Annotated Bibliography
Onions are Everywhere!
To understand who you are and where you’re going to go in life, I believe it is important to understand where you have come from. It is important to know where your family has come from and some of the events that have influenced and shaped your family’s story. Before this project, I had little to no knowledge about my family’s history. I did not even know from which country my family originated. The sources I have compiled and used in this project give details about a variety of topics.
I have found resources that give me information about the places from which my ancestors originated. I have compiled sources that helped me to learn more about the Dutch and Dutch culture. Before I researched the Netherlands, I knew nothing at all about them. The only thing about the Dutch I had heard about was the Dutch East India Company, but other than the fact that they were a trading company, I had no clue about them.
The other half of my research involved learning about factors that directly affect my granddaddy. I found information on Vidalia onions, which is the primary crop he grows. There was an article that I found very relevant to my research because I thought it helped to describe Granddaddy. I also found an analysis of a disease that has influenced how Granddaddy has lived his life.
The sources give information about the origins of my family, factors affecting my ancestors’ stories, and descriptions of places my family has lived. I hope that these sources help anyone reading to envision what it was like to be a part of the Hendrix family.
Dutch Heritage
Netherlanders in America: a Study of Emigration and Settlement in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries in the United States of America.
Hinte, J. v., & Swierenga, R. P. (1985). Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Book House, c1985.
This book gives reasons for Dutch immigration to the United States. While the book title indicates that it only provides information on emigration from the Netherlands in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it gives reasons for Dutch migration from the years of the seventeenth century to today. This book tells of events that influenced trends of emigration of Dutch countrymen. It cites reasons such as the discovery of new land, seeking religious freedom, increased sailing capabilities, and wars or conflicts for the reason of Dutch immigration to America. It also describes the experiences that immigrants encountered in America. It tells of the colony that the Dutch had in America, and then it tells where they migrated to after their territory was taken by the British. The book gives descriptions of the development of the Dutch culture in the Americas and how their experiences shaped the beliefs and practices of Dutch-Americans. The study of Dutch migration shows the extent to which the Dutch became Americans and the extent to which they remained Netherlanders. This book explains the significance of the Dutch in the Americas and how they influenced the nation it has become.
The book devotes a few chapters to the reasons for Dutch migration in the seventeenth century. It only includes a small portion of the book dedicated to this period because of the little amount of Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century. The main reason for this emigration from the Netherlands was to flee the Anglo-Dutch War and to start a Dutch colony in the recently found America. The book tells of incentives by the Netherlands to help build the colony in the Americas and the troubles experienced due to conflict with the West India Trading Company.
Netherlanders in America helped me to understand the reasons for my ancestors coming to the Americas. My 10th great-grandfather left the Netherlands sometime in 1665. He emigrated during the peak of the Anglo-Dutch War. He then moved to the Dutch colony of Niewer Amstel, or modern day Manhattan. The book gives a description of the experiences in Niewer Amstel and tells of few settlers’ flight after the British took control of the old Dutch colony. This book helped me learn the reasons for the paths taken by my ancestors on their journey to the Americas.
The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World.
Pollan, M. (2001). (1st ed.). New York: Random House.
The Botany of Desire is a study on the ways that plants have shaped the society is a part of our world today. It followed the history of four plants and analyzed a significant impact it had on modern civilization. It also links a desire that is in human nature that relates to a particular plant. The four plants examined and their corresponding desires are the following: the apple which demonstrates the passion for sweetness, the tulip which shows the desire for beauty, the marijuana which demonstrates the passion for intoxication, and the potato which shows the desire for control.
The central section of this book I focused on was the part in the chapter about the tulip and the desire for beauty. One of the things that the Dutch are famous for is tulips. The author of this book talks about the infatuation with tulips the Netherlanders had in the middle of the seventeenth century. The author refers to this craze as a “tulipomania.” This craze for tulips occurred after the enormous success of the Dutch East India Company. With the newly created wealth that the people of Holland had, the Dutch equated their wealth and success with the quality and elegance of their flower gardens. They found pleasure in owning a flower that served no purpose other than being visibly appealing. Once the tulips became less desirable, the Dutch economy lost the equivalent of millions.
This section that I looked at gave me an idea of what was happening at a time where my ancestors were in the Netherlands. Right after the crash of the tulip industry, my ancestors moved to the Americas. I do not have enough information to know whether or not my family participated in the infamous “tulipomania,” but it does give me an idea about the lifestyle that was typical of a Dutch family during the seventeenth century. I also found it amusing about the Dutch’s infatuation with tulip bulbs. An argument could be made comparing the Dutch tulip bulbs and my family’s Vidalia onion bulbs.
