Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Person, Place, and Thing: August 24-31

 


Person.


On August 24, 1814, British forces captured Washington DC and burned the Capitol and the Executive Mansion. While President Madison was on the outskirts of the city with troops, First Lady Dolly Madison is credited with saving many valuable objects, like this Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. Of course, she couldn't have done it without Paul Jennings. Enslaved by the Madisons, he was an integral part of the household and wrote a memoir of his experiences, the first White House memoir, A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison.

Jennings (1799-1874) was born to an enslaved mother who told him that his father was an English trader named Jennings. He served as companion to Dolley's son, Payne Todd, then transitioned to Madison's "body servant" or valet. He and the Madisons moved into the White House when he was 10. During the burning of Washington, Jennings (15), the French chef, and a couple of other enslaved men secured the painting and some other valuables and assisted Dolley in her flight, just ahead of the British troops

He served Madison for the rest of Madison's life, and then served Dolley, who wrote a will freeing him in her death. However, suffering financial hardship, she sold him. Senator Daniel Webster purchased him six months later and freed him. In 1848, he helped plan a failed escape attempt by 77 enslaved people.

He continued to live in DC, building a house at 1804 L Street, NW. His son John lived with him, his daughter lived next door, and his two other sons lived nearby. He died in 1874.

Place.

On August 24, 1814, British forces captured Washington DC and burned the Capitol and the Executive Mansion. While President Madison was on the outskirts of the city with troops, First Lady Dolly Madison is credited with saving many valuable objects, like this Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. Of course, she couldn't have done it without Paul Jennings. Enslaved by the Madisons, he was an integral part of the household and wrote a memoir of his experiences, the first White House memoir, A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison.

From Wikipedia:

Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, a British force led by Major General Robert Ross marched to Washington. That night, British forces set fire to multiple government and military buildings, including the White House (then called the Presidential Mansion), the Capitol building, as well as other facilities of the U.S. government. The attack was in part a retaliation for American destruction in Upper Canada: U.S. forces had burned and looted its capital the previous year and then had burned buildings in Port Dover. Less than a day after the attack began, a heavy thunderstorm—possibly a hurricane—and a tornado extinguished the fires. The occupation of Washington lasted for roughly 26 hours.


Things.

On August 24, 1814, British forces captured Washington DC and burned the Capitol and the Executive Mansion. While President Madison was on the outskirts of the city with troops, First Lady Dolly Madison is credited with saving many valuable objects, like this Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. Of course, she couldn't have done it without Paul Jennings. Enslaved by the Madisons, he was an integral part of the household and wrote a memoir of his experiences, the first White House memoir, A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison.

From The White House Historical Association:

Completed in 1797, Gilbert Stuart’s painting of was the first piece of artwork purchased for display in the White House.

On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British troops invaded Washington, D.C. First Lady Dolley Madison ordered the Washington painting to be saved, and it was taken down off the wall and sent out of harm’s way by a group of individuals--Jean Pierre Sioussat, the White House steward; Paul Jennings, an enslaved worker; Thomas McGrath, the White House gardener; and two men from New York, Jacob Barker and Robert G.L. De Peyster. Later that night, British troops set fire to the White House and destroyed many of the first family’s possessions. They could not, however, claim the capture or destruction of George Washington’s famous portrait. The portrait currently hangs in the East Room of the White House, paired with a full-length portrait of Martha Washington.



Person.

On August 25, 1835, the first of six articles, allegedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Courant, appeared in the New York Sun. The stories were written by Dr. Andrew Grant, an associate of one of one of the most respected scientists of the time, Sir John Herschel. They claimed that Herschel had discovered life on the moon using a new super telescope. The articles even contained illustrations, based on Herschel's descriptions, of bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal and tail-less beavers, and bat-winged humanoids who built temples when they weren't fluttering around.

The public was amazed. The Sun saw an increase in sales. Alas, the last article broke the news that a fire had destroyed the observatory and telescope. In 1840, a reporter, Richard Adams Locke admitted to making it all up as a satire of some astronomers' absurd claims being made at the time, including the claim that ruins of buildings, walls, and roads were visible on the moon's surface. Edgar Allen Poe accused Locke, his editor at the time, of plagiarism. Poe had written an earlier moon hoax story that was published in June 1835, but it didn't receive as much attention. Herschel was amused in the beginning, but he soon grew tired of being asked about the "discoveries "

It doesn't seem that Herschel was the target of the satire, just a respected name to attach to the story. Herschel (1792-1871) was a true polymath: mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, photographer and botanist. He invented the blueprint. He named 7 moons of Saturn and 4 moons of Uranus. (His father, Sir William, had discovered Uranus.) He investigated color blindness, astigmatism, and ultraviolet rays. He was one of the first photographers in England. He also discovered four galaxies. And, in all of his spare time, he translated Homer's Iliad.

The Sun and the Moon takes the reader through the entire hoax and the world of 1830s journalism.

Place.

On August 25, 1835, the first of six articles, allegedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Courant, appeared in the New York Sun. The stories were written by Dr. Andrew Grant, an associate of one of one of the most respected scientists of the time, Sir John Herschel. They claimed that Herschel had discovered life on the moon using a new super telescope that used a lens 24 feet in diameter and 7 tons of weight.

Through the telescope, the articles claimed that the moon was an enchanting wonderland of fantastic flora and fauna. There was lush vegetation and white sandy beaches. In the woods, there were brown bison-like quadrupeds, and bluish single-horned goats were in a valley. There were small reindeer, mini zebras, and beavers who walked on two legs and lacked tails. The fourth article (The articles were published as if they represented daily bulletins of discoveries, breaking news.) revealed the sighting of four feet tall winged humanoids.

Thing.

On August 25, 1835, the first of six articles, allegedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Courant, appeared in the New York Sun. The stories were written by Dr. Andrew Grant, an associate of one of one of the most respected scientists of the time, Sir John Herschel. The stories, about fantastic, and totally fabricated, observations of life in the moon's surface caused quite a stir and increased sales.

Edgar Allan Poe accused the reporter, Richard Adams Locke, - Poe's editor at the time - of plagiarism. Poe had published "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall" in June 1835, but it attracted almost no attention. He also intended it to be published in installments, but the Great Moon Hoax totally eclipsed his stories and derailed their publication. The basic story was that Hans Pfaall traveled to the moon and met with its inhabitants before returning to Earth.

