Missouri Teacher of the Year Blog

Hello. As readers to the blog discovered a couple of weeks ago, I have been very humbled to be named the 2007/2008 Missouri Teacher of the Year. The official banquet will not take place until November but some of the speaking engagements and events have started and I am keeping a Missouri Teacher of the Year Blog to help "scrapbook" the year. I will try to take pictures and include a little text of the special events that occur. I will be traveling to a variety of conferences and conventions in the next several months. Some of these events will also be added to the Speaking of History blog.

Last night, for example, the City Council of Liberty, Missouri gave a proclamation in my name and declared that October 9, 2007 is "Eric Langhorst Day" in Liberty. Wow - that is just crazy! It will be a fun year full of exciting events as I represent the great teachers of Missouri and you're welcome to check in via the blog.

Podcast #84 - Living History Presentation with Zelarda James, Mother of Jesse James

Hello. Each spring the city of Liberty has a festival. This spring it was renamed the "Liberty Heritage Festival" to help celebrate our local history. There are historical presentations, funnel cakes, crafts, etc. One of the presentations was by Dianne Moran who gave living history presentations as Zerelda James Samuels, the mother of Jesse James. The James family lived near Liberty and is part of our local history. She did an excellent job of bringing Zerelda to life. The podcast is her presentation as Zerelda James Samuels and a short interview. Special thanks to Dianne for an excellent presentation and allowing me to share it with the Speaking of History audience.

Direct link to Podcast #84 - Living History Presentation with Zerelda James Samuels - Mother of Jesse James - MP3 Format - 19:36 minutes

Show Notes for Podcast #84:

- Dianne Moran Living History website

- email Dianne Moran

- Zerelda James Samuels - article describing her life at the time of her death

- Friends of the James Farm site

- Liberty Heritage Festival

Podcast #83 - Alexander Doniphan Presentation at The Truman Presidential Library

Hello. Last week the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri hosted a meeting of the Western Missouri Civil War Round Table. Local historian John Dillingham gave a presentation on local historical figure Alexander Doniphan. Doniphan was a national hero in the mid 1800's and lived in Liberty, Missouri. He is most noted for saving the life of Mormon prophet Joseph Smith and leading the longest march in United States military history in the Mexican War. He was also an advocate for education and one of Missouri's most respected government officials. He once met Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln is reported to have said: "Alexander Doniphan is the only man I have ever met who lived up to my previous expectations." Today there many items which bear his name including several towns, a school, a battleship, a county, a highway and numerous local awards. I hope you enjoy this presentation on a true historical hero from Liberty and check out the links below for additional information.

Direct link to Podcast #83 - Alexander Doniphan Presentation at The Truman Presidential Library - MP3 Format - 29:00 minutes

Podcast #83 Show Notes:

- Alexander Doniphan - Wikipedia Page

- Alexander Doniphan Information Site

- Alexander Doniphan Information from Answers.com

- Western Missouri Civil War Round Table

- Truman Presidential Library

Podcast #66 and #67 - Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Basketball Champions - The "Glory Road" Team

Hello. Today's episode is a presentation by Jerry Armstrong, a player on the 1966 Texas Western team which won the NCAA National Championship. This team is historically important since it was the first NCAA championship team to start five African American players. This team has recently been in the media with the opening of the movie "Glory Road" which is based on their championship season.

Jerry Armstrong, one of the white players on the team, is the father of my principal at South Valley Jr High - Brad Armstrong. Jerry Armstrong does presentations all over the country discussing his experiences as a member of the team. He recently spoke to the students and faculty at South Valley Jr High in Liberty and later that day did a presentation at the Garrison Center in Liberty.

I have created two podcasts from the presentation at the Garrison Center. Podcast #66 is the presentation by Jerry Armstrong and Podcast #67 is the Question and Answer session which followed his presentation that night.

Please check out the shownotes below for additional information about the movie "Glory Road" and the 1966 Texas Western team. If you have any questions or comments about this podcast please feel free to leave a comment to the this post or send an e-mail to speakingofhistory@gmail.com

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #66 - Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Championship Team - The "Glory Road" Team - MP3 Format - 31:57 minutes

Direct link to Speaking of History Podcast #67 - Questions and Answers from Jerry Armstrong of the 1966 Texas Western NCAA Championship Team - "The Glory Road" Team - MP3 Format - 25:55 minutes

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Podcast #66 and #67 Show Notes:

Official Glory Road movie site

Article about Jerry Armstrong in Rural Missouri magazine

UTEP page on the 1966 Texas Western National Championship Team

ESPN Classic article on the 1966 Texas Western Team

Wikipedia article on the movie Glory Road