Person, Place, and Thing: April 1 - 7

 Persons.

On April 1. 1854, the first serialized installment of Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, was published in his magazine "Household Words."

In October of 2022, British novelist and screenwriter Nick Hornby published Dickens and Prince, actually comparing the seemingly disparate lives of Dickens, considered one of the greatest writers of the English language ( Although I've only ever been able to finish A Tale of Two Cities) and Prince, the greatest musician who ever lived (at least in my opinion). It's a great read. If I were still grading essays, it would definitely be an A+. It's also an interesting dissertation on popular culture in general.

Similarities briefly:
1. Poor tumultuous childhoods
2. Incredible genius
3. Inhuman amount of output
4. Not perfectionists (sounds wrong at first, but he makes the point), able to create and move on
5. Critical and popular reception
6. Taken advantage of by others in business and fighting back
7. Fantastic stage performers
8. Icons and legends in their lifetimes
9. Legacies that few ever leave

Just to name a few.

Place.

On April 1. 1854, the first serialized installment of Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, was published in his magazine "Household Words."

In October of 2022, British novelist and screenwriter Nick Hornby published Dickens and Prince, actually comparing the seemingly disparate lives of Dickens, considered one of the greatest writers of the English language ( Although I've only ever been able to finish A Tale of Two Cities) and Prince, the greatest musician who ever lived (at least in my opinion). It's a great read. If I were still grading essays, it would definitely be an A+. It's also an interesting dissertation on popular culture in general.

Both Dickens and Prince discovered that they belonged on stage, and that's where the money was. Dickens started touring in Europe and America to sold-out audiences for years. He had once considered becoming an actor himself. He didn't just read his work; he selected passages to perform. His Christmas-themed passages were especially popular, even year-round.

If you know Prince, you know he was extremely introverted. Just watch his interviews, especially the earliest ones, and you can see how excruciatingly awkward they were for him, even painful for viewers. (On YouTube, look for Prince on American Bandstand and on Midnight Special.) However, he became a different person on stage, usually performing at full speed for 2-3 hours and then going to a smaller club and performing a whole other after-show for 2-3 hours more. Unfortunately, his stage performances led to intense hip and knee pain, which led to his painkiller addiction, which led to his death.

Thing.
Legacy.

On April 1. 1854, the first serialized installment of Hard Times, by Charles Dickens, was published in his magazine "Household Words."

In October of 2022, British novelist and screenwriter Nick Hornby published Dickens and Prince, actually comparing the seemingly disparate lives of Dickens, considered one of the greatest writers of the English language ( Although I've only ever been able to finish A Tale of Two Cities) and Prince, the greatest musician who ever lived (at least in my opinion). It's a great read. If I were still grading essays, it would definitely be an A+. It's also an interesting dissertation on popular culture in general.

One of the greatest similarities between Dickens and Prince is the huge legacy left by each. Dickens is one of the most widely read novelists of all time. His works continue to be adapted into movies, plays, and tv shows. He's credited with creating much of the traditional Christmas popularized in Victorian Britain and still celebrated today. He's coined words used in the English language today. He's often mentioned in the same breath as Shakespeare.

When Prince died, he left behind as many as 8,000 recorded original songs. While some are fragments, there are enough fully produced songs to release an album of unheard material each year for 100 years, at least. If only 50-100 of those songs are good to great, isn't that more than 90%, or more, of all professional musicians produce in their careers?

Person.

On April 2, 1792, President Washington signed into law the Coinage Act of 1792, also known as the Mint Act, establishing the US Mint in Philadelphia and authorizing American coinage. Before that, Americans had used a mix of foreign coins and a few coins produced by the individual colonies. The first circulating coin produced was the copper cent showing "Liberty" on the front, or obverse, and a 15 link chain for the states on the reverse. It was not the most popular, larger than a modern quarter, Liberty looking "in a fright," and the chain reminding some of slavery ( soon replaced with a wreath).

The first Chief Coiner and Engraver of the US and presumably the designer of the first coins was Henry Voight (1738-1814), a maker of clocks, mathematical instruments, and steam engines, and other machines. He was a longtime business partner and friend of John Fitch, and they invented the first practical steamboat, but Robert Fulton later made improvements and took all the credit. The Fitch-Voight friendship came to an end after Fitch married a widow with whom Voight was having an extramarital affair and fathered two children; Fitch originally married the widow to provide cover for his friend, while the affair continued.

Coin collecting, or numismatics, was one of the activities that fueled my childhood love history, and I spent a great deal of time with Yeoman's Red Book, THE reference book for US coins and their values. Unable to afford American collecting, I turned to foreign collecting, which literally opened up a whole new world. I still have a jar near my desk here into which I deposit leftover coins from foreign travels.

Place.

On April 2, 1792, President Washington signed into law the Coinage Act of 1792, also known as the Mint Act, establishing the US Mint in Philadelphia and authorizing American coinage. Before that, Americans had used a mix of foreign coins and a few coins produced by the individual colonies.

The first Mint was built at the corner of Arch and 7th streets in Philadelphia, the first three story building in the city and the first federal building erected under the US Constitution. Today, the Mint maintains production facilities in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver, and West Point, and a bullion depository in Fort Knox.

Coin collecting, or numismatics, was one of the activities that fueled my childhood love history, and I spent a great deal of time with Yeoman's Red Book, THE reference book for US coins and their values. Unable to afford American collecting, I turned to foreign collecting, which literally opened up a whole new world. I still have a jar near my desk here into which I deposit leftover coins from foreign travels.

Thing.

On April 2, 1792, President Washington signed into law the Coinage Act of 1792, also known as the Mint Act, establishing the US Mint in Philadelphia and authorizing American coinage. Before that, Americans had used a mix of foreign coins and a few coins produced by the individual colonies.

"Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects.

Coin collecting may have possibly existed in ancient times. Caesar Augustus gave "coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings and foreign money" as Saturnalia gifts.

Petrarch, who wrote in a letter that he was often approached by vinediggers with old coins asking him to buy or to identify the ruler, is credited as the first Renaissance collector. Petrarch presented a collection of Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV in 1355.

The first book on coins was De Asse et Partibus (1514) by Guillaume Budé. During the early Renaissance ancient coins were collected by European royalty and nobility. Collectors of coins were Pope Boniface VIII, Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV of France, Ferdinand I, Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg who started the Berlin coin cabinet and Henry IV of France to name a few. Numismatics is called the "Hobby of Kings", due to its most esteemed founders." (Wikipedia)

Coin collecting was one of the activities that fueled my childhood love history, and I spent a great deal of time with Yeoman's Red Book, THE reference book for US coins and their values. Unable to afford American collecting, I turned to foreign collecting, which literally opened up a whole new world. I still have a jar near my desk here into which I deposit leftover coins from foreign travels.

 Person.

On April 3, 1948, President Harry Truman signed the European Recovery Program Act, better known as the Marshall Plan, into law, transferring 13.3 billion dollars (173 billion today) to rebuild Western Europe over the course of the next four years. The goal was to help stabilize the governments and economies in order to prevent the spread of communism.

The plan was named the Marshall Plan after Secretary of State George Marshall (1880-1959), but he was always ready to give credit to his deputies, especially Under-Secretary Robert Lovett, who actually designed it. Truman insisted on calling it the Marshall Plan. According to biographers, Marshall was never a workaholic, and he never kept up on details of plans, negotiations, or foreign affairs in general. He was the epitome of the "big picture guy," leaving the work to underlings he found competent.

