Happy birthday, Ruby Bridges!
You don’t recognize her there?
How about in Norman Rockwell’s illustration?
“The Problem We All Live With,” Norman Rockwell, 1964; oil on canvas, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Ruby Bridges with President Barack Obama, in 2011:
President Obama and Ruby Bridges viewing Normal Rockwall’s painting, “The Problem We All Live With,” at the White House in 2011. Photo by Pete Souza, public domain.
Ms. Bridges tells some of her story:
Leave a Comment » | 
Art, Civil Rights, History | Tagged: Art, Civil Rights, History, Injunctions, Law, New Orleans, Norman Rockwell, Ruby Bridges | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
U.S. flag displayed in the National Center for the Constitution, Philadelphia. Photo by Jeffrey M. Vinocur, via Wikimedia. Constitution Day is September 17.
Flag flying dates in September?Β Three more (you flew your flag for Labor Day, right?):
Ready?
More:
Trivia note:Β The U.S. flag is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution.
2 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Patriotism, U.S. Constitution, U.S. Flag | Tagged: Constitution Day, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Patriot Day, Patriotism | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Remember to fly your flag today for Labor Day, to honor all laborers, and especially those in the union movement to whom we owe gratitude for the concepts and reality of safe work places, good pay, benefits (including health benefits), and vacations.
Members of the Silver Platers and Metal Polishers Union carry a large flag in Rochesterβs (New York) 1918 Labor Day Parade. A poster depicting Uncle Sam can be seen to the rear of the marchers. Photograph by Albert R. Stone, Albert R. Stone Photo Collection, Monroe County Library System
2014 notes the 100th anniversary of the Ludlow, Colorado Massacre.Β Labor Day should give us all pause to consider those who lost their lives campaigning for good wages, for decent working hours, for good and safe working conditions, and for the right of workers to negotiate collectively the companies who employ them for these things.
Have a good Labor Day.Β Celebrate with family and coworkers.Β Kick off the 2014 elections.
And remember.
Monument in Haymarket Square, Chicago, noting the 1886 Haymarket Riot and the workers who died or were murdered later. Photo by TRiver on flickr, Creative Commons license, via AtlasObscura.
More:
2 Comments | Citizenship, Civil Rights, Collective Bargaining, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Labor and unions | Tagged: Civil Rights, Collective Bargaining, Fly your flag, Haymarket Riot, History, labor, Labor Day, Rochester, unions | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Still important in 2014: Fly your flag for American labor, Monday.
Poster from the Office of War Information, 1942
(Okay, you may fly your flag all weekend — especially if you’re a union member.Β We get the whole weekend, but Labor Day itself is Monday.)
Labor Day 2014 in the United States is a federal holiday, and one of those days Americans are urged to fly the U.S. flag.
“Free Labor Will Win,” the poster said, encouraging a theme important during World War II, when unions were encouraged to avoid strikes or any action that might interrupt work to build the “arsenal of democracy” believed necessary to win the war.Β Labor complied, the war was won, and organized labor was the stronger for it. In 2012, some have difficulty remembering when all Americans knew that our future rides on the backs of organized labor.
The poster was issued by the Office of War Information in 1942, in full color. A black-and-white version at the Library of Congress provides a few details for the time:
Labor Day poster. Labor Day poster distributed to war plants and labor organizations. The original is twenty-eight and one-half inches by forty inches and is printed in full color. It was designed by the Office of War Information (OWI) from a photograph especially arranged by Anton Bruehl, well-known photographer. Copies may be obtained by writing the Distribution Section, Office of War Information [alas, you can’t get a copy from the Office of War Information in 2012]
- Digital ID: (intermediary roll film) fsa 8b04027 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8b04027
- Reproduction Number: LC-USE6-D-005707 (b&w film neg.)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division Washington, DC 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Even down here in deepest, darkest-right-to-work Texas, patriots fly their flags to honor Labor today. It’s heartening.
Flags fly all around in 1882 at the first Labor Day Parade in New York City’s Union Square; lithograph from USC’s Dornsife History Center, via Wikipedia, artist unidentified
This is partly an encore post, a Labor Day tradition.
More, Other Resources:
This is an encore post, a Labor Day tradition.
1 Comment | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Freedom - Economic, Freedom - Political, History, Holidays, Labor and unions, Posters, Primary Source Documents | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Labor Day, Library of Congress, Office of War Information, Patriotism, Posters, Trade union | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Pic Tweet from the National Park Service: Beautiful photo of the exact spot Dr. King delivered his “I Have a Dream speech” 50 years ago today. #MLKdream50 pic.twitter.com/MHwWsY7Hwp
Nice photo from the Lincoln Memorial looking toward the Washington Monument across the length of the Reflecting Pool.
