Beaux Arts in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina was hit hard by the Civil War.  But in the ensuing years, it experienced a Renaissance.  The city saw a rebirth of literature, art and architecture.  The Beaux Arts architecture, popularized by the City Beautiful Movement, made its mark on the former Confederate city.  

The Library Society courtesy http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/a-second-sunday-guide-to-king-street-architecture/Content?oid=4795805.

http://charlestonecorealtor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/King-Street-Urban-Outfitters.jpg

Gibbes Museum of ARt courtesy https://carolinaartsnews.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/gibbes-museum-of-art-in-charleston-sc-presents-gibbes-on-the-street-may-7-2015/ 

Custom House courtesy https://www.pinterest.com/pin/498914464944533677/.

Richmond, Virginia's Monument Ave

The unveiling of the Robert E. Lee monument circa 1890 courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Avenue#/media/File:1890_Lee_statue_unveiling.jpg.

Richmond Virginia's Monument Ave is a tree lined grassy mall separating the east and west bound lanes punctuated by statues of Civil War leaders Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, JEB Stuart and Jefferson Davis.  On May 29, 1890 the crowd swelled to 100,000 to watch the unveiling of the first monument, General Lee.  Oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury was added in 1929. Between 1900 and 1925, Monument Ave saw the construction of architecturally significant houses, churches and apartment buildings.

The avenue, filled with mansions, was originally home to Richmond's upper class.  However, by the 1950's and 1960's, many of the mansions were divided into apartments and sublet.  In 1970, the Monument Ave Preservation Society was established to protect the beautiful buildings.

Monument Ave is the site for many events including Robert E. Lee's birthday, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Monument Ave 10K Race and the Easter on Parade where Richmond residents show off the latest styles in Easter bonnets.

Jefferson Davis Monument courtesy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_Avenue.

Little Women

"You don't need scores of suitors.  You need only one...if he's the right one." (Little Women)

http://sineman.tv/movies-actor/margaret-o-brien-25704-ru

As the Civil War rages on to the South, the four March sisters face Christmas in New England without their father who is off on the battlefield.  Jo, played by Katharine Hepburn, is a tomboy who aspires to be an author.  She writes plays for her three sisters to perform for local children.  She also caters to the whims of her wealthy Aunt March.  Amy (Joan Bennett) is the pretty, but selfish sister; Meg (Frances Dee) works as a seamstress; and Beth (Jean Parker) is the sensitive, musical sister.

A young man named Laurie (Douglass Montgomery) moves in next door and takes an interest in Jo.  His tutor, John, courts Meg.  Beth takes the opportunity to practice on Laurie's piano while he lives there.  Their mother learns that their father has been injured and is recuperating in a Washington DC hospital.  She travels there to stay with him.

 

Jo & Laurie duel in Little Women courtesy https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJzdeS-pBWR2MFrmxkeLwUxFa4EXAFnN-gsfSfds8ppuSP7KRSn2E2xJGUeHTr0c4WVKTIyn-OLm-t2lpfV3rO8ATzqFEmrtmnaKxQkwx_8AJemDHKuoRELaxPMTiecCULBWeTos7l8j8/s400/littlewomen2.png.

In the meantime, Beth contracts Scarlet Fever from a neighbour's baby and becomes very ill.  The March parents return home and Meg marries John.  Laurie declares his love for Jo, but she rejects him.  Hurt, Laurie in turn rejects Jo and she moves to New York City to pursue her writing career. There, she meets a German linguist named Professor Bhaer (Paul Lukas) who coaches her in her writing.

With Beth debilitated and lying at death's door, Jo returns home.  Beth passes away.  Laurie declares his love for Amy, a girl who accompanied Aunt March to Europe.  Professor Bhaer follows Jo to Concord and proposes.

Note:  Little Women is based on the 1868 book by Louisa May Alcott.  Upon its 1933 premiere at Radio City Music Hall, it earned more than $100,000 during its first week.  Budgeted at $1 million, the film's production included 4,000 employees and 3,000 separate items (costumes, furnishings, household items) that had to be authenticated.

Jo marries Professor Bhaer courtesy http://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.ca/2014_02_01_archive.html. 

