March 9, 2007
1968 brought one chunk of bad news after another to Americans. The year seemed to be one long, increasingly bad disaster. In several ways it was the mark of the times between the feel-good, post-war Eisenhower administration and the feel-good-despite-the-Cold-War Reagan administration. 1968 was depressing.
What was so bad? Vietnam manifested itself as a quagmire. Just when Washington politicians predicted an end in sight, Vietcong militia launched a nationwide attack in South Vietnam on the Vietnamese New Year holiday, Tet, at the end of January. Civil rights gains stalled, and civil rights leaders came out in opposition to the Vietnam war. President Johnson fared poorly in the New Hampshire primary election, and eventually dropped out of the race for the presidency (claiming he needed to devote time to making peace in Vietnam). Labor troubles roiled throughout the U.S., including a nasty strike by garbage collectors in Memphis. It didn’t help to settle the strike that the sanitation workers were almost 100% African American, the leadership of Memphis was almost 100% white, and race relations in the city were not so good as they might have been – the strike attracted the efforts of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Martin Luther King, Jr. – who was assassinated there in early April. In response, riots broke out in 150 American cities.
More below the fold, including the key confession to “penetration.” Read the rest of this entry »
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
6 Comments | 
1968, Dissent, Elections, Free speech, Freedom - Economic, Freedom - Political, Heroes, History, Hoaxes, Space exploration, Vietnam | Tagged: 1968, Confessions, Elections, freedom, History, Hoaxes, Lloyd Bucher, North Korea, Space exploration, USS Pueblo, Vietnam | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
March 8, 2007
Some U.S. history curricula ran into Millard Fillmore — 8th grade in Texas, a few AP courses, perhaps. This blog is getting hit by people looking for “Millard Fillmore’s famous quotes.”
Here’s a word of warning, kids: You’ll probably get bad quotes if you hit the standard sites. The quotes listed on the quote sites and Wikipedia, I would not vouch for, for accuracy.
Instead, take a look at Fillmore’s State of the Union Speeches, and whatever else you can get from the New York State Library, Cornell University Library, or the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society. You’re in an area that historians have not trod, much — which quotes do you think should be Fillmore’s “famous” ones? You get to decide, kids.
Drop a line here, and tell us which ones you listed, will you? This is your chance to write some history worth the reading.
Nota bene: If you need information about Millard Fillmore’s childhood, this source at the Cornell University Library is the best I’ve found — in Fillmore’s own words.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 8, 2007
I left the building by a side door. 30 minutes after the final bell, the rules are that students are to be off campus. Two students were sitting on the retaining wall at the end of the walk, near the parking lot. “Hey, mister – you got a cell phone?” Was this the classic ‘may-I-borrow-your-cell-phone scam?
“Tell me why you want to know.”
“Oh, I just wondered what time it is,” he said, quite as if it was the normal way of the world.
“I have a watch; it’s 4:15.”
“A watch! Cool!”
Another generation gap: Many kids don’t wear watches. They carry cell phones that have the time accurate to within a few seconds – most of them. A few waiting for rides didn’t have a phone, and so they had no way to know the time.
How much longer will Rolex be able to hold on?
(Where were their parents or other rides?)
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | History, Humor, Technology, Technology in the classroom | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 8, 2007
A wax likeness of Millard Fillmore’s head, appearing to be for sale for $950.00.
March 8, 2007, is the 133rd anniversary of Millard Fillmore’s death.
Manus reprints the text from the New York Times story a few days later:
Buffalo, N.Y., March 8 — 12 o’clock, midnight. — Ex-President Millard Fillmore died at his residence in this city at 11:10 to-night. He was conscious up to the time. At 8 o’clock, in reply to a question by his physician, he said the nourishment was palatable; these were his last words. His death was painless.
First, I wonder how the devil the writer could possibly know whether Fillmore’s death was painless?
And second, accuracy obsessed as I am, I wonder whether this is the source of the often-attributed to Fillmore quote, “The nourishment is palatable.” Several sources that one might hope would be more careful attribute the quote to Fillmore as accurate — none with any citation that I can find. Thinkexist and Brainyquote charge ahead full speed. Wikipedia lists it. Snopes.com says the quote is “alleged,” in a discussion thread.
I’ll wager no one can offer a citation for the quote. I’ll wager Fillmore didn’t say it.
Millard Fillmore: We’d protect his legacy, if only anyone could figure out what it is.
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1 Comment | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, Capturing history, Famous quotes, History, Millard Fillmore, Newspapers, Presidents, Quotes | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 7, 2007
Millard Fillmore died on March 8, 1874, 133 years ago tomorrow.
Of course, he is interred in Buffalo, New York, his base of political power and home where he practiced those civic virtues that got him elected Vice President and nominated President. There are people who visit presidential gravesites, and here is an account of one fellow who is working to visit as many as he can. Notice the snow. It is Buffalo, after all.
