Person.
(Today's posts will be a test of Facebook and Instagram's idiotic "community standards" censorship, and a test of how many idiots will see the posts and confuse education for an endorsement of the KKK.)
On August 8, 1925, 25,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children marched through Washington DC in hoods and robes of the Ku Klux Klan. The "second coming" of the KKK started on top of Stone Mountain In Georgia, inspired by the movie "The Birth of a Nation " By 1925, the Klan was found in nearly every state, with perhaps its largest following in the Midwest, specifically Indiana, which became the membership headquarters of the national group.
D. C. Stephenson was the Grand Dragon of Indiana, and several neighboring states, the highest ranking Klansman in the Midwest. The former Texan bragged that he owned Indiana, probably not too far from truth because, as in the South, a politician in Indian almost had to have a Klan endorsement to be elected. He also was known as a violent drunk and bully who was accused of assaulting numerous women, especially fond of biting them.
In the spring of 1925, he decided that he loved Madge Oberholtzer like he had loved no other woman before. So, naturally, he and two goons got her drunk or drugged, kidnapped her, and took her to Chicago. He first raped her on the train, then took rooms in a hotel where he raped her multiple times, biting her breasts so hard that he drew blood in numerous places, and she was bruised from her face to her ankles.
The next day, Oberholtzer told Stephenson that she needed to go to the drug store for makeup. A goon accompanied her. She actually bought a box of mercury bichloride tablets, a poison used in small doses to treat external infections and in larger doses to induce abortions and as a pesticide. She intended to take all 18, but only managed 6. Stephenson and the goons put her back in the train to Indiana and lay her in her bed at home when her parents were out of the house. She survived long enough to dictate a statement of what had happened. Stephenson was convicted of rape and murder that fall.
Place.
(Today's posts will be a test of Facebook and Instagram's idiotic "community standards" censorship, and a test of how many idiots will see the posts and confuse education for an endorsement of the KKK.)
On August 8, 1925, 25,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children marched through Washington DC in hoods and robes of the Ku Klux Klan. The "second coming" of the KKK started on top of Stone Mountain In Georgia, inspired by the movie "The Birth of a Nation " By 1925, the Klan was found in nearly every state, with perhaps its largest following in the Midwest, specifically Indiana, which became the membership headquarters of the national group.
During Reconstruction, President Grant used the Army to break up the first version of the KKK, and it was essentially dead as an organization by 1880. However, the release of the movie The Birth of a Nation and the novel it was based on led W. J. Simmons to gather 15 friends, climb to the top of Stone Mountain Georgia, set a giant cross on fire, and proclaim the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan. Inspired by the heroic portrayal of Klansman in the novel and movie, this new KKK not only targeted blacks, but also targeted Catholics, Jews, labor organizers, communists, socialists, and foreigners. They also portrayed themselves as vigilantes, punishing even white adulterers, rapists, pedophiles, and other wrongdoers.
Even as the Klan spread across the country, ceremonies and rituals continued to be held on top of Stone Mountain for decades. In fact, when thoughts of carving figures on Stone Mountain first arose, the original plan was to carve hooded Klansmen. By the way, the first Klan didn't burn crosses. That element was introduced by Simmons, a former Methodist minister, to infuse Christianity into the movement. Since Christ was the "Way, the Truth, and the Light (Life)" (John 14:6), the burning cross is symbolic of Christ.
The Fiery Cross is an outstanding history of the KKK from Reconstruction through the 20th century.
(Today's posts will be a test of Facebook and Instagram's idiotic "community standards" censorship, and a test of how many idiots will see the posts and confuse education for an endorsement of the KKK.)
On August 8, 1925, 25,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children marched through Washington DC in hoods and robes of the Ku Klux Klan. The "second coming" of the KKK started on top of Stone Mountain In Georgia, inspired by the movie "The Birth of a Nation " By 1925, the Klan was found in nearly every state, with perhaps its largest following in the Midwest, specifically Indiana, which became the membership headquarters of the national group.
