• About

The Strawfoot

~ a New Yorker's American History blog

The Strawfoot

Monthly Archives: February 2014

First in war, first in peace, last in the American League

26 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Baseball

≈ Comments Off on First in war, first in peace, last in the American League

The 1905 Washington Senators

The 1905 Washington Senators

Spring got a little closer today when my MLBTV subscription turned over for the 2014 season. I don’t watch spring training games, per se, but is good to know that the exhibition season got underway this week. I remember living in Gainesville, Florida in the mid-1980s and having major league split squads come through to play the Gators. It was always very fast. You would hear at 10:30 am that the Yankees, some of them at least–maybe Mattingly if you were lucky–would be playing at 1:00. And it was all word of mouth; there was no internet as we know it in 1986. There really is something magic about spring training.

I downloaded the app to my iPhone as well. I did not the phone last year. I figure it will be ideal for listening on the radio. I am going to listen to a lot of ball this year.

Sunday morning coffee

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on Sunday morning coffee

The supporting cast of Barney Miller in a 1975 publicity still

The supporting cast of Barney Miller in a 1975 publicity still

Because it has been  a long week we thought we would focus this Sunday morning on some lighter fare, this interview about 1970s television show Barney Miller. I have never understood why this show–which did last eight seasons–is not a greater part of our cultural memory. That it fell between genres–cop show, escapist sit com, socially relevant sit com–is the best I can come up with. One thing I think that hurt BM was being on ABC instead of CBS. The Tiffany Network, with its stable of Norman Lear shows such as All in the Family, Maude, One Day at a Time, and others, would have done a better job generating a following.

I have wanted to watch old episodes but alas BM is not available on either Amazon Prime or Streaming Netflix.

I had never thought about the idea that a show about a police precinct would itself be a statement coming after the social unrest of the 1960s. I know BM is in syndication and still watched by a large number of folks. I imagine though that its audience is primarily aging and watching for its nostalgia factor. It would be great if this show were rediscovered by a younger cohort in that “everything old is new again” vein in which popular culture operates.

Gettysburg’s Federal Building

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Gettysburg, Libraries, Philately

≈ Comments Off on Gettysburg’s Federal Building

Gettysburg Federal Building

Gettysburg Federal Building

As I sit here typing these words I can hear the snow and ice melting on the side of the house. Can spring be far behind? These last six weeks of cold and hibernation have gotten me thinking about summer, trying to calculate if and when were are going to go to Gettysburg. One thing I am still trying to process is last year’s Gettysburg sesquicentennial. There was so much to see, watch, and read that I’m still trying to sift through it all.

I am far from an expert on Gettysburg  but I have been there at least a half dozen times and know the history and memory of the campaign fairly well. I mentioned in a post awhile back that one of my Gettysburg turning points was when I no longer saw Gettysburg as a tourist destination or  historic site, but as a town. That is, as a place where people live, take their kids to Little League, cut the grass, and do all sorts of other mundane things. Ironically seeing Gettysburg in this context is what gave me a deeper understanding of the Gettysburg Campaign. It hit me hardest in the local cemetery.

One of the neat buildings on Baltimore Street is one that most tourists never see, let alone set foot in: the Gettysburg Federal Building. As it turns out, the structure is celebrating its 100th anniversary next week. Howard Taft approved the building, which locals were hoping would be done in time for the 50th anniversary in 1913. If you do the math you will see that that is not what happened. The building was many things over the years, including a post office. It’s interesting how old post offices often had that strong, assertive pose. The building is a testimony to the town’s importance. Eisenhower kept an office there as well. Today it is the Adams County Public Library.

(image/Gettysburg Daily)

Theodore Roosevelt, New Yorker

17 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Theodore Roosevelt Jr (President)

≈ Comments Off on Theodore Roosevelt, New Yorker

TR2

Last night I finished Edward P. Kohn’s new book Heir to the Empire City: New York and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt. In my Interp at the TRB one of the things I stress is that it was New York City that most shaped Roosevelt. For starters he was the only president born in NYC, and his family traced traced its roots back to the original Dutch settlers of the seventeenth century. There are Roosevelts still living in New York City.

Roosevelt as New Yorker is an important point to make because the perception of him is that he is of the West. I guess when you write a four volume history called The Winning of the West that is bound to happen. And of course there was the ranching, the conservationism, and the mammoth bust carved into Mount Rushmore as well.

Part of these perceptions are the fault, if that is the right word, of Roosevelt himself, who as a national candidate had an interest in fostering a national image. Thus, he campaigned in, say, Kansas as a Westerner and in Georgia, the state of his mother’s birth, as a Southerner once removed. That’s what good candidates do.