Nevertheless, "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall" and another story, "The Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym," are generally regarded as being among the earliest science fiction stories ever written. Poe is regarded as one of the inventors of the genre. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" also makes him an inventor of the detective story.


Person.

Charles Lindbergh (born 1902) died on August 26, 1974.

After he became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1927, Lindbergh became perhaps the most famous man in the world. He and his family had few moments away from crowds of admirers and reporters. This was even more true after his oldest son was kidnapped and murdered in 1932. The media frenzy led him to take his family to Europe for the last half of the 1930s.

As Europe marched toward war, Lindbergh became the leading figure of the anti-interventionist, neutrality at all costs, America First movement. Determined to avoid being dragged into another European war, many Americans wanted the US to remain neutral, and America's greatest hero, "The Lone Eagle," brought considerable clout and celebrity to their cause. Besides neutrality, he was a staunch anticommunist and a firm believer in eugenics and Nordicism (Nordic racial superiority). His views on race and eugenics were often quoted by the German propaganda machine, and he was treated as a hero on his visits to Nazi Germany, even receiving medals from Air Marshal Goering. Although he did condemn concentration camps and Nazi treatment of Jews, he often made anti-Semitic remarks and had a long friendship with fellow Jew-hater Henry Ford, who once said "When Charles comes (to visit)..., we only talk about the Jews." While considered a Nazi sympathizer by most historians, he never voiced or wrote anything so explicit.

Lindbergh had six children with his wife Anne, but in the 1980s, another Lindbergh mystery started unraveling. Beginning in 1957, he started three separate and secret German families: 3 children with one woman, 2 with her sister, and 2 more with his former private secretary. One of the German children put the facts together, but waited until her mother and Anne Lindbergh were both dead to go public.

The Plot Against America (also HBO series) imagines an America in which Lindbergh had won the Presidency in 1940 (He flirted with running.)

Place.

Charles Lindbergh (born 1902) died on August 26, 1974.

After he became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1927, Lindbergh became perhaps the most famous man in the world. He and his family had few moments away from crowds of admirers and reporters. This was even more true after his oldest son was kidnapped and murdered in 1932. The media frenzy led him to take his family to Europe for the last half of the 1930s.

On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., 20-months-old, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey, United States. On May 12, the child's corpse was discovered by a truck driver by the side of a nearby road. Contrary to the contemporary headline, it's thought that the child may have fallen or been dropped in the kidnapping, resulting in his death.

In September 1934, a German immigrant carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the crime. After a trial that lasted from January 2 to February 13, 1935, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Despite his conviction, he continued to profess his innocence, but all appeals failed and he was executed in the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison on April 3, 1936. The crime spurred Congress to pass the Federal Kidnapping Act, commonly called the "Little Lindbergh Law" which made transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines a federal crime.

$14,000 of the ransom money and other pieces of evidence were found in Hauptmann's garage. He claimed that those items belonged to a friend. No one else was ever tried. There have been authors and analysts who have supported Hauptmann's innocence and put forward other theories.


Thing.

Charles Lindbergh (born 1902) died on August 26, 1974.

Besides pilot, celebrity, anti-Semite, political activist, eugenicist, possible Nazi sympathizer, nearly a presidential candidate, and serial adulterer, Charles Lindbergh was an inventor.

In 1931, he started working with Nobel prize winning Dr. Alexis Carrel, and, in 1935, their collaboration produced a perfusion pump.

The glass pump was used to preserve animal organs outside the body, by pushing "artificial blood" through the pump and into the organ by way of a tube connected to the organ's artery keeping the organ alive for weeks. The Lindbergh-Carrel perfusion pump led to the development of the heart-lung machine and the feasibility of stopping the heart for open-heart surgery. Only a couple of dozen were produced, but these three are in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Lindbergh was inspired by his wife's sister's heart condition. Heart surgery of the type she required was not feasible because the heart would be stopped too long. This pump, although very simple in design, made certain surgeries more possible. Over the next few years, improved devices made Lindbergh's pump obsolete.


Person.

Emmanuel Radnitzky was born in Philadelphia on August 27 1890. (Died 1976) He was better known as Man Ray. He called himself a painter first, but he is best known for his avant garde photography. He's considered one of the great artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements, although he would object to being classified.

During his lifetime, he revealed almost no personal details of his life. He was born to Jewish immigrants. He followed his older brother's lead in changing his name to Ray to fend off anti-Semitism. His father worked in the garment industry, and the family did tailoring in their home. Ray's art contains mannequins, flat irons, sewing machines, needles, pins, threads, fabric swatches, even though he wished to dissociate himself from his family background.

He experimented with various art forms, including collages, filmmaking, kinetic art, and readymades ( repurposing an ordinary object as something else). He worked with artists like Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali from time to time, and his work appeared in the first ever Surrealist exhibition alongside the work of Jean Arp, Joan Miro, and Picasso.

Man Ray is one of the real life characters, artists and writers, appearing as minor characters in The Bones of Paris by Laurie King. (It is the second in a series, but it's not absolutely essential to read the first.) Bones is set in 1920s Paris. The Jazz Age, Surrealism, the Lost Generation, the hedonism of the Roaring 20s - it's all there as background of a mystery suspense thriller. King also writes the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series pairing a 15 year old girl with the great detective to solve crimes.


Place.

Emmanuel Radnitzky was born in Philadelphia on August 27 1890. (Died 1976) He was better known as Man Ray. He called himself a painter first, but he is best known for his avant garde photography. He's considered one of the great artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements, although he would object to being classified.

Man Ray is one of the real life characters, artists and writers, appearing as minor characters in The Bones of Paris by Laurie King. Much of the story takes place in and around Montmartre, a large hill in Paris' 18th arrondissement. The district contains about 150 acres and is dominated by the white-domed Basilica of the Sacre-Couer, consecrated in 1919 after its 1875 groundbreaking. Many artists and writers lived in Montmartre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it was also a very active nightclub district. In the 1920s, there were jazz clubs and clubs that offered much more adult entertainment.

Montmartre today attracts many tourists, and it's probably my favorite part of Paris. I would love to see it again.

Thing.

Emmanuel Radnitzky was born in Philadelphia on August 27 1890. (Died 1976) He was better known as Man Ray. He called himself a painter first, but he is best known for his avant garde photography. He's considered one of the great artists of the Dada and Surrealist movements, although he would object to being classified.

Man Ray is one of the real life characters, artists and writers, appearing as minor characters in The Bones of Paris by Laurie King.

