Monthly Archives: January 2013

Jazz for a winter’s night

11 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by in Jazz, Rod Serling

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Two of the coolest things out of the 1950s and 60s were Rod Serling and jazz man George Russell. I am not sure what the two have in common with each other–the song does not appear in the episode–but someone in France recently spliced this vignette of Twilight Zone segment “Five Characters in Search of an Exit” to George Russell’s version of “Beast Blues.” Russell played frequently at the Five Spot nightclub, which was on St. Marks Place directly across the street from Cooper Union. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I have always loved that the jazz club stood next to where Lincoln gave one of his most famous speeches. “Beast Blues” comes from an album pianist Russell  recorded there in 1960; the existentialist “Five Characters” aired on December 22, 1961. TZ sometimes used stock footage (as it did in “Five Characters”) though it did often incorporate original music into its scores. Bernard Herrmann, who scored many of Alfred Hitchcock’s films, wrote much of the TZ music. Again, Russell’s work is not part of the original episode, though they do complement each other effectively. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzC_4xMcGwo

Weekend reading

11 Friday Jan 2013

Posted by in Film, Sound, & Photography

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The votes are in and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln has been nominated for no less than twelve Academy awards. I have never thought too much about such things–don’t get me started on the less than useless Grammies, which are too irrelevant to get worked up about anyway. Still, to the extent that these things matter it seems right that Lincoln should sweep the nominations. One of the nominees is Tony Kushner, for Best Adapted Screenplay. Kushner is deserving; whatever else one might say about him, he is a fine playwright and screenwriter. Those following closely know that the book Kushner is credited with adapting into film is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. I never understood this because the film focuses upon the tiniest fraction of Goodwin’s 800+ page monograph. I say this not as criticism. She certainly advised Kushner here-and-there along the way as he prepared the manuscript. The film is better for this. It just seemed that the relationship between the film and book was tenuous. The New Republic’s Timothy Noah informs us that the book most directly responsible for Spielberg & Kushner’s Lincoln is in all likelihood Michael Vorenberg’s Final Freedom: The Civil War, The Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment. Noah’s article is a reminder that politics, including passage of the 13th Amendment, is a messier process than even can ever be depicted  on celluloid. And yes, if you have not seen Lincoln you should do so before it leaves the big screen.

Quote of the day

10 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Joseph Roswell Hawley, Quote of the day

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Harriet Ward Foote Hawley

Harriet Ward Foote Hawley

I do not believe we shall ever conquer till we proclaim emancipation; and yet I suppose there are people in the world who think President Lincoln knows more than Mrs. Hawley.

–Mrs. Harriet Ward Foote Hawley, outspoken wife of Joseph Hawley in a private letter; July 3, 1862

(image/Harriet Beecher Stowe Center)

Remembering Emancipation

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Civil War sesquicentennial, Philately

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1963 proclamation stamp
Regular readers of the Strawfoot know that we have been following the U.S. Postal Service’s commemoration of the sesquicentennial with great interest. As it did in the early 1960s during the centennial, the USPS has done a fine job marking the Civil War’s 150 anniversary. I was in Florida visiting my mother over New Year’s and so missed the coverage of the January 1st ceremony at the National Archives marking the release of Emancipation Proclamation stamp. The new stamp has a classic look that is worthy of the event it commemorates. Patrons have until March 1, 2013 to send for first day of issue covers. Send your self addressed stamped postcards and envelopes to:

Emancipation Proclamation Stamp

Special Cancellations

P.O. Box 92282

Washington, DC 20090-2282

Here is video of the program held last week. This is one of the great events of the Civil War sesquicentennial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCuhncDfi8E

A journey of a thousand miles

07 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in Joseph Roswell Hawley, Writing

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Joseph Roswell Hawley, 1826-1905

Joseph Roswell Hawley, 1826-1905

It is very much in the nascent stages–for starters I have no agent or publisher just yet–but now that 2013 is off-and-running I am about to begin a project I have been thinking about for the past several months: writing a book. Specifically, I will be writing a biography of Civil War general Joseph Roswell Hawley. Hawley was an officer is the 7th Connecticut and eventually became a division commander and brevet major general in the X Corps. Among other places, Hawley fought at First Bull Run (in the 1st Connecticut), Port Royal and Fort Pulaski, Olustee, and the Siege of Petersberg. He and his men also served under Benjamin Butler, guarding the polling places in New York City during the November 1864 presidential election between Lincoln and McClellan.

Hawley was so much more than a military man, however. He founded the newspaper that eventually became the Hartford Courant, and helped organize the Republican Party in Connecticut in the 1850s. He was also an abolitionist who put his money where his mouth was, becoming one of the first to volunteer when war came in April 1861. Some believe he was the first man to volunteer from his home state. After the war he was governor, congressman, and senator of the Constitution State. He also ran the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. His wife, Harriet Ward Foote, was a first cousin of the Beecher family. Yes, that Beecher family. Mark Twain was a family friend. Hawley was active as a public and private citizen in veterans affairs, including commemorations, in the decades after the war. He died in 1905.

If I do my job correctly I will tell Joseph Hawley’s story in all its fullness and not just offer a drum and bugle chronicle of his military career. I believe it is a story worth telling.

I spent the last few months of 2012 outlining the project and seeing which repositories and libraries will have the materials I will need to consult. Over the next 3-4 years I will be spending time in Hartford, Washington, South Carolina, and northern Florida. I am a little nervous but it feels good to finally be starting. To be continued.

(image by Levin Corbin Handy for Brady Studio, Library of Congress)