That said, it was in New York State that TR took on Tammany Hall as an assemblyman, in New York City that he was police commissioner, and in Albany where he served in the executive mansion before becoming vice-president. As Kohn describes so well, the national policies he pursued through his Square Deal–immigration reform, the safety of our foods and drugs, labor negotiations & worker safety, government corruption–came from the challenges he faced here in the Empire State. It is something to remember.

(image/Library of Congress)

The origins of the monuments men

14 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Dwight D. Eisenhower, Monuments and Statuary, Museums, WW2

≈ Comments Off on The origins of the monuments men

I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Watson Library doing some research today when I passed this display case.

IMG_0453

I did a double-take when I noticed this image of none other than Dwight Eisenhower himself. This is he and Mamie walking down the Met Museum steps familiar to New Yorkers for generations.

IMG_0448

The date was 2 April 1946. That day the Met made Eisenhower an Honorary Fellow for Life for his role in saving European artworks during the Second World War. This is the first page of the address he gave that April day:

IMG_0444

Here is the order he gave in May 1944, just a few weeks before D-Day. It is revealing that he would issue such an order even before the Normandy Invasion. He always said there was no contingency for failure. Thus, there were preparations for saving artworks even before a beachhead had been secured. Think about it.

IMG_0447

Here are Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley. The photo was taken by a U.S. Army lieutenant in a German salt mine on 12 April 1945, a month before the war ended and a year before Ike spoke at the Met.

490px-Eisenhower,_Bradley_and_Patton_inspect_looted_art_HD-SN-99-02758

In a nice touch, the museum has a gallery itinerary in which one cane find artworks now in the Met that were saved by the Monuments Men. I had seen a few of these a number of times over the years without knowing their provenance.

Here is one of those works.

Guardroom with the Deliverance of Saint Peter David Teniers the Younger, ca. 1645–47

Guardroom with the Deliverance of Saint Peter
David Teniers the Younger, ca. 1645–47

The painting was donated to the Met in 1964, half a century ago and only nineteen years after the war’s end.

(images/Ike et al, National Archives; Guardroom, Metropolitan Museum of Art)

February 13, 1905

13 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Theodore Roosevelt Jr (President)

≈ Comments Off on February 13, 1905

Yesterday over at the TRB Facebook page I posted about Roosevelt’s 1909 speech in Hodgenville, Kentucky for the Lincoln centennial. Today we continue with the Roosevelt/Lincoln meme, turning our attention to 1905.

Reproductions of the menu and Roosevelt’s semi-extemporaneous remarks on behalf of Lincoln Memorial University

Reproductions of the menu and Roosevelt’s semi-extemporaneous remarks on behalf of Lincoln Memorial University

That month Roosevelt was excitedly preparing for his first elective term, his first 3 ½ years in office of course having come after the assassination of William McKinley. Roosevelt was here in New York City to give a talk at the Lincoln Dinner of Republican Club Dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. It seems the dinner was held on the 13th and not the 12th because Lincoln’s Birthday had fallen on a Sunday that year.

One of the guests that evening was retired general Oliver O. Howard. After the Civil War Howard had been the leader of the Freedmen’s Bureau, and later the namesake of Howard University in Washington, DC. He had hoped Roosevelt would speak at a fundraiser that night for Lincoln Memorial University. The president was unable to do so, however, because of this engagement at the Waldorf. Still, Roosevelt agreed to plug the Lincoln Centennial Endowment Fund and invited Howard to come along. It was all very last minute.

The inaugural a few weeks later

The inaugural a few weeks later

Roosevelt and Howard were somewhat familiar. The previous year on Memorial Day he and Dan Sickles had given the president a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield. Howard had always been a TR man. He had campaigned for the McKinley-Roosevelt ticket in 1900, and stumped for Roosevelt in 1904 as well. He was especially grateful for Roosevelt’s efforts for Lincoln Memorial University at the Waldorf that night. Howard led a contingent of Civil War veterans at Roosevelt’s inaugural.

(Images/Library of Congress)

The Hair Club for Men, circa 1900

12 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on The Hair Club for Men, circa 1900

I was looking something up in a 1903 copy of Scientific American earlier today when I got distracted by the ads in the back. Here is one that was so irresistible I had to share.

IMG_0381

A Green-Wood Sunday

09 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Monuments and Statuary, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace (NPS)

≈ Comments Off on A Green-Wood Sunday

I ventured out on this crisp Sunday to go for a walk in Green-Wood Cemetery.

IMG_0319

IMG_0327

The images above give a sense of the extent of the snowfall in New York City this winter. There is a little tramping here, but for the most part the snow in the cemetery was still pristine. Today was sparkling with bright blue skies and frigid temperatures.

