Person, Place, and Thing: April 23 - May 3

 

Person.

William Shakespeare was born on or around April 23, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and died on April 23, 1616.

Regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare's life is still one of the greatest mysteries in literary history. There are few written records about him, and little is known about his personal life other than he married, had three children, and became an actor, poet, and playwright. As a result of the mystery, much speculation has arisen, and many theories have been put forth, beginning hundreds of years ago, about his physical appearance, his background, his sexuality, his religious and political views, and, in fact, whether or not he actually wrote the works attributed to him.

In May 2023, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler is publishing Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies:How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature, a deep dive into these theories, their origins, and the debates throughout history that they created. Sounds really interesting. I just pre-ordered it.

Place.

William Shakespeare was born on or around April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and died on April 23, 1616.

The house in which it is thought Shakespeare was born and spent his childhood is now a museum.

"The house itself is relatively simple, but for the late 16th century it would have been considered quite a substantial dwelling. John Shakespeare, William's father, was a glove maker and wool dealer, and the house was originally divided in two parts to allow him to carry out his business from the same premises.

The building is not outstanding architecturally, and typical of the times was constructed in wattle and daub around a wooden frame. Local oak from the Forest of Arden and blue-grey stone from Wilmcote were used in its construction, while the large fireplaces were made from an unusual combination of early brick and stone, and the ground-floor level has stone-flagged floors.

The plan of the building was originally a simple rectangle. From north-west to south-east, the ground-floor consisted of a parlour with fireplace, an adjoining hall with a large open hearth, a cross passage, and finally a room which probably served as John Shakespeare's workshop. This arrangement was mirrored on the first-floor by three chambers accessed by a staircase from the hall, probably where the present stairs are sited. Traditionally, the chamber over the parlour is the birthroom. A separate single-bay house, now known as Joan Hart's Cottage, was later built onto the north-west end of the house, and the present kitchen was added at the rear with a chamber above it." (Wikipedia)

In May 2023, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler is publishing Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies:How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature, a deep dive into the many theories surrounding Shakespeare's little-known life story, their origins, and the debates throughout history that they created. Sounds really interesting. I just pre-ordered it.

Thing.

William Shakespeare was born on or around April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and died on April 23, 1616.

If you know anything about Shakespeare, you know that most of his plays were performed in the Globe Theatre, built in 1599 and destroyed by fire in 1613. In 1997, a new Globe Theatre opened. There, 1.25 million visitors a year take tours and watch plays performed, much the same way as they were performed over 400 years ago. I was fortunate to see a production of Julius Caesar there in 1999, I think, and I got the full "groundling" experience - standing in a light drizzly rain with no roof. Still, it was great, and I hope to get to do a tour and performance in the fall.

Back in my day, building a model of the Globe - or having your parents do it- was a sure way to get a guaranteed A on an English major project assignment and have your English teacher keep your -or your parents'- work around for years. Or you could keep it and turn it in a couple more times or pass it on. English teachers are suckers for Globe Theatre models, or at least they were.

In May 2023, journalist and literary critic Elizabeth Winkler is publishing Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature, a deep dive into the many theories surrounding Shakespeare's little-known life story, their origins, and the debates throughout history that they created. Sounds really interesting. I just pre-ordered it.

Persons.

Just finished Dr. Ilyon Woo's great book, Master Slave Husband Wife, the story of William and Ellen Craft, the enslaved couple who accomplished one of the most daring escapes from slavery ever made.

Just before Christmas 1848, the pair donned their disguises, Ellen as a sickly young southern gentleman on his way to see doctors in Philadelphia and William as his dutiful slave and caregiver. They boarded a train in Macon, Georgia, in the heart of the Deep South and made the week-long trip, by train and by boat, to Philadelphia, traveling incognito for a week.

From Philadelphia, they made their way to Boston, where they soon became superstars on the abolitionist lecture circuit, but they were far from safe. The passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 drew slavecatchers to Boston, and their fame made them a huge target. Aided by a coalition of black and white abolitionists, they evaded capture and moved to England.

Woo tells their amazing story and also offers a deep look into the abolitionist movements in the US and the UK, their leaders, their divisions, their successes, and their failures.

Place.

Just finished Dr. Ilyon Woo's great book, Master Slave Husband Wife, the story of William and Ellen Craft, the enslaved couple who accomplished one of the most daring escapes from slavery ever made.