Fillmore’s dying words were reputed to have been something about the ‘sustenance’ being ‘palatable.’ I suspect that, as with so much else about Fillmore, the attributed quote is not accurate. I find the word “palatable” in a subhead of one of the death notices in a newspaper, but no reporter was present. Heck, I’m beginning to wonder about Fillmore’s State of the Union speeches.
What were Fillmore’s dying words, really?
Also:
Millard Fillmore’s grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Photo by Keven Petersen, via FindaGrave.com
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
2 Comments | Accuracy, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 5, 2007
April may be the cruelest month overall, but March has been deadly on some of my favorite weblog carnivals.
Fortunately, the Bad History Carnival is back, over at Old is the New Way.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Bogus history, History, History blogs, Voodoo history | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 2, 2007
Independence from what? “Do you mean the Alamo stuff?”
March 2 formerly was celebrated widely in Texas. Today, not so much.
Marshall Doke, Dallas attorney and chairman of the Texas Historical Foundation lectures Texas educators and parents today, on what should be done, in an opposite-editorial page piece in the Dallas Morning News.
Our Texas story helps us learn from the great men and women of the past that the one element essential for success (and possibly survival) is character. In the words of John Quincy Adams in the movie Amistad, “Who we are is who we were.”
Pray Texans never forget.
What does Texas Independence Day commemorate, again?
Update: Looking for more material, teachers? Go here, to Grits for Breakfast. You’ll find a list of other blogs that discussed the event today, and over the past couple of years. Interesting views.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
1 Comment | History, Santayana's ghost, Texas | Tagged: History, Santayana's ghost, Texas | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 1, 2007
History is a bit more poorly told, the world is a bit less knowledgeable today. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., died last night. He was 89.
Details at the New York Times.
Schlesinger was a model historian in some ways. He wrote well, earning two Pulitzer Prizes. He picked important, salient subjects — The Imperial Presidency, for example, came in the Nixon years, in time to analyze Nixon’s own actions and help make the case for his impeachment.
Also important, Schlesinger was no library recluse. He spent time as an advisor to President Kennedy in the best tradition of a practical, professional historian — trying to help Kennedy avoid the mistakes of the past.
A man who wrote history worth the reading, AND who made history worth the writing. Perhaps no one else other than Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt could be described so, in the 20th century.
I hope you teachers will mention Schlesinger’s passing to your classes, and offer him as an example of the effect a student of history might have.
Arthur M. Schlesinger in 1994; photo courtesy of WNYC FM.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Books, History, Presidents | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
March 1, 2007
You are a social scientist? You do not pay adequate attention to trees, in my view (with a few exceptions). History is not only made with treaties signed under great trees, but history is made when forests move (ask Macbeth), or when orchards and forests are planted. Economics would be nowhere without a building to do the economics in, and that building most likely owes much of its structure to trees — as does our entire economy (checked lumber prices lately?). Don’t get me started on agriculture.
And then there are those trees that inspire (Isaac Newton, Joyce Kilmer), and those that simply give us beauty.
You have many good reasons to check out this compilation of posts, a web carnival, all about trees: Festival of the Trees #9. If you check carefully, you’ll even find some history involving Thomas Jefferson there.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | History, Natural history, Thomas Jefferson, Weblogs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
February 28, 2007
Tenacious D fans may find it satisfying, but the bluegrass-styled tribute to D’s work is far from the heights of bluegrass, or even the heights of the odd marriage of rock or blues and bluegrass.
Bluegrass is a uniquely American invention, probably not really well defined until Bill Monroe and the Louvin Brothers started recording it in the first half of the 20th century. Bluegrass is an instrument set as well as a style of music — it usually should include guitar, mandolin, and banjo and bass. Solid bluegrass also includes a Dobro. Fiddle is optional, drums often detract from the music but may be added. Autoharp is an occasional addition — the Carter Family used autoharp with good effect, though they were not exactly in the middle of the bluegrass path.
The late Dick Dabney wrote an article for The Washingtonian in the 1980s that I have been unable to track down, in which he well defined for us lay people what defines bluegrass: The song is a story with consequences. Bad things happen, and people are sorry for the occurrences. Good things happen, too, but that’s to be expected.
Putting bluegrass instrumentation to Tenacious D tunes just doesn’t measure up to Dabney’s criteria, I fear.
Bluegrass could have a role in history classes, selected carefully. Below the fold, I’ll suggest some things you may want to listen to.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Ed Darrell
February 27, 2007
You just can’t write parody of creationists and creationism. A retired physician, Tennessee state senator is demanding the Tennessee State Department of Education provide the answers to questions left hanging by the trial of John T. Scopes in 1925. Read about it in the Nashville Post, in an article by Ken Whitehouse.
It appears as though the state senator, Raymond Finney, either failed Tennessee history, or just doesn’t pay attention to excellent advice and warnings from George Santayana.