IMG_0329

The Civil War headstones were visually arresting in the snow. Naturally I was drawn to this one for a Harvey P. Hawley. A quick internet search gives us this information from the 17 October 1865 New York Times:

HAWLEY. — Buried in Greenwood, on Saturday, Oct. 14, the remains of Lieut. HARVEY P. HAWLEY, 82d N.Y. Vols., (or 2d N.Y.S.M.,) who fell in the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862, aged 23 years, 2 months and 17 days — the first officer slain of that regiment whose glorious muster-rolls numbered nearly five thousand men.

Hawley was killed in the Battle of Seven Pines, the same battle in which  Joseph E. Johnston was wounded and soon replaced by Robert E. Lee. I am assuming he was initially buried in Virginia and reinterred here in Brooklyn after the war.

IMG_0326

An Ancestry search reveals that Captain Hoffman Atkinson of the First West Virginia Cavalry was made a full captain on 28 May 1862, three days before Hawley was killed at Fair Oaks. He died in 1901.

IMG_0333

John A. Robinson was a surgeon in the 5th New York, also known as Duryée’s Zouaves. Many men of the 5th New York are laid to rest in Green-Wood. Colonel Abram Duryée’s himself is buried just around the corner from Robinson. I was going to go up and take a picture of Duryée’s grave atop the hill where it stands, but the snow was so high I decided against it.

Robinson died in 1885. Here is a record I found in Fold3. Attaching a story to a name on a headstone makes these men more real. We throw throw the numbers around a little too cavalierly.

Robinson, John A

IMAG0045

Above is a few of us at the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry monument at Manassas last summer. Way back in July 2011, on the 150th anniversary of First Bull Run, I posted about the New York memorials at Manassas. Robinson died a good thirty years before the monument was dedicated in 1906. The monument is for Second Bull Run.

IMG_0323

IMG_0322

For the most part I was meandering, but I went out of the way to visit the Roosevelt family plot. Theodore Roosevelt Senior died on the day in 1878. I wrote a small something about this for the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Facebook Page this morning, so I will not into it here. If you check it out, make sure to like the TRB page for more.

Walking in the steps of Black History

07 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Heritage tourism, New York City

≈ Comments Off on Walking in the steps of Black History

Nicodemus, Kansas

Nicodemus, Kansas

Two years ago I contacted a particular cultural institution here in New York City about setting up a walking tour of Lower Manhattan related to African-American history, especially nineteenth century African-American history. After showing great initial excitement, the individual with whom I was corresponding lost interest; I know this because he stopped returning my messages. I found the whole thing curious, especially because it was pretty clear I would do all the work, including the tours themselves. For free. Basically, the institution would have provided its imprimatur and done a little publicity on its website. Who it was I will never say.

Over the weekend I am going to write an encyclopedia entry about Nicodemus, the all-black Kansas town founded in the 1870s by individuals from Kentucky and Tennessee. Nicodemus is now a national historic site. I have been to Kansas before, but alas never to Nicodemus. It will someday be part of the Great Driving Tour of the Midwest the Hayfoot and I take in a few years. There is no substitute for going to the places where history is made.

For Black History Month the Civil War Trust has published its top ten list of African-American places to visit. A few of them I have been to; others are on my to-do list.  One need not wait for spring. Put your parka on and go.

(image/Library of Congress)

Beecher standing sentinel

03 Monday Feb 2014

Posted by Keith Muchowski in Uncategorized

≈ Comments Off on Beecher standing sentinel

The was the John Quincy Adams Ward statue of Henry Ward Beecher as it was late this afternoon. With Super Bowl 48 now in the books we can look forward to pitchers and catchers reporting in a few weeks. Can spring be far behind?