The World’s First Stock Exchange.
Petram, L., Richards, L. M., & ebrary, I. (2014). New York: Columbia University Press.
The Dutch are world renowned for their ability to trade. The Dutch first became known for trade through the Dutch East India Company. The company was the first to use the idea of shares of stocks or issuing bonds to raise money. They often used many practices that can be seen today on Wall Street or any other stock exchange. The company was a response to increased capabilities in naval travel and the era of navigation. The Dutch used this opportunity to become leaders in trade primarily in spices.
I found this source useful to understand more about trade. Because I have ancestors from the Netherlands, I found this to be helpful with my research. My family does not have any traditional Dutch culture that we still practice. One of the few things that my family does share with the Dutch is that we are both traders. My granddaddy’s business is what he is primarily known for. He trades his produce to both large grocery store chains and single local consumers. Random varieties of foods and fruits are often in Granddaddy’s office. He will send produce to some of his produce to people, and instead of paying with money, they pay with other goods they have made or grow. I think of Granddaddy like a master trader. He often goes out to different places and sells his products. I have learned more about my granddaddy and his trading through this source.
Farming
Vidalia Onion Harvesting Is Underway.
Georgia Farm Monitor. (2012 Apr 27). [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6s5Ywbzs0g.
The process of growing Vidalia onions is very complicated. There is the planning, planting, harvesting, and shipping. Growing Vidalia onions is harder than farming traditional onions because the selection process for the onions is much more meticulous. Many onions are left in the fields during a harvest because they do not meet the specifications that a farmer needs to be able to label it a Vidalia. The requirements to sell Vidalia onions include not being able to sell any onions before a set date established by the Vidalia Onion Committee and also the onion having less of a bulb like shape, instead it must have a flat granite shape.
This video focuses on the harvesting process of farming Vidalias. It shows scenes mainly from the middle of an onion field during a harvest. The primary purpose of the video is to demonstrate the techniques of harvesting a Vidalia onion while also showing the people who grow and harvest the onions. They have to pull, clip, and inspect the onions before they are sent to a shed to be graded and shipped. It also tells about the workers that harvest the onions. Vidalia onion farmers use the H2A program, migrant worker program, to harvest and process the onions.
This video is a very accurate representation of what a typical harvest looks like in a Vidalia onion field. Granddaddy has taken me to many onion fields during all parts of the growing process. I have seen fields plowed, planted, maintained, and harvested. Granddaddy does not do any of the processes himself, but he always goes to the farms so that he can make an accurate judgment on what needs to be done to the fields to ensure the betterment of the crops. This video only shows the completed product of Vidalia onions. It does not show the hard work and dedication it shows to produce a crop. Farming is a difficult process, and it is a process that requires someone with dedication, seeing it through to its completion.
Preserving the Name and Quality of Georgia’s Vidalia Onions.
Centner, T. J., & Bryan, J. T. (1988). Athens, Ga. : Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations, College of Agriculture, University of Georgia, 1988.
What sets apart a Vidalia sweet onion apart from any other regular onion? Onions can be found growing all over the continental United States and in other countries, but customers still request to have Vidalia onions. Customers are even willing to pay an increased price for Vidalia onions. Growers can only grow Vidalia onions in a select few counties surrounding Toombs County, Georgia (which is home to the city of Vidalia). This is because there are certain climate and soil conditions required for an onion to acquire the sweet taste that characterizes a Vidalia onion. This book defines what qualifies an onion to make it a ‘Vidalia.’ It tells of rules and requirements growers must follow to be a Vidalia onion grower and seller. It talks about the trademarks and copyrights that the name ‘Vidalia Onion’ owns. This book also gives a few suggestions on what the researchers would do to improve the status of the Vidalia onion.
This book allowed me to understand more about what makes a Vidalia onion so unique. I knew that certain regulations permit the use of the term ‘Vidalia Onion.’ When I was younger, my granddaddy was president of the Vidalia Onion Committee. A few years ago, my dad became the president as well. The president serves a one-year term, and then a new one is selected. This committee holds meetings to maintain the reputation of the Vidalia onion. They are the board that trademarked ‘Vidalia Onion’ and enforce the correct use of the term. They also lobby for legislation to pass that helps increase economic and consumer well-being. When Granddaddy and my dad was president of this committee, they often would comment on when they saw the term ‘Vidalia Onion’ anywhere. More often than not, the place that used the term did not have the permission of the Vidalia Onion Committee to use ‘Vidalia Onion’ on whatever they were selling. When Granddaddy or Daddy saw this, they would make a note of it and let the committee know. Once the board knew, they would reach out to the company using ‘Vidalia Onion’ without permission and notify them that they were violating the trademark owned by the committee. The company then had to pay a fee to continue to use the term or stop advertising as having Vidalia onions.