The Address

"[Delivering the Address] is a minefield for these kids [which involves] acts of courage which are embedded in this speech." (Ken Burns)

Lincoln Memorial courtesy http://blog.hubbardswim.com/the-gettysburg-address/.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, written over 150 years ago, is arguably the most famous speech delivered by an American President (http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/11/to-be-continued.html).  Ken Burns' documentary follows Greenwood's students as they memorize and recite the Gettysburg Address.

The Greenwood School is a boarding school for fifty boys with learning disorders such as dyslexia and ADD.  Vermont's Greenwood School has used the Address as a teaching tool for over 35 years.  The boys spend a good chunk of time learning and memorizing the Address which they recite at a recital.  Ken Burns has served as a judge at the recital for ten years.

Ken Burns says that due to their learning disorders,, "[Delivering the Address] is a minefield for these kids [which involves] acts of courage which are embedded in this speech."
 Headmaster Stewart Miller points out that the Gettysburg Address is about "finding the inner strength to push through. What we talk about is grit -- setting a goal and sticking to it."

Lincoln's speech served to embolden the Union troops to keep fighting, to persevere against all odds after one of the worst defeats in the Civil War.  His speech marked the turning point in the war.  The Union regained its courage and fought on, achieving victory a year and a half later.

Greenwood's Headmaster explains that if you put something to memory, "you own it".  Ken Burns' is challenging all Americans to learn or relearn the Address, which is inscribed on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.  The speech may be short, but it is powerful and gains more meaning with the passage of time.  Like the Greenwood students, we can all learn something from this speech.

Greenwood School student recites Gettsyburg Address courtesy 

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-address/home/.

Mark Twain

"All of American literature began with Huck Finn." (Ernest Hemingway)

When I visited Disney World with my children, we went for a ride on a Mississippi Riverboat in Frontierland.  The Mississippi River plays a big role in American history.  And Mark Twain, who grew up on the Mississippi, plays a big role in American literature.  

Born Samuel Langhorn Clemens grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, the town that served as his inspiration for St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Like Huck Finn, young Samuel used to play for hours along the shores of the Mississippi.  As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice printer, likely inspiring him to later publish his writing.  Later, he worked as a riverboat pilot, serving as fodder for his novels.  During the Civil War, Samuel formed a Confederate militia called the "Marion Rangers" which disbanded after only two weeks.  Samuel moved to Nevada to take up mining.

In 1867, Samuel published his first novel Advice for Little Girls, the first of 30 books.  He adopted the pen name Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass briefly followed by Mark Twain.  After travelling in Europe and The Holy Land, Twain published Innocents Abroad, his first bestseller, in 1869.  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer did not appear until 1876 and Huckleberry Finn, his most popular work, in 1884.    

As Ernest Hemingway said:  "All American literature began with Huck Finn." (http://www.pbs.org/marktwain/filmmakers/making_choosing.html).  Referred to as The Great American Novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has influenced American authors such as Thomas Wolfe, Erskine Caldwell and William Faulkner and countless others (https://marktwainahf.wikispaces.com/Impact+of+Huck+Finn+on+American+Literature).

Ken Burns weaves the tale of Mark Twain's life in nine episodes.  Burns points out that Twain loved filling scrapbooks with old pictures and clippings.  He even invented a scrapbook with sticky pages to eliminate the need for glue or paste.  Burns invites you to open up Twain's scrapbook to follow the adventures of his life, the adventures of America.  

Mark Twain and John Lewis courtesy http://c8.alamy.com/comp/E92XXM/mark-twain-samuel-langhorne-clemens-1835-1910-with-john-lewis-sitting-E92XXM.jpg.

Ken Burns: King of the Documentary

"He told me that my whole work was an attempt to make people long gone come back alive." 

(Ken Burns, quoting his father-in-law)

A distant relative of the famous poet, Robert Burns, Ken Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York. The son of a biotechnician and a cultural anthropologist, Burns was surrounded by books; he devoured the family encyclopedia.  Tragedy struck early when, at 3, his mom was diagnosed with cancer and passed away eight years later.  Her death helped shape his career.