When Ray moved to Paris in 1921 he rediscovered an old technique of the camera less photogram, which he called "rayographs." Photograms are made by putting objects directly onto the surface of a light-sensitive material like photographic paper and exposing it to light. The photogram or rayograph became a popular technique for Dada, Constructivism, and Bauhaus artists.


Person.

I finished Icepick Surgeon and immediately started a book about one of the subjects in Sam Kean's book, the botanist-pirate William Dampier. If you're a fan of the comedy series "Our Flag Means Death," inspired by real-life gentleman-pirate Stede Bonnet, you'd also be interested in Dampier.

Dampier (c. 1651-1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, cartographer, and naturalist. He was the first Englishman to explore parts of Australia, before James Cook, the first person to circumnavigate the globe three times, and his journals provide copious notes on plants, animals, foods, cooking techniques, and cultures from around the world. He added dozens of words to the English language, like avocado. He was the first European to describe the making of guacamole. He is cited at least 80 times in the Oxford English Dictionary for words he introduced into English.

His travel and scientific journals and books inspired Daniel Defoe (Dampier rescued Alexander Selkirk, the abandoned sailor who inspired Robinson Crusoe.), Jonathan Swift, Charles Darwin, Alexander von Humboldt, Alfred Russell Wallace, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Joseph Banks. He collected the first data on currents, winds, and tides across all the world's oceans, a huge contribution to navigation that was used by James Cook, Horatio Nelson and countless others.

He died in London sometime in 1715, but nothing is known of the exact circumstances. His will was probated on March 23, 1715. For all of his fame, notoriety, and contributions to science, his estate was almost £2,000 in debt.

Place.

I finished Icepick Surgeon and immediately started a book about one of the subjects in Sam Kean's book, the botanist-pirate William Dampier. If you're a fan of the comedy series "Our Flag Means Death," inspired by real-life gentleman-pirate Stede Bonnet, you'd also be interested in Dampier.

William Dampier became one or if the first Englishmen to step foot on Australian soil when he sailed into King Sound, northwest Australia, in 1688. At the time, the mainland was called New Holland, the name the Dutch explorer Tasman had given it in 1644. He explored southward along the coast, documenting some of Australia's Flora and fauna and interacting with Aborigines, reaching what he named Shark Bay. He was prevented from circumnavigating the continent by a series of violent storms and the sinking of one of his ships. If he had made it to the east coast, he would be credited with the European discovery of Australia 50 years before Captain James Cook.

Things.
Words.

I finished Icepick Surgeon and immediately started a book about one of the subjects in Sam Kean's book, the botanist-pirate William Dampier. If you're a fan of the comedy series "Our Flag Means Death," inspired by real-life gentleman-pirate Stede Bonnet, you'd also be interested in Dampier.

In the course of documenting his many natural history, cultural, navigational, and other scientific explorations and discoveries, William Dampier is credited with introducing 1,000 words to the English language. Shakespeare gets credit for up to 1,700.

Here are just a few:
Avocado, Barbeque, Breadfruit, Cashew, Chopsticks, Posse, Tortilla

Read Diana and Michael Preston's book A Pirate of Exquisite Mind to learn more about the far too unknown scientist-pirate William Dampier.



Person.

On August 29, 1793, the revolutionary French Republic declared an end to slavery both in France and in her colonies, including Saint-Domingue, now Haiti. However the enslaved Haitians had already been fighting an extremely bloody war against the French in their quest for freedom, and the Haitian Revolution would continue until 1804. It was more than just a simple slave rebellion. In fact, "It's complicated" is a major understatement. The fighting included black, biracial, French, Spanish, British, and even Polish participants before it was done, the only slave upraising that led to the founding of a new state.

The national hero that emerged from the rebellion was Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743-1803), the "father of Haiti." L'Ouverture was born enslaved but became a freedman who identified as French and tried to climb the rigid social ladder of Saint-Domingue, as a planter, slave owner, coachman, mule driver, and miller at various times.

He joined the revolution near its start in 1791, allied with Spaniards who sought to destabilize the French colony. Then, he allied with the French after slavery was abolished, and he established control over the colony, fighting revolutionary rivals to keep his power. When Emperor Napoleon attempted to reestablish control, he again led the fight against the French. In 1802, he was invited to a parley to discuss peace, but the French arrested him and sent him to France where he died without seeing the true independence for which he had laid the foundation.

Isabel Allende is one of the biggest selling foreign language novelists in the US. In 2010, she published Island Beneath the Sea, an historical fiction epic that tells a story of Saint-Domingue and the Haitian Revolution from around 1770 through to the early 1800s, through the eyes of the young enslaved mistress of a French plantation owner


Place.

On August 29, 1793, the revolutionary French Republic declared an end to slavery both in France and in her colonies, including Saint-Domingue, now Haiti. However the enslaved Haitians had already been fighting an extremely bloody war against the French in their quest for freedom, and the Haitian Revolution would continue until 1804. It was more than just a simple slave rebellion. In fact, "It's complicated" is a major understatement. The fighting included black, biracial, French, Spanish, British, and even Polish participants before it was done, the only slave upraising that led to the founding of a new state.

Saint -Domingue was a French colony in the western portion of Hispaniola from 1659 to 1804, now Haiti. The Spanish controlled the eastern half, Santo Domingo until 1844, now the Dominican Republic. Hispaniola had first been claimed for Spain by Columbus, but French buccaneers established bases on Hispaniola and Tortuga that were officially recognized as French colonies by King Louis XIV.

The economy of Saint-Domingue soon focused on slave-based agricultural plantations, and the black enslaved population exploded. Native Americans were also captured in Louisiana and shipped to Saint-Domingue. Plantations grew cattle, coffee, cocoa, coconuts, indigo, spices, tobacco, and sugar. The colony was known as the "Pearl of the Antilles," the richest colony in the French empire. By 1789, Saint -Domingue produced half of all the sugar and coffee consumed in the Americas and Europe.

Enslaved people were harshly and cruelly treated, and there was a high mortality rate, meaning large numbers of Africans were shipped in to replace the fallen labor.

Thing.

On August 29, 1793, the revolutionary French Republic declared an end to slavery both in France and in her colonies, including Saint-Domingue, now Haiti. However the enslaved Haitians had already been fighting an extremely bloody war against the French in their quest for freedom, and the Haitian Revolution would continue until 1804.

