Sanborn Maps

I discovered early on in my teaching career that I couldn’t get my point across to students without a map.   I had pull-down maps in my classroom, but I rarely used them because they were mounted over my white boards, and they would cover up other information students needed access to   The mounted maps rarely had the information I needed to show students at the time as well, so I would just draw a quick outline of the United States on the board, fill the map in with whatever I was teaching at the time, and then move on.

Recently, I ran across a map source I was unaware of – a resource used by historical researchers, city planners, preservationist, genealogists, and even sociologists.

I’m speaking of Sanborn Maps – maps that were created from 1867 to 1970 detailing town and building information for approximately 12,000 towns and cities in the United States.

The Sanborn Company was founded by Daniel A. Sanborn in 1867.  The original purpose of the maps was for fire insurance assessment.  Eventually, the Sanborn Company was the largest and most successful American map company with several regional offices including my favorite town….Atlanta, Georgia.

In much the same way as Google has sent out a legion of folks to gather data for Google Earth, the Sanborn Company used surveyors to visit each town where they detailed every street and building periodically.   Not only would the maps indicate where the buildings were they also indicated the types of businesses that were in each location.

Those involved with history research use the maps to look at how certain areas grew and later declined.   I’ve used the maps to determine how certain historic buildings in the town I live in have changed over time and confirm ownership since the early deed records burned in during a courthouse fire during the 1950s. 

You can see one of my weekly columns here where I used Sanborn data in my research.  I’m able to research particular lots and can determine at what year the locations go from vacant lots to structures.   I can tell if the structure was wood or at what point the owner upgraded to brick or added an awning.   The name of the owner is usually listed as well as the types of businesses that could be found from year to year.

Genealogist can use Sanborn maps to confirm ownership of homes and buildings since structures are very detailed while city planners use the maps to study urban designs over time.   The maps also come in handy for historic preservationist and demographers.

….and what about the classroom….would I use them there?

You bet I would.

Tom Gates, Associate Professor at Kent State has an excellent online article regarding Sanborn Maps here which includes a section on use in the classroom.   Gates advises:

The Sanborn digital maps can be used for individual research and classroom instruction.  The changes in a town and the built environment are recorded in detail and can provide the basis for a number of projects, which can be visually presented in the classroom.

The study of American literature, based on novels and travel journals which describe typical Nineteenth Century American towns, can be better understood by studying maps and their Record Descriptions which contain references to places in terms that are now arcane in American English usage.

Architectural design students can use the Sanborn Maps to analyze various building types and functions exemplified by cathedrals, synagogues, theaters, hotels, residences, schools, laundries, bathhouse, department stores, factories, fire houses, etc.

I highly advise educators to read the entire article and decide for yourself how you could use these resources in your classroom.

You can find Sanborn maps at the following links….there are probably more, but this will get you started!  Enjoy!!!

Library of Congress

North Carolina, 1884-1922

Missouri, 1883-1951

Florida, 1860-1923

Utah, 1884-1922

South Carolina, 1884-1960

Alabama, 1884-1950

Hallowell, Maine, 1890

Frankfort, Kentucky, 1907

Indianapolis, Indiana, 1887-1941

Georgia, 1884-1922

Toledo, Ohio, 1902 –

Cincinnati, Ohio

Muncie, Indiana, 1883-1911

St. Louis, Missouri, 1870-1904

San Francisco, 1900

Milwaukee, 1894 and 1910

Colorado, 1883-1922

Demolition by Neglect

This past week I performed a little experiment. I threw the word “history” out to various people–friends, waitresses, store clerks, even a couple of surprised strangers–and asked them to tell me what immediately popped into their minds.

Various words were thrown back to me–events, dates, maps, wars, battles–and the list goes on.

None of the responses really surprised me, but there are other words to parallel with the word history. Words like preservation, remember, and trust come to mind and unfortunately, the words failure, greed, demolish, surrender, neglect, and ignore are on the flipside as I continue examining the winding path of history a cotton mill where I live has taken.

I shared the story over at Douglasville Patch last week where I have a weekly column regarding how Douglasville ended up with the cotton mill and how important the mill was to our economic health over most of the last century. You can see my column from last week here.

Now I want to share the rest of the story regarding how history can be neglected and forgotten by the very people we trust to preserve it. Sometimes in their attempts to improve the lives of citizens in the here and now they actually betray the trust handed to them by citizens who took their leave a long time ago. They also end up cheating future generations regarding our historical record.