At 17, Burns received an 8 mm movie camera for his birthday and made his first film footage.  He attended Hampshire College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in film studies and design in 1975, studying under photographers Jerome Liebling and Elaine Mayes.  Burns and a college classmate created Florentine Films named after Florence Massachusetts, Mayes' hometown.  He worked for both the BBC and Italian television for a short time.

Burns' father-in-law predicted his future:  "He told me that my whole work was an attempt to make people long gone come back alive."  In 1976, Burns started adapting David McCullough's book The Great Bridge for television.  He believed that the bridge, one of America's greatest landmarks, affected many Americans.  Five years later, Burns documentary, The Brooklyn Bridge, premiered on PBS.  The new film maker was nominated for an Academy Award in 1982.

Burns soon became known for his "technique of cutting rapidly from one still picture to another, in a fluid, linear fashion".  He added first hand narration read by celebrities.  In the background, he played haunting melodies or time period pieces -- classic Ken Burns.

It was not until 1990 that Burns hit the big time with his chef d'oeuvre, The Civil War.  Forty million viewers watched the initial broadcast and Burns became a household name.   He has since made at least two dozen documentaries, the most recent being Jackie Robinson, which aired last month on PBS.  More are forthcoming in 2017 and 2018.

Note:  For a list of all of Ken Burns' documentaries, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns.

Ken Burns working on the Civil War courtesy http://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Ken-Burns-editing-Civil-War.jpg.

Shelby Foote: PBS Civil War Series Made Him a Millionaire

"Interested more in the process of learning than in earning an actual degree, Foote was not a model student.  He often skipped class to explore the library and once he even spent the night among the shelves." (Wikipedia)

Before Ken Burns' civil War series debuted on PBS, Shelby foote was a relative unknown.  However, as soon as the series aired, Foote started selling 1000 copies a week of his massive work The Civil War:  A Narrative.  

Shelby Foote was born in the Mississippi Delta in 1917, the only child of Shelby Dade Foote and Lillian Foote.  Foote claimed that having no siblings had its advantages:  "Getting close to books, and spending time by myself, I was obliged to think about things I would have never thought about if I was romping around with a brother and sister."  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_Foote)  Foote lost his father at the age of five, perhaps making him retreat even more into books.

Foote was accepted at the University of North Carolina by the skin of his teeth.  There he was "interested more in the process of learning than in earning an actual degree, Foote was not a model student.  He often skipped class to explore the library and once he even spent the night among the shelves."

After two years, Foote returned to greenville Mississippi where he started writing for The Delta Democratic Times with a side job in construction.  In 1946, he had a piece titled Flood Burial published in the Saturday Evening Post.  He quit his job to write fulltime.  

Foote's first nove, Tournament, was published in 1949.  He said he was heavily influenced by his literary hero, William Faulkner.  By the mid-1950's, he started working on a massive volume called The Civil War:  A Narrative with grant money from the Guggenheim Fellowships and Ford Foundation.  Volume 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville, was first published in 1958.  Volume 2, Fredericksburg to Meridian, debuted in 1963.  Volume 3, Red River to Appomattox, first appeared in print in 1974.  Foote always maintained that President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate General Forrest, were the "two authentic geniuses of the war," a conflict that his great-grandfather participated in.  

In the late 1980's, Ken Burns came calling.  He did several interviews with the author.  When Burns' Civil War series debuted in September of 1990, "Foote's drawl, erudition and quirk of speaking as if the war were still going on  made him a favorite".  In one week at the end of September, Foote's The Civil War:  A Narrative sold 1000 copies a day.  Foote told Burns:  "Ken, you've made me a millionaire."

Foote passed away in 2005 and is buried next to the family plot of General Forrest.

http://www.achievement.org/achievers/foo0/large/foo0-009.jpg

Booker T. Washington: A Hunger for Learning

"Booker's first exposure to education was from the outside of a school house near the plantation; looking inside, he saw children his age sitting at desks and reading books.  He wanted to do what those children were doing, but he was a slave, and it was illegal to teach slaves how to read and write." (www.biography.com)

Booker T. Washington worked as a slave on a Virginia plantation, clad only in a large t-shirt since his owner refused to buy him pants.  He used to lug 100 pound sacks of grain to the mill on the back of a mule.  If the sack fell off, he would have to wait until someone came along to help him hoist it back onto the mule.  Returning late, his owner would whip him for his tardiness.