During Reconstruction, President Grant used the Army to break up the first version of the KKK, and it was essentially dead as an organization by 1880. However, the release of the movie The Birth of a Nation and the novel it was based on led W. J. Simmons to gather 15 friends, climb to the top of Stone Mountain Georgia, set a giant cross on fire, and proclaim the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan. Inspired by the heroic portrayal of Klansman in the novel and movie, this new KKK not only targeted blacks, but also targeted Catholics, Jews, labor organizers, communists, socialists, and foreigners. They also portrayed themselves as vigilantes, punishing even white adulterers, rapists, pedophiles, and other wrongdoers.
Even as the Klan spread across the country, ceremonies and rituals continued to be held on top of Stone Mountain for decades. In fact, when thoughts of carving figures on Stone Mountain first arose, the original plan was to carve hooded Klansmen. By the way, the first Klan didn't burn crosses. That element was introduced by Simmons, a former Methodist minister, to infuse Christianity into the movement. Since Christ was the "Way, the Truth, and the Light (Life)" (John 14:6), the burning cross is symbolic of Christ.
The Fiery Cross is an outstanding history of the KKK from Reconstruction through the 20th century.
Thing.
(Today's posts will be a test of Facebook and Instagram's idiotic "community standards" censorship, and a test of how many idiots will see the posts and confuse education for an endorsement of the KKK.)
On August 8, 1925, 25,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children marched through Washington DC in hoods and robes of the Ku Klux Klan. The "second coming" of the KKK started on top of Stone Mountain In Georgia, inspired by the movie "The Birth of a Nation " By 1925, the Klan was found in nearly every state, with perhaps its largest following in the Midwest, specifically Indiana, which became the membership headquarters of the national group.
Like other organizations, members of the KKK carried membership cards. In W.J. Simmons' new Klan, applicants could mail in their $10 initiation fee and $6 fee and get a card, hood, and robe by return mail. Members could also buy a Klan endorsed life insurance policy. When the headquarters moved to Indiana, funds continued to pour in, and, in many ways, the Klan became a pyramid scheme. At a time when per capita income on the US was under $700, D.C. Stephens, the Indiana Grand Wizard convicted of rape and murder, pulled in $200,000. ($2.8 million in today's dollars)
If you haven't seen the movie "Blackkklansman," based on the true story of black Colorado Springs policeman who infiltrated the Klan, by phone, in the late 1970s, check it out
(Today's posts will be a test of Facebook and Instagram's idiotic "community standards" censorship, and a test of how many idiots will see the posts and confuse education for an endorsement of the KKK.)
On August 8, 1925, 25,000 to 40,000 men, women, and children marched through Washington DC in hoods and robes of the Ku Klux Klan. The "second coming" of the KKK started on top of Stone Mountain In Georgia, inspired by the movie "The Birth of a Nation " By 1925, the Klan was found in nearly every state, with perhaps its largest following in the Midwest, specifically Indiana, which became the membership headquarters of the national group.
Like other organizations, members of the KKK carried membership cards. In W.J. Simmons' new Klan, applicants could mail in their $10 initiation fee and $6 fee and get a card, hood, and robe by return mail. Members could also buy a Klan endorsed life insurance policy. When the headquarters moved to Indiana, funds continued to pour in, and, in many ways, the Klan became a pyramid scheme. At a time when per capita income on the US was under $700, D.C. Stephens, the Indiana Grand Wizard convicted of rape and murder, pulled in $200,000. ($2.8 million in today's dollars)
If you haven't seen the movie "Blackkklansman," based on the true story of black Colorado Springs policeman who infiltrated the Klan, by phone, in the late 1970s, check it out
Persons.
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
The more famous and more accomplished of the two was Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890). Born into a military family in Torquay, Devin England, he and his family traveled and lived throughout Europe, and he demonstrated a quick facility for learning languages, eventually fluent in at least a dozen. He also developed a love for geography and for other cultures. As an adult, he differed from most imperialist British explorers in that he always sought to immerse himself in other cultures that he encountered. He frequently criticized British colonialism and imperialism in his works and letters.
His most famous accomplishments included going to Mecca in disguise, punishable by death to non-Muslims, translating One Thousand and One Nights, The Kama Sutra, and The Perfumed Garden.
In 1854, he reluctantly joined with John Speke to discover the source of the Nile River. Speke (1827-1864) was everything Burton despised about Englishmen: arrogant, reckless, prejudiced, glory-seeking, and deceitful. Their relationship soon soured, with the result of tarnishing both of their reputations.