Before the Haitian Revolution, a very rigid and unique caste system had developed.

From Wikipedia:
"The first group were white colonists, or les blancs. This group was generally subdivided into the plantation owners and a lower class of whites who often served as overseers or day laborers, as well as artisans and shopkeepers.

The second group were free people of color, or gens de couleur libres, who were usually mixed-race (sometimes referred to as mulattoes), being of both African and French descent. These gens de couleur tended to be educated and literate, and the men often served in the army or as administrators on plantations. Many were children of white planters and enslaved mothers, or free women of color. Others had purchased their freedom from their owners through the sale of their own produce or artistic works. Some gens de couleur owned and operated their own plantations and became slave owners.

The third group, outnumbering the others by a ratio of ten to one, was made up of mostly African-born slaves. A high rate of mortality among them meant that planters continually had to import new slaves. This kept their culture more African and separate from other people on the island."



Person.

Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797. Her mother, who died shortly after her birth, was author, feminist, and activist Mary Wollstonecraft, and her father was philosopher and author William Godwin. She has an unusual upbringing for the time as a result, receiving much more education, albeit informal, than most of her contemporaries, male and female.

At 17, she began an affair with married piet Percy Bysshe Shelley. With he stepsister, she and Percy began an extended European tour. She and Percy married in 1816, following his wife's suicide. They spent the summer of 1816 near Geneva Switzerland with Lord Byron and John William Polidori, writing, boating, and having deep late night conversations.

One night, they took turns reading German ghost stories, and Byron challenge himself and the others to each write a horror story. She began writing, inspired by the work of several scientists of the age who were using electricity in their experiments. The short story became a novel, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. In 1822, Percy drowned, and Mary returned to England, with their one surviving child (of four). She wrote a few more novels but spent much of her time editing the works of Percy and others. She died in 1851, following a decade of illness likely caused by a brain tumor.

Place.

Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797.

From Wikipedia:

"The Villa Diodati is a mansion in the village of Cologny near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, notable because Lord Byron rented it and stayed there with John Polidori in the summer of 1816. Mary Shelley and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who had rented a house nearby, were frequent visitors. Because of poor weather, in June 1816 the group famously spent three days together inside the house creating stories to tell each other, two of which were developed into landmark works of the Gothic horror genre: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and The Vampyre, the first modern vampire story, by Polidori."

Thing.

Mary Shelley was born on August 30, 1797.

Shelley was inspired by a growing branch of science called galvanism. The term was invented by Alessandro Volta in the late 18th century and comes from the name of Luigi Galvani. It involves applying electricity to muscle tissue to make it twitch or move - restoring "life ".During the 1800s, electricity was used for all sorts of medical purposes. Some tests proved promising. Most strayed into the world of quackery.




Persons.

Around this time in possibly 1142 or somewhere between 1450 and 1660, five separate Native American tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, joined together to form the Iroquois, the Iroquois League, the Iroquois Confederacy, the Five Nations (Six in the 1700s when the Tuscarora joined). The nation's shared similar cultures and spoke languages from the same family, and they made peace among themselves and agreed to unite to discuss and act together when necessary. The Iroquois also call themselves the Haudenosaunee or the Ongweh'onweh.

As you can already tell, historians don't agree on many facts about the formation of the Iroquois. Some Iroquois legends put the unification even further back, by 1000-2000 years. Legend has it that the tribes were brought together by the Great Peacemaker, an Onondaga and/or Mohawk leader named Hiawatha, and the "Mother of Nations," Jigonhsasee.

Hiawatha was a real leader (not Longfellow's Hiawatha though) who united the tribes, but we know almost nothing about him. The Great Peacemaker had the vision but was not gifted with the oratory skill to present his vision. He chose Hiawatha to be his spokesperson, and they traveled amongst the nations. Jigonhsasee is said to have provided her home as a venue for meetings of the leaders of the tribes.

The Iroquois, Huron, and Algonquin (Algongkin) nations controlled much of what is now the northeastern US and eastern Canada, often warring with each other, and, after European arrival, allying with either the French or the English in their wars of colonial conquest.

Black Robe is a great historical fiction novel (and great 1991 film). Set in the 17th century, it depicts the adventures and struggles of a young Jesuit missionary, traveling 1500 miles of wilderness to found a mission in New France. Along the way, he encounters Iroquois, Huron and Algonquin.


Place.

Around this time in possibly 1142 or somewhere between 1450 and 1660, five separate Native American tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, joined together to form the Iroquois, the Iroquois League, the Iroquois Confederacy, the Five Nations (Six in the 1700s when the Tuscarora joined). The nation's shared similar cultures and spoke languages from the same family, and they made peace among themselves and agreed to unite to discuss and act together when necessary. The Iroquois also call themselves the Haudenosaunee or the Ongweh'onweh.

At its peak in about 1700, Iroquois control extended from what is now New York state, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec, and south into Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ohio River Valley.

The League was governed by a Grand Council, an assembly of 50 chiefs or sachems, each representing a clan of a nation. The Iroquois League inspired thoughts of unity and governance among colonial leaders like Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.


Thing.

Around this time in possibly 1142 or somewhere between 1450 and 1660, five separate Native American tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, joined together to form the Iroquois, the Iroquois League, the Iroquois Confederacy, the Five Nations (Six in the 1700s when the Tuscarora joined).

From Wikipedia:
"The Hiawatha Belt is a wampum belt that symbolizes peace between the five tribes of the Iroquois. The belt depicts the tribes in a specific order from left to right. The Seneca are furthest to the left, representing them being the Keepers of the Western Door. Next is the Cayuga Tribe, and in the center of the belt, depicted with a different symbol, is the Onondaga Tribe, also known as the Keepers of the Central Fire. Next is the Oneida Tribe. Finally, shown farthest to the right is the Mohawk Tribe, depicted as the Keepers of the Eastern Door. The white line connecting all of the symbols for each tribe together represents the unity of the Iroquois. It also represents the gathering from the Great Law of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy as a whole."

The belt is the inspiration for the flag of the Iroquois Confederacy.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Person, Place, and Thing: August 16-23

 



Person.

On August 16, 1812, American General Hull surrendered Detroit and Michigan territory to British Major General Sir Isaac Brock, whose force included Native American allies led by Tecumseh.

