Assassination of Garfield

Transcription

1 Assassination of Garfield A classroom play by Team HOPE Cast List James G. Blaine () Secretary of State Dr. Bliss (BLIS).President Garfield s surgeon Alexander Graham Bell (BELL) inventor Elijah Lovejoy ().... anchor of The History News Report Margaret Fuller (R1)......reporter for The History News Report Nellie Bly (R2)..... reporter for The History News Report

2 TEACHER NOTES SETTING: A contemporary classroom. It is advised to set up the anchor in the front of the room facing the class, in front of some sort of background with The History New Report. You many choose to set up the different reporters conducting the interviews around the classroom and have the historical figures come to them. This way it gives the appearance of different locations. A name plate in front of each cast member is highly recommended. A 5x8 index card folded in half works great for this purpose. COSTUMES: Although not necessary, any period costumes for the historical figures are a great addition. Even a simple hat or wig is excellent. MASKS: Masks are an easy addition that will add to the drama and make the entire event more fun for the students. First, go to and click on image search. Type in the historical figure s name and find an image of the person. Copy and paste the picture in a Word document. You may need to crop and then enlarge the photo so you get a picture large enough to be used as a mask. Portraits obviously work best for this use. Print out the picture and paste it onto a cardboard backing. You can tape a plastic spoon or popsicle stick to be used as a handle. You may decide to make masks for the student correspondents as well, using pictures of television news personalities for the masks. Note: If there is a historical person you cannot find a picture for, don t despair! Almost any random period person s picture (as long as it not someone easily recognizable) would work as a mask. ROLES: Encourage students to act out the roles with as much energy as possible. Do not be too terribly concerned that the sex of the historical figure matching with the sex of the student. The teacher may decide to take a part in the play, role-modeling one of the historical figures. It is recommended that six copies of the scripts are specifically set aside for each character in the play. For each character, highlight all their lines in order to facilitate a faster pace of dialogue. All other students should receive an unmarked copy of the play to read as the play is performed. OR AND REPORTERS: In order to facilitate the historical discussions that exist in the plays, actual famous journalist names have been used in the plays. Teachers should point out that these journalists come from different times in American history and do not necessarily reflect the period they report on. It is as if they can travel in time to deliver The History News Report. A teacher may also decide to substitute the names given in the script for student names if desired. A brief description of the journalists is as follows: Elijah Lovejoy ( ) A minister and journalist for the St. Louis Observer and later editor of the abolitionist newspaper the Alton Observer of Alton, Illinois. In 1837, pro-slavery forces attacked his warehouse in order to destroy his printing press and he was murdered on the scene. Margaret Fuller ( ) An early woman rights activist, Margaret was the first female journalist to work on the staff of a major American newspaper, The New York Tribune. She was a widely read literary critic who was also sent on overseas assignments to Europe. Nellie Bly ( ) After a writing a fiery rebuttal to a sexist column in the Pittsburgh Dispatch, Nellie was hired by a very impressed editor at the newspaper. She went on to become a famous investigative journalist on the plight of working women, and gained further fame for having faked insanity in order to investigate the treatment of the mentally ill. Ernie Pyle ( ) An American journalist who was a roving correspondent for Scripps Howard newspaper chain. His articles were read in over 200 newspapers. He is most famous for having been a war correspondent during World War II. He led the charge for Congress to give soldiers battle pay while in combat. He died under heavy fire from a Japanese machine gun nest in the Pacific on April 18, DISCUSSION: Use the attached worksheets to facilitate discussion before and after the play. Students who are not directly involved in the play can attempt to write preliminary answers as the play is performed. The audience should be told that they will be the primarily responsible for the discussion questions at the end of the lesson.

3 Assassination of Garfield (A Report by HNR News) NOTE: All responses by historical figures reflect actual events and beliefs as closely as possible. CAST ABBREVIATIONS James G. Blaine. Dr. Bliss Alexander Graham Bell. BELL Elijah Lovejoy... Margaret Fuller.. R1 Nellie Bly...R2 Ernie Pyle R3 Welcome to the History News Report, I m your anchor Elijah Lovejoy. Today s report on a tragic event in U.S. history; the assassination of President James A. Garfield. It happened on July 2, 1881 at Washington s Union Station. The President was boarding a train when an assassin named Charles A. Guiteau fired two shots at the President. For an eyewitness account, we will turn to HNR reporter Margaret Fuller who is standing by with Secretary of State James G. Blaine who was present at the shooting. Margaret? Yes, Elijah, we are here standing in the exact location where President Garfield was shot and indeed Secretary Blaine is here to give his account. Secretary Blaine, could you describe what happened? Margaret, it was such a routine day. We entered the station from the B street entrance into a ladies waiting room. Many of the President s detail were already on board the train. As we walked through the waiting room a man stepped up on the President s right brandishing a revolver. Did he say anything? As a matter of fact, he yelled, I m a Stalwart and now Arthur is president and he fired two shots. At first I didn t know what happened but noticed the first shot struck the President in the right arm. I heard the President mutter, My God. However, quickly the second shot came and entered the President s side and the President fell to the floor. I fell to the floor beside him and directed others to find a mattress. Did the shooter run? No. Men in the area seized him and would have torn him to pieces if not for the arrival of the police, who quickly hauled him off. The shooter, Charles Guiteau, he said he was a stalwart, or loyal Republican. Did you know him?