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
The more famous and more accomplished of the two was Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890). Born into a military family in Torquay, Devin England, he and his family traveled and lived throughout Europe, and he demonstrated a quick facility for learning languages, eventually fluent in at least a dozen. He also developed a love for geography and for other cultures. As an adult, he differed from most imperialist British explorers in that he always sought to immerse himself in other cultures that he encountered. He frequently criticized British colonialism and imperialism in his works and letters.
His most famous accomplishments included going to Mecca in disguise, punishable by death to non-Muslims, translating One Thousand and One Nights, The Kama Sutra, and The Perfumed Garden.
In 1854, he reluctantly joined with John Speke to discover the source of the Nile River. Speke (1827-1864) was everything Burton despised about Englishmen: arrogant, reckless, prejudiced, glory-seeking, and deceitful. Their relationship soon soured, with the result of tarnishing both of their reputations.
Place.
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
The source of the Nile, specifically the source of its two branches, the White and the Blue, has been a mystery for 3,000 years, and is even open for question now. There are many tributaries, but the main two, meet in Khartoum before continuing North. While the source was the biggest question in the 1800s amongst European geographers and explorers, the source of the Blue, providing 80% of the Nile's water and sediment, was proven to be Lake Tana in Ethiopia by Spanish Jesuit missionary Pedro Paez in 1618.
The White Nile's origins are more elusive. John Speaker claimed that Lake Victoria -as he named it - was the source. His expedition partner, Richard Burton, disagreed. Henry Morton Stanley confirmed Speke's theory after his own expedition. However, explorer Christopher Ondaatje claims that his 1996 expedition shows that Speke and Stanley did not go far enough. He claims that the real sources are springs in Rwanda and Burundi that feed the Kagera River that flows into Lake Victoria. Or it could be Semliki River in the Ruwenzori Mountains, or the Mountains of the Moon, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unfortunately, political problems, unrest, and instability in the area make further exploration impossible currently.
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
The source of the Nile, specifically the source of its two branches, the White and the Blue, has been a mystery for 3,000 years, and is even open for question now. There are many tributaries, but the main two, meet in Khartoum before continuing North. While the source was the biggest question in the 1800s amongst European geographers and explorers, the source of the Blue, providing 80% of the Nile's water and sediment, was proven to be Lake Tana in Ethiopia by Spanish Jesuit missionary Pedro Paez in 1618.
The White Nile's origins are more elusive. John Speaker claimed that Lake Victoria -as he named it - was the source. His expedition partner, Richard Burton, disagreed. Henry Morton Stanley confirmed Speke's theory after his own expedition. However, explorer Christopher Ondaatje claims that his 1996 expedition shows that Speke and Stanley did not go far enough. He claims that the real sources are springs in Rwanda and Burundi that feed the Kagera River that flows into Lake Victoria. Or it could be Semliki River in the Ruwenzori Mountains, or the Mountains of the Moon, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unfortunately, political problems, unrest, and instability in the area make further exploration impossible currently.
Thing
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
One of the last things Richard Burton was working on at the time of his death was a translation of The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight,
a fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nefzawi, also known simply as "Nefzawi".
It was exactly this sort of thing that made Victorians look askance at Burton. He was agnostic (at least) and thought of all religions as equally pointless, only worthy of study as cultural elements. He had already translated The Kama Sutra and other sexually explicit texts that no decent Victorian man or woman would ever admit to reading, and he spared no details when it came to documenting other cultures around the world that shocked polite society. His wife spent a lot of energy defending him and his legacy after his death against accusations of immorality. In fact, when she found that Burton had died at his desk while working on the translation, she burned his work in the fireplace
Published in May, River of the Gods by Candice Millard is a real-life adventure story about the quest of two larger than life British explorers to discover the source of the Nile River in the mid 1800s.
One of the last things Richard Burton was working on at the time of his death was a translation of The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight,
a fifteenth-century Arabic sex manual and work of erotic literature by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nefzawi, also known simply as "Nefzawi".
