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Levite's Leaven for 2007!
Friends, Romans, Oklahomans...lend me your ears! You all know what leaven it...it's the necessary ingredient in any recipe that needs some "raising." Well, as you may or may not remember, back when I had the store I developed a series I called "Levite's Lessons" which contained everything I was able to get my hands on that had to do with Oklahoma history... everything from book lists to plays I had written...et al. I called it Levite's
Lessons because my little hole-in-the-wall book and blanket shop was called "Levite of Apache" in honor of my maiden name and the warm and wonderful little Oklahoma town that nurtured me as a child.
Well, here's a brand new version of Levite's Lessons which, in honor of our upcoming Centennial celebration...November 16, 2007...I'm calling "Levite's
Leaven for 2007," since I have given the Centennial itself this unofficial slogan: Oklahoma's Heaven in 2007! Feel free to use any and all of the following and if you have something to add, just send it to me and I’ll have it posted on the site. I hope my lessons will be the bit of "Leavening" you need to have the greatest celebration ever. Remember in '89 I had a big "Doin'
Fine in '89" campaign? Well, our dear Sooner State is still "Doin' Fine!" in 2007...in fact, Oklahoma's Heaven in 2007! Be sure to visit the Centennial Book Club.
Levite's Leaven Number One
(for a printer-friendly version, click here)
Because most of your students (I'm pitching this to teachers, but grandmas can use Levite's Leaven, too.) won't have a clue what the word
"leaven" means, go buy some packages of Red Star yeast and whip up some bread so they can see yeast in action. Save the red star on the packages because later on, when you get around to doing the play
"Christmas in a Brand New State" (another Levite's Leaven later on) you're going to need the star for a pattern for the kids to make stars for the tree.
They will cover those stars with tinfoil from chewing gum which you are now going to have them start saving!
Here's my favorite bread recipe because you can do so many things with it including wrap hot dogs in it and bake them or make hamburger buns as well as clover leaf rolls, fold over rolls. After to mix it up you pop it in the frig and if for some reason you forget about it, you'll have sourdough! Don't be intimidated by the length of this recipe...remember, I talk a lot and I'm sure not Martha Stewart!
Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Add sugar, salt, Crisco, and egg. This will look pretty yucky as that Crisco will sort of float around on the water so stir it up...don't beat it...just stir it around so the egg yolk breaks and it gets mixed in with the water and other stuff. Then add the six cups of flour...you don't want to sift it, but you don't want it packed down in the cup either...I suggest spooning the flour into the cup so there's less of it than if you scoop the cup down in the container and pack it down...I usually end up using somewhere between 5 1/2 and 6 cups...after you've done it a few times
you'll get the idea...you don't want the dough to be too sticky, but the lighter the dough the fluffier the rolls. After you've dumped the flour in...work the dough by hand...in the bowl not on a bread board...until
the flour is all worked in to the liquid. You should do this fairly quickly because this stuff really rises in a hurry.
After you have worked all the flour into the liquid, dampen a towel (not paper, a real kitchen towel), wring it out, and put it over the bread (it's
still in the big bowl you started with) in the ice box (Yes, I know, but I can spell "ice box") until you need bread. It will rise up a bunch, so don't put it on a tight shelf. Since the cold air will dry out
the towel over time (a day or so), don't leave it too long without dampening the towel again. When it's time to form the dough into rolls, dust your hands up good with flour...use a bit on the dough itself, but just
enough to keep it from sticking to your hands...and form it into
whatever shape you need.
You are going to let it rise for about an hour, so leave room on the cookie sheet so the buns or hot dogs (if that's what you're using it for) won't touch. If you've making clover leaf or fold overs, it doesn't matter that they touch. Let rise over a pan of hot water and bake at 450 for six minutes to brown the tops then turn the oven down to 350 and bake for ten to twelve minutes longer.
Don't be afraid of bread!
It can't bite you, and if you have a flop, you can always bury it in the back yard!Which is what my sweet mama did when she was a bride! Her bread didn't rise and she didn't want Daddy to make fun of her when he saw it in the garbage pail, so she buried it in the back yard. In Oklahoma in July...which of course activated the yeast! So when Daddy came home in his model T, he sees this mound of dirt in the back yard he was trying to get to grow grass...he, thinking it's a mole, gets a long stick and goes out and begins to poke around. When no mole shows, Daddy goes up and kicks the mound and the bread explodes all over his pants legs!