The photo is a couple of years old, having been taken before the scaffolding went up on the Washington Monument for repairs for damage from the 2011 earthquake — scaffolding which has since been removed. Β Β It’s a winter or fall picture, I’m guessing from the bare trees, and taken early in the morning, as the sun rises in the east over the Capitol and Washington Monument.Β That is one of the best times to be at the Lincoln Memorial, in my experience.Β The man in the photo has the historic spot very much to himself at that time.
Engraving on the stone says:
I HAVE A DREAM
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM
AUGUST 28, 1963
Assuming you’re older than 51, where were you that day in August?Β Do you remember the event in the news?
King’s speech got very little press that day, or the next.Β It was in the time when television news operations used film.Β The film came late in the afternoon, and would have to be developed — it missed evening broadcasts on that Saturday. The text did not get much mention, either — reports for the Washington Post and New York Times, had to be filed early.Β Most reporters wrote before the event.Β Even those who wrote after the speech often were unaware of how it had moved the crowd.Β It’s one of those historic events that, had you been there, you’d have known something happened. but not necessarily what.
News reports tended to be dominated by coverage of the size of the crowd, and the fact that violence didn’t break out.
It was a different time.
More:
This is an edited encore post
2 Comments | Famous quotes, History, Landmarks, Martin Luther King | Tagged: 1963, Civil Rights, famous speeches, History, I Have a Dream, Lincoln Memorial, March on Washington, Martin Luther King Jr. | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
August 26 is the anniversary of the first television broadcast of professional baseball, in 1939; the future-legendary Red Barber called a doubleheader between his Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds from Ebbets field.
Both games were carried on experimental television station W2XBS, which evolved into New York’s NBC affiliate Channel 2, WNBC.Β Two stationary cameras were used, in contrast to the several used in modern broadcasts — and it was in black and white.Β About 3,000 people are estimated to have watched.
The Reds won the opener, 5-2, but the Dodgers roared back in game 2, 6-1.
In 1939, the broadcast was inspired by the New York World’s Fair, which showcased television, though there were perhaps only 400 television sets in the New York area.Β Baseball on television didn’t really take off until after World War II, with many games scheduled in 1946.Β Today, all 30 major league teams are scheduled to play on TV.
Ebbets field is gone.Β The Dodgers absconded to Los Angeles in the 1950s.Β Baseball games are in color.
Red Barber is gone, too.Β We have great play-by-play guys, and wonderful color commentators.Β There will never be another Red Barber though.Β Below is an old post noting Barber’s ways with typewriters.
Sportswriter Red Barber at his typewriter – State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/10011
The great Red Barber, when his hair was still red, working at his typewriter, with a volume of Roget’s Thesaurus close by.
Many of us knew Red chiefly through his weekly chats with Bob Edwards at NPR’s Morning Edition.Β The biographies say Red died in 1992.Β That was 19 years ago — it seems more recent than that.Β (Edwards left Morning Edition in 2004.)
It may be ironic to show Barber at his typewriter.Β He would be more accurately portrayed, perhaps, behind a microphone at a baseball park.
From 1939 through 1953 Barber served as the voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was working for the New York Yankees when he retired in 1966. Barber had the distinction of broadcasting baseballβs first night game on May 24, 1935 in Cincinnati and the sportβs first televised contest on August 26, 1939 in Brooklyn.
During his 33-year career Barber became the recognized master of baseball play-by-play, impressing listeners as a down-to-earth man who not only informed but also entertained with folksy colloquialisms such as βin the catbird seat,β βpea patch,β and βrhubarbβ which gave his broadcasts a distinctive flavor. (Radio Hall of Fame)
More:
Some of this post, probably the best stuff on Red Barber, is an encore presentation.
1 Comment | Baseball, History, Radio, Technology, Typewriters | Tagged: August 26 1939, Baseball, Bob Edwards, Broadcasting, Brookly Dodgers, Florida Memory, History, Radio, Red Barber, State Archives of Florida, Technology, Typewriters | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
13-year-old paperboy Chester Kahapea happily hawks a commemorative edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin with the headline showing the state had achieved statehood after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the law authorizing Hawaii as a state. Star-Bulletin photo by Murray Befeler.
Hawaii’s official statehood day is August 21, commemorating the day in 1959 when Hawaii was recognized as a member of the union of the United States of America.Β Hawaiians should fly their flags to day in honor of the date (you may, too).
Hawaii formally celebrates the day on the third Friday in August (last Friday, for 2013).Β I hope you joined in the festivities (it’s a holiday in Hawaii) — but under the U.S. Flag Code, you may certainly fly your flags on August 21, regardless which day of the week that is.