"Booker's first exposure to education was from the outside of a school house near the plantation; looking inside, he saw children his age sitting at desks and reading books.  He wanted to do what those children were doing, but he was a slave, and it was illegal to teach slaves how to read and write."  His mother, seeing his interest in learning to read, gave him a book from which he learned the alphabet. (http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663#tuskegee-normal-and-industrial-institute)

When the Civil War ended, Booker and his mother were freed.  His mother had remarried, and along with his stepfather, he moved to West Virginia.  There, he and his stepfather secured work in a salt mine.  But Booker's heart was not in it.

A nearby plantation owner's wife, Mrs. Ruffner, was looking for a houseboy and gardener.  Rumor had it that Mrs. Ruffner was very particular and had high standards.  Booker was up to the task.  He impressed his employer so much that she gave him books to read.  She taught him proper English, history and math.  She encouraged him to take pride in his work, even if it was physical labour. (http://lookingglassreview.com/books/a-hunger-for-learning-a-story-about-booker-t-washington) 

At 16, Booker wanted to attend university so badly that he walked 500 miles to the Hampton Institute.  There, he took a job as a janitor to finance his school tuition.  His hard work earned him a scholarship.

Upon graduation, he taught for a short time in an elementary school.  Within four years, he was offered a teaching position at his alma mater.  In 1881, the Alabama legislature approved $2000 for a colored school.  Booker headed up the new Tuskegee Institute until his death in 1915.

                      http://www.biography.com/people/booker-t-washington-9524663#early-life

If Lincoln Saved the Union, His Stepmother Saved Him

"...for if Lincoln saved the Union, she [his stepmother] saved him, and for that alone she's entitled to a decent respect." (Ted Widmer)

Abraham Lincoln lost his mother at the tender age of 9.  His father courted and married a widow named Sarah Bush Johnston.  It was Sarah who encouraged Abraham to read.  "He read all the books that he could get his hands on."  And he grew up to be one of the most revered presidents of the United States.

Widower Thomas Lincoln courted and married Sarah, a widow with three children.  The blended family settled in a log cabin in Indiana.  The first gift that the new Mrs. Lincoln gave her stepson was four books:  Aesop's Fables, Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress and Sinbad the Sailor.  Books were scarce on the Indiana Frontier.  Young Abraham, who loved to read, instantly bonded with his new stepmother.  

Sarah recognized Abraham's intelligence and his passion for knowledge.  As a young boy, he used to listen to sermons by the local preacher, and then stand on a stump and repeat them, word for word.  Sarah recognized that the two had similar minds:  Abraham "cared little for clothes or food, but a great deal for ideas."  Although Sarah was illiterate herself, she nurtured Abraham's interest in books.  While it might have been easy for her to give her own children preference, she treated Abraham and his sibling just like her biological children.  Abraham responded in kind.

Sarah and Abraham remained close when he reached adulthood.  I imagine that Sarah also instilled a work ethic and a sense of perseverance in Abraham.  As an adult, although he lost many elections, he never gave up.  His stepmother was always there to cheer him on.  Abraham claimed:  "All that I am and hope to be I owe to my angel mother."  

In 1861, when Abraham was on the brink of his inauguration, he paid one last visit to his stepmother. "She is getting uneasy about you fearing that some of your political opponents will kill you."  The premonition proved correct:  four years later, just after the Civil War ended, Lincoln was assassinated in a Washington DC theatre. 

Sarah outlived her stepson by four years and was buried in an unmarked grave.  In 1924, funds were raised to give her a proper headstone.  As Ted Widmer explained:  "...for if Lincoln saved the Union, she [his stepmother] saved him, and for that alone she's entitled to a decent respect." (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/lincolns-other-mother/?_r=0)

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/lincolns-other-mother/?_r=0

Frederick Douglass Pens Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe

"The most killing refutation of slavery is the presentation of an industrious, enterprising, thrifty and intelligent free black population." (Frederick Douglass)

In March of 1853, escaped slave Frederick Douglass penned a letter to fellow escaped slave Harriet Beecher Stowe regarding the plight of blacks in the United States.  Mrs. Stowe had just written and published a little book called Uncle Tom's Cabin which would lay the groundwork for the Civil War less than a decade later.  (For more information about Uncle Tom's Cabin, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/03/uncle-toms-cabin.html.