It was exactly this sort of thing that made Victorians look askance at Burton. He was agnostic (at least) and thought of all religions as equally pointless, only worthy of study as cultural elements. He had already translated The Kama Sutra and other sexually explicit texts that no decent Victorian man or woman would ever admit to reading, and he spared no details when it came to documenting other cultures around the world that shocked polite society. His wife spent a lot of energy defending him and his legacy after his death against accusations of immorality. In fact, when she found that Burton had died at his desk while working on the translation, she burned his work in the fireplace
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Person
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. He enrolled at two historically black colleges, Alcorn State and Elizabeth City State, before deciding, with his father, that he needed some maturity. In 1939, he began a 20 year career in the US Coast Guard
During WWII in the Pacific theater, he developed his love for writing stories, and his shipmates paid him to write love letters to their girls back home. After the war, he became a Coast Guard journalist, becoming the first chief journalist, a position created especially for him. In 1999, a Coast Guard cutter was recommissioned as the USCGC Alex Haley.
After Coast Guard retirement, he went to work as interviewer for Playboy Magazine, interviewing Mike's Davis, MLK Jr, Muhammad Ali, and George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party, among others.
For his first book, he conducted more than 50 interviews with Malcolm X for The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Published in 1965, more than 6 million copies were sold by 1977.
He then turned to working on his own family history, researching for more than 12 years and going back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in 1767 in Gambia. Roots became a monumental television mini series in 1977, igniting a huge interest in black history and genealogy.
Unfortunately, there were controversies. Haley paid another author $650,000 to settle a plagiarism lawsuit, and numerous genealogists and historians have found problems in his family research.
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. He enrolled at two historically black colleges, Alcorn State and Elizabeth City State, before deciding, with his father, that he needed some maturity. In 1939, he began a 20 year career in the US Coast Guard
During WWII in the Pacific theater, he developed his love for writing stories, and his shipmates paid him to write love letters to their girls back home. After the war, he became a Coast Guard journalist, becoming the first chief journalist, a position created especially for him. In 1999, a Coast Guard cutter was recommissioned as the USCGC Alex Haley.
After Coast Guard retirement, he went to work as interviewer for Playboy Magazine, interviewing Mike's Davis, MLK Jr, Muhammad Ali, and George Lincoln Rockwell, the head of the American Nazi Party, among others.
For his first book, he conducted more than 50 interviews with Malcolm X for The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Published in 1965, more than 6 million copies were sold by 1977.
He then turned to working on his own family history, researching for more than 12 years and going back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in 1767 in Gambia. Roots became a monumental television mini series in 1977, igniting a huge interest in black history and genealogy.
Unfortunately, there were controversies. Haley paid another author $650,000 to settle a plagiarism lawsuit, and numerous genealogists and historians have found problems in his family research.
Place.
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. In Roots, he tracked his family history back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in The Gambia.
Like many enslaved Africans, Kunta Kinte may have been held and sold on what is now called Kunta Kinteh Island, a very busy port and market in the slave trade.
Europeans first established contact with the island occurred in 1456 when a Portuguese ship's captain buried one of his crewmen. Various European colonization efforts followed: Polish-Lithuanian, Dutch, French, and British. It became a holding area for enslaved Africans captured by raiding parties in the interior and a market for European and American slave ship captains. Once purchased and loaded, enslaved people like Kunta Kinte were taken into slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean.
After the British outlawed slavery in the early 1800s, and the Royal Navy took on the role of stopping the slave trade, they constructed the Six-Gun Battery and Fort Bullen on both sides of the mouth of the River Gambia to thwart the slave trade.
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. In Roots, he tracked his family history back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in The Gambia.
Like many enslaved Africans, Kunta Kinte may have been held and sold on what is now called Kunta Kinteh Island, a very busy port and market in the slave trade.
Europeans first established contact with the island occurred in 1456 when a Portuguese ship's captain buried one of his crewmen. Various European colonization efforts followed: Polish-Lithuanian, Dutch, French, and British. It became a holding area for enslaved Africans captured by raiding parties in the interior and a market for European and American slave ship captains. Once purchased and loaded, enslaved people like Kunta Kinte were taken into slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean.