I selected a book about Vidalia onions because of the extreme amount that they have influenced my family. The onion has been a staple for my family’s well-being. It is the career in which both my granddaddy and dad have invested most of their lives. One of my favorite sayings that I often hear from my dad often comes after a complaint about the smell of an onion. Any time the smell is mentioned, he will say, “Smells like money to me.” Without the onion, my family would not be the same. I have spent most of my life at the farm and spent time with Granddaddy in the fields. It has shaped me into the person I am today, and it also has made my granddaddy and dad who they are.
Tobacco Road.
Howard, W. L. (2010). Masterplots, Fourth Edition, 1–3.
Tobacco Road is a novel about poor sharecroppers in southern Georgia during part of the Great Depression. It tells about the difficulties that the low-income family highlighted, the Lesters, have during these hard times. Their struggles could most likely be avoided if they moved from the traditional rural area that the were living in and moved toward the city. Regardless of the situation, the main character, Jeeter Lester, refuses to leave his land despite the fact that his farming business is failing and he is no longer able to feed his family. Jeeter’s stubbornness eventually leads to his downfall when he and his wife die in flames in his house while he is trying to burn his land to fertilize it. The book ends with Jeeter’s son, Duke, saying that he intends to continue in his father’s footsteps and work as a farmer. This story by Erskine Caldwell shows the loop that the poor, suffering farmers were stuck repeating for generations with no improvement.
My Granddaddy has always told me that he had it spelled out in his last will that I will not be allowed to take over his produce business. I never understood why he always told me this, but this book helped me to understand. Farming is a very cyclical profession. Any environmental change can ruin an entire year for a farmer’s crop and destroy everything they spent an entire year preparing. Farmers have many problems that arise on a daily basis that they have to take care of and must think of creative solutions to solve their problems. These problems arise from nature, but can also come from simple miscommunication.
An example that best exemplifies the problems farmers go through happened when I went home and visited my granddaddy this past weekend. He was having three trees planted and also planting a crop of sunflowers. He had a small row of land cleared for the three trees and a five hundred yard strip of land cleared to plant the sunflowers. He told his workers that he needed three holes dug for the trees, but when Granddaddy went to check on the progress, he saw that they had dug sixty holes in the strip meant for the sunflowers. Granddaddy had to go and get the destroyed land fixed. This was just one of the problems Granddaddy routinely has to go through to fix. It makes sense that he does not want me to continue in the farming industry. He wants me to break free from the cycle of hardships experienced by a farmer.
The Farmers’ Tractorcade is Passing Through Atlanta on Its Way to Washington, D.C.
WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, G. (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.). (2007). Athens, Ga. : Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, University of Georgia Libraries.
Farmers like all Americans have the right to free speech. Farmers are not often in the spotlight of the political scene, but in 1979, farmers cooperated to protest in one of their most cooperative efforts ever seen. This protest was called a “Tractorcade.” All the farmers participating took their tractors to major cities to take part in the protest. Many farmers took their families and attached a mobile home to the back of their tractors. The farmers were protesting because they believed that the government and the citizens of America to back farmers and create a more lucrative market for crops produced by family run farms. The protest was started with the intent to create legislation allowing for the price of the production of the crop to be proportional to the cost of growing the crops. The “Tractorcade” gained much support with nearly one thousand tractors parked in Washington, D.C. and also with farmers on their tractors in many other major cities.
Granddaddy saw this movement and felt the call to protest. He and many other farmers from our area that he is friends with gathered together and planned along with many other farmers to travel to Plains, Georgia. Granddaddy took my grandma, dad, and aunt with him to march on his tractor. They went to Plains because it was the home of the current President, Jimmy Carter. I did not know about Granddaddy being involved in this protest until last summer when I was reading a book about President Jimmy Carter. He told me all about his involvement in the “Tractorcade” and how Granddaddy believed he should get involved if he was being treated unfairly.
“So God Made a Farmer.”
Harvey, Paul. (1978). FFA Convention. Speech.
