The Civil War in Nine Parts

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It’s no secret that Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” is one of the Archive Gals’ favorite documentaries. This nine-part series is the work that made documentarian Ken Burns a household name. When it was released in September 1990, approximately 40 million people tuned in, making it the most watched program ever on PBS (yes people, including Downton Abbey!). Burns uses contemporary cinematography in addition to thousands of archival photographs, paintings and newspaper images set to music to teach people about the Civil War. For its 25th anniversary, PBS remastered the series in high-definition and will re-air the program from September 7th-11th. You know we will be tuning in! Check out our bestie (we wish) Ken Burns giving an interview on Face the Nation about the 25th anniversary special, as well as commenting on the Civil War’s more recent news coverage:

http://www.cbsnews.com/…/ken-burns-reflects-civil-war-lega…/

If you really just can’t wait for September 7th, The Civil War is available to view on Netflix!

Diggin' Up Bones

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History is alive and well! Jamestown Rediscovery and the Smithsonian Institute announced yesterday that they have discovered and excavated the graves of four prominent Jamestown citizens, as well as a peculiar silver box. All had been buried inside the church that once stood in James Fort. Amazingly, archaeologists were able to determine the identity of the four sets of remains; but what is housed inside the silver box remains something of a mystery. It is believed that the box is a reliquary- or receptacle for holy relics. Veneration of holy relics is a Catholic practice- so how did these relics come to be in an English colony in the early 17th century? Sounds like a mystery for Indiana Jones-a much worthier and more interesting one than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull-although the dig site would likely be compromised and all context lost.

1606 Map of Virginia Engraved by William Hole Based on the Descriptions of John Smith.

1606 Map of Virginia Engraved by William Hole Based on the Descriptions of John Smith.

"Abraham Lincoln said that."

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Everyone misquotes famous lines and speeches- to the point that we remember the paraphrase or error more than the original statement. Neither Ingrid Bergman nor Humphrey Bogart ever say "Play it again, Sam" in Casablanca. Marie Antoinette never uttered "let them eat cake"- a similar "let them eat brioche" was attributed to her falsely by Jean-Jacques Rousseau as anti-royal propaganda. But we repeat these lines all the time.

Even the great Bob Dylan has made these snafus- check out his Lincoln-Sandburg mix up with the Lincoln maxim:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, 
and all of the people some of the time, 
but you can't fool ALL of time."

No matter how you say though, the sentiment is fantastic, and used not only by Dylan, but Bob Marley & the Wailers in "Get Up Stand Up."

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Belated Father's Day Edition

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For today's Wacky Whiskers Wednesday we bring you Smithsonian Magazine's "Who Has the Best Facial Hair in Baseball History?" As long as there have been home runs and strike outs, ballplayers, even some Yankees (eww), have sported mustaches, beards and side burns. Who do you think has the best beard?! Check it out here.

As a side note, Alex loves the Red Sox. The only thing she may love more than the Red Sox is their mascot Wally the Green Monster. When Wally posted a picture of himself with his Dad for Father's Day, she couldn't help but notice Wally Senior's amazing mustache. You're welcome.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Terror on the High Seas

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Edward Teach, more often known as the notorious pirate Blackbeard, was one of the most infamous men of the 18th century, not only for his plundering and pillaging but also for his crazy facial hair! Blackbeard’s nickname comes from his often unruly beard which he sometimes tied lit fuses to under his hat in order to illuminate his fearsome appearance and intimidate his enemies. Teach started his career as a privateer in the Caribbean for England during Queen Ann's War in the early 18th century. Privateers, or ships authorized by a government to attack foreign vessels during war, were often used as a way to mobilize armed ships and sailors without having to commission them into regular service during wartime. It is often hard to distinguish the difference between privateering and pirating as they are essentially the same practice-the only difference being the "legality" or having a government sponsorship for your pillaging!

In 1718 Blackbeard went to his favorite hideaway near Ocracoke Island, NC. He allegedly wanted to party it up with his other pirate homies (themed bash anyone?) complete with all night dancing, drinking and bonfires. News of this pirate kegger reached Alexander Spotswood, the Governor of Virginia, and hater of all fun pirate parties. Spotswood sent two sloops, small swift ships, to trap Blackbeard and his pirate buddies between sandbars so they could not escape. When the Navy arrived, Blackbeard knew he was trapped. As soon as the tide rose in the morning, he foresaw the sloops would glide over the then submerged sandbars and attack.

The pirates continued to party through the night while stockpiling ammunition, soaking blankets in water to put out fires, and spreading sand on the decks to soak up the blood that would be spilled. Blackbeard’s comrades asked him if he had told his wife the location of his buried treasure, thinking they would all perish in the fight. Blackbeard is thought to have responded that nobody but he “...and the devil knew where it was, and the longest liver shall take it.”

