired by the project from last semester, I’d like to take the surviving correspondances between the Lee brothers (Frank, Richard Henry, Arthur, and William, and their large extended family) and put them up in blog format. It could serve to a) Teach about Francis Lightfoot Lee’s life and family, b) Get some web recognition for dear old Frank, and c) serve as a platform to teach both regional Virginia history (all the brothers were involved in politics) and national history.