Paul Harvey was a radio broadcaster and an article writer in the Gadsden Times. He gave this speech at a Future Farmers of America meeting in 1978. He used some elements from his articles in the Gadsden Times and used aspects the story of Creation outlined in the Bible as inspiration for his speech. “So God Made a Farmer” gained significant nationwide attention when RAM trucks used the speech in a commercial for the Super Bowl along with a display of images of farmers and a rural lifestyle.
“So God Made a Farmer” is a testament to the many aspects that characterize a stereotypical farmer. The speech is structured by the speaker telling of what attributes God wanted in someone who could take care of the world he had just created. Harvey named attributes that God wants in a person and ended with “So God made a farmer.” He describes farmers as caring, dedicated, strong but gentle, compassionate, hard-working, and family oriented. He uses this speech to describe all of the attributes of a farmer that makes them who they are. This speech highlights the activities that a farmer participates in as well. Farmers are the backbone of America. They provide a basic human need for the rest of their peers through generally tedious and laborious work.
I chose to use this speech because I believe that it characterizes my granddaddy. Granddaddy has worked his whole life to become the person I know him as today. All desires of God to have in this person he is going to create I believe are exemplified in my granddaddy. While Granddaddy can no longer do the arduous work that is typical of a traditional farmer, he still pushes himself to do the most he can every day, often pushing himself near the point of exhaustion on a daily basis. He does still have the traits described in the speech, along with being brilliant. This speech helped me to realize where the characteristics come from. I know that his upbringing was the most likely contributor to the creation of the person he is today, but this speech helped me to realize that the tasks he did, and still does, as a farmer has shaped his character.
The Life of R.E. Hendrix
The Uses of Adversity.
Gladwell, M. (2016, July 19). Retrieved February 07, 2017, from http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/10/the-uses-of-adversity
This article in The New Yorker Written by Malcolm Gladwell describes the advantages of being an outsider. The article is arguing that while it is commonly thought that to be successful one must come from a family with a significant amount of influence; the real advantage belongs to those that have grown up experiencing hardships, trials, and tribulations. The article tells that often those who grew up in poverty or less than fortunate circumstances may have an unseen advantage in becoming successful.
The article mainly focuses on the life story of Sidney Weinberg. Weinberg was not the traditional sort of business man. He did not go to a prestigious Ivy League school to learn the ins and outs of business. While lacking in business expertise, Weinberg made up for it with his social skills. He gave the impression that he was less intelligent than those he did business with. Weinberg extended his influence by befriending many influential figures and excelling in networking. He told many stories that made his accomplishments seem less impressive, often making himself appear to belong to a lower social class. By doing this, he gained respect and used these anecdotes to humor some of his peers.
This article is not like my other sources of research. It does not directly relate to anyone in my family or the culture that my family comes from. This article served more as an inspiration to me. Reading this is what made me decide to do my project on my granddaddy. I realized that Granddaddy and Sidney Weinberg have a great deal in common. This article helped me to understand the success of my granddaddy. After reading about the advantages of being an outsider, I knew that one of the reasons Granddaddy’s produce business is successful is because of the relationships he has built. His success came from kindness and friendship he constructed with other people. He made relationships with others in the produce business and learned from them. When selling his produce to others, he used his social skills and his drive to succeed gained from an impoverished childhood to become successful.
Descendants of Daniel Hendricks.
Mulnix, P. M. (2005). Sr. Statesboro, GA: Private Publisher.
When I first told my Granddaddy about this project, I told him what I had found on Ancestry.com. I told him about the discovery I made about the locations our ancestors had lived. I told him about our ancestor, Frans Michiel Adriaen Hendrickson, uprooting his family and moving from the Netherlands to the United States. I also said that our family lived primarily in North Carolina until moving to Georgia. As I told Granddaddy this, he was smirking the entire time. When I asked him what was so funny, he said that he had a book that had all of the information I had just given him. He told me that a distant relative of ours that still lives in North Carolina made the book and sent a copy to him. I asked him if I could borrow the book for this project and he was happy to help.
Before this book, I could only find basic information such as census information on my distance ancestors. This book has many details about each family member listed. It includes over three-thousand members. The details about each member gave information about places the person lived, property owned at the time of death, and some included short stories about the life experiences that impacted the person’s life. This book provided many reasons for my family’s migration that I originally could not figure out. It helped me to learn about how my family received the land they lived on and also how they used their land for farming. It gave me an idea of what type of lifestyle my ancestors lived and some of the things that they experienced.