When the morning came Blackbeard, instead of trying to outrun the navy sloops, waited for the attack. When the enemy drew close, Blackbeard ordered his crew to set sail and to steer directly for the beach, guiding his ship through a hidden narrow channel, while the sloops crashed into the sandbar. Blackbeard’s crew blasted the stranded sloops with their cannon, but in the fire fight became stranded themselves on a sandbar. The Navy ships threw their stores of food and water overboard in order to lighten their load and dislodge themselves from the sandbar, and then ran below deck to await the next attack.

Blackbeard’s crew hurled explosives onto the navy sloop, and when they believed the crew to be dead, boarded the ship. The pirates were completely stunned to find the navy crew alive and well, and ready to fight. Blackbeard and the sloops’ captain came face to face and fired at one another, Blackbeard missing his mark but then able to draw his sword to deliver the finishing blow. At the last second a navy seamen came up behind Blackbeard and cut his throat.

As a warning to other pirates, Blackbeard’s head was cut off and displayed (‪#‎nedstark‬) from the bow of the navy sloop. His alleged treasure has been searched for far and wide, but no trace has ever been discovered.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: President Benjamin Harrison

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For this Wacky Whiskers Wednesday we bring you our Whiskered 23rd President of the United States, Benjamin Harrison. As cool as his whiskers are, we didn’t know too many fun facts about Harrison, and are under the assumption you must have a fun presidential factoid always on the ready. Here are some things you may know and some things that may surprise you about Benjamin Harrison:

-Benjamin Harrison was the first and currently only president that was the grandson of a former president. His grandfather was our 9th President, William Henry Harrison.

-Harrison was the first president to use electricity in the White House. Apparently everyone was still weary of getting shocked, so Harrison and his wife often went to sleep with the lights on.

-Until Leslie Knope is elected, Harrison will remain the only US President from Indiana.

-Harrison served in the Civil War and was nominated by Lincoln to the grade of Brevet Brigadier General.

-Harrison was the first President to appoint an African-American in a high ranking role in government. He named Frederick Douglass as US Minister to Haiti in 1889.

-He was only 5’ 6” so Democrats called him “Little Ben.”

-Harrison was the first and only president to lose and election to a previous president. Even though the incumbent Grover Cleveland won the popular vote in the election of 1888 by 90,000 votes, Harrison carried the Electoral College 233 to 168, winning the election. Cleveland came back to win in 1892 over Harrison.

-Harrison was the first president known to have his voice preserved, recording a 36 second speech in 1889 on a wax phonograph cylinder.

-When William Henry Harrison ran for president in the mid-1800s, his staff rolled large spheres between towns on the campaign trail, giving rise to the phrase “keep the ball rolling.” Benjamin Harrison was the only presidential candidate to continue this idea, creating his own “campaign ball.”  The aforementioned Leslie Knope visited said campaign ball on Parks & Recreation.


The Real Smokey the Bear

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Hot Foot Teddy and his caretaker Warden Ray Bell.

Last week, the Archive Gals took a trip to the National Zoo, and did a little research about former zoo celebrities; the past Bao-Baos, if you will. The beloved character Smokey Bear was created by the US Forest Service in 1844, to spread information on forest fire prevention. The moniker shifted to "Smokey the Bear" following Eddie Arnold's hit song about the fire safety conscious ursine in 1952.

Ray Bell's daughter Judy with the rescued bear.

In 1950, during a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains, in Lincoln National Forest, AZ, a two and half month old bear cub was found trapped in a tree. He was named Hot Foot Teddy, and his paws were treated for burns. State Fish and Game Warden Ray Bell took the young cub in, and the Bell family raised Teddy until he was given a new home at the National Zoo and re-dubbed Smokey Bear- the physical incarnation of the popular character. Smokey Bear lived out his days as one of the zoo's most popular attractions- with so many letters being written to him that the US Post Office gave him his own zip code. He died in 1976, and the title of Smokey Bear was passed on to his "adopted son" Lil' Smokey, who carried the title into the early nineties. The original Smokey Bear's remains were returned to his birthplace and you can visit his grave today at Smokey Bear Historical Park in the Capitan Mountains. Remember guys- only you can prevent forest fires! (Or wildfires, if you want to be current).

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Wyatt Earp, Cowboy Renaissance Man

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Today's Wacky Whiskers Wednesday is brought to you by: Ice Cream and the Letter E:

Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 - January 13, 1929) is best known for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and as the referee to the Fitzsimmons vs. Sharkey Heavyweight Championship boxing match. His Wikipedia page literally lists his occupations as “Gambler, lawman, buffalo hunter, saloon keeper, bouncer, gold and copper miner, pimp, boxing referee.” We would also like to add badass, style icon, and grade A fox to this list.

Wyatt Earp at age 21 in 1869 or 1870. Probably taken in Lamar, Missouri.