History can also be used by folks who are just looking for easy outs in business in order to leverage property or satisfy some misguided need to collect historic properties, and then allow them to die a slow death of neglect for some strange reason I simply cannot fathom.

You can see the entire article here.

August History Carnival

The History Carnival is up over at Culture and Stuff.  

A blog carnival is a blog post with various links to other blogs that follow the same topic.  In this case the topic is history.   Think of it as the blogosphere’s version of Reader’s Digest with a different blog within the history community hosting each month.

It’s always a great read!!

I intend to enjoy it one little morsel at a time.  J

Enjoy!!!!

Another Academic Year Begins

So…in my neck of the woods many had the first day of school while other had their first day of pre-planning.  

What was it for you?

A fellow teacher and friend of mine posted this last night on Facebook, and I felt I needed to share it here.  You may have seen variations of this on the web or in one of those emails that tend to end up in your inbox that has been forwarded hither and yon.

My friend tells me she changed a few things here and there to match her own situation.

I say BRAVO!.....and may everyone involved in education from the board office to the bus drivers have a most wonderful year!!!

T'was the night before school starts

And all through the place,

Not a smile was seen

On any teacher’s face.

Our bags were all stuffed

With tea bags and glue,

And rulers and pencils

With erasers to chew.

Mournfully we

All crawled into bed to sleep tight,

But we know that the good life is way out of sight.

Then the hubby cames in whistling

And kissed me goodnight,

With a bright cheery voice

That didn't seem right.

The night dragged on slowly

I just couldn't sleep,

For fear that my students

Would all be real creeps.

Or maybe Principal Pollard

Would give me a shove,

Or even more evil things

Than I could think of.

When from in the next room

There arose such a clamber,

When my husband starts yelling,

"I'm free 'till next summer!"

This must be a plot

By conspiring foes,

Who just want a break

While they pamper their toes.

Oh, must I go through it?!

How can I go on?

I want to escape

Run off to Saigon!

Ten months is too long

To suffer through school

The class is so rough

And students so cruel.

"Come Donald! Come Conner!

Come Henry VanStation!

Come up to the board,

Do your multiplication!"

"And Julie, stop talking!

And Jimmy, wake up!

And Mary, right now,

Don't you make me say shut-up!

And so every year

About this same time,

I lie in bed sleepless

And just moan and whine.

Until morning comes,

And I hear my hubby say,

"Good luck with your school!

And have a nice day!"

The New South: Railroads and Mill Towns

Lanett and Opelika in Alabama….Amity in Arkansas…..Hogansville, Canton, and Douglasville in Georgia….Concord and Carrboro in North Carolina and Cherokee Falls, Piedmont and Whitmire in South Carolina…..All of these places including many other cities and towns across the South were all major mill towns birthed during the New South era.

The New South Era has as many definitions as other historical periods such as the Gilded Age or the Progressive Era, but for my purposes here I’m going with Edward L. Ayers.   In his book The Promise of the New South:  Life after Reconstruction he states the New South era began in the 1880s after the biracial and reformist experiment of Reconstruction had ended and the conservative white Democrats had taken power throughout the southern states.

A fellow Georgian, Henry W. Grady, is credited with the term “New South” which represents an ideology that emphasized a new reliance upon railroads and industrialization to modernize the South. 

Many Southerners jumped on Grady’s bandwagon and became New South boosters.  New South advocates espoused a renewal of the Southern economy, a bridge to reconcile differences with the North, racial harmony and a support of hard work.  

The first area of focus for New South boosters were the existing railroads that had been damaged or neglected during the Civil War.  They also wanted to extend new lines to criss-cross the South making important trade connections with cities and towns all across the country. 

Ayers states between 1865 and the 1870s there were nearly 8,000 miles of track in the South.   By 1880, the number of miles jumped to 20,000 and by the end of the decade the South boasted 40,000 miles of track carrying not only passengers but manufactured goods as well. 

Henry W. Grady and other New South boosters worked tirelessly to engage investors from the South as well as the North.   I’ve always felt it was important to make sure students understand the United States’ habit of rebuilding former enemy territory didn’t just begin after World War I or II – most of the money and resources used to revitalize the South following the Civil War came from northern investments.

Other than the railroads, New South boosters also focused on establishing cotton mills not only in the larger cities such as Atlanta or New Orleans but in smaller towns all across the South.

Cotton mills became a symbol of economic health, and every little town wanted one.  When outside investors were slow to respond townspeople would scrimp and save to get a mill going.   According to Ayers though, by 1870, the bulk of investment dollars came from northern and foreign investors.

 .

