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Entry bubble All Aboard for National Train Day!

By: Nancy | May 08, 2008 | Category: Home and Family

In earlier times, they connected us to each other and brought commerce into far flung parts of the country. Though a less popular mode of travel in the US today, trains are still a source of fascination for history buffs, hobbyists and anyone whose heart is stirred by the sound of that lonesome whistle.

I've loved trains since I was little, when my dad and I would take walks along abandoned tracks in West Virginia, where he'd tell me stories of his father's adventures as a railroad blacksmith in the 1930s. So I was happy to hear that this Saturday, May 10, is the first annual National Train Day. It commemorates the anniversary of the completion of America's first transcontinental railroad in 1869, when nearly 1,800 miles of track were joined by a golden spike in Utah. To celebrate, Amtrak is hosting special events at its largest stations around the country.

That got me wondering about what historic train info I could find by searching on USA.gov. I discovered the Library of Congress' online collection of historic railroad maps and field recordings of folk songs about railroad work and life. And I found railroad art, from historic photography to Manet paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

A lot of local governments like Gaithersburg, Maryland's and libraries like Orange County, Florida's feature web pages dedicated to the contributions that trains made to their towns. And I discovered a number of state train museums, from California's to West Virginia's, located in my dad's hometown of Elkins. I had no idea that was there! I'll have to stop by when I'm in town for the next Cousins Day.

Do you have any train stories or memories to share?

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Entry bubble March is Women's History Month

By: Jim | February 29, 2008 | Category: General

suffragettes in front of Cleveland headquarters office

Hi, everybody. I’m Jim, the newest – and oldest – member of the blog team.

Some of you out there are wondering why a guy would be writing about Women’s History Month. Let’s just say I try to be a bit non-conformist. Back at San Diego State, the idea of taking a year of “western civ” and similar classes to meet my graduation requirements wasn’t appealing. I enrolled in classes that I hoped would be interesting and unusual. Women in American History was one of those classes. On looking back at my working class Ohio upbringing, I bet my parents thought I was becoming some sort of radical.

It turns out that I really enjoyed the class because we weren’t simply memorizing lists of dates and events. The class was more interesting because some of the ideas we discussed in the classroom were borne from women’s first-hand accounts of everyday life and its challenges—like a pioneer woman’s diary entry about how she had to sift the worms out of the flour to make the day’s bread. I was surprised to learn that that in 1851, my home town Akron, Ohio was the site of a women’s rights convention, the one in which escaped slave Sojourner Truth made her noteworthy “Ain’t I Woman” speech.

Speaking of surprises, I got one while I was on USA.gov’s History, Arts, and Culture page looking for some additional Women’s History Month information. There’s actually a Women’s Rights National Park. The National Register of Historic Places has a travel itinerary of places where women made history. Sounds like a road trip is my future.

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Entry bubble Why We Don't Celebrate George Washington's Birthday on his Birthday

By: Jake | February 18, 2008 | Category: Fun

If you turned on the TV or radio, read the paper, and/or surfed the net this weekend, you were probably exposed to ads for President's Day Weekend sales. President's Day has become the common name for today, the holiday the federal government designates as Washington's Birthday but isn't his actual birthday.George Washington

George Washington's actual birthday is February 22nd, and it was a federal holiday from 1879 until Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to "bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation." This law designated Washington's Birthday be celebrated on the third Monday of February starting in 1971.

There are various reasons that President's Day is becoming the preferred term for Washington's Birthday. Some have said that early drafts of the bill aimed to recognize Lincoln and other presidents on the holiday, but it never made it into law. States do not have to follow federal holidays, but many do recognize the holiday as "President's Day." The term has also been popularized by retail promotions this time of year (we have free publication offers year round, by the way).

Many Americans still celebrate the holiday as if it's George Washington's birthday with parades and other fanfare like the reading Washington's farewell address in Congress. You may wonder what General Washington would have thought of his birthday being recognized on a different date, and he probably would tell you it's not the first time.

Washington's birthday date changed in his lifetime when Great Britain and all of its colonies switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Not only did the date change of February 11 become the 22nd, but so did the year from 1732 to 1733.

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Entry bubble Celebrating African-American History Month: Hometown Heroes

By: Jake | February 11, 2008 | Category: General

 Richmond Skyline

February is African-American History Month and I thought in order to celebrate I would list some famous African-Americans from my hometown of Richmond, VA. Feel free to list who you think are important African-Americans from your hometown in the comments.

  • Maggie Walker became the first woman to charter a bank in the United States when she chartered St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in 1903 and ran it until 1929. The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site at her former Jackson Ward home is operated by the National Park Service.
  • Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was a legendary tap dancer who, despite racial tensions, earned top dollar on the vaudeville circuit in the early 1900's and crossed over to the silver screen to star beside Shirley Temple in the 30's. A statue of him stands in Richmond where in 1933 he saw two children scurry across a busy highway and donated money to the city to install its first traffic light.
  • Arthur Ashe became the first African-American male tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament. Ashe also championed the cause to end apartheid in South Africa and raised awareness about AIDS in an unfortunate way- after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion during heart surgery. A statue of Ashe was erected on Richmond's Monument Avenue in his honor.

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Entry bubble Exploring Pocahontas and Native American History Month

By: Jake | November 12, 2007 | Category: Home and Family

November marks American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month. In existence since 1990, the goal is to recognize the intertribal cultures and to educate the public about the heritage, history, art, and traditions of the American Indian and Alaska Native people.

The legend of Pocahontas saving Captain John Smith from execution, to me, is one of the most fascinating stories of all time. I think this is because a) I grew up in the Tidewater Virginia area near the site of the Citie of Henricus where Pocahontas met John Rolfe, whom she would eventually marry and b) I find the mystery of what actually happened interesting.

The legend is based on Smith's version of the story, which he recounted back in Great Britain years after the incident. He said that Chief Powhatan's tribe was about to execute him when Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, ran in and cradled his head to protect him. Powhatan stopped the execution and the rest is history. While some historians think Smith's story is legit, some assert that what Smith witnessed was a ritual.

Most interesting to me is how some Native American tribes beg to differ. In 1995 an animated version of the Pocahontas legend was released and it motivated the Powhatan Renape Nation to give their take on the legend. The Powhatan Renape Nation says the rescue never happened, and that Smith's earlier accounts of his peaceful stay with the Powhatan Nation contradict his later accounts. They believe that Smith, who was broke later in life, made up the story afterwards to promote himself.

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