Tecumseh (c. 1768-1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who was a masterful orator. Assisted by his brother Tenskwatawa, aka The Prophet, he traveled throughout the Midwest and as far South as Georgia and Alabama urging all Indians to unite against the encroaching American settlers, to reject European influences, and to return to a more traditional lifestyle. He told his listeners that the land belonged to all tribes and should not be ceded unless all tribes agreed.

His message alarmed the American government and General William Henry Harrison was sent to Indiana to disrupt the movement. In 1811, while Tecumseh was recruiting in the South, Harrison defeated Tenskwatawa at the Battle of Tippecanoe (giving him his 1840 presidential campaign slogan).

When the War of 1812 started, Tecumseh allied with the British. After victory at Fort Detroit, his forces suffered losses in Ohio and Indiana. He and the British retreated into Canada, where he was killed in the Battle of the Thames in October 1813, and his confederacy fell apart.

Tecumseh is an honored hero in Canada today for defending Canada in the War of 1812. Indigenous populations in Canada and the US see him as a great hero. Many European and American whites of the 1800s saw him as the embodiment of the "noble savage" archetype (hence Gen. William TECUMSEH Sherman). He has been particularly admired in Germany, even used in Nazi propaganda. Historians have only been able to unravel fact from fiction in the late 20th century, as many legends developed over the years.

A Sorrow in Our Hearts is one of several good biographies.

Place.

On August 16, 1812, American General Hull surrendered Detroit and Michigan territory to British Major General Sir Isaac Brock, whose force included Native American allies led by Tecumseh.

Indiana Territory was organized in 1800, and William Henry Harrison was appointed Governor. He negotiated several treaties with local tribes, ceding some 3 million acres in total for new settlers. Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa ( The Prophet) opposed the treaties. Harrison and Tecumseh met several times, but the meetings were unproductive. Tecumseh unwisely told Harrison that he was going south to meet with the Muscogee (Creek) and Choctaw, and he wanted "no mischief" until he returned. That left Tenskwatawa, no military or political strategist, in charge. Harrison badgered the federal government for permission to attack. The Secretary of War issued orders to preserve peace unless provoked. Harrison leveled numerous charges against Tenskwatawa's people, and he assembled a thousand Army regulars, militia, and volunteers. The force marched on Prophetstown, Tenskwatawa's village.

Accounts of the attack disagree, but some Indians attacked Harrison's position. Tenskwatawa and other leaders swore that no order was given., But he did promise to cast spells to ensure victory. The battle lasted 2 hours; Harrison has 188 dead and wounded; Indians about 150. Enraged by The Prophet's failure (He blamed his wife for desecrating his magic bag ), the surviving Indians disappeared overnight. Harrison destroyed Prophetstown the next day and took the nickname Tippecanoe to Presidential victory in 1840.

Thing.

On August 16, 1812, American General Hull surrendered Detroit and Michigan territory to British Major General Sir Isaac Brock, whose force included Native American allies led by Tecumseh.

For many white Americans and Europeans, Tecumseh represented the archetypal "Noble Savage." At the end of a long gallery in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art there is a ton of marble that, after nearly 20 years of intermittent work, was completed in 1856 by Frederick Pettrich, a German-born, Italian-trained sculptor. It's called "The Dying Tecumseh," but it bears no resemblance to Tecumseh. (Nobody is sure what Tecumseh looked like.) It does resemble classical Greco-Roman works of dying warriors or gladiators.

Tecumseh was highly romanticized in works of art, drama, poetry, and literature throughout the 19th century. This sculpture even sat in the US Capitol from 1864 to 1878.



Persons.

George Orwell's Animal Farm, another of my favorite novels that too few students are reading these days, was first published in the UK in August 17, 1945. Orwell, a devoted Socialist, despised Stalin and Stalinism and wrote Animal Farm as a satirical allegory. It went unpublished for a couple of years because many of the British intelligentsia were infatuated with communism and Stalin. It was rejected by numerous British and American publishers during WWII, when Stalin was an ally, finally being published at the dawn of the Cold War.

A few characters and their models:
Old Major - Marx and Lenin combo
Napoleon - Stalin
Snowball -Leon Trotsky
Young Pigs - Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov: former Communist Party higher ups executed in the Great Purge

Mr. Jones - Tsar Nicholas II
Benjamin the Donkey - suggested to be Orwell himself - skeptical, cynical
Moses the Raven - the Russian Orthodox Church, allowed to come back by Stalin as long as it supported him

I decided to re-read Animal Farm a couple of months ago and found this really interesting graphic novel version.

Places.

George Orwell's Animal Farm, another of my favorite novels that too few students are reading these days, was first published in the UK in August 17, 1945. Orwell, a devoted Socialist, despised Stalin and Stalinism and wrote Animal Farm as a satirical allegory. It went unpublished for a couple of years because many of the British intelligentsia were infatuated with communism and Stalin. It was rejected by numerous British and American publishers during WWII, when Stalin was an ally, finally being published at the dawn of the Cold War.

Of course, Animal Farm was not available in the USSR; it became available in Russia in 1991.

Surprisingly, it is not banned in China, but the government bans all media and social media mentions of it.

The ultra conservative John Burch Society challenged Animal Farm in 1965 because of references to the masses revolting.

From 1979-82, access was limited in Dekalb County, Georgia, schools due to its "political theories "

In Bay County, Florida, in 1987, the Superintendent of Schools banned Animal Farm.

In 2017, it was removed from the Stonington, Connecticut curriculum.

It routinely lands on lists of most challenged and banned books.

Thing
Operation Aedinosaur

George Orwell's Animal Farm, another of my favorite novels that too few students are reading these days, was first published in the UK in August 17, 1945. Orwell, a devoted Socialist, despised Stalin and Stalinism and wrote Animal Farm as a satirical allegory. It went unpublished for a couple of years because many of the British intelligentsia were infatuated with communism and Stalin. It was rejected by numerous British and American publishers during WWII, when Stalin was an ally, finally being published at the dawn of the Cold War.

Between 1952 and 1957, The Central Intelligence Agency launched millions of ten-foot balloons carrying miniature copies of Animal Farm (and Dr. Zhivago, another novel banned in the USSR) into Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. This was called Operation Aedinosaur, and Soviet and satellite forces were kept busy trying to shoot down the balloons.



Person.

On August 18, 1872 Montgomery Ward & Company sent out its first mail order catalog, a single sheet of paper containing 163 items. Sears soon followed, and rural Americans now had access to more goods than they could ever have seen in their local general store. All they had to do was give their mailman the form and money, and a, few weeks later, it would be theirs. Even into the 1970s and 1980s, small towns like my hometown had Sears catalog stores where customers could place, pick up, and return orders. I had Christmases as a child when everything came from Sears, and the arrival of the Sears "Wish Book" Christmas catalog was a big day in my house.