Born in Pennsylvania to parents with Virginia roots ( He was first cousin, three times removed, to Chief Justice John Marshall.), he decided early on a military career. Failing to attain a West Point appointment, he attended the Virginia Military Institute. He served in the Philippines and in WWI, becoming a staff officer to General Pershing, the commander of American forces in the war, remaining his aide-de-camp between the World Wars. Moving up to Brigadier General and Deputy Chief of Staff under FDR, he openly disagreed with the President on the future of the US Army in meetings in 1938. Others thought he had killed his career. Instead, FDR made him Army Chief of Staff. He was ultimately responsible for the biggest mobilization and expansion of the US Military in history and the direction of the war effort. Following WWII, he served as Secretary of State and then as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.

Place.

On April 3, 1948, President Harry Truman signed the European Recovery Program Act, better known as the Marshall Plan, into law, transferring 13.3 billion dollars (173 billion today) to rebuild Western Europe over the course of the next four years. The goal was to help stabilize the governments and economies in order to prevent the spread of communism.

As a result of WWII, Europe was devastated, having suffered millions of casualties and millions of displaced persons. It seemed fertile grounds for communist parties to grow, with Soviet aid, threatening the weakened governments of Western Europe. Marshall Plan money helped shore up the shaky economies. The money was offered to Eastern European countries as well, and was also accepted by some neutral countries in the war, but Stalin forbade Soviet satellites from accepting. Because the Soviet Union couldn't match the funding, many Soviet satellite countries had WWII damages that were not rebuilt until the 1980s and 1990s.

Thing.

On April 3, 1948, President Harry Truman signed the European Recovery Program Act, better known as the Marshall Plan, into law, transferring 13.3 billion dollars (173 billion today) to rebuild Western Europe over the course of the next four years. The goal was to help stabilize the governments and economies in order to prevent the spread of communism.

The effects:
"The years 1948 to 1952 saw the fastest period of growth in European history. Industrial production increased by 35%. Agricultural production substantially surpassed pre-war levels. The poverty and starvation of the immediate postwar years disappeared, and Western Europe embarked upon an unprecedented two decades of growth that saw standards of living increase dramatically. Additionally, the long-term effect of economic integration raised European income levels substantially, by nearly 20 percent by the mid-1970s.  There is some debate among historians over how much this should be credited to the Marshall Plan. Most reject the idea that it alone miraculously revived Europe, as evidence shows that a general recovery was already underway. Most believe that the Marshall Plan sped this recovery, but did not initiate it. Many argue that the structural adjustments that it forced were of great importance. Economic historians J. Bradford Delong and Barry Eichengreen call it "history's most successful structural adjustment program." One effect of the plan was that it subtly "Americanized" European countries, especially Austria, through new exposure to American popular culture, including the growth in influence of Hollywood movies and rock n' roll." (Wikipedia)

Person.

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on April 4. 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She became better known as writer, poet, actress, dancer, singer. civil rights activist, and memoirist Maya Angelou. Her career spanned over fifty years, including 7 autobiographies, but her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, brought her international recognition.

Her childhood was tumultuous, raised off and on by her paternal grandmother in Arkansas and her mother when her parents' marriage dissolved, and she was raped at the age of 8 by her mother's boyfriend. As a result of that trauma, she entered a nearly five year period of muteness, during which she fell in love with the written word and became a keen observer of the world around her.

During her teen years, she and her brother moved to Oakland California to once again live with their mother. At 16, she became the first black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. She married in 1951 and began a professional dance career, appearing in traveling and off-Broadway productions, while dabbling in recording music. In the late 1950s, she became a civil rights activist, and she became friends and collaborators with both MLK and Malcolm X.

Until her death in 2014, she continued to write, compose, record, act, lecture, produce, and direct movies and plays.

Place.

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on April 4. 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She became better known as writer, poet, actress, dancer, singer. civil rights activist, and memoirist Maya Angelou. Her career spanned over fifty years, including 7 autobiographies, but her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, brought her international recognition.

"Beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou used the same "writing ritual" for many years. She would wake early in the morning and check into a hotel room, where the staff was instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She would write on legal pads while lying on the bed, with only a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget's Thesaurus, and the Bible, and would leave by the early afternoon. She would average 10–12 pages of written material a day, which she edited down to three or four pages in the evening. She went through this process to "enchant" herself, and as she said in a 1989 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, "relive the agony, the anguish, the Sturn und Drang." She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even traumatic experiences such as her rape in Caged Bird, in order to "tell the human truth" about her life. Angelou stated that she played cards in order to get to that place of enchantment and in order to access her memories more effectively. She said, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in "telling the truth"." (Wikipedia)

Thing.

Marguerite Annie Johnson was born on April 4. 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. She became better known as writer, poet, actress, dancer, singer. civil rights activist, and memoirist Maya Angelou. Her career spanned over fifty years, including 7 autobiographies, but her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, brought her international recognition.

"In 1993, Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the presidential inauguration of Bill Clinton, becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. Her recitation resulted in more fame and recognition for her previous works, and broadened her appeal "across racial, economic, and educational boundaries". The recording of the poem won a Grammy Award. In June 1995, she delivered what Richard Long called her "second 'public' poem", entitled "A Brave and Startling Truth", which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the United Nations." (Wikipedia)

People.

On April 5, 1939, in Nazi Germany, membership in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens became mandatory for "Aryan" schoolchildren. The organizations were formed to indoctrinate German children and to prepare the next generation's leaders. However, few Americans know that the German-American Bund, comprised of German-Americans who supported Nazism, operated summer camps throughout the 1930s in the Northern US.

Hundreds of German-American children and grandchildren (and other American children) of immigrants wore Hitler Youth and Maiden uniforms and swastikas, marched, drilled, read books, and sang songs in praise of Hitler in camps over which the flags of the US and of Nazi Germany both flew.

They canoed, swam, and did all the other things summer campers did, but there was also an emphasis on fitness and propaganda, preparing the minds and bodies of good Nazis. They often marched proudly through the streets of nearby towns, and nights often ended around bonfires, singing Nazi songs.

The movement started to decline in 1939 when Bund leader Fritz Kuhn was imprisoned for forgery and embezzlement, but a few camps limped on into the 1940s.

Place.

On April 5, 1939, in Nazi Germany, membership in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens became mandatory for "Aryan" schoolchildren. The organizations were formed to indoctrinate German children and to prepare the next generation's leaders. However, few Americans know that the German-American Bund, comprised of German-Americans who supported Nazism, operated summer camps throughout the 1930s in the Northern US.

Hundreds of German-American children and grandchildren (and other American children) of immigrants wore Hitler Youth and Maiden uniforms and swastikas, marched, drilled, read books, and sang songs in praise of Hitler in camps over which the flags of the US and of Nazi Germany both flew.

"The Bund established a number of training camps, including Camp Nordland in Sussex County, New Jersey, Camp Siegfried in Yaphank, New York, Camp Hindenburg in Grafton, Wisconsin, and the Deutschhorst Country Club in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, Camp Bergwald in Bloomingdale, New Jersey, and Camp Highland in Windham, New York. The Bund held rallies with Nazi insignia and procedures such as the Hitler salute and attacked the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jewish-American groups, Communism, "Moscow-directed" trade unions, and American boycotts of German goods. The organization claimed to show its loyalty to America by displaying the flag of the United States alongside the flag of Nazi Germany at Bund meetings, and declared that George Washington was "the first Fascist" who did not believe democracy would work." ( Wikipedia)

Thing.

On April 5, 1939, in Nazi Germany, membership in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Maidens became mandatory for "Aryan" schoolchildren. The organizations were formed to indoctrinate German children and to prepare the next generation's leaders. However, few Americans know that the German-American Bund, comprised of German-Americans who supported Nazism, operated summer camps throughout the 1930s in the Northern US.

