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Comer Vann Woodward was born on November 13, 1908 in Vanndale Arkansas, a city named after his mother's family, and died in 1999. As C. Vann Woodward, he became one of the preeminent American historians of the 20th century, focused primarily on the American South and on race.
Following significant work on the lives of W.E.B. DuBois, Eugene V. Debs, and Georgia populist leader Tom Watson, he wrote his most influential book, still studied today - it was my first exposure to Woodward in college - The Strange Career of Jim Crow, published in the mid 1950s. He was an historian of the Charles Beard school of history, believing that economic factors are a major driver of events. In Jim Crow, he argued that Jim Crow laws were not an inevitable and immediate effect of Reconstruction, that, in fact, white southerners had chosen to "capitulate to racism." Rev. Martin Luther King Jr proclaimed the book "the historical Bible of the Civil Rights Movement."
In the 1930s, Woodward started on the far left of American historians and was a leading supporter of the civil rights movement, but in his latter years he edged more to the right. James C. Cobb investigates Woodward's complicated life and legacy in a new biography, just published in October, C. Vann Woodward: America's Historian.
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Comer Vann Woodward was born on November 13, 1908 in Vanndale Arkansas, a city named after his mother's family, and died in 1999. As C. Vann Woodward, he became one of the preeminent American historians of the 20th century, focused primarily on the American South and on race.
Vanndale, located in eastern Arkansas, is an unincorporated community today with a population of about 330. Named after John Vann, the postmaster, it served as the county seat from 1886 to 1903. Unfortunately, its population and significance began and continued to decline as it was bypassed by both railroads and major highways.
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Comer Vann Woodward was born on November 13, 1908 in Vanndale Arkansas, a city named after his mother's family, and died in 1999. As C. Vann Woodward, he became one of the preeminent American historians of the 20th century, focused primarily on the American South and on race. His most famous work is The Strange Career of Jim Crow.
Woodward was a founding member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. "The Fellowship of Southern Writers is an American literary organization that celebrates the creative vitality of Southern writing as the mirror of a distinctive and cherished regional culture. Its fellowships and awards draw attention to outstanding literary achievement and help to nurture new talent.
The fellowship was founded in 1987 in Chattanooga, Tennessee by 21 Southern writers and other literary luminaries. The group meets in every odd-numbered year, usually during the SouthWord Literature Festival hosted by the Southern Lit Alliance in Chattanooga, TN. Southern Literature." (Wikipedia)
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Astrid Lindgren was born on November 14, 1907 in Vimmerby Sweden. She wrote several children's book series, and she is the 18th most translated author in the world, 4th most translated children's books author, and over 167 million of her books have sold worldwide.
Pippi is a red-haired, freckled, adventure girl who has superhuman strength, does outrageous things, makes adults look stupid, doesn't want to grow up, loves animals, and has a monkey - all the ingredients of a great children's book character.
In 1976, Lindgren became somewhat political in Sweden when her marginal tax rate was revealed to be 102%; such tax rates led to the ousting of the Social Democrats from power in the next election, for the first time in 44 years. She also became a crusader against corporal punishment, leading to Sweden passing the first anti-spanking law in the world in 1979. She was a lifelong advocate of animal rights and protection.
She died in 2002 at age 94. Her funeral was described as close to a state funeral as you can get, and it was attended by Sweden's King, Queen, Prime Minister, and almost the entire royal family.
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Astrid Lindgren was born on November 14, 1907 in Vimmerby Sweden. She wrote several children's book series, and she is the 18th most translated author in the world, 4th most translated children's books author, and over 167 million of her books have sold worldwide. Her most famous creation is Pippi Longstocking.
There are numerous memorials to Lindgren across Sweden. Her childhood home is now a open to the public 300 yards from the Astrid Lindgren Museum. Near the home is an outdoor water sculpture called Astrid's Wellspring. Her hometown of Vimmerby also hosts Astrid Lindgren's World, a theme park opened in 1981. It features all of the characters and settings of her books.
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Astrid Lindgren was born on November 14, 1907 in Vimmerby Sweden. She wrote several children's book series, and she is the 18th most translated author in the world, 4th most translated children's books author, and over 167 million of her books have sold worldwide. Her most famous creation is Pippi Longstocking.
Lindgren many awards and honors from the Swedish government and from various European literary and progressive organizations. From 2014 to 2016, the Swedish government printed 20 Kronor banknotes featuring her portrait. They are still in circulation today, although Sweden is rapidly moving to a cashless society. As of 2020, only 9% of Swedes use cash.
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On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith murdered four members of the Clutter family at their farm near Holcomb, Kansas. The crime became the subject of Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood.
Capote and his childhood friend Harper Lee traveled to Kansas as soon as they heard of the murders. They conducted interviews and took thousands of pages of notes. Capote finally published the book in 1966, and it has become the second biggest selling true crime book in history, following Helter Skelter, about Charles Manson. It is considered a pioneering work in the genre of true crime, but some details differ from actual events.