Mr. Douglass opened his letter with:  "You kindly informed me...that you designed to do something which should permanently contribute to the improvement and elevation of the free colored peopled in the United States."  He went on to describe the social disease that blacks of his era suffered from:  "poverty, ignorance and degradation". (http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-harriet-beecher-stowe/)

Mr. Douglass explained that the only way that blacks could conquer the disease was to be put on an equal footing with whites, "in the sacred right to the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit happiness." He challenged Mrs. Stowe by saying;  "You dear madam can help the masses...by lifting these from the depths of poverty and ignorance...prejudice is a bar to the educated black among the whites; and ignorance is a bar to him among blacks." 

Frederick Douglass pointed out that America had three black lawyers at the time, but it was not near enough.  Furthermore, whites refused to employ them and blacks followed the lead of the whites.  Mr. Douglass announced that his master plan to improve the lot of the blacks was to open an industrial college.  As he concluded:  "...the most killing refutation of slavery is the presentation of an industrious, enterprising, thrifty and intelligent free black population."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

General Lee Imparts Wisdom to Son

"Duty, then, is the sublimest word in our language.  You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less." (General Robert E. Lee)

We all know General Robert E. Lee was the well respected leader of the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  Offered the chance to lead the Union Army by President Lincoln, he chose to fight for the South, despite his wish for the country to remain intact.  He developped a reputation as a shrewd tactician and won battles against far superior Northern troops. He paid dearly for his decision to side with the South:  when the war ended, Lee's home, Arlington House, was confiscated by the North and became a graveyard for fallen soldiers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee#Mexican.E2.80.93American_War)

But General Lee was also a husband and father.  Almost a decade before the Civil War broke out, on his way to New Mexico with his regiment, Lee penned a letter to his beloved son, Custis.  He wrote:

"Your letters breathed a true spirit of frankness; they have already given myself and your mother great pleasure.  Say what you mean on every occasion and take it for granted you mean to do right."

(http://civilwartalk.com/attachments/upload_2013-9-13_15-37-15-png.20236/)

When General Lee was offered command of the Union Army, he felt like, as a Virginian, he could not turn his back on the South.  As he recommended to his son:

"Above all, do not appear to others what you are not."

General Lee went on to talk about duty.  He mentioned the Connecticut Legislature and how its session was interrupted nearly 100 years previous on a dark, dark day, likely the result of an eclipse. Some thought it was the end of the world -- Judgement Day.  An old Puritan legislator said that if it was Judgement Day, that he desired to be at his place doing his duty and moved that candles be brought in so that the legislators could proceed.  

"Duty, then, is the sublimest word in our language.  You cannot do more; you should never wish to do less." 

Robert E. Lee and son, Custis, at his right, circa 1866 courtesy http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/robert-e-lee-pictures/robert-e-lee-and-son.jpg.

Will the Real Rhett & Scarlett Please Stand Up?

Scarlett:  "Sir, you are no gentleman."

Rhett:  "And you, Miss, are no lady."

http://thepassingtramp.blogspot.ca/2014/12/crime-raves-u-s-mystery-bestsellers.html

Anyone who has seen Gone with the Wind cannot get the iconic images out of their head:  society women in hoop skirts fluttering across the ballroom floor, a pair of horses bolting as Atlanta burns, Scarlett's plump, kerchief-wearing maid tying her corset so tight she can't breath, a pencil-moustachioed Rhett going off to join the Confederate Army, stating:  "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn."  

Truth is stranger than fiction.  There really was a "Rhett"; there really was a "Scarlett".  Rhett Turnipseed fell in love with Emelyn Louise Hannon duinrg the Civil War era.  Rhett abandonned Emelyn to run off and join the Confederate Army.

After the Civil War, Rhett became a gambler and a drifter.  On Easter morning in 1871, he attended a Methodist Revival meeting where he gave his life to Christ.  He attended Vanderbilt University where he studied to become a Methodist preacher.  