After the British outlawed slavery in the early 1800s, and the Royal Navy took on the role of stopping the slave trade, they constructed the Six-Gun Battery and Fort Bullen on both sides of the mouth of the River Gambia to thwart the slave trade.
Thing
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. In Roots, he tracked his family history back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in The Gambia.
In 1979, following the success of Alex Haley's Roots, book and miniseries, a group Annapolis Maryland citizens proposed erecting a memorial, since Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte had arrived in Annapolis in 1767. It only took twenty years, but in 1999 a memorial park and sculpture were dedicated to Haley and Kinte.
Alex Haley (1921-1992) was born on August 11 in Ithaca, New York and lived for a few years of his childhood with his mother's family in Henning Tennessee before returning to Ithaca. In Roots, he tracked his family history back 7 generations to Kunta Kinte, kidnapped into slavery in The Gambia.
In 1979, following the success of Alex Haley's Roots, book and miniseries, a group Annapolis Maryland citizens proposed erecting a memorial, since Haley's ancestor Kunta Kinte had arrived in Annapolis in 1767. It only took twenty years, but in 1999 a memorial park and sculpture were dedicated to Haley and Kinte.
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Person.
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
Chicago comes from the Algonquin word "shikaakwa" meaning wild onions, abundant on the lake shores. French explorers like Robert De La Salle transcribed the word as "Chicago."
The first recorded non-indigenous settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable in the 1780s. He is considered the city's founder. Of African descent, little is known of him prior to 1780. Various sources have claimed that he was born in Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, or in French Canada or in Louisiana.
He married a Potawatomie woman, and they had two children, but it's not certain when the family settled in Chicago, just in the 1780s when he is mentioned in journals as a trader. In 1800, he sold his farm and belongings; the original bill of sale was discovered in 1913 in a Detroit archive. The family moved to St. Charles, Spanish Louisiana, now Missouri, where he operated a ferry across the Missouri River. He died on August 28, 1818.
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum..
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
Chicago comes from the Algonquin word "shikaakwa" meaning wild onions, abundant on the lake shores. French explorers like Robert De La Salle transcribed the word as "Chicago."
The first recorded non-indigenous settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable in the 1780s. He is considered the city's founder. Of African descent, little is known of him prior to 1780. Various sources have claimed that he was born in Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, or in French Canada or in Louisiana.
He married a Potawatomie woman, and they had two children, but it's not certain when the family settled in Chicago, just in the 1780s when he is mentioned in journals as a trader. In 1800, he sold his farm and belongings; the original bill of sale was discovered in 1913 in a Detroit archive. The family moved to St. Charles, Spanish Louisiana, now Missouri, where he operated a ferry across the Missouri River. He died on August 28, 1818.
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum..
Place.
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
With everything else to do in Chicago - museums, galleries, restaurants, or in my case tripping over busted sidewalk and breaking a couple of fingers - the Chicago History Museum may get overlooked, and that's a shame. Founded in 1856, the first museum and its collections were lost in the fire of 1871. Occupying temporary buildings on the same site until 1896, the organization began rebuilding its holdings, purchasing a large private collection of documents, paintings, and artifacts in 1920.
In 1932, the Museum opened in its current location, with various additions and renovations made since.
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum a few years ago.
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
With everything else to do in Chicago - museums, galleries, restaurants, or in my case tripping over busted sidewalk and breaking a couple of fingers - the Chicago History Museum may get overlooked, and that's a shame. Founded in 1856, the first museum and its collections were lost in the fire of 1871. Occupying temporary buildings on the same site until 1896, the organization began rebuilding its holdings, purchasing a large private collection of documents, paintings, and artifacts in 1920.
In 1932, the Museum opened in its current location, with various additions and renovations made since.
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum a few years ago.
Thing.
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
The Chicago Water Tower, built in 1869 of limestone, stands 182.5 feet tall. It is the second oldest water tower in the US after the one in Louisville Kentucky. It was used in firefighting, and the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the city. After surviving the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, while the whole area around it was destroyed, the Tower became a symbol of Old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire. It is especially memorable for me and some teacher friends because an historian once force-marched us for miles and miles and miles and miles on a hot summer day to see it, and, once there, there was a collective "Meh."
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum a few years ago.
