Monthly Archives: December 2013

Happy New Year

28 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by in Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace (NPS)

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If coming to New York City in 2014, make the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace part of your experience.

If coming to New York City in 2014, make the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace part of your experience.

I just got back from the bodega around the corner, where I picked up the bulldog edition of the Sunday Times. As I wrote a few Decembers past, the annual “Lives They Lived” segment in the magazine is one of life’s small treats. FYI, I will not be posting over the coming week. Every year I take some time off to put things aside and recharge the batteries. I am looking forward to a good 2014. In late January I will be going to the Library of Congress to research my Joseph Roswell Hawley biography, which is finally underway after a few fits and starts.

Besides the book, some of my goals for 2014 are to publish in some of the Civil War and other history related magazines. For the blog I intend to have more and better multimedia, especially video and audio. This is one of the reasons I bought an iPhone this past fall. Make sure to check out the Strawfoot Facebook page from time to time, as I intend to use it more in the coming months. Check out the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace page as well. I have been writing some content there, and the rangers post pretty much daily.

We had a great and fun day today at the Birthplace. The National Park Service sites here in New York City are always extremely busy the week between Christmas and New Year with so many tourists in town. A couple of guys who had been to Gettysburg last week took one of my tours today. Folks on a history road trip are always a kick.

We will see you next week. Until then, Happy New Year.

(image/1920s era postcard)

Coming Soon: A Sam Rayburn doc

27 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by in Film, Sound, & Photography

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Here is something to look forward to in 2014. It appears a documentary of Sam Rayburn is in the works. Indeed it is not just in the works, judging by the trailer above production seems to be nearing completion. I cannot say how happy I am to see this. When I lived in North Texas I visited his home and museum in Bonham not once, but twice.

Last month a few of us at work got on a discussion of Rayburn when we were watching the JFK assassination footage. Rayburn was part of the post-Civil War migration from the South to the Midwest, and lived long enough to push the legislation through that made it possible for the astronauts to land on the moon. I do not know much more than what I have gleaned from the website. I hope the film gets a national release and the full treatment. Rayburn deserves a better place in our consciousness than he has now.

Something for Sunday . . .

22 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Rod Serling

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Bierce

Bierce

I am sorry about the lack of posts this week. The semester at my college was winding down and I was quite busy. I was also a bit under the weather. I just read this piece by Andrew Ferguson about Ambrose Bierce and thought I would pass along. My introduction to Bierce was years ago when Rod Serling presented a truncated version of a French production of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” on the Twilight Zone. I did not know at the time that Serling bought the rights because TZ’s production budget was in danger of going over budget. Buying the American rights was cheaper than producing an original telecast. Serling gets a pass; The Twilight Zone was running on fumes by its last season and they were playing out the string. If you have never seen it you can find it online readily enough. It is worth your time.

Short stories are something I am going to get into in a big way in 2014.

Enjoy your Sunday.

(painting by J. H. E. Partington/LOC)

Jersey governor/New York gala

16 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Ellis Island

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Ellis Island with Jersey City in the background

Ellis Island with Jersey City in the background

When I was a volunteer at Ellis Island National Monument one of my favorite stories to tell was about the site’s jurisdiction.

The short version is this: Ellis Island is actually situated in New Jersey waters. For years the Garden and Empire States argue over which can lay claim to the site. Being good American, they sue. Eventually the matter ends up on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court itself.

Let’s backtrack quickly: To understand the Court’s decision one must know that what we call Ellis Island is actually three islands, one of them natural and the other two man made. The immigration station was on island number one; this is now the museum that tourists visit today. The other two islands were hospital and administrative facilities; these are currently off limits while longterm plans for their rehabilitation come to fruition.

Back to the story: In the late 1990s the Supreme Court rules that New York State can claim island number one because historically and culturally the island has always been considered part of New York. The other two islands, says the ruling, are indeed part of Jersey.

You would think this would be a matter of semantics. After all, the immigration museum is managed by the National Park Service. In an interesting lesson on the intricacies of the matter, folks are getting up-in-arms because the governor of New Jersey intends to have his inaugural gala in the Great Hall–which falls on the New York side of the facility.

(image/National Park Service)

Crosby’s Christmas

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in Film, Sound, & Photography

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Dreaming of vinyl . . .

Dreaming of vinyl . . .

Here is something you don’t hardly see anymore even though it was once ubiquitous in most American households: a 45 single of Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” Crosby’s rendition of the Irving Berlin standard has sold in excess of 50 million copies since its release in the early 1940s. My favorite “other” version is Pink Martini’s; unlike most groups they include the first, lesser known verse in their rendition. The disk above was donated for the book sale in the library where I work. Some lucky bloke will go home with this for all of one buck. This morning a few of us were passing it around as if it were the Rosetta Stone. Note what good condition it is in. It even comes in its own original paper sleeve. And yes, it was cool.

Sanford Robinson Gifford on sale, cont’d

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Museums, Union League Club

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Sunday Morning in the Camp of the Seventh Regiment near Washington, D.C., in May 1861

Sunday Morning in the Camp of the Seventh Regiment near Washington, D.C., in May 1861

Update: Surprisingly Gifford’s Sunday Morning did not sell at last week’s auction. I am even more surprised because another work by the Hudson River School artist did so. I am wondering if the Civil War-themed piece was considered too subject specific by collectors. It will be interesting to see what eventually happens with this work.