On February 20, 1939, the German-American Bund hosted a rally of more than 20,000 people inside New York City's Madison Square Garden to celebrate the birthday of George Washington. According to Bund propaganda, Washington would have been a Fascist. Outside, up to 100,000 counter-protestors, by some estimates, surrounded the building. Some infiltrated inside, hurling jeers and taunts at speakers. A record force of 1,700 NYC policemen struggled to maintain a line between the two groups.

Person.

Lincoln Steffens was born on April 6, 1866 in San Francisco. He became an investigative journalist, a muckraker, during the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s. (For the younger people, once there were journalists who investigated stories and exposed corruption and societal ills instead of just printing what famous people tweeted or the talking points handed to them by the biased party that they happen to align with. Quaint, old-fashioned idea.)

After studying in Europe, Steffens began his writing career in New York in the 1890s. From 1902 to 1906, he was editor of McClure's Magazine, a popular current events magazine that published other noted muckrakers like Ida Tarbell and Roy Stannard Baker. He left McClure's and founded a new magazine with Ida Tarbell as a partner in 1906.

In his articles, collectively published as The Shame of the Cities, Steffens sought to expose municipal corruption in cities across America, especially those cities controlled by big political machines and bosses. His goal was to anger Americans into taking action and effecting reform.

After covering the Mexican and Russian Revolutions, he moved further left, advocating full revolution instead of reform. He became a staunch supporter and promoter of the Soviet government and of communism. Of Soviet Russia, he often said, "I have seen the future, and it works." Like many Americans though, his love of Soviet communism began to sour by the early 1930s as Stalin's ruthlessness came to light. He died of a heart condition in 1936.

Place.

Lincoln Steffens was born on April 6, 1866 in San Francisco. He became an investigative journalist, a muckraker, during the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s. (For the younger people, once there were journalists who investigated stories and exposed corruption and societal ills instead of just printing what famous people tweeted or the talking points handed to them by the biased party that they happen to align with. Quaint, old-fashioned idea.)

After investigating municipal corruption and political machines that thrived on the corruption to the detriment of the average citizen, he published a series of articles in McClure's Magazine, and the articles were published as a book, The Shame of the Cities, in 1904. The cities he targeted, often at the behest of prominent locals, were St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

Thing.

Lincoln Steffens was born on April 6, 1866 in San Francisco. He became an investigative journalist, a muckraker, during the Progressive Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s. (For the younger people, once there were journalists who investigated stories and exposed corruption and societal ills instead of just printing what famous people tweeted or the talking points handed to them by the biased party that they happen to align with. Quaint, old-fashioned idea.)

After investigating municipal corruption and political machines that thrived on the corruption to the detriment of the average citizen, he published a series of articles in McClure's Magazine, and the articles were published as a book, The Shame of the Cities, in 1904.

From the 1800s well into the 1900s, many American cities were run by political machines, political party organizations that maintain political power by dispensing favors and bribes and generating loyalty from politicians and voters. The "Bosses" that really ran the cities never ran for office themselves. Instead, they delivered votes to politicians to get them elected through corruption and persuasion. The politicians then were obligated to do the Boss' bidding or risk losing the next election. The Boss and his associates would receive lucrative government contracts and favorable legislation.

The Bosses often relied on the votes of immigrants. They would bestow favors and assistance on new Americans to help them find jobs and homes and adjust to their new lives. The new immigrants would vote the way the Bosses wanted out of loyalty and gratitude.

Person.

On April 7, 451, Attila the Hun, labeled the "Scourge of God" or "Flagellum Dei" by the Christian Romans, seized and sacked the city of Metz in northeastern France.

Attila ( c. 406 - 453) ruled the Huns, Eurasian nomads who originated somewhere east of the Volga River, from 434 until his death. During his rule, he united a number of tribes, called "Barbarians" by the Romans, in Central and Eastern Europe, and he established a huge empire, stretching from the Ural to the Rhine Rivers and South to the Danube.

He was the most feared enemy of both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. He threatened Constantinople several times but failed to capture the Eastern capital. In 451, he invaded Roman Gaul (France) and subsequently northern Italy but was unable to take Rome. However, his campaigns severely weakened Rome, hastening its collapse in 476.

Although he accumulated a massive amount of plunder, he was said to live simply, eating from a wooden trenches (bowl/plate) and drinking from a wooden cup while his guests and and drank from gold and silver. He dressed very simply, and his horse went unadorned.

Stories were told of Attila's cruelties throughout Europe and Asia, but stories of cruelty were, and are, made up and exaggerated about one's enemies. The subject himself may well have erpetuated such stories for psychological effect. Attila died following a great wedding feast, but there is still debate over the exact circumstances and cause.

Kelly's 2020 book looks like a good addition to my reading list.

Place

On April 7, 451, Attila the Hun, labeled the "Scourge of God" or "Flagellum Dei" by the Christian Romans, seized and sacked the city of Metz in northeastern France.

Attila ( c. 406 - 453) ruled the Huns, Eurasian nomads who originated somewhere east of the Volga River, from 434 until his death. During his rule, he united a number of tribes, called "Barbarians" by the Romans, in Central and Eastern Europe, and he established a huge empire, stretching from the Ural to the Rhine Rivers and South to the Danube.

He was the most feared enemy of both the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. He threatened Constantinople several times but failed to capture the Eastern capital. In 451, he invaded Roman Gaul (France) and subsequently northern Italy but was unable to take Rome. However, his campaigns severely weakened Rome, hastening its collapse in 476.

Thing.

On April 7, 451, Attila the Hun, labeled the "Scourge of God" or "Flagellum Dei" by the Christian Romans, seized and sacked the city of Metz in northeastern France.

Attila ( c. 406 - 453) ruled the Huns, Eurasian nomads who originated somewhere east of the Volga River, from 434 until his death. During his rule, he united a number of tribes, called "Barbarians" by the Romans, in Central and Eastern Europe, and he established a huge empire, stretching from the Ural to the Rhine Rivers and South to the Danube.

The medal pictured here illustrates how Attila was thought of in Italy even 1,000 years after his death. It was minted in the 16th or early 17th century in late Renaissance Italy. Designed by an unknown artist, the obverse (front/heads) features the inscription "King Attila" in Latin (Other versions say "Scourge of God.") and depicts him as a faun or satyr, the lustful, mischievous, sometimes evil half-man, half-goat creatures of Greek and Roman mythology. I can't find much more information about the medal and its purpose.

histocrats
Person.

On April 3, 1948, President Harry Truman signed the European Recovery Program Act, better known as the Marshall Plan, into law, transferring 13.3 billion dollars (173 billion today) to rebuild Western Europe over the course of the next four years. The goal was to help stabilize the governments and economies in order to prevent the spread of communism.

The plan was named the Marshall Plan after Secretary of State George Marshall (1880-1959), but he was always ready to give credit to his deputies, especially Under-Secretary Robert Lovett, who actually designed it. Truman insisted on calling it the Marshall Plan. According to biographers, Marshall was never a workaholic, and he never kept up on details of plans, negotiations, or foreign affairs in general. He was the epitome of the "big picture guy," leaving the work to underlings he found competent.

Born in Pennsylvania to parents with Virginia roots ( He was first cousin, three times removed, to Chief Justice John Marshall.), he decided early on a military career. Failing to attain a West Point appointment, he attended the Virginia Military Institute. He served in the Philippines and in WWI, becoming a staff officer to General Pershing, the commander of American forces in the war, remaining his aide-de-camp between the World Wars. Moving up to Brigadier General and Deputy Chief of Staff under FDR, he openly disagreed with the President on the future of the US Army in meetings in 1938. Others thought he had killed his career. Instead, FDR made him Army Chief of Staff. He was ultimately responsible for the biggest mobilization and expansion of the US Military in history and the direction of the war effort. Following WWII, he served as Secretary of State and then as Secretary of Defense during the Korean War.