The story became a family legend.
Levite's Leaven Number Two
On November 16, 1907, when Teddy Roosevelt signed the proclamation which made Oklahoma a state (that proclamation is another
lesson!), that afternoon a wedding ceremony was performed on the steps of the courhouse in Guthrie. The ceremony, presided over by a real minister, united Miss Indian Territory and Mr. Oklahoma Territory in the bonds of
holy matrimony in what has to be one of the move novel events surrounding any state's entry to the union.
The actual ceremony follows and it can be used in a variety of ways. A simple, easy, one-size-fits-all way is to assign parts and
have the kids in your class read aloud seated at their desk...that's if you're lazy...but if you're the kind of teacher I was blessed with, you can perform the play for the entire student body (or at least the class next door)
complete with costumes and maybe even a wedding cake with 100 candles!
THE WEDDING CEREMONY
List of characters:
(These are the real names of the people who played the parts on November 16, 1907 (See Centennial Book Club).
The reporters and writers were in attendance but did not read from their stories as they do in this play. Their parts were added so the audience watching the re-inactment could get a better historical perspective of what happened that day, so their parts and lines could be omitted if you only wanted the wedding ceremony. Feel free to alter this as suits your situtuion.)
Frank Greer, editor and publisher of the Oklahoma State Capital
Kentucky Daisy, newspaper reporter
Marian Tuttle Rock
, author of The Illustrated History of Oklahoma
Helen Candee, report for The Forum, a popular magazine of the time
Dr. Hugh Scott, private secretary of Territorial Gov. Frank Frantz.
Charles Filson, Territorial Secrertery, read Pres. Roosevelt's Statehood
Proclamation
Charles G. Jones of Oklahoma City represented Mr. Oklahoma Territory in
the wedding
Mrs. Anna Bennett
represented Miss Indian Territory. She was of
Cherokee decent.
Rev. Dodson, pastor of the First Baptist church of Guthrie, performed
the mock wedding
William Durant
, Sergeant-at-Arms of the consitutional Convention, gave
away the bride.
Charles Haskell was the Governor Elect
Mrs. Haskell was the wife of the governor
Leslie Niblack, editor of the Guthrie Daily Leader and a justice of the
peace administed the oath of office to the Governor.
Judge Frank Dale, Chief Justice of the Territorial Supreme Court, served
as Master of Ceremonies
Durant:
Hello and welcome. In order to tell of the historic events of November
16, 1907, we would like to invite you all to step back in time with us
to that day and to share with use some of the actual events and news
stories written when the President of the United States, Theodore
Roosevelt, signed the proclamation that made Oklahoma the forty-sixth
state in the Union.
On the same day, Charles N. Haskell took the oath of office as Governor
of the State of Oklahoma. President Roosevelt signed this proclamation
in his office in Washington, D. C. and Governor Haskell took the oath of
office on the steps of the Carnegie Library in Guthrie, which was the
capitol at that time. I am playing the part of William Durant who
served as sergeant-at-arms for the Constitutional Convention.
Reporter Greer:
Hello, my name is Frank Greer, and I am the publisher and editor of the
Oklaoma State Capital Newspaper, the largest newspaper in this new
state. I would like to share with you the story that just recently come
in over the APWire Service: "Press Release: Dated November 16,
1907--Washington, D. C.--"Oklahoma is now a state," smilingly remarked
the President of the United States as he made the concluding flourish
with an eagle quill pen to the statehood proclamation at 10:16 o'clock
in the morning.
"At 10 o'clock, the White House telegraph rooms were directly
connected with both Guthrie and Oklahoma City and the second the
President attached his signature to the proclamation, the information
was flashed to the new state."
Durant:
Ladies and Gentelemen: Mr. Charles Filson, Territorial Secretary (Durant
moves aside.)
Filson:
The following proclamation was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt at
10:16 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, today at the While House in
Washington, D. C.: "I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United
States do declare and announce that the state of Oklahoma is to be
admittted to the Union." (The entire proclamation appears in another
Levite's Leaven and may be read here if desired.) (Filson moves aside.)
(Cheers by the crowd. Maybe have somebody on the stage hold up a sign
that says, "Cheer!")
Reporter Kentucky Daisy:
(She is the woman with blond hair depicted
standing on the cow-catcher of the first train to go into the Run of '89
in an oil painting in the state capitol.)
