A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital

The Legacy of Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham

Peggy Christensen

Summer Fellowship 2007

To download this entire unit in PDF format, click here.

Abstract: Students will study aspects of the lives of Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham, two prominent residents of Champaign, Illinois in the late 1800s. They will analyze primary and secondary sources to better understand how information about an individual is gathered and will note how this information contributes to and reflects the history of the period.

Essential Questions / Enduring Understandings:

• How does an individual’s history reflect the history of a particular period?
• How does studying the life of an individual help us better understand moments in history?
• How do primary and secondary sources differ?
• What are some of the limitations that must be recognized when using primary and secondary sources?
• How can the use of multiple sources contribute to a more accurate understanding of a particular situation?

Assessments: Students’ worksheets and contributions to class discussions will be assessed throughout the unit. Once all lessons have been completed, students will submit their unit folder with all handouts and worksheets as well as their final reflection.

Setting the Purpose: The purpose of this unit is for students to learn the difference between primary and secondary sources and the need to use multiple documents to develop an understanding of history.

Duration: The entire unit will take eight to ten days. Lessons 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 could be studied separately, but lesson 3 will only make sense when combined with lesson 2 and lesson 7 is dependent on lessons 1-6.

Lesson 1: Students need to understand the difference between primary and secondary sources as well as limitations of each.

Lesson 2: Students often rely on a Google search to gather information about an individual or event, and they seldom consider where researchers originally found the information. In this lesson, students will examine a page from the Harris family Bible as well as three pages from Benjamin F. Harris’s autobiography, Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr., to learn more about him. They will also note some of the limitations of individual primary sources.

Lesson 3: Students will use primary sources to solve two mysteries. They will gain a better understanding of why historians must use multiple primary sources to better understand events and situations.

Lesson 4: Students will read a transcript of B.F. Harris’s obituary that appeared in the May 10, 1905 copy of the Champaign County Gazette, and then they will complete the document analysis worksheet. They will discuss how one individual’s history reflects the period when he/she lived.

Lesson 5: Students will continue to examine ways in which primary sources about B.F. Harris reflect the history of the period when he lived. In this lesson, they will consider the role Harris played on a national level shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president and prior to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. They will be reading a few pages from his autobiography where he discussed his trip to Washington to offer support to his old friend, Abraham Lincoln. To understand why Harris felt he was needed, students should be aware that prior to his visit, several states had seceded from the Union to join with South Carolina and form the Confederate States of America.

Lesson 6: Students will use an analysis worksheet to better understand a photographic primary source.

Lesson 7: Students will reflect on their study of B.F. Harris through the use of primary documents.

Lesson 8: Like B.F. Harris, Julia Finley Burnham was a prominent figure in Champaign. She was born in 1839, married Albert Burnham in 1866, and died in 1894. Her husband was a wealthy lawyer, banker, and philanthropist. Their daughter, Mary Bruce Burnham, married Newton Harris, grandson of B.F. Harris. In this lesson, students will read Julia F. Burnham’s obituary which appeared in the Champaign County News on October 29, 1894 as well as an entry written about her by J.O. Cunningham in his History of Champaign County and excerpts from the minutes of the Women’s Social and Political Science Club from 1888. As students read these documents, they will be pondering these questions: How does an individual’s history reflect the history of a particular period? How does studying the life of an individual help us better understand moments in history?

Conclusion: Students will turn in their unit folders with all graded worksheets, handouts, and class notes. Materials should be arranged chronologically by lessons. The final entry in the folder should be a letter to the teacher which addresses the following:

• Think about streets and buildings in Champaign that bear the names of prominent members of our community from previous centuries. If you were going to research the life of one of these people like Dr. H.C. Howard, Ross Mattis, James or William McKinley, Joseph Kuhn, J.O. Cunningham, or Carrie Busey where would you start?
• Explain the process you would follow to be sure that you were using a mix of primary and secondary sources.
• What are some of the difficulties you might encounter?
• How would you resolve them?
• Has this unit helped you become a more aware researcher?
• What activities helped you the most?
• Which activities would you eliminate? Why?
• What other suggestions or comments do you have about this unit?
• Students will submit their folders for final assessment by the teacher.

Annotated List of Materials and Resources

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