Steil's 2018 book marks the Marshall Plan's importance in the Cold War.

...And There You Have the Facts of Life....

 

    Remember this?  Lyrics from the theme song of sitcom "The Facts of Life":

   You take the good, you take the bad,

you take them both and there you have

The facts of life, the facts of life.

There's a time you got to go and show

You're growin' now you know about

The facts of life, the facts of life.

When the world never seems

to be livin up to your dreams

And suddenly you're finding out

the facts of life are all about you, you.

It takes a lot to get 'em right

When you're learning the facts of life. (learning the facts of life)

Learning the facts of life (learning the facts of life)

Learning the facts of life.

Closing Theme:

You'll avoid a lot of damage

and enjoy the fun of managing

the facts of life.

They shed a lot of light.

If you hear them from your brother,

better clear them with your mother

better get them right,

Call her late at night.

You got the future in the palm of your hand.

All you gotta do to get you through is understand.

You think you rather do without,

you will never make through without the truth.

The facts of life are all about you.

source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thefactsoflifelyrics.html

    Like you, I've been drowning in arguments lately, arguments about how history should be taught. I am definitely not a disinterested party. For 30 years, I made teaching history my career. Before and after being a professional teacher, history has been and continues to be a very big and important part of my life, but I typically refrain from wading into the debate. Why? First, I don't thrive on conflict. Second, knowing that both sides are enflaming debate purely for the purpose of generating political capital and manipulating their ignorant bases for one purpose, power, I know the pendulum will swing back and forth. As much as I was limited in my classroom by state standards, standardized tests, and time, my goal in the classroom was never to teach a single perspective; my goal was to teach truth and to encourage my students to objectively search for truth. I tried to answer questions honestly as they were asked, or to set them on the path to finding the answers.  I never believed my goal as a history teacher was to propagandize or to indoctrinate. The fact is, there are many great things and people in American history, and there are many terrible things and people in American history.  Those are the facts of life, and you have to take the good with the bad to arrive at the truth.

    I've recently read three books that really focus on the bad. They are incredibly dark and are focused on the darkest aspects of human nature, out and out evil, the kind of evil that only humans are capable of inflicting on other humans. Some people, like my wife, would never read them because they are so dark. However, they tell stories that need to be told. 

    American Midnight was published in October 2022 by Adam Hochschild. I admire Hoschschild's writing, but he tends to write about dark topics. King Leopold's Ghost is about the atrocities committed by the Belgians in the Congo, and Spain In Our Hearts is about the Spanish Civil War. American Midnight is about America during World War I into the early 1920s, specifically about the anti-war, pro-civil rights, and pro-labor union movements active during the time, and the all-out war waged against them by local, state, and federal governments and by citizen-vigilantes.

    From Amazon: "From legendary historian Adam Hochschild, a "masterly" (New York Times) reassessment of the overlooked but startlingly resonant period between World War I and the Roaring Twenties, when the foundations of American democracy were threatened by war, pandemic, and violence fueled by battles over race, immigration, and the rights of labor

    The nation was on the brink. Mobs burned Black churches to the ground. Courts threw thousands of people into prison for opinions they voiced—in one notable case, only in private. Self-appointed vigilantes executed tens of thousands of citizens’ arrests. Some seventy-five newspapers and magazines were banned from the mail and forced to close. When the government stepped in, it was often to fan the flames.  

    This was America during and after the Great War: a brief but appalling era blighted by lynchings, censorship, and the sadistic, sometimes fatal abuse of conscientious objectors in military prisons—a time whose toxic currents of racism, nativism, red-baiting, and contempt for the rule of law then flowed directly through the intervening decades to poison our own. It was a tumultuous period defined by a diverse and colorful cast of characters, some of whom fueled the injustice while others fought against it: from the sphinxlike Woodrow Wilson, to the fiery antiwar advocates Kate Richards O’Hare and Emma Goldman, to labor champion Eugene Debs, to a little-known but ambitious bureaucrat named J. Edgar Hoover, and to an outspoken leftwing agitator—who was in fact Hoover’s star undercover agent. It is a time that we have mostly forgotten about, until now."

    Hoschschild tells stories that I had never heard, stories that are never told. I learned a lot from this book, and it will probably end up being one of my best reads of 2023. I was a little disappointed when Hoschschild's political bias was made abundantly clear in the epilogue. To be fair, there were hints of his leaning throughout the book, but it was blatant in the epilogue, and he even makes a couple of intentionally misleading statements. I would still recommend the book to those looking for truth.

    

    Fordlandia, published in 2009 by Greg Grandin, tells the story of Henry Ford's failed attempt to build a rubber-producing colony in the Amazon forest. I have to admit that I have a definite bias against Henry Ford, one of the most racist and anti-Semitic Americans in history, and that's quite a feat, but this book really illuminated even more reasons to dislike the man. Ford had a definite vision for America, a small-town, white supremacist, Jew-free America, in which men would work in modern factories most days, and women would be the typical housewives, cooking, cleaning, volunteering, gardening, and raising children. Factory workers would spend only part of the year in factories, however. The rest of the year would be spent farming, being one with the agrarian lifestyle.

    Like every other American history teacher, I always taught the surface facts about Ford: that he masterminded the combination of assembly lines, automation, standardization of parts, and specialization of labor that transformed industry and made autos available to average Americans and that he paid his workers the unheard wages of $5 a day.  Grandin digs deeper, revealing that, while that was true, there was a price to be paid for being a Ford man. Ford employed an army of inspectors who could show up at the houses of his employees at any time for surprise inspections, taking note of cleanliness, reading material, foods, alcohol, and anything else that Ford might deem objectionable. He employed another army of "security forces" whose job was to bust heads and break bones of troublesome labor agitators.  Not only was Ford notorious for his suspicions about education, but he disliked "experts" in general, often refusing to hire experts (like a botanist or rubber expert for Fordlandia) and even firing employees who became too much of an expert.  When he became America's most famous collector of historical objects and built the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan, he refused to hire museum curators or historians because they were experts, choosing to organize it himself.  And then there's the way, Ford treated his son and successor Edsel Ford.... Throughout his adult life, Ford belittled and undermined Edsel, even after Edsel became President of the company.  When Ford tried to export his vision to Brazil, it failed miserably. Altogether, the story is incredibly interesting.

    

    The third book is a step away from American history and into more recent history, Say Nothing by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. I really just discovered Keefe recently and had the opportunity to hear him speak at the Savannah Book Festival in February, but I'm a big fan of his writing. Say Nothing, published in 2019 is about the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I was a child then, but I heard news stories of murders and violence in Northern Ireland and snatches here and there about the conflict, but I never understood it then, of course. I always wondered 1) How can somebody hate somebody else enough to kill them just because they are of a different religion? and 2) How does one distinguish between a Catholic and a Protestant on sight anyway?  Keefe tells the story of the Troubles through the stories of participants from both sides.  The main focus is on the kidnapping and murder of a Protestant widow and  mother of 10, Jean McConville, who was taken from her flat and her children by a masked, armed mob, interrogated, and disappeared. Her children only learned for sure that she was murdered a couple of decades later. That was just one of many unfathomable crimes committed by average citizens against fellow average citizens because they had different political and religious beliefs. American does not have a monopoly on horrible events and people, and, just like in the US, the repercussions of the Irish-Northern Irish-British conflict are still being felt today. This was a disturbing and challenging book to read, but well worth it.

    So just remember, the truth is out there but you have to be willing to take the good and to take the bad in order to get to it, and that should always be our ultimate goal.