Ayers further states in 1880 there were 160 cotton mills in the South.  By 1890, there were 400.

In his book Creating the Modern South:  Millhands and Managers in Dalton, Georgia, Douglas Flamming advises the rise of southern railroad towns and the farmers’ shift to cash crop agriculture were mutually reinforcing trends that fostered a spirit of entrepreneurial boosterism among local businessmen and professionals.

Don Harrison Doyle author of Toward a New South Urbanization and Southern Culture Economic Elites in Four New South Cities agrees with Flamming stating most boosters worked in the most vigorous sections of the local economy such as trade and rail transportation and included doctors, lawyers, planters, and even clergymen.

This website states since New England already had a firmly established textile industry, southern businessmen benefitted from the most-up-to-date technologies and equipment from the start of their endeavors without wasting investments on outdated methods.   These technological advancements meant that workers unschooled in the craft tradition could be recruited to perform jobs such as making cloth.

New South advocates espoused a renewal of the Southern economy, a bridge to reconcile differences with the North, racial harmony and a support of hard work to achieve the goals. Unfortunately, racial harmony proved to be the most difficult goal to achieve, and I assert here that even today it has not been achieved in many circles, but the New South Era did see tremendous positive changes regarding the Southern economy.

Looking back on the political and social events leading up to the Civil War and Reconstruction I still wonder why it had to take a war and terrible devastation to help people to understand there had to be a better way to grow the Southern economy

New South ideology has been my focus over the last two weeks regarding a column I write for a local website.

You can view my previous two columns focusing on the growth of the railroad in my little town during the New South Era here and here

Other articles focusing on mill towns can be found here and here.

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Identifying Andrew Jackson's Property

Over the Fourth of July holiday I was fortunate enough to make a stop at Andrew Jackson’s home, Hermitage, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Unfortunately, President Jackson was out, but he had left behind all sorts of interesting things for me to look at.

I thought I’d post them for a quick little game.  Don’t worry though…the answers are right here.

Go on and take a look and then at the bottom of the post you will find my link to more pictures from Jackson’s lovely home.

Okay…what’s this?

It looks like carved ivory, doesn’t it?   It carried something both men and women used during Jackson’s time.     Yes, this little crab-shaped item has a little box in it that carried snuff.   You could slip it in your pocket.   I can just imagine the conversations it would start when Jackson brought it out during a meeting.

Okay….what about this????     Forgive my fat fingers and the not-too-focused image.   I never promised you that I was an expert at photography.



I had no idea what this was.  I just admired the lovely green color.   

It’s a cup plate.

Now don’t confuse this with a saucer….they are two totally different things. 

 

Cup plates were used in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries.   In those days tea was served in cups without handles.   You would pour your tea into your saucer (yes, you are reading this right) and drink FROM YOUR SAUCER!  

….and I just thought my  Papa Blanton was a country bumpkin when he did it years and years ago at our breakfast table. 

Anyway, while you were drinking from your saucer you had to rest your cup somewhere and that’s what the cup plate was for.   It was used to protect the table from the tea.

Last, but not least do you know what this is? 

Who said a pocket knife?    Nope….that’s not what it is, but good guess.

It’s a lancet.

LANCET.     They were used to open the veins during a blood-letting.    See further explanation here.

You can find more of my pictures (one or two were made by Mr. EHT) over at American Presidents Blog here.

Great Britain's Write-Up Slip: The Declaration of Independence.

One of the important lessons I teach each year is the Declaration of Independence. Over the years I’d bring up our nation’s important documents in adult conversations when people would ask what grade I taught. Sometimes it was very obvious from what was said that the adults I was conversing with didn’t have a clue regarding the difference between documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It’s was also very obvious those same adults had never actually read either document.

It’s very simple. The Declaration declares our independence from Great Britain while the U.S. Constitution serves as our plan of government – the rules regarding how our Federal government works.

It’s simple, right?

Try explaining it to nine and ten year olds when some of them still believe Pocahontas had little animal friends who talked and she frolicked in the forest breaking out into song when the notion hit her as Disney portrays.

Finally, I hit on an analogy students could grasp – the write-up slip. When they violated classroom and school rules I wrote them up. In order to properly fill the form out I have to identify each and every broken rule. 

I have to make a record of the poor choices in order to institute correction.

The Declaration of Independence served as a write-up slip for Great Britain.  

Since the Fourth of July is almost here I thought it appropriate to post the full text of the document we are celebrating here.   

Reading it from the perspective of a write-up slip might make it a little bit easier to grasp its full meaning.

