Some news reports we discover in our newspapers are so beautifully written that they beg to be share with more than just the collector who buys the issue. This is one. Not only is the report of Martha Washington’s death eloquently presented, it is interesting how she knew her time was coming to an end [...]
While creating and using palindromes can be fun, the following takes the science to a whole new level. This “super palindrome”, found within the June 8, 1877 issue of “Democratic Watchman” (Bellefonte, PA), appeared on our radar just a few weeks ago. While some believe such word play to be evitative, we are convinced it [...]
This journey found me traveling to Boston via The Repertory dated February 22, 1811. I was instantly attracted to the front page of this issue when I spied “BLACK BEARD — The Pirate” front and center. I knew the time frame for his name would not be fitting which made me look even more so! [...]
James Davis was North Carolina’s first printer, having come from Virginia to New Bern in 1749 to print government work. On Aug. 9, 1751 he established the “North Carolina Gazette“, the first newspaper in North Carolina, which would continue until 1778. He also created the colony’s second periodical, “North Carolina Magazine, or Universal Intelligencer” on [...]
I decided to take my travels a like further back in time and to a place that always intrigued me. Through letters from Boston and Philadelphia, The London Gazette dated February 12, 1711 reported on a vessel that had been shattered from Rio de Janeiro. The French had landed and were being beaten off with [...]
I will contact who I can, but please update your Civil War blogrolls and remove Blog4History and add my Civil War blog: Civil War Voices @ my Civil War soldier letters archive: Soldierstudies.org. B4H is becoming less and less a Civil War blog so I would appreciate you passing the word. Thanks much!
I love President’s Day as three day weekends this time of year are always welcomed! And to send it off right, I want to share the results of a new Gallup poll that asked Americans who the nation’s great president was. The results were interesting. Now remember, these are just average folks, not scholars, historians [...]
Watch the full length video of, "Remembering the Movement: A Conversation with Rev. Dr. C.T. Vivian and Diane Nash"
President Obama, after winning the White House in 2008 proclaimed that “Elections have consequences.” But perhaps we should place an asterisk there and add “Democratic victories only” have consequences. Wisconsin elected a Republican and he is doing what Republicans do. How uncivil for these protestors to not accept the verdict! I wonder if they will [...]
David Sehat has an interesting commentary over at the CS Monitor concerning today’s Tea Party and the U.S. Constitution. The Federalists wanted a strong central government that could correct the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. Men such as Alexander Hamilton sought a powerful central force that could control inter-state commerce and assert direct taxes, [...]
Now that the situation in Egypt has essentially ended in a military coup, what will this latest Middle East Revolution ascend or descend into? Some say Western style Democracy. Others say a Sharia Law Theocracy. Is this movement a bottom up democratic one or something triggered by the Muslim Brotherhood? Who knows, hopefully some kind [...]
I remember an article by historian Eric Foner posted at HNN after 9/11. Foner hoped we could re-think how we teach American history and that he worried about the “self-absorbed, super-celebratory history promoted in the aftermath of September 11 – a history lacking in nuance and complexity — will not enable students to make sense [...]
Apparently several Chicago Mayoral Candidates support the idea of “reparations for descendants of slavery.” Am I the only one who wonders how on God’s Green (er, sun blasted over heated Co2 saturated…) Earth this is accomplished? Does anyone agree with this idea? I have some concerns. 1. Is this Really Fair? What’s the true goal [...]
With so much talk recently of the United States’s involvement in the Middle East and how it violates our Founding principle of “isolation,” I had an interesting discussion recently with my students concerning the historical theme “Isolationism.” The debate centered on whether or not the United States has always been an isolationist nation? On the [...]
The Blue Eagle, a blue-colored representation of the American thunderbird, with outspread wings, was a symbol used in the United States by companies to show compliance with the National Industrial Recovery Act. It was proclaimed the symbol of industrial recovery on July 20, 1933 by Hugh Samuel Johnson, the head of the National Recovery Administration.