    

Person, Place, and Thing: March 23 - 31

 

Person.

On March 23, 1867, Congress passed the Second Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson's veto. It was one of several overrides that marked the contentious relationship between the 17th president and the Republicans in Congress.

Andrew Johnson's (1808-1875) life could have been a great story of social mobility in America; instead, he became one of the worst regarded politicians and presidents in history. Born into poverty in Raleigh, North Carolina, he never attended school a day in his life. By many accounts, he was taught to read and write by his wife. However, he began learning while his brother was apprenticed to a tailor. Other employees in the shop taught him basics, and citizens would come to the shop and read to the tailors as they worked. Andrew always listened, picking up literacy and tailoring skills.

Unhappy, the brothers ran away from their apprenticeship after about 5 years, and Andrew supported himself as a tailor in Alabama and Tennessee. He entered politics, winning elections first as city alderman and then to the Tennessee state legislature and the US House of Representatives. He served as Governor of Tennessee from 1853 to 1857, when he became a US Senator.

As talk of secession rose, Johnson declared that his choice was to stay with the Union, and he did, becoming the only Senator of a seceded state to stay in office. President Lincoln rewarded him by making him Military Governor of Tennessee and then making him his running mate in 1864 in a very symbolic move; they ran as the candidates of the National Union Party.

As President, Johnson steadfastly opposed all of the Radical Republicans' attempts to punish the South and protect black rights, arguing that they were overly harsh and unnecessary and that Reconstruction shouldn't be a long, drawn-out affair. His clashes with Congress led to the first impeachment of an American president. Saved from removal by one vote, there was no way to salvage his presidency or legacy.

Historian Eric Foner is the leading authority on Reconstruction.

Place.

On March 23, 1867, Congress passed the Second Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson's veto. It was one of several overrides that marked the contententious relationship between the 17th president and the Republicans in Congress.

Johnson was born in a two-room shack in 1808 near what is now 123 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh North Carolina. The original house stood there until the early 20th century when it was moved to a park about a mile away.

Historian Eric Foner is the leading authority on Reconstruction, and his book is considered a classic work of history.

Thing.

On March 23, 1867, Congress passed the Second Reconstruction Act over President Andrew Johnson's veto. It was one of several overrides that marked the contententious relationship between the 17th president and the Republicans in Congress.

"The Reconstruction Act of 1867 outlined the terms for readmission to representation of rebel states. The bill divided the former Confederate states, except for Tennessee, into five military districts. Each state was required to write a new constitution, which needed to be approved by a majority of voters—including African Americans—in that state. In addition, each state was required to ratify the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution. After meeting these criteria related to protecting the rights of African Americans and their property, the former Confederate states could gain full recognition and federal representation in Congress." (Senate.gov )

Historian Eric Foner is the leading authority on Reconstruction, and his book is considered a classic work of history.

Person.

On March 24, 1603, King James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots, ascended to the English throne following the death of his cousin Elizabeth I (who had beheaded his mother). He became James I, united the thrones of England and Scotkand, and began the Stuart line. He reigned until 1625

James took the Scottish throne at age 13 months when his mother was forced to abdicate by Protestant rebels. He was raised, and Scotland ruled, by a series of regents until he came of age. After assuming the throne on his own, he exerted increasing control over the kingdom, while outwardly showing due respect to the stronger Elizabeth.

In the 1590s, he became interested in the witchcraft hysteria that swept over Scotland, leading to more than 1,500 executions. He wrote and published Demonology, or Daemonologie, in 1597 (republished in 1603). It was a three-part study of witchcraft, divination, necromancy, and black magic. His purpose was to convince other Christians that witchcraft was real, using scriptures and other "evidence." He saw demonology as an important aspect of theology.

Later, of course, he would become famous for convening the assembly of biblical scholars that would produce what came to be known as the King James version of the Bible.

Places.

On March 24, 1603, King James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots, ascended to the English throne following the death of his cousin Elizabeth I (who had beheaded his mother). He became James I, united the thrones of England and Scotkand, and began the Stuart line. He reigned until 1625.

Several historic buildings figure prominently in his rule. First, he lived for a time in the Tower of London when he was crowned King of England - the last monarch to do so. There, his favorite activities included watching the frequent bear-baiting and lion-baiting events in which mastiffs were forced to battle lions or bears to the death.

Hampton Court was a favorite palace of James and his wife, Anne of Denmark. It was there that James convened the assembly of biblical scholars that edited the Bible. It was also there that Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men, first performed for the King.

One of the few things that James and Anne enjoyed together was the masque. He was much more interested in spending time with his male courtiers than with the Queen. Masques were elaborate costumed balls combining dance, music, fanciful constructions, and theater. James hired renowned architect Inigo Jones to build a new Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace in which to host masques.

In the 1590s, he became interested in the witchcraft hysteria that swept over Scotland, leading to more than 1,500 executions. He wrote and published Demonology, or Daemonologie, in 1597 (republished in 1603). It was a three-part study of witchcraft, divination, necromancy, and black magic. His purpose was to convince other Christians that witchcraft was real, using scriptures and other "evidence." He saw demonology as an important aspect of theology.

Thing.

On March 24, 1603, King James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots, ascended to the English throne following the death of his cousin Elizabeth I (who had beheaded his mother). He became James I, united the thrones of England and Scotkand, and began the Stuart line. He reigned until 1625.

In the 1590s, he became interested in the witchcraft hysteria that swept over Scotland, leading to more than 1,500 executions. He wrote and published Demonology, or Daemonologie, in 1597 (republished in 1603). It was a three-part study of witchcraft, divination, necromancy, and black magic. His purpose was to convince other Christians that witchcraft was real, using scriptures and other "evidence." He saw demonology as an important aspect of theology.

It wasn't just witchcraft that King James detested. He also detested the odious habit of smoking tobacco that was introduced into England from North America. He railed against the habit and wrote several anti-smoking tracts, some of the first anti-smoking literature ever produced.

James blamed Native Americans for bringing tobacco to Europe, complained about passive smoking, warned of dangers to the lungs, and decries tobacco's odor as "hatefull to the nose." James' dislike of tobacco led him in 1604 to authorize Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, to levy an excise tax and tariff of six shillings and eight pence per pound of tobacco imported, or £1 per three pounds, a large sum of money for the time.

People.

On March 25, 1969, Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting were jailed in Northern Ireland for leading an illegal loyalist Protestant counter demonstration in Armagh on November 30, 1968, at the beginning of "The Troubles," the 30 years of irregular war in Northern Ireland between Catholics, Protestants, and the British military.

Yesterday, I just started reading Patrick Radden Keefe's book, Say Nothing, about The Troubles, particularly the murder of Jean McConville who was killed by her neighbors because she heard a wounded British soldier crying in the street outside her housing project flat, and she dared to go outside with a pillow and give him a few minutes comfort. The first chapter had me totally enthralled, and, might I add, hating humanity. Keefe is one of the best journalists/writers I've ever read.

The Irish conflict is something I never really knew much about. I remember watching news stories as a kid and never understanding (A) how can anyone care enough about another person's religion to kill? and (B) exactly how does one distinguish between a Catholic and a Protestant on sight?

There were demagogues and leaders on both sides who incited murder, including murders of women and children. Paisley, a Protestant minister, was one of the most influential, urging his followers to burn down the houses of and kill Catholics living in Protestant neighborhoods, calling out addresses in his speeches.

