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Where Should a Dr. Joseph Warren Statue Go?
As I described yesterday, Boston’s bronze statue of Dr. Joseph Warren now stands in a courtyard at the Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury. In 2011, the Boston Globe suggested that the city should find a more public site. But where?One possibility is simply to leave the statue where it is. Show More Summary
Miscarriage of Justice, Air Force Edition
So–to be clear–it’s not okay for the accused to have inconsistencies in her testimony: Franklin, commander of the 3rd Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, said a host of details led to his decision, including that the victim turned...Show More Summary
Hello University of Wisconsin
For the past few days a group of students from the University of Wisconsin has been scouring my posts on black Confederates. I think it’s safe to say that collectively they have read every post on the subject. I don’t know much at all about why they have been assigned my blog or what they [...]
Emancipation is subject of two D.C. talks
The Emancipation Proclamation, which was controversial when President Lincoln signed the declaration 150 years ago this year, continues to fascinate historians today. In Washington this month, there are two opportunities to learn more about Lincoln’s decision to free the slaves in certain parts of the Confederacy and why that continues to matter today. Read full article >>
Wait, Whose Plantation Now?
Photo from Duke University Library Special Collections Patrick Rael returns! This time with a guest post on some odd (to put it politely) ways of remembering slavery: On Sean Hannity’s April 8 television show, Scripps Howard News Service columnist Star Parker likened modern “liberal” Democrats to antebellum slave owners. Show More Summary
Brad Paisley Meet Leslie Barris
So, in addition to having trouble accessing my blog yesterday the news feed that I use to track stories related to Civil War memory is clogged with articles about the Brad Paisley – LL Cool J controversy. I’m not sure which is worse. I don’t have anything insightful to say about the song other than [...]
Three Statues of Dr. Joseph Warren
After yesterday’s news about this month’s unveiling of a new Samuel Adams statue at the Boston Tea Party Ships, Boston 1775 reader John L. Smith wrote:Are you familiar with a statue anywhere in Boston (or anywhere for that matter) of Dr. Show More Summary
New study says battlefield preservation creates jobs
The Civil War Trust has just released a study that indicates those communities which preserve battlefields and sponsor events around them get a job-boosting, economic return on the investment. “On average, every 702 tourists to a Civil...Show More Summary
The 19th of April at the Boston Tea Party Ships
The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum has multiple events lined up for Friday, 19 April, the actual anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord. (The state holiday of Patriots Day comes on Monday the 15th this year.) At 9:30 A.M., the museum will unveil its new statue of Samuel Adams outside its doors. Show More Summary
Grant’s Ohio boyhood house reopens
The Georgetown, Ohio, two-story brick house where Civil War general and later President Ulysses S. Grant grew up has reopened after a $1.4 million restoration. Grant moved to the home with his family in 1823 when he was about a year old and left in 1839 when he went to West Point. Read full article >>
The Myth of Jonas Davenport
Here’s a story of the battle on 19 Apr 1775 that doesn’t get told much anymore. It quotes an aged Revolutionary War veteran named Jonas Davenport:I lived near Lexington. My house stood on the road. I joined the minute-men when I heard...Show More Summary
Note To Book Reviewers
If you argue that the so-called Texas model [is] that is, a weak state government with few taxes and fewer regulations and services. It would be far harder to replicate the state’s civic DNA, which features traits that can be tracedShow More Summary
Millard Fillmore, Badass
Over at the Daily Caller they have produced a Top Ten List of the most badass American political names. And there, lo and behold, is Millard in all his glory, with the following explanation: Millard Fillmore - just an all around American bad ass. No further explanation needed. As Glenn Reynolds would say, Heh.
Boston’s Civil War Memory or Lost Cause
The other day I briefly noted my surprise by how little the war was being discussed in a conference devoted to Massachusetts and the Civil War. What I am struck by now looking back on the three days of talks at the MHS is the overwhelming emphasis on Boston’s abolitionist community. That should not come [...]
Rewriting the Times
There’s an article in the Times business section today about the use of miniature video cameras by police officers in a trial program in Rialto, CA. The article focuses largely on the technology and the way in which it allows police officers to refute false allegations of police misconduct. Show More Summary
The Patriots Day Season Has Begun
This is a photo of the Paul Revere Capture Ceremony yesterday in Lincoln, an event produced by the Lincoln Minute Men. People portraying participants in the actual capture correct the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It’s one of the first events of Massachusetts’ Patriots Day season.But only one. Show More Summary
Common-place Marks Civil War Sesquicentennial
In between the final day’s sessions yesterday at the Massachusetts Historical Society, Megan Kate Nelson and I met over lunch and cocktails to talk a little business. Over the next few months we will be co-editing a special issue of Common-place on the Civil War Sesquicentennial and Civil War memory. The issue is slated for [...]
Is It Just Possible That Americans Define Good Health Differently Than You?
“Nine in 10 Americans say they’re in good health. They’re wrong“: This flies a bit in the face of what public health research tells us about how healthy Americans are. More than one-third are obese, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control numbers. Show More Summary
“Turtius Bass and wife are parted.”
Who was the Braintree man that Abigail Adams called “Tertias Bass” in 1776? I was ready to give up that quest when I came across a letter that Abigail’s older sister Mary Cranch sent to her in 1785:Turtius Bass and wife are parted. He...Show More Summary
Three Days of Talks and Not a Shot Fired
This weekend I am attending a conference hosted by the Massachusetts Historical Society called “Massachusetts and the Civil War: The Commonwealth and National Disunion.” Last night John Stauffer gave the keynote address on abolitionism in the Bay State and today I attended three panels. The range of topics discussed is really quite impressive. I especially [...]
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- Abraham Lincoln
- Gettysburg National Military Park
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- Robert E. Lee
- Battle of Bull Run
- Antietam National Battlefield
- Virginia Historical Society
- Jefferson Davis
- Medal of Honor
- Brooks Simpson
- President Obama
- World War II
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Secretary of State
- Newt Gingrich
- National Historic Site
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