Hello, my name is Kentucky Daisy. I am a reporter covering this
historic occasion, and I would like to share with you a portion of the
story I will write about today's events: "Seven thousand citizens of
the new state stood in the street facing the south portico of the
Carnegie Library in Guthrie to witness the beginning of the state
government of Oklahoma. Thousands were weary with trying to get within
seeing distance of the ceremonies through the streets in the business
portion of the city. Even the trees on the library grounds were filled
with men and boys. In the outskirts of the crowd was a jam of motor
cars, carriages, and horsemen."
"Noon had almost arrived before the new state officers-elect and their
families appeared. Shortly afterward Governor Haskell came in an open
carriage accompanied by Judge Frank Dale, ex-chief Justice of Oklahoma.
Leslie G. Niblack; and Frank Canton, adjutant general of the state
militia. Judge Dale was Master of Ceremonies on the platform."
Reporter Marion Tuttle Rock:
My name is Marion Tuttle Rock. I am an author and a reporter. These
are a portion of my impressions of the day's events: "Then came the
marriage ceremony which joined Oklahoma and Indian Territory for life.
Charles G. Jones of Oklahoma City, for many years one of the most
tireless champions of joint statehood, was the groom and made the
proposal of marriage to the bride, Miss Indian Territory, who was played
by Mrs. Leo Bennett, wife of the United States Marshal at Muskogee. The
marriage ceremony was performed by the Reverend H. H. Dodson, pastor of
the First Baptist Church of Guthrie.
(wedding party moves into position)
Rev. Dodson:
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness the union of the
Territory of Oklahoma and the Indian Territory into a single state of
Oklahoma. (Gestures to Mr. Jones) Mr. Charles Jones of Oklahoma City.
Jones:
I have been asked to perform the agreeable duty of proposing marriage to
Miss Indian Territory. Though I am only 18 years old, having been born
in Washington, D.C. in 1889, I am capable of assuming the
duties of husband. Miss Indian Terriotry, if I give you my people, my lands, and my resources, will you marry me?
Rev. Dodson:
Representing the Indian Territory is Mrs. Anna Bennett of Muskogee.
(Durant presents Mrs. Bennett to Jones, bows, and steps back.)
Mrs. Bennett:
I will. And to you I present my hand and my fortunes, convinced that
your love is genuine and sincere.
Dodson:
Do you, Mr. Oklahoma Territory, take this woman to be your lawfully
wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forth, in union as the
State of Oklahoma?
Jones:
I do.
Dodson:
Do you, Miss Indian Territory, take this man to be your lawfully wedded
husband, to have and to hold, from this day forth, in union as the State
of Oklahoma?
Mrs. Bennett:
I do.
Dodson:
Under the laws of the United States, and the power vested in me, I now
pronounce you husband and wife.
(couple turns and waves to the crowd, then moves back)
Reporter Candee:
Hello. My name is Helen Candee. I am a reporter for the popular
magazine, The Forum. The following is part of the story I am writing about todays events:
"Every detail had been arranged in advance for providing the new state
with its officials just as soon as the president's signature in Washington made the oath of office possible.
The state office holder's-elect had sent word that they were prepared to enter upon their duties.
The official oath was administered to Governor Haskell at 12:20
o'clock in the afternoon by Leslie Niblack, editor of the Guthrie Leader.
("Governor Haskell and Mr. Niblack move to center.)
Niblack:
Repeat after me. I, Charles Haskell, do solemnly swear...
Haskell:
I, Charles Haskell, do solemnly swear...
Niblack:
...that I will support, obey, and defend...
Haskell:
...that I will support, obey, and defend...
Niblack:
...the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the
State of Oklahoma...
Haskell:
...the Constitution of the United States and the Consitutuion of the
State of Oklahoma...
Niblack:
...and will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity and honor,
so help me God.
Haskell:
...and will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity and honor,
so help me God.
(crowd applauds and cheers, Haskell moves back and Judge Dale moves to
the podium)
Dale:
You are now invited into the Carnegie Library to meet our first State
Governor, Charles Haskell. Please enter through the west door.
(Everyone on the platform moves down to form a reception line to shake
hands with the guest.)
That ends the wedding ceremony! When you find errors in the typing,
remember, I'm an author, not a computer whiz, so I don't know how to
work things like spell checkers and such! If you remember, I was a
founding member of the Lead Pencil Club and would have liked to written
this out for you on a Big Chief Table using a pencil!
MLG
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