Their escape took them from Macon Georgia to Philadelphia to Boston and then to England, where they lived for nearly 20 years. They returned to Georgia after the Civil War.

" They settled outside of Savannah in Bryan County, where they raised money from northern publishers and antislavery friends to purchase 1,800 acres of land. They then launched the Woodville Co-operative Farm School in 1873 for the education and employment of newly freed men and women. Scandal erupted in 1876 when some of William’s backers accused him of personally using funds intended for charitable purposes. He sued for libel to clear his name in Boston’s courts but in 1878 lost the case along with many longtime allies.

Soon after, the school at Woodville closed from lack of funding. William struggled to maintain the farm in the face of increased debt, plummeting cotton prices, and increasing anti-Black violence and legal oppression. In 1890 the Crafts moved to Charleston to live with their daughter’s family. Ellen died in 1891; William died in 1900." (New Georgia Encyclopedia)

During their marriage, there were long stretches of time during which they were physically separated while William traveled throughout Africa fighting against slavery, and Ellen raised their children. They are still separated in death. William was buried in Charleston. Ellen's wish was to be buried under a favorite tree at Woodville. The location of her grave is unknown today.

Woo tells their amazing story and also offers a deep look into the abolitionist movements in the US and the UK, their leaders, their divisions, their successes, and their failures.

Thing.

Just finished Dr. Ilyon Woo's great book, Master Slave Husband Wife, the story of William and Ellen Craft, the enslaved couple who accomplished one of the most daring escapes from slavery ever made.

Their escape took them from Macon Georgia to Philadelphia to Boston and then to England, where they lived for nearly 20 years. They returned to Georgia after the Civil War.

Their plans were ingenious and totally depended on Ellen's disguise. Ellen was the daughter of her mother's owner and the half-sister of his legitimate daughter, the owner from whom Ellen fled. Ellen had such light features that she could "pass" as white, indistinguishable in a group of random white women. However, that wasn't enough: a white woman could not travel alone with a male slave. So, using second-hand clothes purchased by William with his cabinet making pay and her skills as a seamstress, she created the outfit of a young well-off male planter. She wrapped her breasts down, cut her hair, and practiced male mannerisms. She also bandaged her face and applied poultices to give the impression of illness and to cover the lack of any facial hair. Finally, because she knew some ticketsellers and hotel clerks may require signatures, she wrapped her right hand and put it in a sling.

It all worked. She even fooled a couple of men who knew her owners and had seen her before. Along the way, men took pity on the young gentleman invalid, and a couple of teenaged girls even flirted with the eligible bachelor and invited him to pay a call when he passed back their way.

Woo tells their amazing story and also offers a deep look into the abolitionist movements in the US and the UK, their leaders, their divisions, their successes, and their failures.

Person.

Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26, 121 in Rome. He ruled as Emperor from 161 to 180. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors and the last to rule during the Pax Romana, the 200 year period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire.

Besides serving as Emperor and leading military campaigns, he is considered a philosopher, and his book, Meditations, laid the cornerstone of the philosophy known as Stoicism. Although he never intended to publish his writings, the autobiographical sketches and philosophical musings have been published and read ever since.

Place.

Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26, 121 in Rome. He ruled as Emperor from 161 to 180. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors and the last to rule during the Pax Romana, the 200 year period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire.

Besides serving as Emperor and leading military campaigns, he is considered a philosopher, and his book, Meditations, laid the cornerstone of the philosophy known as Stoicism. Although he never intended to publish his writings, the autobiographical sketches and philosophical musings have been published and read ever since.

The Roman Empire at the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, represented in purple on this map. His annexation of lands of the Marcomanni and the Jazyges – perhaps to be provincially called Marcomannia and Sarmatia – was cut short in 175 by the revolt of Avidius Cassius and by his death. The light pink territory represents Roman dependencies: Armenia, Colchis, Iberia, and Albania.

Thing.

Marcus Aurelius was born on April 26, 121 in Rome. He ruled as Emperor from 161 to 180. He was the last of the so-called Five Good Emperors and the last to rule during the Pax Romana, the 200 year period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire.

Besides serving as Emperor and leading military campaigns, he is considered a philosopher, and his book, Meditations, laid the cornerstone of the philosophy known as Stoicism. Although he never intended to publish his writings, the autobiographical sketches and philosophical musings have been published and read ever since.

"Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting that the practice of virtue is both necessary and sufficient to achieve eudaimonia (happiness, lit. 'good spiritedness'): one flourishes by living an ethical life. The Stoics identified the path to eudaimonia with a life spent practicing virtue and living in accordance with nature.

Stoicism flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the 3rd century AD, and among its adherents was Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It experienced a decline after Christianity became the state religion in the 4th century AD. Since then, it has seen revivals, notably in the Renaissance (Neostoicism) and in the contemporary era (modern Stoicism)." (Wikipedia)

Persons.
The people of Pripyat, Ukraine, formerly USSR

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, USSR, underwent a catastrophic core reactor meltdown, making it one of the two worst nuclear accidents ( with Fukushima Japan 2011) in history.

It happened near 1:30 a.m., but the 50,000 residents of Pripyat were not informed and went about their day oblivious to the disaster. Within hours, however, dozens of people fell ill. Still, the local and Ukranian government was told nothing for about 8 hours as the plant was under direct control of Moscow authorities. Finally, on April 27, a full evacuation was ordered to begin at 2 p.m. The evacuation was completed within 3 hours. Since 1986, the size and shape of the evacuation zone has expanded. It is now estimated that 350,000 people have been permanently resettled from their homes.

The Soviet government made no official acknowledgment of the accident until 9:02 p.m. on April 28, calling it minor. They only announced it then because Swedish authorities had detected the radiation and threatened to file an official alert with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The human toll will likely never be known with certainty. A UN committee attributed less than 100 deaths to fallout. The World Health Organization and other groups put the eventual death toll from cancer at 9,000.

2019's Midnight in Chernobyl tells the definitive story of the accident, cover-up, and effects.

Place.

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, USSR, underwent a catastrophic core reactor meltdown, making it one of the two worst nuclear accidents ( with Fukushima Japan 2011) in history. Pripyat's population of 50,000 was evacuated in 3 hours on April 27.

Pripyat was founded in 1970 as the ninth Soviet atomgrad, a type of closed Soviet city built to service a nuclear facility, but it didn't officially become a city until 1979. Technically, it was not as "closed" as other Soviet closed cities; access was not restricted because the USSR deemed nuclear power plants safe.

You may have seen the eerie abandoned amusement park photos post-meltdown. The park was actually set to open for the first time five days after the accident, just in time for May Day Celebrations.

Things.

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, USSR, underwent a catastrophic core reactor meltdown, making it one of the two worst nuclear accidents ( with Fukushima Japan 2011) in history. Pripyat's population of 50,000 was evacuated on April 27.

In 2019, the HBO series Chernobyl was a huge hit (extremely powerful show even if not totally accurate), and, as a result, there was a flood of Chernobyl-related artifacts that found their way onto Ebay and other online auction and sales sites.

Person.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, Thor Heyerdahl was somewhat of a celebrity adventurer, author, documentary subject and maker, and frequent talk show host. He first came to fame when he set out from Peru on a raft called the Kon-Tiki on a voyage to Polynesia on April 28, 1947. His goal was to prove that long sea voyages were possible in ancient times and that ancient societies made contact with each other, diffusing culture.

Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was born in Larvik Norway and started exploring his varied interests as a boy, eventually becoming, to varying degrees, an adventurer, ethnographer, geographer, archaeologist, zoologist, and botanist.

At the University of Oslo in the 1930s, he studied zoology and geography, and he began his own private study of Polynesia. His first "expedition," a project designed by a couple of his zoology professors, was to travel to some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had made their way there. On that expedition, he and his wife at the time lived very primitively, studied flora and fauna along with ocean currents, uncovered human artifacts, and collected oral histories. Their work inspired his theories about early contact between Polynesians and Americans and Africans and Americans.

When WWII broke out, and Germany invaded Norway, Heyerdahl joined the Norwegian Resistance movement, interrupting his studies. In 1947, he assembled a crew and built an Incan-inspired raft called the Kon-Tiki. After a 101 day voyage, the crew completed its 4,300 mile voyage across the Pacific, proving it was possible.

While his theories about cultural origins remain controversial among anthropologists, there is growing acceptance, bolstered by DNA evidence, that ancient peoples and cultures were much more mobile and fluid than had previously been thought.

Place.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, Thor Heyerdahl was somewhat of a celebrity adventurer, author, documentary subject and maker, and frequent talk show host. He first came to fame when he set out from Peru on a raft called the Kon-Tiki on a voyage to Polynesia on April 28, 1947. His goal was to prove that long sea voyages were possible in ancient times and that ancient societies made contact with each other, diffusing culture.

Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was born in Larvik Norway and started exploring his varied interests as a boy, eventually becoming, to varying degrees, an adventurer, ethnographer, geographer, archaeologist, zoologist, and botanist.

The 1947 Kon-Tiki was based on Incan raft designs. In 1969 and 1970, Heyerdahl built two boats, Ra and Ra II, based on ancient Egyptian papyrus Reed boats, and sailed from Africa toward the Americas.

Thing.
Heyerdahl's theory and controversy.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, Thor Heyerdahl was somewhat of a celebrity adventurer, author, documentary subject and maker, and frequent talk show host. He first came to fame when he set out from Peru on a raft called the Kon-Tiki on a voyage to Polynesia on April 28, 1947. His goal was to prove that long sea voyages were possible in ancient times and that ancient societies made contact with each other, diffusing culture.

Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was born in Larvik Norway and started exploring his varied interests as a boy, eventually becoming, to varying degrees, an adventurer, ethnographer, geographer, archaeologist, zoologist, and botanist.

While Heyerdahl's voyages represent the height of adventure, his theories are mostly strongly disputed among anthropologists, ethnographers, archaeologists, and geographers. Most theories hold that Polynesians sailed from west to east, arriving at least as far as Easter Island (where native DNA matches Polynesian DNA) after spreading through the Pacific. Heyerdahl argued that Americans traveled in the opposite direction, settling the Pacific, aided by currents. In fact, the Kon-Tiki was intentionally built to be unsteerable.

DNA analysis and more recent research dispute Heyerdahl's theories. Nevertheless, they are interesting, and it was that what-if aspect of history that fueled my love of history from childhood.

Person.

Last night we saw a new-ish (created 2016) one -woman musical play about the life of the great Josephine Baker. If you get a chance it's a must-see.

Baker was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, and gotten by the entertainment book as a young girl. As a teen, she moved to New York and found work backstage and as a fill-in performer before moving into larger roles. Approached by a French promoter, she moved to Paris and became an instant sensation, one of the most acclaimed celebrities of the time. She was the star of the Folies Bergere, singing, dancing, and acting, becoming the first black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927.

She was known as much for her flamboyant offstage lifestyle as for her on-stage work. She had multiple husbands and many, many lovers, male and female, famous and infamous, royal and common.

During WWII, she served the French Resistance by smuggling documents, successfully using her celebrity to avoid searches. She used her connections to Morocco royalty to get European Jews Moroccan passports and travel documents. She gleaned secret info from Italian, Japanese, and German Embassy parties she attended. Historian Damien Lewis claims she did even more as a British spy.

Unable to have children of her own, she adopted 12 of different ethnicities after the war, calling them her "Rainbow Tribe." During her return tours to the US, she was met with segregation, death threats, the KKK, and charges of communism. She became a dedicated civil rights activist, speaking at the 1963 March on Washington. Unfortunately, her career wavered, even in France, and she was forced to accept charity from celebrities and others. Monaco's Princess Grace housed her and her children for the last decade of her life.

On April 8, 1975, she performed a 50th anniversary celebration of her career in Paris to wild acclaim and a 15 minute standing ovation. Four days later, she was found dead of a cerebral hemorrhage in her hotel room.

Place.

Last night we saw a new-ish (created 2016) one -woman musical play about the life of the great Josephine Baker. If you get a chance it's a must-see.

Baker was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, and gotten by the entertainment book as a young girl. As a teen, she moved to New York and found work backstage and as a fill-in performer before moving into larger roles. Approached by a French promoter, she moved to Paris and became an instant sensation, one of the most acclaimed celebrities of the time. She was the star of the Folies Bergere, singing, dancing, and acting, becoming the first black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927.

"The Folies Bergère (French pronunciation: ​[fɔ.li bɛʁ.ʒɛʁ]) is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trévise, with light entertainment including operettas, comic opera, popular songs, and gymnastics. It became the Folies Bergère on 13 September 1872, named after nearby Rue Bergère. The house was at the height of its fame and popularity from the 1890s' Belle Époque through the 1920s.

Revues featured extravagant costumes, sets and effects, and often nude women. In 1926, Josephine Baker, an African-American expatriate singer, dancer and entertainer, caused a sensation at the Folies Bergère by dancing in a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas and little else.