Ronald Bunting was a former British Army officer and university math lecturer who became a close associate of Paisley and created his own paramilitary Protestant loyalist force. In 1969, he organized and led a violent attack on a Belfast to Derry civil rights peace march. Inspired by MLK, the Catholic and Protestant marchers had sworn to uphold nonviolence and sang "We Shall Overcome" as they marched. Bunting organized and directed a violent ambush attack, one of many on the route, by 200 loyalists with iron bars, rocks, and bottles, with full knowledge that his own son was one of the 40 marchers.

Place.

On March 25, 1969, Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting were jailed in Northern Ireland for leading an illegal loyalist Protestant counter demonstration in Armagh on November 30, 1968, at the beginning of "The Troubles," the 30 years of irregular war in Northern Ireland between Catholics, Protestants, and the Britush military.

Yesterday, I just started reading Patrick Radden Keefe's book, Say Nothing, about The Troubles, particularly the murder of Jean McConville who was killed by her neighbors because she heard a wounded British soldier crying in the street outside her housing project flat, and she dared to go outside with a pillow and give him a few minutes comfort. The first chapter had me totally enthralled, and, might I add, hating humanity. Keefe is one of the best journalists/writers I've ever read.

The Irish conflict is something I never really knew much about. I remember watching news stories as a kid and never understanding (A) how can anyone care enough about another person's religion to kill? and (B) exactly how does one distinguish between a Catholic and a Protestant on sight?

While Ireland was under English rule from 1189 to 1922, the 6 counties of Ulster, or Northern Ireland, remain a constituency of the United Kingdom. The Protestant majority of Northern Ireland were descendants of English colonists. Conflict with the Catholic minority, in favor of union with Ireland, flared from time to time, fueled by blatant anti-Catholic discrimination.

Thing.

On March 25, 1969, Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting were jailed in Northern Ireland for leading an illegal loyalist Protestant counter demonstration in Armagh on November 30, 1968, at the beginning of "The Troubles," the 30 years of irregular war in Northern Ireland between Catholics, Protestants, and the British military.

In 1972, the world was shocked on "Bloody Sunday" (January 30) when British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march in Derry Northern Ireland. Fourteen people died: thirteen were killed outright, while the death of another man four months later was attributed to his injuries. Many of the victims were shot while fleeing from the soldiers, and some were shot while trying to help the wounded. Other protesters were injured by shrapnel, rubber bullets, and batons; two were run down by British Army vehicles, and some were beaten. All of those shot were Catholics. The march had been organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) to protest against internment without trial.

Yesterday, I just started reading Patrick Radden Keefe's book, Say Nothing, about The Troubles, particularly the murder of Jean McConville who was killed by her neighbors because she heard a wounded British soldier crying in the street outside her housing project flat, and she dared to go outside with a pillow and give him a few minutes comfort. The first chapter had me totally enthralled, and, might I add, hating humanity. Keefe is one of the best journalists/writers I've ever read.

The Irish conflict is something I never really knew much about. I remember watching news stories as a kid and never understanding (A) how can anyone care enough about another person's religion to kill? and (B) exactly how does one distinguish between a Catholic and a Protestant on sight?

Person.

American author, journalist, socialist, and activist Edward Bellamy was born on March 26, 1850, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. He's most famous for Looking Backward, his novel about a future, set in the year 2000, socialist utopian paradise. His vision led to the founding of "Nationalist Clubs" around the US.

He studied law but never practiced as a lawyer, turning to writing novels after a brief stint as a newspaper journalist, cut short when he contracted tuberculosis, which killed him at 48. His first three novels made little impact, but, in 1888, he published Looking Backward 2000 to 1887, making him a literary star. It sold more copies than any other American novels of the 19th century except Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur.

The protagonist awakes in Boston in the year 2000 to discover a world without all the ills caused by capitalism: no poverty, war, crime, corruption, greed, money, untruthfulness, politicians, lawyers, or taxes. Citizens voluntarily and happily worked from ages 21 to 45 and then happily retired. No fewer than 162 "Nationalist Clubs" - he used Nationalist instead of socialist in the book - arose as readers sought to counter the Gilded Age rise of corporations and Robber Barons.

Bellamy capitalized on his success by launching his own magazine and working to create an alliance between the Nationalist Clubs and the People's (Populist) Party.

Trivia: his cousin was Francis Bellamy, the creator of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Place.

American author, journalist, socialist, and activist Edward Bellamy was born on March 26, 1850, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. He's most famous for Looking Backward, his novel about a future, set in the year 2000, socialist utopian paradise.

The protagonist goes to sleep and awakes in Boston in 2000, 113 years in the future. He marvels at "all the advances of this new age, including drastically reduced working hours for people performing menial jobs and almost instantaneous, internet-like delivery of goods. Everyone retires with full benefits at age 45, and may eat in any of the public kitchens (realized as factory-kitchens in the 1920s–30s in the USSR). The productive capacity of the United States is nationally owned, and the goods of society are equally distributed to its citizens." (Wikipedia)

In his novel, Bellamy sort of predicts the development of credit cards, wholesale clubs, and handheld viewing devices used for entertainment and news.

Thing.

American author, journalist, socialist, and activist Edward Bellamy was born on March 26, 1850, in Chicopee, Massachusetts. He's most famous for Looking Backward, his novel about a future, set in the year 2000, socialist utopian paradise.

So what is a utopia? A utopia is an imaginary perfect place. The word was first used in that way by Sir Thomas More in 1516 in his book Utopia. He took it from the Greek for "nowhere."

Person.

March 27, 1790 is an auspicious day in the development of civilization: a shoemaker named Harvey Kennedy is said to have patented the aglet in Britain. The aglet is the small sheath at the end of shoelaces and other ribbons and fabric cords that keeps the end from fraying.

I'm not finding much information on Harvey Kennedy. Sources are repeating his patent and that he became quite wealthy as a result, but without much in the way of cited evidence. Actually, shoelaces are thousands of years old, and the idea of aglets is as well, (Saving a bit of info for the thing post later today), but Kennedy gets the modern credit.

Many people find this sort of thing interesting. Charles Panati ( born 1943), a physicist and former science editor of Newsweek (Newswek was once a highly respected and read news magazine. A magazine was a bound paper book often published monthly or weekly that contained interesting stories, pictures, and current events. People subscribed to them and had them delivered to their homes or offices or bought them at newsstands. A newsstand was a .... forget it, not enough characters to go down that rabbit hole.) started publishing series of origins books in the 1980s, books that contained short stories about how everyday items came to be invented. They became very popular, and some critics called them the perfect bathroom reading material, which they are - short entertaining and enlightening stories about things we take for granted and often things we may embarrassed to ask about. I always found that students and people in general were usually interested in bathroom and hygiene history. After all, to quote the title of another classic book "Everyone Poops" but few talk about it ( besides your friends who are raising babies or toddlers, who talk about it constantly).

In the meantime, look up and check out the Phineas and Ferb song "A-G-L-E-T."

Place.

March 27, 1790 is an auspicious day in the development of civilization: a shoemaker named Harvey Kennedy is said to have patented the aglet in Britain. The aglet is the small sheath at the end of shoelaces and other ribbons and fabric cords that keeps the end from fraying.

I'm not finding much information on Harvey Kennedy. Sources are repeating his patent and that he became quite wealthy as a result, but without much in the way of cited evidence. Actually, shoelaces are thousands of years old, and the idea of aglets is as well, (Saving a bit of info for the thing post later today), but Kennedy gets the modern credit.

Many people find this sort of thing interesting. Charles Panati ( born 1943), a physicist and former science editor of Newsweek started publishing series of origins books in the 1980s, books that contained short stories about how everyday items came to be invented. They became very popular, and some critics called them the perfect bathroom reading material, which they are - short entertaining and enlightening stories about things we take for granted.