Aaron Montgomery Ward (1843 or 1844 - 1913) was born in New Jersey but grew up in Michigan where he started selling shoes before moving up to be general manager of a country store. In 1865, he moved to Chicago and worked as a salesman for various companies, traveling throughout the Midwest. He realized that there was a huge untapped rural market for the goods that were being mass produced in bigger numbers than ever before, but they couldn't shop in Chicago or other cities.

He had the idea of marketing directly to those customers. Mist of his friends and potential investors thought he was crazy, and his first inventory was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire, but he persevered, and business took off. Richard Sears didn't join the catalog business until 1896.

Reproductions of Sears and Ward catalogs from the late 1800s are available today, and I used them in my classroom. (Check Histocrats dot blogspot dot com , under the classroom tab)

Place.

Everyone, of course, is familiar with the Sears Tower, now the Willis Tower, in Chicago. When completed in 1974, it was the world's tallest building for a while. However, Sears was still following Montgomery Ward's lead. The Montgomery Ward Tower, on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Madison Street, was a major tourist attraction in Chicago well into the 1900s.

On August 18, 1872 Montgomery Ward & Company sent out its first mail order catalog, a single sheet of paper containing 163 items. Sears soon followed, and rural Americans now had access to more goods than they could ever have seen in their local general store. All they had to do was give their mailman the form and money, and a, few weeks later, it would be theirs. Even into the 1970s and 1980s, small towns like my hometown had Sears catalog stores where customers could place, pick up, and return orders. I had Christmases as a child when everything came from Sears, and the arrival of the Sears "Wish Book" Christmas catalog was a big day in my house.


Thing.

Aaron Montgomery Ward was a civic leader in Chicago. In the last decade of his life (died 1913), he led the fight to preserve Grant Park. He believed it was essential to keep public access to a city park on the lake available to all citizens. He filed and supported several lawsuits to force the city to remove encroaching buildings and to stop future construction. He was known as "the watch dog of the lake," and, to this day, there are construction and code requirements known as the "Montgomery Ward restrictions."

On August 18, 1872 Montgomery Ward & Company sent out its first mail order catalog, a single sheet of paper containing 163 items. Sears soon followed, and rural Americans now had access to more goods than they could ever have seen in their local general store. All they had to do was give their mailman the form and money, and a, few weeks later, it would be theirs. Even into the 1970s and 1980s, small towns like my hometown had Sears catalog stores where customers could place, pick up, and return orders. I had Christmases as a child when everything came from Sears, and the arrival of the Sears "Wish Book" Christmas catalog was a big day in my house.



Person.

Comedian and activist Dick Gregory died on August 19, 2017 at age 84.

Born in St. Louis Missouri, Gregory earned a track scholarship to Southern Illinois University where he set school records in the mile and half-mile. Drafted into the army in 1954, he won several army talent shows as a comedian. Out of the army, he moved to Chicago to become a professional comedian. Refusing to play the stereotypical buffoon or minstrel comedian, Gregory talked about politics and race.

In the beginning, he worked for the post office during the day and performed in small black clubs at night. He was eventually seen by Hugh Hefner, whom Gregory credits with jump starting his career.

His keenly insightful and blunt takes on race, Vietnam, and current events in general led to several bestselling books and comedy albums and numerous TV appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, but they also brought attacks, death threats, and bans. He never accumulated the wealth that he might have because he would frequently cancel paying gigs to go take part in marches or sit-ins or benefits. This caused him to develop a negative reputation among some promoters and club owners.

If you don't know Gregory's work, you should check it out. Pick up a book or look for clips on YouTube. "The One and Only Dick Gregory" is a good documentary, released in 2021.

Place.

Comedian and activist Dick Gregory died on August 19, 2017 at age 84.

Dick Gregory often credited Playboy founder Hugh Hefner with jump-starting his comedy career and gaining white audiences. He often performed at Hefner's Playboy Clubs, where top ranked entertainers performed, and Playboy Bunnies served members. There were a few dozen clubs at one time or another, in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Macao, the Philippines, and the UK. The first opened in Chicago in 1960. The last of the first wave clubs closed in 1991 in Manilla. In 2018, a group of investors opened a Playboy Club in Midtown Manhattan. It closed a year later.

Things.
Great lines.

Comedian and activist Dick Gregory died on August 19, 2017 at age 84.

Some of my favorite Dick Gregory lines, from his 1961 performance at the black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, where he was spotted by Playboy's Hugh Hefner.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.

Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."

Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're giving you fair warning. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you." So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!" '



Persons.

Nelson Rockefeller was nominated by President Gerald Ford to become Vice-President on August 20, 1974. He's the second person to become VP following the 25th amendment which stipulates that if there is a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency, the Pres. appoints a new VP, subject to majority approval of both houses of Congress. Ford was the first, following Spiro Agnew's resignation; before the amendment, VP vacancies went unfilled until the next election.

Nelson ( 1908 -1979) was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller and served in many presidential administrations. Known as a progressive, liberal Republican, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination three times.

His son Michael (1938-1961?) earned a degree in history and economics and joined an anthropological expedition to study the Dani tribe of New Guinea. He developed a keen interest in the people, their culture, and their art, and he returned later, intending to study the Asmat tribe. The Asmat people were considered troublesome by the Dutch colonizers and still practiced revenge killings and cannibalism of their enemies at least into the 1970s. On November 17, the canoe carrying Michael and his companion overturned about 3 miles from shore. Michael decided to swim for help and disappeared. His companion was rescued the next day.

First conclusions were that he had drowned or been eaten by a shark or crocodile. However, subsequent investigators, like the author of Savage Harvest, have uncovered evidence and Asmati testimony that indicate that Michael made it to shore and was killed and eaten, probably in revenge for the deaths of several tribesmen in a 1958 clash with Dutch colonial police.


Place

Nelson Rockefeller was nominated by President Gerald Ford to become Vice-President on August 20, 1974. He's the second person to become VP following the 25th amendment which stipulates that if there is a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency, the Pres. appoints a new VP, subject to majority approval of both houses of Congress. Ford was the first, following Spiro Agnew's resignation; before the amendment, VP vacancies went unfilled until the next election.