A young woman in his flock ran away to St. Louis to work as a prostitute.  Rhett followed her there to beg her to return home.  The madam running the brothel was his former love, Emelyn Louise Hannon.  Emelyn refused to give up the young lady to Rhett.  Rhett in turn challenged Emelyn to a card game:  if she won, the girl stayed; if he won, the girl went home with him.  

Rhett was victorious and the girl returned to her family in St. Louis.  She later married and raised a family, and became a proud matriarch.  Emelyn was so impressed with Rhett's change of character that she converted to Methodism and opened an orphanage for Cherokee children.  It turned out that Rhett really did give a damn.  

Philip Van Doren Stern's & Elmer Harris' "The Man Who Killed Lincoln"

"Wilkes was a good friend and faithful brother, and popular with all who knew him.  Too popular, some said:  too much of the convivial dram drinker, too much the pursuer of pretty ladies..." (Chicago Tribune)

Abraham Lincoln attended the play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre that night.  He sat in a red velvet rocker, his wife Mary Todd Lincoln beside him.  All of a sudden, an assassin appeared from behind the curtain, pulled out a revolver, and shot the president; he leaped over the side of the balcony, fracturing his leg, and exited the theatre, leaving Lincoln for dead.  

John Wilkes Booth was a young fanatic.  "Most of his friends were Southern and all of his beliefs..." (http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1940/01/28/page/93/article/the-man-who-killed-lincoln-called-bad-showmanship).  He was disturbed to hear that President Lincoln called for the vote for the "freed Negro" only days after the Civil War ended.  He plotted to kill him, along with Vice President Johnson, General Grant and General Seward.  He thought General Lee would then withdraw his surrender, reassemble his army and save the Confederate's cause.  

But his fractured leg got in the way.  A doctor named Mudd treated Booth that day for his injury.  When the public found out, they were unamused.  Hence, the saying when you are in trouble: "Your name will be Mudd".  Booth escaped to Confederate territory where he took his final stand in a tobacco shed.  He was holding his revolver to his head when he was shot by a sentry and killed.

Lincoln passed away the following morning.  He was given a hero's farewell, complete with a caisson, a 21-gun salute, and a funeral train which crossed the United States from Washington D.C. to his home state of Illinois (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_and_burial_of_Abraham_Lincoln).  No American would ever forget how he held the country together through the Civil War, how he took a stand on slavery, no matter how unpopular he would appear. 

On January 17, 1940, seventy five years after the assassination, The Man Who Killed Lincoln premiered at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway.  Charles Keane starred as Lincoln, Mary Dorne as Mrs. Lincoln, and Richard Waring as John Wilkes Booth.  According to the Chicago Tribune, however, it was Whitford Kane, as Samuel Fox, who stole the show.  

A century and a half later, Lincoln is still remembered fondly.  Millions visit Gettysburg National Park each year where the president delivered his infamous Gettysburg Address.  And the red velvet chair that Lincoln sat in at Ford's theatre sits in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.  John Wilkes Booth is buried in a small grave in Baltimore, Maryland.

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fords_Theater_Scene_in_the_Abraham_Lincoln_Museum.jpg

Louisa May Alcott's "Death of a Soldier"

"It was the hardest question I had ever been called to answer; doubly hard with those eyes fixed on mine, forcing a truthful answer by their own truth."

As the Civil War raged on, the casualties mounted.  An unknown woman named Louisa May Alcott, volunteered at a Union Hospital in Georgetown for six months in 1863.  Homeschooled by her father, she was also raised by close family friends Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, giving her a good grounding in literature.  Louisa loved to write.  At the hospital she penned many letters, which became her first book Hospital Sketches, preceding the famous Little Women.

One soldier really made a mark on her.  The doctor said:  "Every breath he draws is like a stab; for the ball pierced the left lung, broke a rib and did no end of damage..."  Louisa was\ told there was no hope for him.  It fell on the young woman to break the news to the soldier.  

Louisa wrote:  "[There was] no outward sign of suffering till, looking nearer, I saw great tears roll down and drop to the floor."  She thought she was a "poor substitute" for a wife, mother or sister.  She watched as the nurse dressed his wound and the scar from his operation, an operation in futility since the bullet was lodged in too delicate a spot to be removed.  

