Imaging the French Revolution

March 4, 2009

How can you tell I’m behind the scope and sequence?

I was just reminded today of how neat this site is:  Imaging the French Revolution. Good stuff comes out of George Mason University from time to time.  This site is part of that stuff.

Place Vendome, in the French Revolution (George Mason U image)

11. Le plus Grand, des Despotes, Renversé par la Liberté (Place Vendôme). [Place Vendôme, The Greatest of Despots Overthrown by Freedom] Source: Museum of the French Revolution 88.170 Medium: Etching and colored wash Dimensions: 17.2 x 24.4 cm Commentary (numbers refer to pages in essays): General analysis – Day-Hickman, 5 Reasonable crowd – Day-Hickman, 2

Oh, also:  Take a look at this site:  Some guy named Frank Smitha has assembled a history of the world, claiming to be trying to avoid bias.  The French Revolution page is a pretty good run down, much more thorough than the average textbook.

Beheading of Louis XVI, via Frank Smitha

The beheading of King Louis XVI, an execution opposed by Thomas Paine, who favored Louis’ exile to the United States – Image from Frank E. Smitha’s Macrohistory and World Report, The French Revolution

3 Comments | 1789, French Revolution, History, History images, On-line learning, Turning Points, World history | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote of the moment: Millard Fillmore on Peruvian guano

February 16, 2009

You couldn’t make this stuff up if you were Monty Python.

English: Millard Fillmore White House portrait

Millard Fillmore’s White House portrait, via Wikipedia

President Millard Fillmore, in the State of the Union Address, December 2, 1850

Peruvian guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price. Nothing will be omitted on my part toward accomplishing this desirable end. I am persuaded that in removing any restraints on this traffic the Peruvian Government will promote its own best interests, while it will afford a proof of a friendly disposition toward this country, which will be duly appreciated.

Update, May 22, 2013:  Phosphorus becomes even more critical, according to Mother Jones (phosphorus is a key component of bat and bird guano).

8 Comments | Economics, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

One more round for award-winning DDT poster – but where?

February 15, 2009

Helsingen Sanomat reports that a poster by Jukka Veistola which mobilized Finland to ban DDT back in the 1970s, has been included in a new book marking the most effective posters of the 20th century.

Juka Veistola, 1969

Jukka Veistola, Finland, 1969

Jukka Veistola, Finland, 1969

Jukka Veistola, Finland, 1969

It’s great news, really.

A book has been published in Mexico that portrays the world’s most important posters from the 20th and the early 21st century. The book contains 120 posters, the artists of which include Andy Warhol, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso among others.

Included among this worthy company is also Finnish illustrator Jukka Veistola’s ideological DDT poster from 1969.
Veistola’s startling red and blue work was a prizewinner at the Warsaw International Poster Biennale in 1970, and was subsequently acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) into its collections.

In part, Veistola’s poster contributed to Finland’s becoming one of the first countries in the world to ban the use of the synthetic pesticide DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane).

I do have a couple of questions, though:  First, what’s the name of the book?  Second, who is the editor?  Third, who published the book?

It’s great to know that the poster is in a book somewhere; it would help those who would want to find or buy the book to know the name of the book, the editor or author, and the publisher.

(We should note, too, that a gas mask wouldn’t have protected songbirds.  They got the DDT by eating insects with the stuff in ’em.  A dozen worms would carry a dose high enough to kill a robin; robins might eat a dozen worms in an hour.)

Leave a Comment » | Art, DDT, History, Posters | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Lincoln and Darwin, both born 200 years ago today

February 12, 2009

Is it an unprecedented coincidence?  200 years ago today, just minutes apart according to some unconfirmed accounts, Abraham Lincoln was born in a rude log cabin on Nolin Creek, in Kentucky, and Charles Darwin was born into a wealthy family at the family home  in Shrewsbury, England.