The institution is still in business, and is still a strong symbol of French and Parisian life." (Wikipedia)

Thing.

Last night, we saw a new-ish (created 2016) one -woman musical play about the life of the great Josephine Baker. If you get a chance it's a must-see.

Baker was born in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, and gotten by the entertainment book as a young girl. As a teen, she moved to New York and found work backstage and as a fill-in performer before moving into larger roles. Approached by a French promoter, she moved to Paris and became an instant sensation, one of the most acclaimed celebrities of the time. She was the star of the Folies Bergere, singing, dancing, and acting, becoming the first black woman to star in a major motion picture in 1927.

In Paris, her fame exploded after she performed her "Danse Sauvage," wearing nothing but beads and a skirt made of artificial bananas.

"Beyoncé performed Baker's banana dance at the Fashion Rocks concert at Radio City Music Hall in September 2006.

Writing on the 110th anniversary of her birth, Vogue described how her 1926 "danse sauvage" in her famous banana skirt "brilliantly manipulated the white male imagination" and "radically redefined notions of race and gender through style and performance in a way that continues to echo throughout fashion and music today, from Prada to Beyoncé." (Wikipedia)

Person.

April 26, 2023, was the 90th birthday of the greatest performer in the history of television, Carol Burnett. (Let's face it, even the work of her great friend and mentor Lucille Ball, who died on April 26, 1989, just doesn't hold up in comparison the way Carol's does.)

On her birthday, NBC aired one of the greatest specials ever made to honor her, and they are re-airing it tonight at 7 pm. Set your DVR. A longer version is also available on the Peacock platform. It should be required viewing wherever there is a screen.

I'm going to assume that Histocrats followers have the intelligence, taste, and good sense to know all about her bio. She's published multiple memoirs, and the same stories have been told hundreds of times. She's worked in all media for decades, excelling in all, and she continues to work at 90, having just wrapped a new series, Palm Royale, which will stream on Apple+ soon.

Place

April 26, 2023, was the 90th birthday of the greatest performer in the history of television, Carol Burnett. (Let's face it, even the work of her great friend and mentor Lucille Ball, who died on April 26, 1989, just doesn't hold up in comparison the way Carol's does.)

On her birthday, NBC aired one of the greatest specials ever made to honor her, and they are re-airing it tonight at 7 pm. Set your DVR. A longer version is also available on the Peacock platform. It should be required viewing wherever there is a screen.

Everyone knows that Carol's escape from a less-than-ideal childhood was spending an afternoon in a movie theater, usually with her grandmother. The movies inspired many of the great parodies that were a big part of her TV show each week.

As a teen, she got a job at a Hollywood movie theater as an usherette. In 1975, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She made a special request that it be located at 6439 Hollywood Blvd, in front of the Hollywood Pacific Theatre, formerly the Warner Hollywood Theatre, where she was fired from a job as an usherette in 1951. Why was she fired? She had the audacity to tell two patrons that they should wait 10 minutes until the movie "Strangers On A Train" was over before entering so that they ending wouldn't be spoiled.

Thing.

April 26, 2023, was the 90th birthday of the greatest performer in the history of television, Carol Burnett. (Let's face it, even the work of her great friend and mentor Lucille Ball, who died on April 26, 1989, just doesn't hold up in comparison the way Carol's does.)

On her birthday, NBC aired one of the greatest specials ever made to honor her, and they are re-airing it tonight at 7 pm. Set your DVR. A longer version is also available on the Peacock platform. It should be required viewing wherever there is a screen.

Everyone knows that Carol's escape from a less-than-ideal childhood was spending an afternoon in a movie theater, usually with her grandmother. The movies inspired many of the great parodies that were a big part of her TV show each week.

That part of her life also played a role in her featured part of The Twilight Zone episode "Cavender is Coming" in 1962, season 3, episode 36. She plays a theater usherette named Agnes Grep. Cavender is somewhat of a bumbling angel who tries to improve her life and earn his wings. The episode was supposed to be a pilot for a new series following the hapless angel's adventures, but it didn't go anywhere. I'm not sure if Carol's character would have been in the series or not. Guessing not.

Person.

On May 1. 1961, the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Harper Lee for To Kill A Mockingbird, definitely among my top 5 favorite novels of all time, probably top 2.