The soldier's vulnerability pulled at Louisa's heartstrings;  "Although he was the manliest an among my forty, he said:  'Yes, a'am' like a little boy."  She noticed a ring on his finger, and thought he was married, but found out it belonged to his widowed mother,  Almost 30 years old, the soldier stayed home and looked after his mother and younger siblings.

The soldier said that he was injured in his first battle, and asked Louisa if it might be his last.  "It was the hardest question I had ever been called to answer, doubly hard with those eyes fixed on me, forcing a truthful answer by their own truth."  The soldier dictated a letter to Louisa to be sent to his brother Jack, who would then break the news to his mother.  

"Over his face I saw the grey veil falling that no human hand can lift."  The other soldiers in the hospital room gathered around the soldier's bed to say goodbye.  Though they were strangers, he was "beloved by all".  As his time drew near, the soldier begged for air and the curtains were opened to a red streaked dawn sky.  "Over his whole face there broke that mysterious expression brighter than any smile, which often comes to eyes that look their last."  The soldier held Louisa's hand until he breathed his last breath.   

Note:  To read the essay in full, visit http://grammar.about.com/od/classicessays/a/Death-Of-A-Soldier-By-Louisa-May-Alcott.htm.

http://louisamayalcottismypassion.com/category/books-by-louisa-may-alcott/hospital-sketches/

How to Break into the Burdgeoning History Market

"History is a strong seller and offers a great way to break into magazine and book writing."

(Sean McLachlan)

American author Sean McLachlan states that local history offers only a small market for writers, but state history "flies off the shelves" (http://www.writing-world.com/freelance/history.shtml).

While military history is of interest to Americans, it depends on the war:  the Civil War and World War II attract the most attention.  Important historical figures are a popular topic; however, if you're going to write about one, find a new angle.  For instance, rather than writing about the explorer Sir John Franklin, write about his ship which was just discovered at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.  

Use primary sources (letters, diaries and documents) as much as possible.  For example, who knew that the city of St. Louis, Missouri was planned by a 14 year old boy?  Sean McLachlan says that such odd facts add "zest to narrative and are remembered long after most of the names and dates have faded from [the reader's] mind".

What topics should you write about?  Choose subjects that you are passionate about, but at the same time are broad enough to be examined from different angles.  For example, Sean McLachlan decided to write about the state of Missouri for Missouri Life magazine.  He started with the state's general history; followed by a collection of tales for young adults; next came a book about outlaws; then he wrote about Civil War guerrillas; he based his next novel in Missouri.  He derived at least five major writing projects out of one subject.

Look for spin-offs for your initial writing project.  How can you make use of your surplus material after you've written an article?  Maybe you can write another article.  Perhaps you have enough material to write a book.  Or how about an article to promote the book?

Make sure you exhaust all potential resources for you article.  Visit your local library or university library.  Request material through inter-library loan.  Visit local historical societies.  Read widely to learn what has already been covered on the subject, what sources are reputable, and who is publishing on the subject.  During his research about Missouri, Sean McLachlan learned that Carolyn Bartels is the Civil War Book Lady.  

Build off your magazine reputation.  Writer Lise Hull wrote a piece about castles for Ninnau , a North American Welsh newspaper.  This article led to the first of many book contracts about the British Isles and castles.  Now publishers are approaching her.

Be aware of controversy surrounding certain subjects ex. Islamic history, labour history.  Make sure you back up your opinion with solid research.  

Note:  For an example of a historical article read Linda Ward's "Africville:  The Lost Town" at http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/waymac/African%20Canadian%20Studies/Unit%208.%20Afro-Canada/africville.htm.