Specimen copy of the ballot used by Hawaiians in a June 27, 1959, plebiscite to approve conditions of statehood. Image from Hawaii Magazine, 2009
After the U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898 (in action separate from the Spanish-American War) attempts at getting Hawaii admitted as a state got rolling.Β After World War II, with the strategic importance of the islands firmly implanted in Americans’ minds, the project picked up some steam.Β Still, it was 14 years after the end of the war that agreements were worked out between the people of Hawaii, the Hawaiian royal family, Congress and the executive branch.Β The deal passed into law had to be ratified by a plebiscite among Hawaiian citizens.Β The proposition won approval with 94% of votes in favor.
Some native Hawaiian opposition to statehood arose later, and deference to those complaints has muted statehood celebrations in the 21st century.
Other than the tiny handful of loudmouth birthers, most Americans today are happy to have Hawaii as a state, the fifth richest in the U.S. by personal income.Β The nation has a lot of good and great beaches, but the idea of catching sun and surf in Hawaii on vacation might be considered an idealized part of the American dream.
U.S. and Hawaii flags flying together.
More:
From Prologue, the blog of the National Archives: This petition, rolled onto a wooden spool, was signed by 116,000 supporters of Hawaii statehood and presented to the U.S. Senate on February 26, 1954. (RG 46, Records of the U.S. Senate)
U.S. postage stamp issued in 2009 commemorating the 50th anniversary of Hawaii’s admission to the union.
Contrast the first class postage price above with the airmail postage price of this stamp issued in 1959 β August 21, 1959 7Β’ Rose Hawaii Statehood stamp. Wikipedia image
This is an encore post.
6 Comments | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Statehood, World War II | Tagged: Flag Etiquitte, Fly your flag today, geography, Hawaii, History, Kingdom of Hawaii, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ho Chi Minh at his typewriter. Photo from EarthStation 1
The image looks to me to have been lifted off of a film or video; by the non-white color of his beard, this must have been taken sometime before 1955.Β I’ve found no other details on the photo, especially nothing on the typewriter.Β Anybody know the date of the photo, the occasion, the location, or the typewriter?
But there you go:Β Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Vietnam freedom fighters against the Japanese in World War II, then against the French colonialists (his forces then called Viet Minh, and later Viet Cong), and then of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and the United States after 1954, until his death in 1969.
Ha!Β A second photo of Ho and a typewriter, from Greg Hocfell:
Ho Chi Minh at his typewriter. Photo via Greg Hocfell
Might those photos be from the same session?Β Ho looks about the same age, his hair and beard are about the same color, and he’s wearing a dark shirt with white buttons in each.
More:
1 Comment | History, Technology, Typewriters, Vietnam | Tagged: History, Ho Chi Minh, Technology, Typewriters, Vietnam | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Found this wonderful page with a list of resources on Millard Fillmore, available on line from the Library of Congress.Β The list was compiled by Library of Congress’s Virtual Services, Digital Reference Section.
Completely cribbed from that site:
American Memory Historical CollectionsAbraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909
“I Do Solemnly Swear…”: Presidential Inaugurations
Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1820-1860 & 1870-1885
The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals
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Happy researching! Teachers, be sure to make your students aware of these sites (I presume other presidents are covered, too).
Leave a Comment » | DBQ sources, DBQs, Historic documents, History, Library of Congress, Millard Fillmore, Research | Tagged: DBQ, History, Library of Congress, Millard Fillmore, Original Documents, Research | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
PrintsOldandRare.com had a copy of an 1864 Illustrated News with Millard Fillmore on the cover.
Prints Old and Rare: “1853 Portrait of Millard Fillmore. Antique engraved portrait of Fillmore from the May 28, 1853 issue of the Illustrated News, surrounded by text discussing the history of his administration. 11×16 in. SOLD”
What was the contemporary judgment on the last Whig President, whose own party refused to nominate him for a term of his own?
One wonders if there isn’t another copy of that newspaper floating around out there, or whether it might be available at the Library of Congress.
Just about a decade later, some people thought Fillmore might be a good nominee for the Democrats, against Lincoln.Β In a look back in history in the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune, we find this news report out of Fulton, Missouri, repeated by Rudi Keller:
FULTON β Former President Millard Fillmore was a tested leader who would preserve the Union and heal political divisions, Editor John Williams wrote, announcing his preference for the Democratic presidential nomination.
βWe have tried him and we know that he will do us justice,β Williams wrote.
The Democratic National Convention was scheduled to begin Aug. 29 at Chicago. Fillmore, 64, was gaining some notice as a potential candidate, but most Democrats were focused on Maj. Gen. George McClellan. Nicknamed βThe Young Napoleon,β McClellan was a meticulous officer who thoroughly organized the Army of the Potomac but was relieved of command because of his cautious approach to combat.