Harper Lee (1926-2016) may well be remembered as American literatures greatest one-hit-wonder. (I refuse to consider the so-called "sequel," published without her permission by greedy caretakers out for a buck.) She was born and died in Monroeville Alabama and based the story of Mockingbird an event in Monroeville in 1936, when she was 10, and the characters on her family and neighbors.

She had two older sisters but grew up with a brother closer to her age and future writer Truman Capote, who spent several summers in Monroeville as a child. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a former newspaper editor, a lawyer, and a state legislator. Her father desperately wanted her to study law, but she discovered a love of literature in high school instead. Being a dutiful daughter, she studied law at the University of Alabama, but she left, one semester short of a degree.

She moved to New York in 1949, took odd jobs, and wrote in her spare time. In 1957, she submitted Go Set A Watchman, that book which should never have been published, to the J.B. Lippincott Company, which bought it but decided it was unpublishable and needed a lot of work. She reworked it into Mockingbird, and it was published in 1960. Contrary to its marketing, then, Watchman was the unpublishable first draft of Mockingbird, not a sequel.

Mockingbird instantly became a bestseller and made Lee a very reluctant and surprised celebrity. To date, over 40 million copies are in print.

Place.

On May 1. 1961, the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Harper Lee for To Kill A Mockingbird, definitely among my top 5 favorite novels of all time, probably top 2.

Harper Lee (1926-2016) may well be remembered as American literatures greatest one-hit-wonder. (I refuse to consider the so-called "sequel," published without her permission by greedy caretakers out for a buck.) She was born and died in Monroeville Alabama and based the story of Mockingbird an event in Monroeville in 1936, when she was 10, and the characters on her family and neighbors.

"Monroeville is known as the hometown of two prominent writers of the post-World War II period, Truman Capote and Harper Lee, who were childhood friends in the 1930s. Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird earned her the Pulitzer Prize. The lasting fame of To Kill a Mockingbird became a tourist draw for the town. In 1997, the Alabama Legislature designated Monroeville and Monroe County as the "Literary Capital of Alabama". Monroeville is also the home of Walter McMillian, who was defended by Bryan Stevenson in overturning a wrongful conviction and featured in his memoir Just Mercy (2014), as well as the 2019 eponymous movie adaptation. Monroeville is also the birthplace of Cynthia Tucker, born March 13, 1955, an American journalist whose weekly column is syndicated by Universal Uclick. She received a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2007 for her work at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she served as editorial page editor. She was also a Pulitzer finalist in 2004 and 2006." (Wikipedia)

Thing.

On May 1. 1961, the Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Harper Lee for To Kill A Mockingbird, definitely among my top 5 favorite novels of all time, probably top 2.

Harper Lee (1926-2016) may well be remembered as American literatures greatest one-hit-wonder. (I refuse to consider the so-called "sequel," published without her permission by greedy caretakers out for a buck.) She was born and died in Monroeville Alabama and based the story of Mockingbird an event in Monroeville in 1936, when she was 10, and the characters on her family and neighbors.

"The Pulitzer Prize is an award administered by Columbia University for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher. Prizes are awarded annually in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award (raised from $10,000 in 2017). The winner in the public service category is awarded a gold medal." (Wikipedia)

Person.

American pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock was born on May 2, 1903 and died in 1998. In 1946, he published Baby and Child Care, which went on to sell 50 million copies by his death and became one of the top most influential and famous books of the 20th century.

"Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children and to treat them as individuals. However, his theories were also widely criticized by colleagues for relying too heavily on anecdotal evidence rather than serious academic research. After undergoing a self-described "conversion to socialism", Spock became an activist in the New Left and anti-Vietnam War movements during the 1960s and early 1970s, culminating in his run for President of the United States as the People's Party nominee in 1972. He campaigned on a maximum wage, legalized abortion, and withdrawing troops from all foreign countries. At the time, his books were criticized by conservatives for propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratification, a charge that Spock denied." " (Wikipedia)

Place.

American pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock was born on May 2, 1903 and died in 1998. In 1946, he published Baby and Child Care, which went on to sell 50 million copies by his death and became one of the top most influential and famous books of the 20th century.

He took up competitive rowing while attending Yale. In 1924, Spock was part of the all-Yale Men's eight rowing team at the Paris Olympics, captained by James Rockefeller, later president of what would become Citigroup. Competing on the Seine, they won the gold medal.

Thing.

American pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock was born on May 2, 1903 and died in 1998. In 1946, he published Baby and Child Care, which went on to sell 50 million copies by his death and became one of the top most influential and famous books of the 20th century.