Nelson ( 1908 -1979) was the grandson of John D. Rockefeller and served in several presidential administrations. Known as a progressive, liberal Republican, he ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination three times.

His son Michael (1938-1961?) went missing in Papua New Guinea, then Dutch New Guinea in 1961. Evidence and stories told by members of the Asmat tribe indicate that he was likely killed and eaten by the Asmat, who practiced revenge-driven murder and cannibalism.

Today, the Asmat live in the province of South Papua, Indonesia within and adjacent to Lorentz National Park. The population is estimated to be around 70,000. They were first seen by a Dutch ship captain in 1623, but the harsh terrain and their reputation as headhunters and cannibals prevented real contact with outsiders until the 1950s, but the Dutch established a colonial post near Asmat territory in 1938.


Thing.

Nelson Rockefeller was nominated by President Gerald Ford to become Vice-President on August 20, 1974. He's the second person to become VP following the 25th amendment which stipulates that if there is a vacancy in the Vice-Presidency, the Pres. appoints a new VP, subject to majority approval of both houses of Congress. Ford was the first, following Spiro Agnew's resignation; before the amendment, VP vacancies went unfilled until the next election.

His son Michael (1938-1961?) went missing in Papua New Guinea, then Dutch New Guinea in 1961. Evidence and stories told by members of the Asmat tribe indicate that he was likely killed and eaten by the Asmat, who practiced revenge-driven murder and cannibalism.

Michael was drawn to the Asmat in part due to their art. They practice one of the oldest and most unique woodcarving styles in Asia, highly sought by art collectors.

From Wikipedia:
"Asmat art consists of elaborate stylized wood carvings such as the bisj pole and is designed to honour ancestors. Many Asmat artifacts have been collected by the world's museums, among the most notable of which are those found in the Michael C. Rockefeller Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. Asmat art is widely collected in major Western museums despite the difficulty in visiting the remote region to collect work; the "exceptionally expressive" art "caused a sensation in art-collecting circles" which led to large-scale collecting expeditions in the post-WWII era, according to art scholar and ethnologist Dirk A.M. Smidt. One of the most comprehensive collections of Asmat Art can be found in the American Museum of Asmat Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. "



Person.

From August 21 through August 23, 1831, terror and violence swept through Southampton County Virginia, and eventually the entire slaveholding South.

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was the enslaved preacher who organized and led slaves and free blacks in a rebellion that killed between 55 and 65 whites and resulted in the deaths of at least 160 blacks.

Turner learned to read and write as a child and was observed to be intelligent and quick-minded, as well as religiously devout. He often prayed and fasted, and he claimed to receive visions, or messages from God. As an adult, he became an itinerant preacher. Slaveowners often allowed black and white preachers to preach the Gospel, especially the "being a good servant" parts, to their slaves; some owners and slaves even attended the same services. As a preacher, Turner could move across plantation lines in Sunday. Some black congregants started calling him "Prophet," and he attracted some white followers as well.

Always convinced that he was ordained for some great purpose, Turner believed that a solar eclipse in February 1831 was his sign from God. He started organizing his followers and procuring weapons. He planned the event for July 4, but fell ill. On August 13, the Virginia sun appeared blue-green due to a volcanic eruption in Sicily. That was his signal, he thought. He enlisted some 70 followers, armed with knives, hatchets, clubs, and axes, and they struck on the 21st. The Virginia militia finally defeated the rebellion, but Turner remained in hiding for two months. He was hanged in November.

In 1967, during the "Black Power" phase of the civil rights movement, William Styron wrote The Confessions of Nat Turner, in Turner's first person voice, a fictionalized account of the 1831 pamphlet of the same name accepted as Turner's actual confession.


Place.

From August 21 through August 23, 1831, terror and violence swept through Southampton County Virginia, and eventually the entire slaveholding South.

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was the enslaved preacher who organized and led slaves and free blacks in a rebellion that killed between 55 and 65 whites and resulted in the deaths of at least 160 blacks.

On the morning of August 23, 1831, the Virginia Militia, reinforced by three artillery units, finally routed the rebels at the Belmont Plantation, built around 1790, in Southampton County. Turner went into hiding for two months before his capture.

However, even after the 23rd, rumors of slave insurrection swept through the South, from North Carolina to Alabama. Militias and mobs arrested and killed free blacks and slaves, in unknown numbers, for days. In the long run, slaveholding states responded bypassing laws expelling free blacks and severely limiting rights of enslaved blacks. Before the rebellion, it was generally not illegal for enslaved people to be taught to read and write, to own a gun for hunting, and to travel to other plantations. Those freedoms, along with the freedom of assembly, were eliminated.


Thing.

From August 21 through August 23, 1831, terror and violence swept through Southampton County Virginia, and eventually the entire slaveholding South.

Nat Turner (1800-1831) was the enslaved preacher who organized and led slaves and free blacks in a rebellion that killed between 55 and 65 whites and resulted in the deaths of at least 160 blacks.

One of the artifacts on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is Nat Turner's personal Bible, supposedly in his hand when he was captured. Missing covers and some pages, it remained in storage at the Southampton County courthouse until 1912 when a courthouse official gave it to descendants of one of the white victims of the rebellion. It was donated to the Smithsonian in 2011.


Persons.

German forces on the Eastern Front in WWII moved into position around the city of Leningrad in late August, 1941. An 872-day long siege commenced on September 8. One of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, the Siege of Leningrad. Up to 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died during the Siege. Another 1.5 million (mostly women and children) were evacuated, but many of them died due to starvation and bombardment. Deaths peaked in January -February 1942 at 100,000 per month. The Soviets arrested 2,105 cannibals during the Siege, and there were thousands more murders committed for the purpose of stealing ration cards.

As with most subjects, when you dig deeper into WWII, things aren't as simple as Hollywood makes them. In this case, it wasn't just Germans vs Soviets. There was a large Finnish force, allied with Germany, blockading the north of the city. The Finns had been engaged in the Winter War to reclaim "Greater Finland." Leningrad was 22 miles from the Finnish border.

However, the German Army, the Wehrmacht, had approximately one million volunteers, mostly fascists and anti-communists. Some were conscripted, but the majority were volunteers. The Blue Division, an integral force during the Siege of Leningrad, included 47,000 Spaniards. Other ethnicities included in the Wehrmacht, usually in their own units, were Belgians, Czechs, Dutch, Finns, Danes, French, Hungarians, Poles, Norwegians, Portuguese, Swedes, Soviets, Ukrainians, Armenians, Georgians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Turkestani, Croatian, Arab, Azerbaijani, and Cossacks.