Missouri had 22 delegate seats at the convention, with U.S. Rep. William Hall of Randolph County, banker Weston Birch of Howard County and former U.S. Rep. Thomas Price of Cole County included in the delegation.
Williams wrote that while he preferred Fillmore, βMcClellan will do β he is a Christian β a soldier and a patriot. Although a war man we believe he would favor peace at once, with the most liberal terms, and on the condition of the Union. If not McClellan, then some other good manβ¦β
Democrats nominated McClellan.Β Lincoln won.
More:
Leave a Comment » | Elections, History, Millard Fillmore, Presidents | Tagged: 1853, Elections, History, Illustrated News, Millard Fillmore | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Sunset at the home of President Truman. @GoParks @Interior #POTUS
In the late afternoon light, one gets a better view of just why Harry Truman was so fond of this house.Β Who wouldn’t be?
Something to visit when you’re next in Independence, Missouri.
More:
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Posted by Ed Darrell
A few miles from the New Mexico border, in Chromo, Colorado:
East of Durango, along U.S. Highway 160 84, a school building with a sign suggesting it was built in 1895.Β The map said it was Chromo, Colorado.Β Photos by Ed Darrell; use with attribution is encouraged.
Difficult to tell how many rooms; it could have had up to four classrooms at one point, I reckon.Β The belfry is still there, but the bell is long gone — a prize for some scavenger if it was not removed for re-use, or for a museum.
Bigger windows that many modern schools, windows students could use to actually look outdoors.Β Modern school architects seem to want students to be unaffected by the outdoors, or light from outdoors, often.
Off in a field by itself, there was plenty of room for kids to run around, at recess.
In this photo the sign is legible: “State of Colorado 1895 Approved Standard School.”
Was this a standard design, or does “standard school” refer to the program of instruction offered?
There were a few homes and farms close by.Β The community has always been small.Β How many students learned to read, learned how to handle numbers, read the greats of American history and literature in these walls?Β Who were they, and where did they go?
How big a mark can a school, or a teacher, actually make?
More:
5 Comments | Classroom technology, Education, History | Tagged: Chromo, Classroom technology, Colorado school building 1895, Education, History, John Little, One-room School | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Getty images. A young boy at the blackboard of a school in Gaza, August 2014. Via BBC.
Gaza got bombed 97 years ago when the British seized it, in World War I.
In the 21st century, things have not changed enough for the people who live in the area.
It’s even worse in Gaza than it was for the West Bank earlier.
3 Comments | Civil Rights, Classroom technology, Education, History, History images, Human Rights, Israel | Tagged: Civil Rights, Classroom technology, Education, Gaza Strip, History, Human Rights, Israel | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Logos for great scientists; from Twitter, https://twitter.com/aneyeofsky/status/495615741912416257/photo/1
These are quite creative.Β I wonder who invented them?
Other possibilities?
Maybe:
Edison’s logo?
3 Comments | History, Humor, Science, Signs | Tagged: History, Humor, Science, Signs | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
A roundup of thoughts on Twitter and elsewhere.
From The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists:
At the end of the day, it can be worthwhile on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki anniversaries to think about the personal and the emotionalβwhile keeping such clinical data in mind and ready to hand when it is necessary to debate proponents of ideas such as βbattlefield nuclear weapons,β βlimited nuclear war,β and the use of select nuclear strikes as a form of βde-escalation.β
Therefore, perhaps the most compelling of the stories in the Bulletin archive is a first-person recollection, Hiroshima Memories, by Hideko Tamura Friedman, who was just a young girl back on August 6, 1945. After moving to the United States and becoming a therapist in private practice and a part-time social worker in the Radiation Oncology Department at the University of Chicago Hospitals, Hideko excerpted this 1995 articleΒ Β from a longer, unpublished manuscript she was working on.
Hideko describes how she was reading a book when βa huge band of white light fell from the sky down to the trees.β She jumped up and hid behind a large pillar as an explosion shook the earth and pieces of the roof fell about her.
Hideko survived; some members of her family did not. βMy father,β she wrote in in a heart-rending statement of fact, βbrought Mamaβs ashes home in his army handkerchief.β
Editorβs note: The Bulletinβs archives from 1945 to 1998, complete with the original covers and artwork, can be found here.Β http://books.google.ca/books?id=-wsAAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=1. Anything after 1998 can be found via the search engine on the Bulletinβs home page.
http://twitter.com/wellerstein/status/498124471979745280
Even the cross was bent by the blast.
1 Comment | Atomic Bomb, History, Nagasaki, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Peace, World War II | Tagged: Atomic Bomb, History, Nagasaki, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Peace, World War II | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