Chicago was officially incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833. Today, it is the third largest American city with a population of about 2.8 million. In 1833, it consisted of a few houses and tents and about 350 people. In the mid-18th century, the site was inhabited by the Potawatomie who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples.
The Chicago Water Tower, built in 1869 of limestone, stands 182.5 feet tall. It is the second oldest water tower in the US after the one in Louisville Kentucky. It was used in firefighting, and the pressure in the pipe could be regulated to control water surges in the city. After surviving the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, while the whole area around it was destroyed, the Tower became a symbol of Old Chicago and of the city's recovery from the fire. It is especially memorable for me and some teacher friends because an historian once force-marched us for miles and miles and miles and miles on a hot summer day to see it, and, once there, there was a collective "Meh."
Chicago: Crossroads of America is the companion book of an exhibit mounted at the city's often overlooked (but well worth a visit) Chicago History Museum a few years ago.
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Persons.
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Smith (1580-1631) was a career mercenary, fighting Spaniards, Ottomans, and Tatars in various conflicts before joining the Virginia Company and sailing for America in December 1606.
On the voyage, he was accused of mutiny by the captain and jailed until a sealed letter that named him as a leader of the expedition was opened and read. As we all were taught, the first year of Jamestown's settlement was horrendous. The location was poorly chosen, the men were unequipped and unwilling to do the real work of survival, the colonists were surrounded by Indians who became hostile when antagonized by the English, and the appointed leaders, save for Smith, died.
Smith took the reins, forced the men to work, and made a very tentative peace with the Powhatans. Perhaps, in part due to his rescue by Pocahontas. Love and Hate in Jamestown covers the first several years of the colony, particularly "that story" about Pocahontas, a young girl of 10-12 when she would have first encountered Smith. Smith's whole story of their first encounter in which she saved his life has been debunked by many historians over the years. Author David Price lays it all out in Love and Hate
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Smith (1580-1631) was a career mercenary, fighting Spaniards, Ottomans, and Tatars in various conflicts before joining the Virginia Company and sailing for America in December 1606.
On the voyage, he was accused of mutiny by the captain and jailed until a sealed letter that named him as a leader of the expedition was opened and read. As we all were taught, the first year of Jamestown's settlement was horrendous. The location was poorly chosen, the men were unequipped and unwilling to do the real work of survival, the colonists were surrounded by Indians who became hostile when antagonized by the English, and the appointed leaders, save for Smith, died.
Smith took the reins, forced the men to work, and made a very tentative peace with the Powhatans. Perhaps, in part due to his rescue by Pocahontas. Love and Hate in Jamestown covers the first several years of the colony, particularly "that story" about Pocahontas, a young girl of 10-12 when she would have first encountered Smith. Smith's whole story of their first encounter in which she saved his life has been debunked by many historians over the years. Author David Price lays it all out in Love and Hate
Place
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the Americas, was established on May 4, 1607 on the Northeast bank of what was named the James River. The settlers picked the site because it was a defensible strategic location in the river's curve and uninhabited. It was uninhabited because it was swampy, isolated, covered by mosquitoes, and lacking in fresh water. Two-thirds of the settlers died before another ship arrived in 1608.
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in the Americas, was established on May 4, 1607 on the Northeast bank of what was named the James River. The settlers picked the site because it was a defensible strategic location in the river's curve and uninhabited. It was uninhabited because it was swampy, isolated, covered by mosquitoes, and lacking in fresh water. Two-thirds of the settlers died before another ship arrived in 1608.
Thing
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Archaeologists have discovered many interesting artifacts in and around the Jamestown settlement. This Memento Mori ring may be among the coolest. Rings were often worn on most fingers, except the middle fingers at the time and often worn on necklaces or attached to sleeves. This ring has the initials CL and "Memento Mori" (Remember thy Death) on it, a common Puritan reminder to live a sinless life because they will die eventually and be held accountable. It was also a signet ring used to make an impression in hot wax to seal letters or to identify signers of important documents.
It might have belonged to Captain Christopher Lawne, a wealthy Puritan who arrived in 1619. He was one of the first members of the House of Burgesses, established in that year.