Christie’s is auctioning Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Sunday Morning in the Camp of the Seventh Regiment near Washington, D.C., in May 1861. The “Silk Stocking Regiment” was one of the first to arrive in the nation’s capitol after the firing on Fort Sumter. The painting has been in the collection of the New York Union League Club since 1871, when it was acquired from the artist. The work is fascinating on many levels: as a historical artifact; a visual representation of the early months of the Rebellion, when it still seemed possible that it would be over quickly (First Bull Run was still two months in the future; note the relaxed poses of the individuals in the scene.); and oh yes, as a work of art. We focus so much on the photographers of the Civil War–Brady, Gardner, et al–that we sometimes forget that it was the painters and sketch artists who gave us much of the war’s visual representation. One can see the unfinished U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument off in the distance.

This work by the Hudson River School artist has been exhibited generously many times over the decades. Sunday Morning was also on loan to the White House from the Ford through Reagan Administrations as well. The auction of this and other American art will be on December 5th. The previous auction for a Gifford is $2.1 million. This work is expected to sell somewhere in the range of $3-$5 million. Someone is going to have a nice Christmas.

(image/Christie’s)

Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Sunday Morning in the Camp of the Seventh Regiment near Washington, D.C., in May 1861More Information: http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=66244#.UozVcSeJI1I[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org
Sanford Robinson Gifford’s Sunday Morning in the Camp of the Seventh Regiment near Washington, D.C., in May 1861More Information: http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=66244#.UozVcSeJI1I[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

Remembering Charles

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Those we remember

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I just came from the funeral of our great friend Charles Hirsch. Charles was a professor in the English Department at the college where I work. He was so many other things as well. In years past he had worked for the Muppets and was a writer/editor at the magazine Highlights for Children. Unafraid to take chances, he often moved to different parts of the country and even the world, certain that his charm, talents, and intellect would allow him to succeed anywhere he went. Of course he was right.

Charles and the Hayfoot at the Gettysburg First Shot marker

Charles and the Hayfoot at the Gettysburg First Shot marker

The word brilliant came up more than once during the ceremony. I am glad it did; I don’t think I ever won a debate with Charles. And yet his personality was such that you never felt he was showing you up. His was the kind of intelligence that lifted those around him. As the priest pointed out, Charles was so dynamic that when you were in his presence you felt like the most important person in the world. Fittingly there was a huge, disparate, turnout for his service, a cross-section of the multitudes of lives Charles lived in his sixty-six years.

I cannot believe we live in a world without Charles Hirsch. I am grateful for times we all had together, at our wedding in Florida where it was freezing cold, in Gettysburg, Yankee Stadium, and so many other places besides. I wanted him to live long enough to see me accomplish some of the projects on which I am currently working. Alas, that was not meant to be. Still, I will carry on with the knowledge that he believed I have what it takes to do them. It meant the world to me when he said that.

We will miss you, Charles. Yours was a life well lived.

Capitol Dome gets facelift

08 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by in Washington, D.C.

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The video above gives an overview of the work currently underway to repair the many cracks in the U.S. Capitol dome. I had not realized that so much work was needed. The undertaking is a joint project of two construction companies that have worked on the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, WW2 Memorial, and the National Gallery of Art, among other things. I hope the foundation of the building is structurally sound. It would seem everything else is for nought unless that were the case. A good book on the Capitol if one were looking for something to read this winter is Guy Gugliotta’s Freedom’s Cap: The United States Capitol and the Coming of the Civil War. If nothing else, you will be comforted by its “the more things change, the more they stay the same” lesson.

Booker T. and Theodore break bread

05 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by in Theodore Roosevelt Jr (President)

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Last night I finished Guest of Honor: Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked a Nation. Deborah Davis’s book tells the story of Booker T. Washington’s October 1901 visit to the White House and the succeeding fallout. African Americans had been guests at the Executive Mansion before; what made this so controversial was that it was the first time a black person had sat sat down there for supper.

Gwine to Change dat White House Black

Gwine to Change dat White House Black, sheet music

Booker T. and Roosevelt had met previously and, hitting it off, agreed to meet again. The circumstances had changed significantly in the meantime. Now he was President Roosevelt. The youngest president ever had only been in office for all of a month. What’s more, he had ascended to the presidency because of the McKinley assassination, not the electoral process. He was turning to Booker T. for advice on governmental appointments throughout the Land of Dixie. A wise judge of character, Washington proved to be a good consultant.

To say that there was an uproar over the dinner would be an understatement. Bourbon Democrats such as Pitchfork Ben Tillman had a field day explaining the political and sexual implications of the dinner to outraged constituents. Ragtime musician Scott Joplin even wrote an opera, called “A Guest of Honor,” about the episode. Sadly, the musical score has been lost and so we know little about it today other than the title. As you can see from the image above, Joplin was not the only one finding material in the controversy.

The book is an easy read and I learned a great deal about both men, especially Washington. Davis does a good job explaining who these men are and how they arrived at where they are. There is much on the relationship between Washington and W.E.B. DuBois as well.

Roosevelt was taken aback by the controversy and did not have Washington or any other African American to the White House during his presidency. Still, the two had a good working relationship. Many judges, postmasters, and others–white and black–would eventually owe their presidential appointments to Washington’s invisible hand. This was no small think in the impoverished postwar South.

(image/D. Long Miller’s popular song is believed to be a response to Booker T. Washington’s 1901 visit to the White House)