4 Actually, I knew of him. He had been hanging around the Department of State for sometime. He wanted to apply for an appointment but I thought he was crazy. I personally asked him to never return. He has actually been seen on the White House grounds for the last several days acting strange. Unfortunately, no one did anything, just thinking he was crazy and harmless. I m afraid Guiteau was upset he was not given a job. What was done with the President? He was obviously in immense pain. At first he was taken to the superintendent of the station s office where his physicians were brought. Later he was transferred to the White House. Secretary Blaine thank you for your eyewitness account. Back to you Elijah. Thanks for your report Margaret. We now turn to HNR reporter Nellie Bly who is with one of the President s physicians, Dr. Bliss. Dr. Bliss, you were one of the first physicians to arrive on the scene. What did you see? Well, the President had a bullet wound in his abdomen. There was no exit wound, so it was readily apparent that the bullet was still lodged inside his body. I endeavored to get it out. How was this done? I inserted a metal probe. Had the metal probe been sterilized? Umm, no. See, the idea of sterilization of instruments and hands had only begun to be practiced. Most doctors still did not sterilize. Of course, now we know the danger of infection, but sadly at that time I had still not undertaken such precautions. So you stuck a non-sterile metal probe into the bullet hole? Yes, but as I said (cutting him off) Did the President have anything for pain? Other than brandy, no. Please describe your procedure.

5 BELL I slowly turned the instrument looking for the bullet. Unfortunately, I could not find the bullet and the instrument got caught on the President fractured eleventh rib. (shocked) This must have caused immense pain! Yes (saddened).., yes. It was only removed with great difficulty. What did you do after completing the procedure with the metal probe? I inserted a finger into the wound. Am I to assume that the finger was not sterilized either? Unfortunately, no. I already explained that sterilization was a very new procedure (cutting him off again and impatient) Did you find the bullet? No. It was then decided that we should move him to the White House. However, the bullet could not be found despite the best efforts of Washington s best physicians. (disgusted) Who no doubt all inserted dirty hands and instruments into the President s abdomen! Well, they didn t exactly realize. (cutting Bliss off) I m sorry doctor that s all we have time for. Back to you in the studio Elijah. How terrible! It sounds like President Garfield was put through a harrowing ordeal and that the medical practices at the time only ensured his death! (changing subject) The desperation to find the bullet reached a point that the famed Alexander Graham Bell was brought in to use a new invention to find the bullet. Ernie Pyle is standing by with Mr. Bell right now. Ernie. Thanks Elijah. I have with me Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. However, in this case, Mr. Bell was called upon, no pun intended, to come to the President s aid with a new invention. Mr. Bell can tell us what you did. Well, I had just invented a crude metal detector and the hope was that I could discover the location of the bullet. Did it work?

6 BELL BELL BELL Well, I was frustrated right from the start. All I could hear was static as I placed the instrument near the President s body. Some people began to doubt if the invention worked. One of the President s men even leaked to the press that I was a faker. Angered by this I even bought a slab of meat, stuck a bullet in it, and proved it worked. But you couldn t get it to work at the White House? No, although I could tell it was much deeper than where the doctors were probing. Did you ever figure out why it didn t work? Years later I later I learned that the President was laying on a steel spring mattress and that was why my instrument was thrown off so badly. I feel terrible thinking that I could have saved the President s life had I been informed of that mattress. But he died of serious infection soon thereafter. A waste. So there you have it Elijah. Even famed inventor Alexander Graham Bell could not find that mysterious bullet. Thanks Ernie. It sounds like the President was ill-served by his physicians in this case. Perhaps at a later time, such a wound would not have been fatal, but for President Garfield, after over two months over suffering, he finally passed away. Soon the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act would be signed into law, ending much of the spoils system that had so angered assassin Charles Guiteau. (pause) For HRN news, I am Elijah Lovejoy reporting. Bennett, William J., America: The Last Best Hope, Nelson Current, Nashville: 2006, p "The Death Of President Garfield, 1881" EyeWitness to History, eyewitnesstohistory.com (1999). Garfield, Chicago Tribune, 3 July 1881.