On August 13, 1608, Captain John Smith's first letters about Jamestown Virginia's establishment were submitted, without the author's name at first, for publication in England. Collectively called A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note As Hath Happened in Virginia, relating events between December 1606 and June 2, 1608.
Archaeologists have discovered many interesting artifacts in and around the Jamestown settlement. This Memento Mori ring may be among the coolest. Rings were often worn on most fingers, except the middle fingers at the time and often worn on necklaces or attached to sleeves. This ring has the initials CL and "Memento Mori" (Remember thy Death) on it, a common Puritan reminder to live a sinless life because they will die eventually and be held accountable. It was also a signet ring used to make an impression in hot wax to seal letters or to identify signers of important documents.
It might have belonged to Captain Christopher Lawne, a wealthy Puritan who arrived in 1619. He was one of the first members of the House of Burgesses, established in that year.
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Person.
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
The war was proving too costly, and Congress was ready to end it, giving Worth the authority and the discretion to do so. Worth was an officer in the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican American War. Fort Worth Texas is named for him as are three Worth counties in Georgia, Missouri, and Iowa.
Worth took charge in Florida in May 1841 and immediately bribed/convinced Coacoochee to surrender and urge other bands to as well. Mist northern bands eventually surrendered. Worth recommended in early 1842 that the remaining Seminoles be allowed to stay as long as they would stay in south Florida. He made one last effort at bribery, offering each man a rifle, money, and a year's rations to move to Oklahoma. Few took the deal, but Worth declared the war over. Skirmishes continued through November around the state.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
The war was proving too costly, and Congress was ready to end it, giving Worth the authority and the discretion to do so. Worth was an officer in the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican American War. Fort Worth Texas is named for him as are three Worth counties in Georgia, Missouri, and Iowa.
Worth took charge in Florida in May 1841 and immediately bribed/convinced Coacoochee to surrender and urge other bands to as well. Mist northern bands eventually surrendered. Worth recommended in early 1842 that the remaining Seminoles be allowed to stay as long as they would stay in south Florida. He made one last effort at bribery, offering each man a rifle, money, and a year's rations to move to Oklahoma. Few took the deal, but Worth declared the war over. Skirmishes continued through November around the state.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation
Place.
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
Originally, the surrendered Seminoles were settled on the Creek reservation in Oklahoma, but that led to tensions. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma today has its capital at Wewoka and gas a population of 18,800.
There are now six official reservations in Florida. In 2019, the number of enrolled tribal members was 4,244.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
Originally, the surrendered Seminoles were settled on the Creek reservation in Oklahoma, but that led to tensions. The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma today has its capital at Wewoka and gas a population of 18,800.
There are now six official reservations in Florida. In 2019, the number of enrolled tribal members was 4,244.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation
Thing.
The costs of war.
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
The Second Seminole War is called the longest and most expensive of the Indian Wars in American history. Actual monetary cost estimated range between $30 and 40 million. The US Army officially recorded 1,466 deaths, mostly from disease. There is no figure for non-Army militia and volunteer casualties, nor for white civilians, Seminoles, and Black Seminoles.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation.
The costs of war.
On August 14, 1842 US Army Colonel William Jenkins Worth declared the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), the longest and most costly Indian War in American history, to be officially over. Through defeat, starvation, bribery, deceit, and treachery, some 3,000 Seminoles, including Black Seminoles, were relocated from Florida to Oklahoma. Some 300 were allowed to remain on reservations in southern Florida.
The Second Seminole War is called the longest and most expensive of the Indian Wars in American history. Actual monetary cost estimated range between $30 and 40 million. The US Army officially recorded 1,466 deaths, mostly from disease. There is no figure for non-Army militia and volunteer casualties, nor for white civilians, Seminoles, and Black Seminoles.
The War in Florida is a first hand account of the first year of the war written by Woodburne Potter, a second lieutenant at the time. The original, published in 1836,:was titled "The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of It's Causes and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott." This is a new enhanced edition, edited and published by the Seminole Wars Foundation.
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Persons.
Persons.
If asked to name an American architect, people would most likely, I think, name Frank Lloyd Wright, famous for the "prairie style" and for his eccentricities, but they might not be aware of the huge scandal and tragedy that surrounded his home and studio in Wisconsin.