Update, February 28, 2007: Perhaps Sen. Finney should check out this comment at the blog Sola Fide.
Tip of the old scrub brush to P. Z. Myers at Pharyngula.
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
3 Comments | Creationism, Education, History, Humor, Intelligent Design, Natural history, No Child Left Behind Act, Public education, Science and faith, State school boards, Voodoo science | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
February 25, 2007
So, how was the party in Fredricksburg? Admiral Nimitz did not put in an appearance, from all accounts.
Can you imagine some of the possibilities for study in small groups at the National Museum of the Pacific War?
Among other things, the Nimitz Hotel has been renovated (founded by Adm. Nimitz’s grandfather).
What’s there?
The site has grown into a 34,000-square-foot site featuring indoor exhibit space. Located on six acres now, the center includes the George Bush Gallery, the Admiral Nimitz Museum, the Plaza of the Presidents, the Veterans’ Walk of Honor and Memorial Wall, the Japanese Garden of Peace, the Pacific Combat Zone and the Center for Pacific War Studies.
With the conclusion of this large renovation project that began in 2004, museum coordinators are turning their attentions to another big project. An additional 40,000-square-foot expansion is planned in the future, with ground-breaking set this spring.
I can’t find, but I hope that, the renovations include space for scholars to study, and especially for high school students to learn. Austin-area high schools would be lining up to make overnight field trips — but for the restrictions put on teaching and learning by Texas’ testing system, the limiting list of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and the test, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) .
Maybe teacher training. Liberty Fund? Bill of Rights Institute? Are you guys watching this?
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
Leave a Comment » | Atomic Bomb, Famous Battles, History, Japanese American internment, Research, TAKS, TEKS, Texas, Travel, War, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
February 22, 2007
11th grade history courses should be finishing up with World War II about now. If the course covered the material planned, it included a discussion of the internment of Japanese-Americans in the U.S. during World War II. The discussion should have included questions about whether the internment was just, and whether the reparations paid and apology made later by the U.S. government adequately compensated the victim internees.
Eugene, Oregon, hosted a “civic control station” where Japanese-Americans were forced to register. Most were later sent to internment camps — from Oregon, many were sent to Tule Lake, California. Oregonians, especially those who were interned and their families, are working to honor the internees and pass on the stories of the events. They want to highlight the fact that many of the interned citizens served gallantly during the war.
A memorial is being built in Eugene, featuring a statue of a young Japanese American girl sitting atop her luggage on the way to internment, reaching for a butterfly.
Below the fold I copy the editorial from the Eugene Register-Guard about the memorial — I’ve taken the liberty of copying the entire piece, as well as including a link (free subscription required). If the Register-Guard wishes I not promote their work this way, they know where to find me. It’s a good editorial on important issues, and it deserves broader circulation and preservation.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by Ed Darrell
February 21, 2007
The Spokane, Washington, Spokesman Review carried a lengthy story on February 18, 2007, about the work of modern members of the Nez Perce tribe to preserve their language, at least in dictionary form. Saving languages of North American native tribes is a difficult task in this century, with so many native speakers old and dying, and younger tribe members not learning the language.
This story involves the Joseph Band of the tribe, including direct descendants of Chief Joseph, whose epic battle against the U.S. Army and mid-winter flight to Canada are included in most U.S. history books, as part of the 11th-grade history standards.
Now you, and your students, can know the rest of that story.
Caption from the newspaper: Agnes Davis, 82, is the daughter of the last recognized chief of the Joseph Band of the Nez Perce tribe. She and a few others from her tribe are spending countless hours working to preserve a dialect of Nez Perce. (Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review)
Read the rest of this entry »
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5 Comments | Current History, History, Lesson plans, TEKS | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
February 21, 2007
I think these are the last five of the states to have official state pledges for their state flags. If I have missed any, please let me know.
Mississippi, from Wikipedia:
The pledge to the state flag (from Miss. Code Ann., Section 37-13-7(1972)) is:
- “I salute the flag of Mississippi and the sovereign state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God.”
New Mexico:
“I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.”
Oklahoma:
I salute the flag of the State of Oklahoma. Its symbols of peace unite all people.
House Concurrent Resolution No. 1034 was approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives on April 22, by the Senate on May 18, and filed with the Secretary of State on May 19, 1982.
South Dakota:
I pledge loyalty and support to the flag and State of South Dakota, land of sunshine, land of infinite variety.
Virginia:
In 1954, the General Assembly adopted an official salute to the flag of Virginia which states:
“I salute the flag of Virginia, with reverence and patriotic devotion to the ‘Mother of States and Statesmen,’ which it represents—the ‘Old Dominion,’ where liberty and independence were born.”
See other related posts:
Spread the word; friends don't allow friends to repeat history.
3 Comments | Flag etiquette, History, Patriotism, Pledge to the flag, State flag | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pledge to the flag, South Dakota, Virginia | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 