Gutzon Borglums 1908 bust of Abraham Lincoln in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol - AOC photo

Gutzon Borglum’s 1908 bust of Abraham Lincoln in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol – Architect of the Capitol photo

Lincoln would become one of our most endeared presidents, though endearment would come after his assassination.  Lincoln’s bust rides the crest of Mt. Rushmore (next to two slaveholders), with George Washington, the Father of His Country, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and Theodore Roosevelt, the man who made the modern presidency, and the only man ever to have won both a Congressional Medal of Honor and a Nobel Prize, the only president to have won the Medal of Honor.  In his effort to keep the Union together, Lincoln freed the slaves of the states in rebellion during the civil war, becoming an icon to freedom and human rights for all history.  Upon his death the entire nation mourned; his funeral procession from Washington, D.C., to his tomb in Springfield, Illinois, stopped twelve times along the way for full funeral services.  Lying in state in the Illinois House of Representatives, beneath a two-times lifesize portrait of George Washington, a banner proclaimed, “Washington the Father, Lincoln the Savior.”

Charles Darwin statue, Natural History Museum, London - NHM photo

Charles Darwin statue, Natural History Museum, London – NHM photo

Darwin would become one of the greatest scientists of all time.  He would be credited with discovering the theory of evolution by natural and sexual selection.  His meticulous footnoting and careful observations formed the data for ground-breaking papers in geology (the creation of coral atolls), zoology (barnacles, and the expression of emotions in animals and man), botany (climbing vines and insectivorous plants), ecology (worms and leaf mould), and travel (the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle).  At his death he was honored with a state funeral, attended by the great scientists and statesmen of London in his day.  Hymns were specially written for the occasion.  Darwin is interred in Westminster Abbey near Sir Isaac Newton, England’s other great scientist, who knocked God out of the heavens.

Lincoln would be known as the man who saved the Union of the United States and set the standard for civil and human rights, vindicating the religious beliefs of many and challenging the beliefs of many more.  Darwin’s theory would become one of the greatest ideas of western civilization, changing forever all the sciences, and especially agriculture, animal husbandry, and the rest of biology, while also provoking crises in religious sects.

Lincoln, the politician known for freeing the slaves, also was the first U.S. president to formally consult with scientists, calling on the National Science Foundation (whose creation he oversaw) to advise his administration.  Darwin, the scientist, advocated that his family put the weight of its fortune behind the effort to abolish slavery in the British Empire.  Each held an interest in the other’s disciplines.

Both men were catapulted to fame in 1858. Lincoln’s notoriety came from a series of debates on the nation’s dealing with slavery, in his losing campaign against Stephen A. Douglas to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate.  On the fame of that campaign, he won the nomination to the presidency of the fledgling Republican Party in 1860.  Darwin was spurred to publicly reveal his ideas about the power of natural and sexual selection as the force behind evolution, in a paper co-authored by Alfred Russel Wallace, presented to the Linnean Society in London on July 1, 1858.   On the strength of that paper, barely noticed at the time, Darwin published his most famous work, On the Origin of Species, in November 1859.

The two men might have got along well, but they never met.

What unusual coincidences.  Today is the first day of a year-long commemoration of the lives of both men.  Wise historians and history teachers, and probably wise science teachers, will watch for historical accounts in mass media, and save them.

Go celebrate human rights, good science, and the stories about these men.

Resources:

Charles Darwin:

Abraham Lincoln:

10 Comments | Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Civil Rights, Civil War, Evolution, History, Holidays, Human Rights, Politics, Science | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer not up to the memory of Thomas Baker

February 5, 2009

Bauer is fictional, Norris is mostly fictional.

Neither of them can hold a candle to the exploits of Thomas A. Baker.

This is one of the rewards of the study of history:  Fiction cannot hold a candle to reality.

Older son Kenny and I were discussing fantastic things, and he mentioned the story of a “real life Rambo” he had heard about, a guy named Tom Baker.  Baker’s heroism on Saipan, in the Marianas Islands, in the last months of World War II could not pass as fiction — no one would believe it true.  Of course, it is true.

That’s what marks a winner of the Medal of Honor from other heroes in uniform, often.  The things they do, under fire, with their lives on the line, so far exceed what we think humanly possible, that all we can do is marvel.

Take a deep breath, say a little prayer of thanks for those who go into harm’s way in defense of freedom, and read the Medal of Honor citation for Thomas A. Baker, whose medal was awarded posthumously:

*BAKER, THOMAS A.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy. Through heavy rifle and machinegun fire that was directed at him by the enemy, he knocked out the strong point, enabling his company to assault the ridge. Some days later while his company advanced across the open field flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for the enemy, Sgt. Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the company against surprise attack and came upon 2 heavily fortified enemy pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which had been bypassed. Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly attacked and killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered 6 men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed all of them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as 5 yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and with his own weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat, he was carried about 50 yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself wounded. At this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther stating that he preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any more of his friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed in a sitting position against a small tree . Another comrade, withdrawing, offered assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone and be given a soldier’s pistol with its remaining 8 rounds of ammunition. When last seen alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in hand, calmly facing the foe. Later Sgt. Baker’s body was found in the same position, gun empty, with 8 Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

This site may have a photo of Thomas A. Baker.