He called the house Taliesin. The press called it his "Love Cottage" or "Castle of Love." In 1903, Wright was commissioned to design a house for neighbor Edwin Cheney. He began to covet his neighbor's wife, and they began an affair. The Cheney's divorced. Wright's wife and mother of his six children refused to divorce.
Wright built Taliesin in Spring Creek Wisconsin in 1911, scandalizing the surrounding area. In response, Wright said things like "Two women were necessary for a man of artistic mind ..." and "Laws and rules are made for the average...."
On August 15, 1914, Wright was in Chicago. His mistress, her two children, and some workers sat down to dinner served by servant Julian Carlton, a Barbados native, and cooked by his wife Gertrude. After serving the soup, Carlton returned with a hatchet and killed Cheney and her children, then doused the floors with gasoline and set the house on fire.
Seven people died. Carlton attempted suicide by drinking muriatic acid but survived, dying of starvation 7 weeks later, never giving a motive for his actions. Gertrude said her husband had grown paranoid in prior weeks and started sleeping with a hatchet next to their bed.
Place.
After leaving his wife and six children in Oak Park Illinois, architect Frank Lloyd Wright built Taliesin near Spring Green Wisconsin in 1911 as a home and studio for himself and his mistress, Mamah Borthwick. On August 15, 1914, a servant killed Borthwick, her two children and four others before setting the house on fire.
After rebuilding, Wright spent very little time there, doing a lot of work abroad. He returned in 1922, and an electrical fire destroyed the living quarters in 1925. By late 1925, Wright had built the third version of Taliesin. It was foreclosed on by the Bank of Wisconsin in 1927, but Wright reacquired it with friends' financial help. He lived there and at Taliesin West, in Scottsdale Arizona, the rest of his life. Taliesin became a listed World Heritage Site in 2019.
After leaving his wife and six children in Oak Park Illinois, architect Frank Lloyd Wright built Taliesin near Spring Green Wisconsin in 1911 as a home and studio for himself and his mistress, Mamah Borthwick. On August 15, 1914, a servant killed Borthwick, her two children and four others before setting the house on fire.
After rebuilding, Wright spent very little time there, doing a lot of work abroad. He returned in 1922, and an electrical fire destroyed the living quarters in 1925. By late 1925, Wright had built the third version of Taliesin. It was foreclosed on by the Bank of Wisconsin in 1927, but Wright reacquired it with friends' financial help. He lived there and at Taliesin West, in Scottsdale Arizona, the rest of his life. Taliesin became a listed World Heritage Site in 2019.
Thing.
So what is "Prairie Style Architecture"?
Let's go to Wikipedia:
"Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.
The Prairie School was an attempt at developing an indigenous North American style of architecture in symphony with the ideals and design aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement, with which it shared an embrace of handcrafting and craftsman guilds as an antidote to the dehumanizing effects of mass production.
The term Prairie School was not actually used by practitioners of the style. Architect Marion Mahony, for example, preferred the phrase The Chicago Group. Its term was coined by H. Allen Brooks one of the first architectural historians to write extensively about the movement and its work."
Frank Lloyd Wright was just one of the practitioners, and these pictures reflect several architects' work.
On August 15, 1914, 7 people were murdered at Wright's Wisconsin house, Taliesin, by the family's servant. Death in a Prairie House tells the story of the tragedy
So what is "Prairie Style Architecture"?
Let's go to Wikipedia:
"Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. Horizontal lines were thought to evoke and relate to the wide, flat, treeless expanses of America's native prairie landscape.
The Prairie School was an attempt at developing an indigenous North American style of architecture in symphony with the ideals and design aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement, with which it shared an embrace of handcrafting and craftsman guilds as an antidote to the dehumanizing effects of mass production.
The term Prairie School was not actually used by practitioners of the style. Architect Marion Mahony, for example, preferred the phrase The Chicago Group. Its term was coined by H. Allen Brooks one of the first architectural historians to write extensively about the movement and its work."
Frank Lloyd Wright was just one of the practitioners, and these pictures reflect several architects' work.
On August 15, 1914, 7 people were murdered at Wright's Wisconsin house, Taliesin, by the family's servant. Death in a Prairie House tells the story of the tragedy
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