The Declaration of Independence states:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Analyzing Tom Horn

Tom Horn. 

A simple name for a man yet it appears he lived a very complex life.  In fact, Tom Horn himself said of his life, “I have lived about fifteen ordinary lives.  I would like to have had somebody who saw my past and could picture it to the public.  It would be the most interesting reading in the country.”

Once guilty, now innocent, but still dead – the description the New York Times gave Tom Horn in 1993.

A man Steve McQueen chose to portray in a movie – though historians have several issues with the treatment’s accuracy.

Tom Horn is an excellent historical figure for students to analyze while learning a little about the American Southwest during the late 19^th Century.   The details surrounding his life, the historical events swirling around him, and the issue of right and wrong regarding those events in relation to Mr. Horn’s actions could lead to a classroom of very engaged students on various levels.

Upon running away from home at the age of 16 Horn headed for the American Southwest.  He became involved with the Apache Wars and was hired by the U.S. Cavalry as a civilian scout.   He was a member of the party who captured Geronimo.

He became a hired gunman and took part in the Pleasant Valley War between cattle ranchers and sheep men in.

He also took a position for a time as a deputy sheriff in Arizona and later in 1899 or 1890 was an employee of the Pinkerton Detective Agency.   However, he was a suspect in a couple of killings and Horn and the agency parted ways in 1894.  Horn hired himself out as a range deputy and detective for various wealthy ranchers in Wyoming and Colorado mainly during the Johnson County War where he became involved with a few other questionable murders.  Many sources regarding Horn’s life define Horn’s job as a range deputy essentially as a killer for hire.

During the Spanish American War he served as a soldier for a brief time before coming down with malaria and returned home.

In 1901 he began working for John C. Coble, a cattle baron.   On July 18, 1901 Horn was working near Iron Mountain when a sheepherder’s son, 14-year-old Willie Nickell, was murdered.   Horn was arrested, tried, and convicted.  He was hanged for the crime in 1903 using “The Julian Gallows”, which made the condemned man actually hang himself.   It is said that Horn made the rope that was used to hang him.

Following the Nickell murder and subsequent Horn trial the cattle barons in Wyoming had less influence legally and politically.

Two great sites to visit for more regarding Tom Horn can be found here and here.

The OTHER Greatest Generation

Our greatest generation, those men and women who got us through World War II, keeps getting smaller as time marches on.  In fact, it is estimated 1,000 to 1,200 men and women who lived through the Great Depression and volunteered to serve during the war are dying every day.  In just a few short years we will see the sad story on the news telling us how the very last World War II soldier has passed on.

 

 

This really hits home with me since I firmly believe that one of the most important stories regarding World War II to get across to students has to be the various stories of the people who participated in the war effort.   They volunteered, they participated, and they sacrificed.  In today’s society of entitlement and sensationalism I think it’s important for students to see a different view regarding citizenship.

Sonlight Pictures Blog explains the importance of teaching about the greatest generation much more eloquently than I can stating, “They understood that the world doesn’t revolve around them, but instead they were simply a piece of the puzzle within it and it was up to them to determine how important of a piece they would become.”

Unfortunately, there isn’t just a generation of men and women rapidly leaving us.   Another generation is almost gone.

I’m talking about the generation of heavy bombers with four engines developed in the 1930s for the United Army Air Corp.  

Yes, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress planes.

The B-17 could fly long range distances, was able to defend itself and could often withstand heavy damage in order to make its way home.  Of the 1.5 million metric tons of bombs dropped on Germany approximately 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s.

During the early 30s several companies were vying for the bomber contract from the U.S. government.  In 1934, there was a “fly-off” held where the prototypes were rolled out.  Boeing’s model was quite impressive….so much so a reporter with the Seattle Times dubbed the plane a flying fortress due to the multiple machine-gun installations.   Boeing eventually trademarked the name, and it stuck.

Boeing got the contract nod, but in 1935, during a second test evaluation flight the crew forgot to engage the “gust lock”, a device that held the bomber’s moveable control surfaces in place while the aircraft was parked on the ground.  Once airborne the plane went into a steep climb, but stalled.  It then nosed over and crashed killing two crew members.  Boeing was disqualified from the contract.

However, by January, 1936 a legal loophole was found and Boeing was considered once again.  The B-17 Flying Fortress evolved as it underwent several design advances.