Market:

Here are five possible websites to peruse if you are considering submitting a query for an article:

1.  Smithsonian Magazine 

The following columns are open to freelancers:  Phenomena & Curiosities (science & nature); Points of Interest (Americana); Presence of Mind (opinion essay).  Features are up to 4000 words.

www.smithsonianmag.com

2.  American Heritage

This magazine promotes American history ex. prominent figures, military, technology, entertainment, culture.  Features are a maximum of 6000 words.

www.americanheritage3.com

3.  Canada's History (formerly The Beaver)

Recent articles include:  "John McCrae's War", "Freeing the Netherlands", and "Viola Desmond:  An Unlikely Crusader".

https://secure.candashistory.ca

4.  Canadian Historical Review

This periodical features stories about:  Native-European contact, society & war, Canadian and Quebec nationalism, class and gender.

www.utpjournals.com/Canadian-historical-review.html

5.  BBC History Magazine

Recent articles include:  "9 Things You Might Not Know about Anne Frank", "5 Strange Causes of Death in the Medieval Period", and "6 Myths about Richard III".

www.historyextra.com

6.  British Heritage

Recent articles include:  "C.S. Lewis:  The Lion in Oxford", "Join Pilgrims on the Mayflower Trail", and "King David's Border Abbeys:  The Architecture of these Great Scottish Churches"

britishheritage.com

http://www.culture24.org.uk/sector-info/art38403

American Public's Insatiable Appetite for News: Early Abolitionists Lead the Way

"One of the peculiar traits [of the public] is the insatiable appetite which exists in all classes of people in this country for news.  It is thirst so universal that it has given rise to a general and habitual form of salutation on the meeting of friends and strangers of 'What's the news?'" 

(Nathan Hale, publisher of the Boston Daily Advertiser, 1817)

Four men in front of a tent which advertises the Boston Daily Advertiser courtesy 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Daily_Advertiser#mediaviewer/File:Four_men_in_front_of_a_tent_with_a_sign_for_the_Boston_Daily_Advertiser,_cropped.jpg.

Before the advent of the radio and the television and the computer, the newspaper was the public's main source for news.  Newspapers first appeared in the Thirteen Colonies in the 1700's.  However, America's population was small and it hadn't yet broken off from Britain.  

Reporters on the Eastern seaboard used to wait for ships to arrive from Britain, row out to meet them, climb aboard and record the latest news.  Then they would typeset back at the office, print it on the printing press, and share it with the locals.  The process was slow and tedious and expensive.  Only a small number of Americans subscribed to newspapers for a hefty sum. 

The telegraph was the first device to separate transport and communication courtesy http://ushistoryimages.com/images/morse-telegraph/fullsize/morse-telegraph-4.jpg.

Three inventions changed the course of the newspaper:  the printing press, the telegraph and the railroad, all of which made the dissemination of news much faster and more efficient.  In the early 1800's, the United States only had 376 newspapers in distribution.  However, by 1835, that number had shot up to 1200.  

In his book Fanatics and Fire Eaters:  Newspapers and the Coming of the Civil War (http://www.amazon.com/Fanatics-Fire-eaters-Newspapers-History-Communication/dp/B005IUWPDW) Lorman Ratner calls the sudden increase in readership a "newspaper revolution" and compares it to the transportation revolution.  With printing presses becoming faster, and the population exploding, newspapers became cheaper and more readily available. 

The Liberator masthead courtesy 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberator_(anti-slavery_newspaper).

Newspaper editors and reporters influenced public opinion by the images they evoked.  Abolition was one major issue that used the newspaper as its forum, driving up its sales.  The Boston paper, the Liberator, advocated the abolition of slavery.  With an ever-increasing circulation, the paper helped open the eyes of the public to the evils of slavery.  In its first issue, the editor appealed to the public, reminding them of the famous line in the Declaration of Independence that:

"'...all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator, with certain inalienable rights -- among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'  I shall strenuously contend for the enfranchisement of our slave population."   

http://www.tacomlcmccommunityreport.com/features/sept13feature1wethepeople.aspx

When the Civil War broke out, it was the newspaper reporters who reported from the battle front.  It was the newspapers that reported on the issue of emancipation which divided the country.  The public's thirst for news was insatiable.  They wanted blow by blow accounts of the battles.  They wanted to know who was winning the war.  

Whereas in Andrew Jackson's years in the White House, only a small elite read the newspaper, by the time Abraham Lincoln took office, the lower classes were reading the paper as well.  In the end, the slavery issue was fought on the battlefield, and resolved with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, thanks in part to the eye-opening headlines of the early abolitionists.