Capote, born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans in 1924 (died 1984), wrote several popular short stories and novels, most famously Breakfast at Tiffany's. He called In Cold Blood his "non-fiction novel." In the 1960s and 1970s, his flamboyant lifestyle of excess and his quick, biting opinions made him more of a pop celebrity than a serious writer.
He began writing as a child, perhaps as a means of coping with his parents' divorce, transience as a child, and separation from his mother. While living in Monroeville Alabama, he became close friends with Harper Lee who modeled Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird after him.
He modeled Idabel in Other Voices, Other Rooms after her. They grew distant in the 1960s, perhaps partly due to jealousy of her success.
Besides his writing, he was famous for being openly gay, his distinctive high pitched voice, odd mannerisms and dress, his feuds with and catty comments about other celebrities and writers, and his habit of embellishing everything that he didn't completely fabricate. He became a popular party and talk show guest and made cameos in TV shows and movies.
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On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith murdered four members of the Clutter family at their farm near Holcomb, Kansas. The crime became the subject of Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood.
Hickock and Smith had been acquainted with a former farm hand of the Clutter family when they were all serving time in prison together. This farm hand, Wells, had told them that Herb Clutter was a very wealthy farmer who kept large amounts of cash on hand in a safe in the farmhouse. The wealthy farmer part was mostly true, but Clutter never kept cash or did cash transactions, and he didn't even own a safe.
Nevertheless, Hickock and Smith decided to drive 400 miles overnight, across the state, in order to commit the crime early that morning. After tying up and questioning the family, they killed them, Herb, his wife, and their two youngest children, who were 15 and 16. Two older children were adults and in their own homes. For their efforts, they took a radio, a pair of binoculars, and $50 in cash.
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On November 15, 1959, Richard Hickock and Perry Smith murdered four members of the Clutter family at their farm near Holcomb, Kansas. The crime became the subject of Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood.
Capote called his work a "nonfiction novel." As soon as the book was published, law enforcement officials, critics, journalists, and people interviewed by Capote and Harper Lee all refuted and denied incidents and quotations reported by Capote.
According to Wikipedia, The non-fiction novel is a literary genre which, broadly speaking, depicts real historical figures and actual events woven together with fictitious conversations and uses the storytelling techniques of fiction. The non-fiction novel is an otherwise loosely defined and flexible genre. The genre is sometimes referred to using the slang term "faction", a portmanteau of the words fact and fiction.
In Cold Blood is considered to have set new standards for the genre, but experts trace it back to the 1920s. Besides Capote, other American writers of the genre include John Hersey, John Dos Passos, Alex Haley, Joan Didion, and Norman Mailer.
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Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne on November 17, 1558 at age 25. One of the books I'm reading now is the biography of Catherine de Medici on which the TV show "The Serpent Queen" is based. The Valois and Tudors, the French and English ruling families, were entwined in war and in peace. A new book, called The Queen's Frog Prince, is scheduled to be published in July 2023, and it is about the courtship and friendship of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici's son, Francis, Duke of Anjou.
Born Hercule Francois in 1555, Francis was the youngest son of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici. As the youngest child, he received very little attention from Catherine, and his lot in life was to support his brother, the king, and to cement the Valois relationship with another royal family through marriage.
At age 8, he was heavily scarred by smallpox, and he had a deformed spine. Catherine's sons all had major health issues. In 1579, negotiations began to arrange the marriage of Francis to Elizabeth I. He was 24, and she was 46. Of course, Elizabeth had no desire to marry because it would reduce her power, but the two developed an unlikely friendship, and flirted with engagement. Elizabeth's court and advisors were split on the issue. He was one of the few foreign suitors who spent time in person with Elizabeth, and they exchanged numerous letters and poems. Elizabeth called him her "frog," but it's not clear if that's because of the longstanding use if the word in England as a slur against the French, because of a frog earring he gave her, or because of his appearance.
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Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne on November 17, 1558 at age 25. One of the books I'm reading now is the biography of Catherine de Medici on which the TV show "The Serpent Queen" is based. The Valois and Tudors, the French and English ruling families, were entwined in war and in peace. A new book, called The Queen's Frog Prince, is scheduled to be published in July 2023, and it is about the courtship and friendship of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici's son, Francis, Duke of Anjou.
The current Hatfield House in Hatfield England was constructed in the early 1600s, but a few hundred yards away are the remains of a former palace that was the primary childhood home of Elizabeth, and it essentially became her prison when her half-sister Mary ruled.
From Wikipedia:
"Built in 1497 by the Archbishop of Canterbury (formerly Bishop of Ely), King Henry VII's minister, John Cardinal Morton, it comprised four wings in a square surrounding a central courtyard. The palace was seized by Henry VIII with other church properties. The nearby parish church of St Etheldreda's in Old Hatfield once served the bishop's palace as well as the village.