"Bathroom reading has been commonplace throughout history. Before the invention of modern toilet paper, Americans in the colonial period often used newspaper or similar printed material to wipe themselves, because newsprint paper is fairly soft and absorbent. Writing in the 18th century, the English statesman Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield reported that he knew "a gentleman who was so good a manager of his time that he would not even lose that small portion of it which the call of nature obliged him to pass in the necessary-house; but gradually went through all the Latin poets, in those moments.

The advent of the mobile phone is believed to have significantly increased bathroom reading. A 2009 study conducted in Israel found that a majority of adults read from their cell phones on the toilet, and a 2015 study conducted by Verizon found that 90% of cell phone users admitted to reading from their phones while on the toilet." (Wikipedia)

Thing.

March 27, 1790 is an auspicious day in the development of civilization: a shoemaker named Harvey Kennedy is said to have patented the aglet in Britain. The aglet is the small sheath at the end of shoelaces and other ribbons and fabric cords that keeps the end from fraying.

I'm not finding much information on Harvey Kennedy. Sources are repeating his patent and that he became quite wealthy as a result, but without much in the way of cited evidence. Actually, shoelaces are thousands of years old, and the idea of aglets is as well, but Kennedy gets the modern credit.

"Aglets were originally made of metal, glass, or stone, and many were very ornamental. Wealthy people in the Roman era would have their aglets made out of precious metals such as brass or silver.

Before the invention of buttons, they were used on the ends of the ribbons used to fasten clothing together. Sometimes they were formed into small figures. Shakespeare calls this type of figure an "aglet baby" in The Taming of the Shrew.

According to Huffington Post editor James Cave, "The history of the aglet’s evolution is a little knotty—many sources credit it as being popularized by an English inventor named Harvey Kennedy who is said to have earned $2.5 million off the modern shoelace in the 1790s."

Today, the clear plastic aglets on the end of shoelaces are put there by special machines. The machines wrap plastic tape around the end of new shoelaces and use heat or chemicals to melt the plastic onto the shoelace and bond the plastic to itself." (Wikipedia)

Many people find this sort of thing interesting. Charles Panati ( born 1943), a physicist and former science editor of Newsweek started publishing series of origins books in the 1980s, books that contained short stories about how everyday items came to be invented. They became very popular, and some critics called them the perfect bathroom reading material, which they are - short entertaining and enlightening stories about things we take for granted.

Person.

Jim Thorpe, who appears on every list of greatest 20th century athletes, died at age 65 on March 28, 1953. Last year, David Maraniss published a highly regarded, and awarded, biography of Thorpe called Path Lit By Lightning.

Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation became the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US, winning the pentahlon and decathlon. He also played collegiate and professional football, professional baseball, and basketball. His Olympic medals were stripped because he had played semi-pro baseball for two summers, violating amateur status rules, but they were restored in 1983.

He attended the infamous Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, earning All-American status playing football there for Coach Glenn "Pop" Warner. He played professional sports in various leagues until age 41. He struggled to make a living during his remaining years, working odd jobs. He suffered from alcoholism and lived in poverty.

Place.

Jim Thorpe, who appears on every list of greatest 20th century athletes, died at age 65 on March 28, 1953. Last year, David Maraniss published a highly regarded, and awarded, biography of Thorpe called Path Lit By Lightning.

Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, attended the infamous Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, the flagship school of the Indian boarding school assimilationist movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s. "Founded in 1879 under U.S. governmental authority by Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt. In his own words, Pratt's motto was, "Kill the Indian, save the man;" a mentality which was then applied to the cultural assimilation efforts of the larger American Indian boarding school system Pratt wrote that he believed that Native Americans were 'equal' to European-Americans, and that the School worked to immerse students into mainstream Euro-American culture, believing they might thus be able to advance and thrive in the dominant society, and be leaders to their people." (Wikipedia)

Thousands of Indian children were taken from their parents, sometimes literally and sometimes after parents and tribal leaders were convinced that it was their only chance for survival, and enrolled in schools like Carlisle, where all tribal connections and traditions were forbidden, and they were trained to get farmers, craftsmen, and servants. Many never saw their parents again, and many were abused or died. The movement caused great harm to individuals and nations that may never be repaired.

Things.

Jim Thorpe, who appears on every list of greatest 20th century athletes, died at age 65 on March 28, 1953. Last year, David Maraniss published a highly regarded, and awarded, biography of Thorpe called Path Lit By Lightning.

Thorpe became the first Native American to win a gold Olympic medal, winning two in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, in the pentathlon and the decathlon. You may not know the backstory though - the story of his shoes.

He had already competed in and won the pentathalon, five track and field events held in a single day. Next up was the decathlon, 10 events held over three days. When the day came, his shoes were missing, possibly stolen. A teammate lent him a single shoe (?), and he found another shoe in the garbage. However, they were different sizes, so he had to wear extra socks with the bigger shoe to keep it on his foot. He still went on to win the gold medal.

Person.

If all goes as planned, we will be seeing a living legend speak tonight, someone I've admired since childhood. Dr. Jane Goodall is doing an "Inspiring Hope" speaking tour on stage tonight in Tampa, less than a week before her 89th birthday on April 3. The tickets sold out in minutes after going on sale.

Goodall, born in Hampstead, England, has had a lifelong love of animals and made her first trip to Kenya in 1957, where she met renowned paleontologist Louis Leakey. She went to work for him as a secretary. Leakey believed that study of today's great apes would reveal much about early man, and he picked Goodall as one of three primary researchers, along with Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas to study chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans respectively. They Leakey Foundation educated and trained them and established their observation centers. The press immediately dubbed them "Leakey's Angels" or "The Trimates."

Goodall went to work at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, and she's been there ever since. Her observations over 60 years have profoundly changed, largely created actually, what we know about would chimpanzees.

Place.

If all goes as planned, we will be seeing a living legend speak tonight, someone I've admired since childhood. Dr. Jane Goodall is doing an "Inspiring Hope" speaking tour on stage tonight in Tampa, less than a week before her 89th birthday on April 3. The tickets sold out in minutes after going on sale.

Goodall went to work at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania in 1960, and she's been there ever since. Her observations over 60 years have profoundly changed, largely created actually, what we know about would chimpanzees.

"Gombe Stream National Park is a national park ... in Tanzania, 16 km (10 mi) north of Kigoma, the capital of Kigoma Region Established in 1968, it is one of the smallest national parks in Tanzania, with only 35 km2 (13.5 sq mi) of protected land along the hills of the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.The terrain is distinguished by steep valleys, and the vegetation ranges from grassland to woodland to tropical rainforest Accessible only by boat, the park is most famous as the location where Jane Goodall pioneered her behavioral research on the common chimpanzee populations. The Kasakela chimpanzee group, featured in several books and documentaries, lives in Gombe National Park." (Wikipedia)

Thing.

If all goes as planned, we will be seeing a living legend speak tonight, someone I've admired since childhood. Dr. Jane Goodall is doing an "Inspiring Hope" speaking tour on stage tonight in Tampa, less than a week before her 89th birthday on April 3. The tickets sold out in minutes after going on sale.

"Roots & Shoots was founded by Jane Goodall, DBE ( Dame of the British Empire) in 1991 with the goal of bringing together youth from preschool to university age to work on environmental, conservation and humanitarian issues. The organization has local chapters in over 140 countries with over 8000 local groups worldwide that involve nearly 150,000. Many of the chapters operate through schools and other organizations. Participants are encouraged to identify and work on problems in their own communities affecting people, animals, or the environment. Charity Navigator has awarded Roots & Shoots and its parent non-profit organization, the Jane Goodall Institute, its highest four-star rating for accountability and transparency, with 78.1% of its expenses going directly to the programs." (Wikipedia)

Person.