2 Comments | 1941-1945, A Good Story, Accuracy, Famous Battles, Heroes, History, Military History, World War II | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

50 years since the music died: Buddy Holly

February 4, 2009

Buddy Holly died 50 years ago, February 3.  NPR gives the basics:

Morning Edition, February 3, 2009 – Fifty years after his death at 22, rock ‘n’ roll founding father Buddy Holly is still cool. On Feb. 3, 1959, Buddy Holly, along with J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson and Ritchie Valens, died in a plane crash while touring the Midwest. Holly would have been 72 by now — and probably still rocking and rolling. Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Elvis Costello have all paid tribute to Holly as a major influence.

But the music itself wasn’t his only contribution. Holly was among the first artists to use the studio as an instrument: He spent days crafting songs and experimenting with techniques that were still new in the recording business.

History is an odd business.  Holly’s old hometown is Lubbock, Texas.  Lubbock, itself in an odd, welcomed Prairie Renaissance, features a Rock and Roll Museum and a set of Buddy Holly glasses that would dwarf the Colossus at Rhodes.  But his family is at odds with the city on the use of his name on local streets and promotional materials.

Sculpture of Buddy Hollys glasses, at the Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock - Roundamerica.com

Sculpture of Buddy Holly's glasses, at the Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock - Roundamerica.com

Waylon Jennings, probably the most famous survivor in Holly’s old band, died in 2002 (on February 13).  Who is left to study Holly and his work, to keep the flame of historic remembrance alive?

1 Comment | milestones, Music, Texas, Texas history, Texas Music | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

David Bergman’s gigapan photo of the inauguration

February 3, 2009

Can’t embed the photo here.  Panoramic photos are cool things to use to capture history.  Photographer David Bergman made a colossal, 1,464 megapixel photo of the inauguration of Barack Obama — you gotta see it.

Bergman described it:

I made a panoramic image showing the nearly two million people who watched President Obama’s inaugural address. To do so, I clamped a Gigapan Imager to the railing on the north media platform about six feet from my photo position. The Gigapan is a robotic camera mount that allows me to take multiple images and stitch them together, creating a massive image file.

My final photo is made up of 220 Canon G10 images and the file is 59,783 X 24,658 pixels or 1,474 megapixels. It took more than six and a half hours for the Gigapan software to put together all of the images on my Macbook Pro and the completed TIF file is almost 2 gigabytes.

Bergman is offering prints for sale.

Were you at the inauguration, on the Capitol grounds?  Check Bergman’s photo, and zoom in to see whether you can see yourself in history.

A smaller version of Bergmans GigaPan photo of the inauguration of Barack Obama

A smaller version of Bergman’s GigaPan photo of the inauguration of Barack Obama; go see the zoomable version at Bergman’s site, and marvel at the detail of faces

Tip of the old scrub brush to julie@century.

3 Comments | Barack Obama, History, History images, Images, President Obama, Presidents, Technology | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Quote mining Harry Truman, on confusing people

February 3, 2009

I think it was Mark Twain who said a lie can get around the world twice before the truth has got its boots on (feel free to correct me on that if you have a good source).

Whoever said it, it was right.

Now, we see that a mined quote can do the same thing as a whole lie.

Harry Truman is the victim this time.

Google turns up more than 27,000 sites with this quote, attributed to Harry Truman:

If you can’t convince them, confuse them.

Now I ask you, Dear Reader, does that sound like old Give-’em-hell Harry, the original straight talker?  Did Harry Truman really urge the use of confusion, when persuasion fails?

If you’re careful and persistent, you can turn up four Google hits for the accurate version, from his dramatic and historic campaign for election in 1948:

I don’t think you are going to be the victims this time of the old Republican doctrine:  “If you can’t convince them, confuse them.”

There you have it.  Harry Truman was not urging the use of confusion.  He was campaigning against it.