Henry VIII's children, King Edward VI and the future Queen Elizabeth I, spent their youth at Hatfield Palace. His eldest daughter, who later reigned as Queen Mary I, lived there between 1533 and 1536, when she was sent to wait on the then Princess Elizabeth as punishment for refusing to recognise Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn and his religious reforms. In 1548, when she was only 15 years old, Elizabeth was under suspicion of having illegally agreed to marry Thomas Seymour. The house and her servants were seized by Edward VI's agent, Robert Tyrwhit, and she was interrogated there. She successfully defended her conduct with wit and defiance. Seymour was executed in 1549 for numerous other crimes against the crown. After her two months of imprisonment in the Tower of London by her sister, Queen Mary, Elizabeth returned to Hatfield."
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Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne on November 17, 1558 at age 25. One of the books I'm reading now is the biography of Catherine de Medici on which the TV show "The Serpent Queen" is based. The Valois and Tudors, the French and English ruling families, were entwined in war and in peace. A new book, called The Queen's Frog Prince, is scheduled to be published in July 2023, and it is about the courtship and friendship of Elizabeth I and Catherine de Medici's son, Francis, Duke of Anjou.
An interesting artifact belonging to Elizabeth I is this ring, believed to have been made around 1560. The images are of Elizabeth and her mother, Anne Boleyn. It is part of the collection belonging to the Chequers Estate. Chequers is the country residence of the UK Prime Minister.
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On November 18, 1969, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi was assigned to prosecute Charles Manson and several "Manson Family" members for the Tate-LaBianca murders that took place on August 9-10, 1969. He co-wrote Helter Skelter, an account of the crimes and trial, published in 1974. It is the biggest selling true crime book in history.
Bugliosi (1934-2015) was born in Minnesota, but he and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was in high school. He began his law career in the Los Angeles District Attorney's office in 1964. Following his successful Manson prosecutions, he went into private practice and wrote several books on famous crimes.
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On November 18, 1969, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi was assigned to prosecute Charles Manson and several "Manson Family" members for the Tate-LaBianca murders that took place on August 9-10, 1969. He co-wrote Helter Skelter, an account of the crimes and trial, published in 1974. It is the biggest selling true crime book in history.
On the night of August 8–9, four members of the Manson Family drove to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, the home of Sharon Tate and her husband, film director Roman Polanski. The group murdered Tate, who was 8½ months pregnant; guests Jay Sebring, a celebrity hairdresser; Abigail Folger, a coffee heiress; her boyfriend Wojciech Frykowski, an aspiring screenwriter; and Steven Parent, an 18-year-old visitor. Polanski was working in Europe on a film. Manson was a cult leader and aspiring musician who had tried to get a contract with record producer Terry Melcher who had previously rented the house.
The house just sold in 2021 for $1.9 million.
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On November 18, 1969, prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi was assigned to prosecute Charles Manson and several "Manson Family" members for the Tate-LaBianca murders that took place on August 9-10, 1969. He co-wrote Helter Skelter, an account of the crimes and trial, published in 1974. It is the biggest selling true crime book in history.
In 1970, members of "the Manson family" recorded an album, titled The Family Jams, of songs written by Manson, although he did not appear on the album. In the 1980s, Manson made many recordings via tape recorders in prison. These were given to associates on the outside.
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Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 at the dedication if the Gettysburg National Cemetery. His invitation to speak was out of obligation; no one expected him to come. His two or three minute remarks were inserted into a long program which included the real star orator of the day, Edward Everett.
For almost ninety years, there were no known photos of Lincoln at Gettysburg. Then, in 1952, a D.C. archivist named Josephine Cobb (1906-1986) found him on a mislabeled glass plate negative that was part of a Matthew Brady collection. On a hunch, she enlarged the photo some 90 times until she spotted Lincoln 's face, bare-headed and downcast.
Cobb's career as an archivist was stellar, with of without the discovery. She was one of the first people to actually study the relatively new field of archival science, and was the first woman archivist hired at the National Archives in 1936. She worked there for 36 years, becoming Chief Archivist of the Still Pictures Branch, specializing in Matthew Brady and Civil War photos.
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Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 at the dedication if the Gettysburg National Cemetery. His invitation to speak was out of obligation; no one expected him to come. His two or three minute remarks were inserted into a long program which included the real star orator of the day, Edward Everett.
Gettysburg National Cemetery is the final resting place of more than 6,000 US soldiers and veterans, over 3,500 of whom died at the Battle of Gettysburg. Battlefield memorials and monuments are scattered throughout the cemetery.
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Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 at the dedication if the Gettysburg National Cemetery. His invitation to speak was out of obligation; no one expected him to come. His two or three minute remarks were inserted into a long program which included the real star orator of the day, Edward Everett.
Today, some people mistakenly believe that Lincoln was as revered during his life as he is now. The Gettysburg Address is now a treasured American document, and no one knows or remembers anything about Edward Everett and his two hour oration that was supposed to be the main event of the day. In fact, Lincoln always had many detractors, even in the North, and he was subjected to regular brutal insults, name-calling, and personal attacks.
The Gettysburg address was lampooned and ridiculed in numerous newspaper editorials in northern states and foreign countries, as these examples show.
The three books featured today are great illustrated versions of the address.
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