On March 30, 1867, the US purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million ( $109 billion today), roughly 2 cents an acre.

The man behind the purchase was Secretary of State (from 1861 to 1869) William H. Seward. Seward was born in Florida, New York in 1801 where his father was a farmer and slaveowner. He became a lawyer and was elected to the New York State Senate in 1830. He was elected to two terms as governor in 1838 and 1840, becoming an abolitionist along the way. He signed several bills advancing rights of black New Yorkers and guaranteeing jury trials for fugitive slaves. He protected abolitionists and intervened in several cases of free blacks who had been kidnapped and enslaved in the South.

In 1849, he began serving in the US Senate, and he became a leading national political figure and one of the founding members of the Republican Party, formed in 1854. In 1860, he was seen as the leafing candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, but he was outmaneuvered at the convention by the man that he and most others in the party regarded as a slack-jawed yokel and backwoods bumpkin, Abraham Lincoln.

Seward came to realize that he was wrong about Lincoln and accepted the Secretary of State post. He became one of Lincoln's closest political allies and supporters. He survived an assassination attempt by one of the Lincoln conspirators that night and continued to serve, negotiating the Alaskan purchase in 1867. He died in 1872.

James Michener's nearly 1000 page epic novel takes the reader from the formation of the landmass to Alaskan statehood in 1959.

Place.

On March 30, 1867, the US purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million ( $109 billion today), roughly 2 cents an acre.

"Alaska is the largest state in the United States in terms of land area at 570,380 square miles (1,477,300 km2), over twice (roughly 2.47 times) as large as Texas, the next largest state, and is the seventh largest country subdivision in the world and the third largest in North America, about 20.4% smaller than Denmark's autonomous country of Greenland and 17.6% smaller than Canada's largest territory of Nunavut. If the state's westernmost point were superimposed on San Francisco California, its easternmost point would be in Jacksonville Florida. Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign nations (it is slightly larger than Iran but slightly smaller than Libya). Alaska is home to 3.5 million lakes of 20 acres (8.1 ha) or larger. Marshlands and wetland permafrost cover 188,320 square miles (487,700 km2) (mostly in northern, western and southwest flatlands). Frozen water, in the form of glacier ice, covers some 16,000 square miles (41,000 km2) of land and 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2) of tidal zone. The Bering glacier complex near the southeastern border with Yukon, Canada, covers 2,250 square miles (5,800 km2) alone." (Wikipedia)

James Michener's nearly 1000 page epic novel takes the reader from the formation of the landmass to Alaskan statehood in 1959.

Thing.

On March 30, 1867, the US purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million ( $109 billion today), roughly 2 cents an acre.

Following the Crimean War, the Russian government came to the conclusion that it may not be capable of defending Alaska and that it may be wiser to dump it. Secretary of State Seward began negotiations to purchase it following the end of the Civil War. Supporters saw Alaska as a possible staging area for trade access to Asia. Opponents saw it as a frozen wasteland, and they ridiculed the idea as "Seward's Folly" or "Seward's Icebox," calling it a huge waste of money. Seward persisted, and the purchase was made. Unfortunately, Seward would not live to see the discoveries of gold, oil, and other resources in Alaska, leading one to wonder if he had private second thoughts.

James Michener's nearly 1000 page epic novel takes the reader from the formation of the landmass to Alaskan statehood in 1959.

Person.

Lo and behold, Soperton Georgia, a little town near my hometown and the town where my father and some of his siblings were born, made the "Today in History" website that I use for my daily posts. On March 31, 1933, The Soperton News became the first newspaper published on paper made from pine pulp. Georgia's pine forests were notable features for much of Georgia's history and an important part of its economy. Soperton still celebrates itself as the "Million Pines City" and hosts "The Million Pines Festival," one of Georgia's oldest annual events, every November.

One of the first to make a study of Georgia's Pines was William Bartram, one of America's first great naturalists. Born in Philadelphia in 1739, he traveled through the southern colonies from 1773 to 1777. He spent a great deal of time exploring Georgia, which few Europeans and colonials had explored, and Florida. He made drawings and observations of plants and animal life that had not been observed before by non-indigenous people, cataloged them, and collected specimens. He also met and observed Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles.

Upon his return to Philadelphia, he published his book, now called Bartram's Travels, which has never gone out of print and continues to inspire naturalists, writers, and artists today. On another day last March, I featured current Georgia naturalist Janisse Ray and her book, Ecology of a Cracker Childood, about the longleaf pine, who is continuing Bartram's work in her own way. In 2011, artist Philip Juras published a collection of his landscapes inspired by his research of Bartram's work and following Bartram's Travels.

Place.

Lo and behold, Soperton Georgia, a little town near my hometown and the town where my father and some of his siblings were born, made the "Today in History" website that I use for my daily posts. On March 31, 1933, The Soperton News became the first newspaper published on paper made from pine pulp. Georgia's pine forests were notable features for much of Georgia's history and an important part of its economy. Soperton still celebrates itself as the "Million Pines City" and hosts "The Million Pines Festival," one of Georgia's oldest annual events, every November.

One of the first to make a study of Georgia's Pines was William Bartram, one of America's first great naturalists. Born in Philadelphia in 1739, he traveled through the southern colonies from 1773 to 1777. He spent a great deal of time exploring Georgia, which few Europeans and colonials had explored, and Florida. He made drawings and observations of plants and animal life that had not been observed before by non-indigenous people, cataloged them, and collected specimens. He also met and observed Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles.

During his three-and-a-half year trip, Bartram traveled over 2,400 miles, on foot, on horseback, or by canoe, sometimes alone, sometimes in small groups.. He traveled through eight modern-day southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee), but most of his time was spent in the backcountry, mountains, and coastal areas of Georgia.

Upon his return to Philadelphia, he published his book, now called Bartram's Travels, which has never gone out of print and continues to inspire naturalists, writers, and artists today. On another day last March, I featured current Georgia naturalist Janisse Ray and her book, Ecology of a Cracker Childood, about the longleaf pine, who is continuing Bartram's work in her own way. In 2011, artist Philip Juras published a collection of his landscapes inspired by his research of Bartram's work and following Bartram's Travels.

Thing.

Lo and behold, Soperton Georgia, a little town near my hometown and the town where my father and some of his siblings were born, made the "Today in History" website that I use for my daily posts. On March 31, 1933, The Soperton News became the first newspaper published on paper made from pine pulp. Georgia's pine forests were notable features for much of Georgia's history and an important part of its economy. Soperton still celebrates itself as the "Million Pines City" and hosts "The Million Pines Festival," one of Georgia's oldest annual events, every November.

One of the first to make a study of Georgia's Pines was William Bartram, one of America's first great naturalists. Born in Philadelphia in 1739, he traveled through the southern colonies from 1773 to 1777. He spent a great deal of time exploring Georgia, which few Europeans and colonials had explored, and Florida. He made drawings and observations of plants and animal life that had not been observed before by non-indigenous people, cataloged them, and collected specimens. He also met and observed Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles.

"In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Georgia was the world’s leading producer of naval stores, which are materials extracted from southern pine forests and then used in the construction and repair of sailing vessels. Typical naval stores include lumber, railroad ties, rosin, and turpentine." (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

Upon his return to Philadelphia, he published his book, now called Bartram's Travels, which has never gone out of print and continues to inspire naturalists, writers, and artists today. On another day last March, I featured current Georgia naturalist Janisse Ray and her book, Ecology of a Cracker Childood, about the longleaf pine, who is continuing Bartram's work in her own way. In 2011, artist Philip Juras published a collection of his landscapes inspired by his research of Bartram's work and following Bartram's Travels.