David Benioff, author and co-creator of the Game of Thrones series, wrote a well-researched and excellent novel set during the Siege, following two men on a seemingly impossible quest. City of Thieves is a great read

Place.

German forces on the Eastern Front in WWII moved into position around the city of Leningrad in late August, 1941. An 872-day long siege commenced on September 8. One of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, the Siege of Leningrad. Up to 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died during the Siege. Another 1.5 million (mostly women and children) were evacuated, but many of them died due to starvation and bombardment. Deaths peaked in January -February 1942 at 100,000 per month. The Soviets arrested 2,105 cannibals during the Siege, and there were thousands more murders committed for the purpose of stealing ration cards.

Hitler targeted Leningrad for three main reasons:
1. It was a former capital of Russia and a symbolic capital of the Russian Revolution.
2. Leningrad was the main base of the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
3. It was an industrial center of Russia. By 1939, the city produced 11% of the total Soviet industrial output, including numerous arms factories.


Things.

German forces on the Eastern Front in WWII moved into position around the city of Leningrad in late August, 1941. An 872-day long siege commenced on September 8. One of the longest and most destructive sieges in history, the Siege of Leningrad. Up to 1.5 million soldiers and civilians died during the Siege. Another 1.5 million (mostly women and children) were evacuated, but many of them died due to starvation and bombardment. Deaths peaked in January -February 1942 at 100,000 per month. The Soviets arrested 2,105 cannibals during the Siege, and there were thousands more murders committed for the purpose of stealing ration cards.

Rations slowly decreased until November-December 1941, the hardest months, when workers were allowed from 150 to 250 grams of bread daily, while civil servants, children, and dependent people were only allowed 125 grams a day. Monthly rations were as follows: workers and engineers could receive 1.5 kg of meat, 2 kg of noodles, 800 grams of fat (vegetable oil or lard), and about 1.5 kg of sugar. Civil servants could hope for 800 grams of meat, 1.5 kg noodles, 400 grams of fats, about 1.2 kg of sugar.

Glue, cellulose, pine needles, shoe soles, leather belts, and much, much more – everything that contained anything organic and consumable was used as food during the siege.

Such products at first were salvaged from some of the city’s factories and plants: lard and vaseline used for rubbing the slipways for the ships, bone glue and bone meal, even organic shoe polish – people found ways to cook all of this.

Glue was boiled for hours on a slow fire (the smell was unbearable), then salt, pepper – any spices, vinegar, and mustard were added to mask the stench.



Person.

I'm currently reading The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean, published in 2021. Kean has a great talent for telling true stories that blend science and history in his books and podcasts. The stories told in this book are enlightening, educational, gross, maddening, humorous, gross, and infuriating all at the same time. Did I say gross? Yet, Kean does an excellent job of presenting all sides of a story, and each chapter raises questions and debates on medical ethics.

The titular subject of the book is Dr. Walter Freeman II (1895-1972), the inventor of the lobotomy. Freeman's grandfather was a Civil War surgeon, and his father was a doctor. In 1924, he became the first practicing neurologist in Washington DC. Inspired by the work of Dr Egas Moniz who, in 1935, started performing what he called leucotomies, taking corings of the frontal lobe to treat mental illness.

Freeman set out to "improve" the process. He decided to sever the connection between the frontal lobes and the thalamus. Ten years later, he refined the technique by using a kitchen icepick, in the first procedures, inserted into the corner of each eye socket, hammered through the orbital bone, and moved around to sever the connections to the prefrontal cortex.

In forty years, he performed 4,000 lobotomies, even though he never had surgical training. His youngest patient was 4 years old. Some of his patients lost their tendencies toward manic behavior, some were not changed, some worsened, and about 15% died. Patients often had to re-learn how to eat and how to use the bathroom.

His mentor, Moniz, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine in 1949. Eventually, the lobotomy was recognized as one of the most barbaric and horrifying procedures in the history of medicine, after more than 50,000 Americans had been lobotomized.

Places.

I'm currently reading The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean, published in 2021. Kean has a great talent for telling true stories that blend science and history in his books and podcasts. The stories told in this book are enlightening, educational, gross, maddening, humorous, gross, and infuriating all at the same time. Did I say gross? Yet, Kean does an excellent job of presenting all sides of a story, and each chapter raises questions and debates on medical ethics.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiments represent one of the most horrible episodes of American history. The Public Health Service used black men in Tuskegee Alabama to learn about the effects of syphilis. For decades, infected men (contrary to what some believe even today, there is no evidence that anyone was infected in the study) were told they were being treated for "bad blood," when they were not. Even after the discovery that penicillin cured the disease, test subjects were actively prevented from seeking meaningful treatment. For decades, the experiment was not hidden from the public. There were whistleblowers and medical professionals who tried to expose the horrors, but nobody in the media or government was interested until the early 1970s.

Another horrible episode, however, remained relatively unknown until 2005 when an historian was going through the papers of Dr. John Charles Cutler, who later worked in the Tuskegee Experiment. From 1946 to 1948, however, he oversaw a syphilis experiment in Guatemala in which he actually infected Guatemalan prisoners, soldiers, orphans (as young as 9), and prostitutes.

It is a frightening and thought provoking chapter in Kean's book.


Thing.

I'm currently reading The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean, published in 2021. Kean has a great talent for telling true stories that blend science and history in his books and podcasts. The stories told in this book are enlightening, educational, gross, maddening, humorous, gross, and infuriating all at the same time. Did I say gross? Yet, Kean does an excellent job of presenting all sides of a story, and each chapter raises questions and debates on medical ethics.

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. The oath is the earliest expression of medical ethics in the Western world, establishing several principles of medical ethics which remain of paramount significance today.

The original oath was written between the fifth and third centuries BC. Although it is traditionally attributed to the Greek doctor Hippocrates, most modern scholars do not regard it as having been written by Hippocrates himself.

Contrary to general belief, most doctors never swear to the Hippocratic Oath. In a 2000 survey of US medical schools, all of the consulted medical schools administered some type of profession oath. Among schools of modern medicine, sixty-two of 122 used the Hippocratic Oath, or a modified version of it. The other sixty schools used the original or modified Declaration of Geneva, Oath of Maimonides, or an oath authored by students and or faculty.