Last page of a comic book biography of Harry Truman for the 1948 campaign - Truman Library

Last page of a comic book biography of Harry Truman for the 1948 campaign - Truman Library

1 Comment | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, Campaigns, Famous quotes, Good Quotes, Harry Truman, History, History Revisionism, Political cartoons, Politics, Presidents | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Archaeologist Fred Wendorf at SMU, evening of February 5

February 2, 2009

Fred Wendorf, an in-the-digs sort of archaeologist, will talk about his life and work Thursday night at the DeGolyer Library.

Remember, teachers who call in advance may earn continuing education credit from the SMU History Department.

This will be a good session for geography and world history teachers, and probably for U.S. history teachers, too.

(SMU PRess, 2008)

Fred Wendorf
 Henderson-Morrison Professor of Prehistory
Emeritus, Southern Methodist University


Thursday, February 5, 2009
6:00 pm reception.
6:30 pm lecture followed by book signing
DeGolyer Library
Southern Methodist University
6404 Hilltop Lane at McFarlin

“Archaeologists know that Fred Wendorf’s expeditions produced most of what we know about the Stone Age prehistory of northeastern Africa. They also realize that he contributed centrally to the archaeology of the American Southwest before he focused his talents on Africa. They know he’s consistently reported his research in timely, thorough, and lucid monographs. In this book, they’ll discover he can also describe, with modesty and candor, the circumstances that shaped his extraordinary career.”—Richard Klein, Professor of Biology and Anthropology and Bass Professor in Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University

“Celebrated by his colleagues in the Americas, Europe, and Africa as a brilliant innovator who made significant advances in archaeological method and theory, Fred Wendorf has been a dominant figure in American and North African archaeology in an extremely productive career spanning nearly six decades. His engaging autobiography chronicles his personal and professional lives—warts and all.”—Don D. Fowler, Mamie Kleberg Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of Nevada-Reno

“Fred Wendorf is an archaeological Midas. He and his collaborators have written the prehistory for vast swaths of the Sahara, work thatinvolves adventure, decades-long persistence, and the ability to piece together seemingly irreconcilable small pieces of a very large jigsaw puzzle.”—John Yellen, president of the Paleoanthropology Society and for many years an excavator in Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Congo

“Wendorf’s rousing good story of archaeological adventures in harsh desert environments demonstrates that real archaeological adventures are only made possible by good planning, sound organization, scientific discipline, and hard work.”—Raymond H. Thompson, Riecker Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of Arizona, and Director Emeritus, Arizona State Museum

FRED WENDORF, Henderson-Morrison Professor of Prehistory Emeritus, Southern Methodist University, grew up in Terrell, Texas, was wounded as a lieutenant serving in Italy during World War II, received his Ph.D. from Harvard, and spent more than sixty years as a field archaeologist in this country and in Africa. In 1987 he was elected to the American National Academy of Sciences.

To register for this event, please click here.

Leave a Comment » | Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Science | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Misquoting Jefferson?

February 1, 2009

Statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial - Mr. Lant's HIstory page

Statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial, Rudulph Evans, sculptor – Library of Congress photo by Carol Highsmith, who graciously puts her photos in the public domain

A commentary from Cal Thomas caught my eye — little more than a few quotes from Thomas Jefferson strung together.  Jefferson seems oddly prescient in these quotes, and, also oddly, rather endorsing the views of the right wing.

From the way the text is laid out, and the brevity of the piece, I’m guessing it’s a radio commentary.

I read Jefferson often.  I’ve read Jefferson a lot.  I don’t recognize any of the quotes.

So I plugged them into the Jefferson collection at Liberty Fund’s Online Library of Liberty, which has a lot of Jefferson ready for full-text searching.

Oops.  None of the quotes scored a hit.

Couldn’t find them in the Library of Congress’s on-line list of quotes, either.

It looks as though Jefferson didn’t say these things that are being attributed to him.

Cal, is that you?

Cal, can you give us citations on these quotes?

How about you, Dear Reader?  Can you save Cal Thomas’s bacon by providing a citation for any of the quotes below, alleged to be from Thomas Jefferson?

AS WE LISTEN TO TALK OF BAILOUTS AND ENDLESS DEBT, THINK ON THESE THOUGHTS FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON:

“THE DEMOCRACY WILL CEASE TO EXIST WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY FROM THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK AND GIVE TO THOSE WHO WOULD NOT.”