Discussing the use of B-17s in the war effort can bring up other interesting points for students to analyze.   There are several well documented missions and interesting pilots and crew members.  It’s important to remember Lt. Col. Nancy Love and Betty Gillies as they were the first women to fly a B-17 in 1943.   Another interesting dynamic to examine has to do with families divided by the war.  American born Captain Werner G. Goering flew B-17s.  Ironically, his uncle was commander of the German Luftwaffe, Herman Goering.  Hollywood and the world of sports had their presence in the B-17s as well.  Clark Gable had five missions under his belt as a waist gunner while Tom Landry claimed 30 missions.   Norman Lear, Gene Roddenberry, and one of my personal favorites, Jimmy Stewart all served on B-17s as well as several others.

The main image at the top of this post is a drawing created by Lt. Col. C. Ross Greening who created many such drawings while being held a prisoner at Stalag Luft 1 in Bath, Germany during 1944-45.  Greening had quite a distinguished career as a Doolittle Raider.  As a POW he distinguished himself with his art as this article suggests.

Since the war many of the B-17s have been maintained and exhibited at museums and various air shows across the nation.   However, like the men and women who flew them they are becoming worn and parts are becoming harder to locate.   Wikipedia advises there are a total of 51 surviving airframes worldwide with only 10 actively flying.

Courtesy of

SmithImages

Just the other day we lost another one…..the Liberty Belle, when it burned after making a crash landing per this Chicago Tribune article found here.  The Liberty Belle belonged to the Liberty Foundation.  More information regarding the plane can be found here.

You can see a video here of the Liberty Belle taking off from Peachtree-Dekalb Airport in Georgia and this video is from Rocky Mountain Municipal Airport.

The crash scene can be seen here.

Even Harry Got to Go to the Beach....

I love the beach.  The sand, the sparkling water, the sound and smell of the pounding surf, walking the beach with my head down hoping….hoping…. hoping for the perfect shell find. 

The beach at morning……the beach at night…….seafood…..even the sunburn…..I love it all.

I miss the beach, and the beach misses me.  Seriously....

I hope we can reunite soon, until then I soothed my longing for the beach by doing a little research regarding Harry Truman’s White House at the beach.

Yes!   Even Harry was able to have some beach time!

Read my post over at American Presidents here!

Is It Flag Day Already?!?

We drove through a little town close to our house Sunday, and they had our nation’s flag everywhere - on buildings, houses and up and down the main street every few feet. Dear Son wondered aloud what was going on, and we immediately decided that it must be early decorations for the Fourth of July. It seemed a little early, but we had been to a family reunion all day and my mind was on other things.

I had forgotten. There IS an important holiday for our nation in June every year.

Flag Day…..

….and sadly, Flag Day is often rushed through or forgotten entirely.

We remember Flag Day to commemorate the day the Second Continental Congress adopted the U.S. Flag in 1777. It is also the date they adopted the Continental Army.

Perhaps the reason the date is often glossed over is the fact it’s not an official American holiday – government offices and banks don’t close. You still get your mail. President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14th Flag Day, but it has never been an official United States’ holiday and observances are at the President’s discretion.

It doesn’t matter to my family. Our flags are flying today at our house on the front and back porch.

Are yours?

Here are a few past postings here at History Is Elementary regarding the flag…..

13 Things Concerning the Display of the Flag

The Star Spangled Banner – Why It Should Be Our Anthem

The Red Skelton Pledge

Take a few minutes and think about that rectangle of cloth and what it means to you….

History Hodgepodge...A Little This and That

Did you know…..32 years today CNN made its debut with a lead story regarding the attempted assassination of civil rights leader Vernon Jordan.

New to my blogroll here at History Is Elementary is the blog Text Message, the blog of the textural archives services division of the National Archives. The most recent posting deals with the education program during World War II getting people to save their kitchen fat known as the Fat Salvage Campaign.

I wish my hometown of Atlanta would have its own free mobile app like Cleveland. The app, known as Cleveland Historical is free and developed by the Center for Public History and Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University. The app lets you explore the people, places, and monuments that shaped the city’s history per their website's “about” page.

Here’s another did you know…..a cold snap in Greenland in the 12th century may help explain why Viking settlers vanished from the islands, scientist said earlier this week in a Reuters report.

Five hundred eyes were on the President-elect as he lifted the top of the dish and gazed at the boast of Georgia……Find out what the boast of Georgia was in my most recent postings at American Presidents and Georgia on My Mind

and finally……This link will take you to my column Every Now and Then at Douglasville Patch where my very real and non-cartoon self writes every week about local history where I live. This week I write about the poor farm.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see links to past columns.

You didn’t really think I was a cartoon, did you?