The only people with copies of this book are members of my family. This book is not published for public use because the primary purpose of this book is to find distant relatives. This book allows descendants of Daniel Hendricks Sr. to find their relatives and show the relationship between two family members. This book also has information about the current residence of living members so that family members can reach out and communicate with one another
Images of America: Statesboro, Georgia.
Presley, D. E., & Banks, S. C. (2003). Charleston : Arcadia Pub., 2003.
It is hard to put yourself in the shoes of those who lived before you. There is no way to gain a full understanding of the experiences they went through because of generational gaps. This misunderstanding is best displayed in my opinion when watching a grandparent interact with their young grandchild. The grandchild will hear stories about things experienced by the grandparent and ask questions such as, “What was it like when everything was black and white?” or “How did people talk to each other before they invented sound?” While these questions are something that an innocent child would ask, they show that there is much misunderstanding between generations.
The best way to see the life and experiences of people living years ago is through pictures and videos. A visual description of a place can help the viewer envision themselves in the past situation. This book gives pictures of main areas of Statesboro, Georgia and shows people in their daily lives. The book helps the reader an idea of what the town looked like, what the people of the town looked like, and what some of the activities the people of Statesboro did. Today, the downtown area of Statesboro, Georgia is one that is very uninteresting and often not attracting people to come and visit or do business. Instead, Statesboro has developed its exterior city boundaries and build attractions such as a college, water park, recreation department, paintball and trampoline park, movie theater, and much more. It has evolved into a city that is the primary destination for anyone within a fifty-mile radius seeking to have fun. Many buildings and locations that are shown in this book that can be seen today in Statesboro, Georgia, but many renovations have been made to the old buildings shown in the pictures.
Statesboro is not the city that Granddaddy lived in, but this is because he lived out in the country. He lived in Bulloch County, which is the county that Statesboro is in. It was the place Granddaddy and his family would have to go to interact with others and do their shopping. This book gave me an idea of what Statesboro would have been like when Granddaddy was my age. Before, Statesboro was a smaller city with many people coming to it as a farming center, but now, it is full of new, large buildings and is very spread out almost like an urban city. Growing up, I frequented Statesboro very often because it was a place for fun and had items you could not buy in Metter. I rarely ever went downtown and mainly stayed on one side of the town. I never really fully understood what Statesboro used to be until I started driving Granddaddy around. He had many errands to run in Statesboro and would always ask if I would drive him. He likes to take the route to places that is not fastest, but it has meaning to him. He likes to go through the opposite side of Statesboro. He would tell me that before the bypass on U.S. Route 301 was built that the road we were taking was one of the only roads used to go to Statesboro. The buildings on this road are also the ones in the book. It is easy to tell that the way he likes used to be a very vibrant strip with stores and attractions on it, but now the buildings are showing their age and do not see as much traffic. I believe that Granddaddy still enjoys seeing the buildings and taking his route because it reminds him of when he was younger, and he was driving down the road in its prime.
Multiple Sclerosis. [electronic resource]: Causes, Diagnosis, and Management.
Scholz, E., & Müller, C. (2012). New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2012.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease affecting the central nervous system by causing the degeneration of the covering protecting nerves throughout the body. As the disease continues to develop within a person’s body, lesions begin to form on the brain and the spinal column. These lesions can lead to the development of symptoms such as visual impairments, loss of sensation, muscle loss, fatigue, and cognitive impairment. Nearly two hundred thousand of Americans are diagnosed with MS yearly. There is no known cure for MS, but there are a variety of options available for the treatment to make the quality of life better for those diagnosed with MS. There are a variety of medications and rehabilitation programs available that all can make life easier for MS patients.
Multiple sclerosis does much more than physical impairments on those it affects. My granddaddy has had MS for longer that I remember, and while I can see how it impacts his ability to be mobile, I can tell that the way it impacts him most is emotional. The entire time I have known Granddaddy, he has done everything in his power to ensure my cousins’ and my well being. While he isn’t able to do things such as play sports or go hunting with us, he has found a way to be there to support us. He has been to nearly every sports game I have had and even purchased a special all-terrain like wheelchair so that he can be a part of outdoor activities with us. Before this project, I did not understand much about multiple sclerosis, but since the beginning of this project, I have determined to learn more about the disease that has affected my granddaddy for all of these years. The only positive thing that I can think of that has come from MS is that I get to see Granddaddy and my grandma once a month when they come through Athens on his way to his MS treatment.