HERE’S ANOTHER: “IT IS INCUMBENT ON EVERY GENERATION TO PAY ITS OWN DEBTS AS IT GOES. A PRINCIPLE WHICH IF ACTED ON WOULD SAVE ONE-HALF THE WARS OF THE WORLD.”

AND ANOTHER: “I PREDICT FUTURE HAPPINESS FOR AMERICANS IF THEY CAN PREVENT THE GOVERNMENT FROM WASTING THE LABORS OF THE PEOPLE UNDER THE PRETENSE OF TAKING CARE OF THEM.”

AND ONE MORE:  “MY READING OF HISTORY CONVINCES ME THAT MOST BAD GOVERNMENT RESULTS FROM TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT.”

There you have ’em, Dear Readers.  Did somebody hoodwink Cal Thomas into thinking these are Jefferson’s bon mots, when they are not?

Shake of the wet scrub brush to Truthseeker.

Below the fold, the complete Cal Thomas commentary.
Read the rest of this entry »

28 Comments | Accuracy, Bad Quotes, Bogus history, History, Quotes, Thomas Jefferson, Voodoo history | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Box of surprises

January 29, 2009

HistoryBox.com?

Check it out — there be good stuff.

For example, abundant sources of information and especially images on the history of New York City can be found here.  It’s in directory form, so you may need to click once more to get what you need — but so far, everything I’ve clicked works, and it always seems to go to a good site.

New York state resources, here.

The U.S. history portion is not working yet.

Leave a Comment » | History, History and art, History images | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Let there be light: January 27, anniversary of bright idea

January 29, 2009

Oops, missed this anniversary date!

First page of patent granted to Thomas Edison on January 27, 1880 -- for light bulb

First page of patent granted to Thomas Edison on January 27, 1880 -- for light bulb

Thomas Alva Edison got a patent for “electric-lamp” on January 27, 1880.

According to the Our Documents site:

In 1878 the creation of a practical long-burning electric light had eluded scientists for decades. With dreams of lighting up entire cites, Edison lined up financial backing, assembled a group of brilliant scientists and technicians, and applied his genius to the challenge of creating an effective and affordable electric lamp. With unflagging determination, Edison and his team tried out thousands of theories, convinced that every failure brought them one step closer to success. On January 27, 1880, Edison received the historic patent embodying the principles of his incandescent lamp that paved the way for the universal domestic use of electric light.

(Information excerpted from American Originals by Stacey Bredhoff; [Seattle and London; The University of Washington Press, 2001] p. 62–63.

Our Documents grew out of the National Archives list of 100 milestone documents important to American history — Edison’s patent application was voted one of the top 100.  Our Documents is now a joint exercise combining the efforts of the National Archives, National History Day, and USA Freedom Corps.

Page from Edisons application for patent for an electric lamp - National Archives

Page from Edison's application for patent for an "electric lamp" - National Archives

10 Comments | 100 Milestone Documents of U.S. History, DBQ sources, Government, Historic documents, History, History images, Invention, Technology, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

President Grant’s papers moving – to Mississippi

January 28, 2009

It’s either a sign of how old wounds have healed, or it’s another step in the cryptic and slow, cold war in which the South works to overcome the victory of the Union in the Civil War.

Ulysses S Grant as a Lt. General, Library of Congress image

Ulysses S Grant as a Lt. General; photo by Alexander Gardner, Library of Congress image

Associated Press reports (via Federal News Radio) the papers of President Ulysses S Grant will move from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale,  to Mississippi State University, in Starkville, Mississippi.

The fact that a collection about a Union hero who helped topple the Confederacy has wound up in Dixie is not lost on [John Marszalek, a Civil War scholar and Mississippi State history professor emeritus who’s now shepherding the collection].

“There’s an irony in it,” he said with a laugh. “People recognize this for its scholarly worth, and I think what has happened over time is that people have come to realize that the Civil War is over and we’re a united nation again.”

Still, Grant’s return to the South doesn’t thrill Cecil Fayard Jr., the Mississippi-based leader of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

“U.S. Grant is not beloved in the state of Mississippi. Southern folks remember well his brutal and bloody tactics of war, and the South will never forget the siege of Vicksburg,” he said.

The Ulysses S. Grant Association, which owns the papers, decided to move them at the request of Marzsalek, who was named conservator after the death of John Y. Simon, the historian who had curated the collection during the publication of more than 30 volumes of Grants papers, beginning in 1962.  Simon lost his professorship at SIU last year, and died in July 2008.