Spock became a political activist running as the People Party's presidential candidate in 1972 and vice-presidential candidate in 1976.

"The People's Party was a political party in the United States, founded in 1971 by various individuals and state and local political parties, including the Peace and Freedom Party, Commongood People's Party, Country People's Caucus, Human Rights Party, Liberty Union, New American Party, New Party (Arizona), and No Party. The party's goal was to present a united anti-war platform for the coming election.

The People's Party fielded candidates for the presidency two times. First in U.S. presidential election, 1972 with Dr. Benjamin Spock (an American pediatrician and author of parenting books) as their candidate. The party also contested the U.S. presidential election, 1976. The presidential candidate this time was Margaret Wright. Dr. Spock was the Party's candidate for vice president.

After the election, the party moved to become a loose coalition, but was soon defunct, with most of its founding parties also dissolved." (Wikipedia)

Person.

On May 3, 1937, Margaret Mitchell was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind. She and Harper Lee have a lot in common: Pulitzers, one-hit wonders, writing hugely popular bestsellers considered to be quintessential stories of the Deep South, born to prominent families, daughters of attorneys..

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta in 1900. Her father was an attorney, and her mother was a suffragist. Her Scottish paternal ancestors settled in the area decades before the American Revolution, among the very first white settlers. Her grandfather made a large fortune in lumber following the Civil War.

Margaret learned about the Civil War from overhearing visiting former Confederate soldiers. She was stunned and flabbergasted at age 10 when she first learned that the South had lost the war. She became an avid reader and storyteller as a child, preferring adventure stories favored by boys. She read Civil War romances and books by Thomas Dixon, the author of The Clansman, the inspiration for The Birth of a Nation movie and for the reborn Ku Klux Klan, books that glorified "Lost Cause" ideology and heroic white saviors rescuing and rebuilding the white victimized South.

In 1922, she got a job writing features for The Atlanta Journal newspaper. She tried her hand at writing three novels, only one of which was submitted to a publisher - and rejected. In May of 1926, she began writing Gone With the Wind. An editor for MacMillan read it in 1935 and agreed to publish it. Publication came in June of 1936. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mitchell was struck by a speeding, drunk, and reckless motorist as she and her husband crossed the street in Atlanta on August 11. 1949, and she died five days later.

Place.

On May 3, 1937, Margaret Mitchell was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind. She and Harper Lee have a lot in common: Pulitzers, one-hit wonders, writing hugely popular bestsellers considered to be quintessential stories of the Deep South, born to prominent families, daughters of attorneys.

Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta in 1900. Tara, the fictional O'Hara plantation home in the book and movie, was inspired by several antebellum homes in the Atlanta area in her childhood, including Rural Home, the plantation on which her maternal grandmother was raised. Rural Home and Stately Oaks, another inspiration, were located in Clayton County, just south of Atlanta. Rural Home no longer stands, but Stately Oaks, built in 1839, is still operated as an historic home and site.

The fictional Wilkes family home of Twelve Oaks was located in Clayton County in the book, but its movie inspiration Twelve Oaks is an actual house east of Atlanta in Covington, Georgia. Today, it is a bed and breakfast.

The movie Gone With the Wind was filmed entirely on soundstsges in California, but the Covington Twelve Oaks has been used as a location for numerous movies and tv shows.

Thing.

On May 3, 1937, Margaret Mitchell was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind. She and Harper Lee have a lot in common: Pulitzers, one-hit wonders, writing hugely popular bestsellers considered to be quintessential stories of the Deep South, born to prominent families, daughters of attorneys.

This rare first edition of Margaret Mitchell’s "Gone with the Wind" was used to conceal a .32-caliber pistol.

According to a report dated September 24, 1941, the Phoenix Division sent the gun to the Laboratory Division for examination after receiving it from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Firearms examiners compared test bullets and cartridge cases from the gun to similar samples but could not identify the weapon or match it to other evidence.

Published in 1936, this copy of the book resides in the Laboratory Division’s Reference Firearms Collection in Quantico, Virginia—the gun housed in its 1,037 pages.

Created in 1933, the Reference Firearms Collection contains more than 7,000 firearms as well as accessories like magazines and suppressors and even grenade and rocket launchers. It is a reference catalog of guns our examiners can study, disassemble, reassemble, and test fire to support investigations.