IMG_0311

← Older posts

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 243 other subscribers

Categories

Archives

  • January 2023 (4)
  • December 2022 (4)
  • November 2022 (8)
  • October 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (4)
  • June 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (13)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (2)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (3)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (4)
  • April 2021 (3)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • February 2021 (7)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (3)
  • October 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (7)
  • August 2020 (5)
  • July 2020 (7)
  • June 2020 (11)
  • May 2020 (7)
  • April 2020 (9)
  • March 2020 (9)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (6)
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (9)
  • October 2019 (4)
  • September 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (10)
  • July 2019 (8)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (9)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2019 (8)
  • January 2019 (5)
  • December 2018 (10)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (11)
  • August 2018 (11)
  • July 2018 (17)
  • June 2018 (10)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (9)
  • March 2018 (8)
  • February 2018 (5)
  • January 2018 (7)
  • December 2017 (11)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (9)
  • September 2017 (11)
  • August 2017 (12)
  • July 2017 (14)
  • June 2017 (18)
  • May 2017 (11)
  • April 2017 (10)
  • March 2017 (9)
  • February 2017 (11)
  • January 2017 (14)
  • December 2016 (7)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (8)
  • September 2016 (9)
  • August 2016 (6)
  • July 2016 (12)
  • June 2016 (8)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (12)
  • February 2016 (10)
  • January 2016 (9)
  • December 2015 (9)
  • November 2015 (11)
  • October 2015 (8)
  • September 2015 (9)
  • August 2015 (13)
  • July 2015 (14)
  • June 2015 (11)
  • May 2015 (11)
  • April 2015 (18)
  • March 2015 (10)
  • February 2015 (8)
  • January 2015 (8)
  • December 2014 (12)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (16)
  • September 2014 (11)
  • August 2014 (16)
  • July 2014 (12)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (10)
  • April 2014 (10)
  • March 2014 (11)
  • February 2014 (12)
  • January 2014 (10)
  • December 2013 (11)
  • November 2013 (14)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (14)
  • August 2013 (13)
  • July 2013 (17)
  • June 2013 (9)
  • May 2013 (13)
  • April 2013 (13)
  • March 2013 (16)
  • February 2013 (15)
  • January 2013 (15)
  • December 2012 (18)
  • November 2012 (18)
  • October 2012 (21)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (21)
  • June 2012 (22)
  • May 2012 (24)
  • April 2012 (20)
  • March 2012 (23)
  • February 2012 (22)
  • January 2012 (15)
  • December 2011 (23)
  • November 2011 (22)
  • October 2011 (23)
  • September 2011 (18)
  • August 2011 (19)
  • July 2011 (20)
  • June 2011 (29)
  • May 2011 (25)
  • April 2011 (18)
  • March 2011 (21)
  • February 2011 (11)

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 243 other subscribers

Categories

Archives

  • January 2023 (4)
  • December 2022 (4)
  • November 2022 (8)
  • October 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (4)
  • June 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (13)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (2)
  • November 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (3)
  • September 2021 (3)
  • August 2021 (5)
  • July 2021 (1)
  • June 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (4)
  • April 2021 (3)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • February 2021 (7)
  • January 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (4)
  • November 2020 (3)
  • October 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (7)
  • August 2020 (5)
  • July 2020 (7)
  • June 2020 (11)
  • May 2020 (7)
  • April 2020 (9)
  • March 2020 (9)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (6)
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (9)
  • October 2019 (4)
  • September 2019 (6)
  • August 2019 (10)
  • July 2019 (8)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (9)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2019 (8)
  • January 2019 (5)
  • December 2018 (10)
  • November 2018 (6)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (11)
  • August 2018 (11)
  • July 2018 (17)
  • June 2018 (10)
  • May 2018 (8)
  • April 2018 (9)
  • March 2018 (8)
  • February 2018 (5)
  • January 2018 (7)
  • December 2017 (11)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (9)
  • September 2017 (11)
  • August 2017 (12)
  • July 2017 (14)
  • June 2017 (18)
  • May 2017 (11)
  • April 2017 (10)
  • March 2017 (9)
  • February 2017 (11)
  • January 2017 (14)
  • December 2016 (7)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (8)
  • September 2016 (9)
  • August 2016 (6)
  • July 2016 (12)
  • June 2016 (8)
  • May 2016 (9)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (12)
  • February 2016 (10)
  • January 2016 (9)
  • December 2015 (9)
  • November 2015 (11)
  • October 2015 (8)
  • September 2015 (9)
  • August 2015 (13)
  • July 2015 (14)
  • June 2015 (11)
  • May 2015 (11)
  • April 2015 (18)
  • March 2015 (10)
  • February 2015 (8)
  • January 2015 (8)
  • December 2014 (12)
  • November 2014 (13)
  • October 2014 (16)
  • September 2014 (11)
  • August 2014 (16)
  • July 2014 (12)
  • June 2014 (13)
  • May 2014 (10)
  • April 2014 (10)
  • March 2014 (11)
  • February 2014 (12)
  • January 2014 (10)
  • December 2013 (11)
  • November 2013 (14)
  • October 2013 (14)
  • September 2013 (14)
  • August 2013 (13)
  • July 2013 (17)
  • June 2013 (9)
  • May 2013 (13)
  • April 2013 (13)
  • March 2013 (16)
  • February 2013 (15)
  • January 2013 (15)
  • December 2012 (18)
  • November 2012 (18)
  • October 2012 (21)
  • September 2012 (14)
  • August 2012 (16)
  • July 2012 (21)
  • June 2012 (22)
  • May 2012 (24)
  • April 2012 (20)
  • March 2012 (23)
  • February 2012 (22)
  • January 2012 (15)
  • December 2011 (23)
  • November 2011 (22)
  • October 2011 (23)
  • September 2011 (18)
  • August 2011 (19)
  • July 2011 (20)
  • June 2011 (29)
  • May 2011 (25)
  • April 2011 (18)
  • March 2011 (21)
  • February 2011 (11)

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • The Strawfoot
    • Join 214 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • The Strawfoot
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...