The modern concept of a presidential library did not exist until 1939.  The first such library was the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Par, New York, established with papers donated in 1939.  There are now official libraries, parts of the U.S. National Archives system, for Herbert Hoover (who preceded FDR) in West Branch, Iowa, Harry Truman, in Independence, Missouri, Dwight Eisenhower, in Abilene, Kansas, John Kennedy, at Harvard University near Boston, Lyndon Johnson at the University of Texas, Austin, Richard Nixon at Yorba Linda, California, Gerald Ford library at Ann Arbor and museum (still under construction) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jimmy Carter in Atlanta, Ronald Reagan at Simi Valley, California, George H. W. Bush at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, and Bill Clinton in Little Rock.  George W. Bush is working to establish a library and institute at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, the library an extension of the National Archives, and the institute modeled roughly after the Herbert Hoover Institution affiliated with Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are honored with institutions, too.  Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, Virginia, is held by the Ladies of Mount Vernon Association, which originally saved the mansion; the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is in Springfield, Illinois.  Neither of those institutions has much formal tie to the federal library system.

Because of their places in history, even at the risk of enlarging the institutionalness and management problems of these libraries, I would like to see libraries established for Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps in South Dakota; for Woodrow Wilson; For Andrew Jackson, probably near his home in Tennessee; and for John Adams and/or John Quincy Adams, outside of Boston.  These institutions could bolster the spread of knowledge and preservation of history of our freedoms and liberties; if we were rich, it would be useful and productive to put libraries in Ohio — for William Howard Taft, or for Taft and Garfield and Buchanan — and far upstate New York for Millard Fillmore, perhaps at the University of Buffalo.  Libraries honoring James Madison and James Monroe could be useful, too, but would put a great concentration of such institutions close to Charlottesville, Virginia.

Resources:

Under the fold:  Quotations from U. S. Grant, from the Grant papers collection.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Civil War, Historic documents, History, Libraries, Museums, Presidents | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Bill of Rights Institute teacher training in Austin, Texas, February 6 & 7

January 27, 2009

For you Austinites, or someone close enough to make this training:

Bill of Rights Institute logo

The Bill of Rights Institute at the
Texas Law-Related Education Conference
February 6-7, 2009

Event Website

Date: February 6-7

Where:
Hilton Austin Airport 9515 Hotel Drive Austin, TX 78719

The Bill of Rights Institute is pleased and honored to be exhibiting and presenting at the 2009 Texas Law-Related Education conference on Friday and Saturday, February 6 & 7. We hope while you are attending the conference, you will stop by our booth in the exhibits area and see our wide range of materials and programs that can enrich as well as bring new excitement to your lessons. Also, on Friday at 10:00 AM, we will be presenting a session at the conference on Lincoln’s Leadership: Secession and Emancipation (with free lesson plans distributed at the end of the session!).

Have a terrific time at the conference and we hope to see you at our booth or our session!

Bill of Rights Institute
200 North Glebe RD
Suite 200
Arlington, Virginia 22203
703-894-1776

Leave a Comment » | Bill of Rights, Education, History, Lesson plans, Teaching, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Bush’s presidency in photographs – stunning

January 26, 2009

Blogging for the New York Times, filmmaker Errol Morris interviewed the top photographers from some of the world’s top photographic journalism agencies about their picks of photos that capture George Bush through his presidency. Yeah, some are goofy; most are not.

It’s interesting to read the photographers’ takes on their photos, sometimes different views on different photos taken at the same time and place.  Morris asks good questions, the photographers give great answers.

And the photographs are, in total, stunning.

You could capture these photos for a bell-ringer of some sort, if you don’t take them beyond your classroom.  If you don’t capture these photos, especially for history classes, you’ll regret that you didn’t.

Go see, and marvel, and learn.

Tears run from the eyes of President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11, 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Here's one photo you probably didn't see in the U.S.: "Tears run from the eyes of President George W. Bush during a ceremony in honor of Medal of Honor winner Marine Cpl. Jason Dunham in the East room of the White House in Washington, January 11, 2007. Cpl. Dunham was killed when he jumped on a grenade to save fellow members of his Marine patrol while serving in Iraq. REUTERS/Jim Bourg"

Tip of the old scrub brush to Earthaid3.

1 Comment | History, History images, Newspapers, Politics, Presidents | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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