Earp lived a restless life, traveling across the American West from boomtown to boomtown and associating himself with cowboys, lawyers, lawmen, gamblers and prostitutes. One of his most famous companions was undoubtedly John Henry “Doc” Holiday: professional gambler, gunfighter, dentist and Deputy U.S. Marshal at the O.K. Corral Gunfight.

After a fictionalized biography was published following Earp’s death in 1931, his reputation as a fearless lawman became forever imprinted upon American culture. The Archive Gals are all about the fun facts so here are some cool things you may not know about Wyatt Earp:

-Earp ran away from home several times to try and enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War. Being just 13 years old, he was too young to enlist; plus his dad always found him and dragged his butt back home!

Wyatt Earp about age 42.

-Earp, like the Archive Gals, loved him some ice cream. Allegedly, instead of alcohol, which he claimed to have never consumed, Earp liked to hit up the ice cream parlor every day!

-Earp was never once hit in a gunfight…well by anyone else at least. Apparently he once accidentally shot himself while sitting in a chair, but the bullet went through his coat, leaving him uninjured.

-Earp’s horse was named Dick Naylor.

-Earp was pals with John Wayne! In his later years, he was an adviser on several silent cowboy films in LA where he befriended a young Wayne. Wayne later claimed his portrayals of cowboys were based on his conversations with Earp.

Wyatt Earp at home on August 9, 1923, at age 75. Picture by John H. Flood Jr.

Wyatt Earp at home on August 9, 1923, at age 75. Picture by John H. Flood Jr.


TR and the Antiquities Act of 1906

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Teddy Roosevelt did a lot of amazing and incredible things during his life time (including winning BOTH the Nobel Peace Prize and the Congressional Medal of Honor). But by far, the Archive Gals' favorite contribution Teddy made to society was his work in the field of conservation. Today, in 1906, he signed into law the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allowed presidents to make public lands into National Monuments by presidential proclamation, to protect significant natural andcultural resources. This act would pave the way for the creation of our National Parks system. If this at all seems interesting to you, we of course highly recommend binging on Ken Burns (PBS)'s The National Parks and The Roosevelts documentaries (which during the latter, you can learn about our boy Teddy giving a two hour speech after being shot in the chest in an assassination attempt). Caitlin is also obsessed with The Big Burn by Timothy Egan, if you want to learn more specifically about Teddy and the conservation movement.

"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. Keep this great wonder of nature as it is. You can not improve it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it."

- Theodore Roosevelt, impromptu speech at Grand Canyon on May 6, 1903.

The Grand Canyon was declared a National Monument on January 11, 1908. It was then established as a US National Park in 1919.

 


Devil's Tower became the first US National Monument on September 24, 1906. 

Here are Caitlin and her cousin Allie at Devil's Tower; searching for aliens, and bedecked in their middle school finest.

 

 

Presidential Signature: James Monroe

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Our Friday special- that presidential post you all have been waiting for! On March 10, 1813, James Monroe was serving as Secretary of State under President James Madison. The US was in the middle of the War of 1812, and Monroe wrote this pass to allow a British agent free travel around Washington, DC, so he could negotiate the exchange of POWs. Eighteen months later, after the British burned both the White House and the Capitol, Madison would fire then Secretary of War John Armstrong, and appoint Monroe to the position. But, after his switch, a successor was not appointed as Secretary of State through February 1815 when the war ended; leaving Monroe to fill two cabinet positions. Before the Treaty of Ghent was signed and peace was official, Secretary of War Monroe had been planning an invasion of Canada- a fantasy many red-blooded Americans still hold today (not us, we love Canucks!). With the war over, Monroe returned to his position as Secretary of State, until he himself was elected president.

P. T. Barnum's First Star

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Today marks the 180th anniversary of the launch of P. T. Barnum's first US tour. His star attraction at the time was Joice Heth- a former slave women Barnum claimed to be 161 years-old and once the property of Augustine Washington; serving as nurse maid for an infant George Washington. When Heth passed away less than a year later, Barnum continued to try and profit off of her; hiring a doctor to perform a public autopsy for a large crowd. The plan backfired, when the doctor exclaimed that he had determined Heth's true age to be 79. Barnum then claimed this was not actually Heth's corpse and that she was away on a tour of Europe. The hoax haunted Barnum's career for the rest of his life.

Archives Find of The Week- Cherokee Muster Rolls

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Today, we got to take a look at some of the "Muster Rolls of Cherokee Indians Who Have Emigrated West of the Mississippi" from 1833. Tribes were being forced out of the Deep South, following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, to make way for white settlers. The law was initially merely to authorize the President to negotiate with tribes for their removal to federal lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for their ancestral homelands. But what was intended to be a voluntary move became a forced expulsion. In 1833, the Cherokee Nation was not yet being forced to head west, but the government was keeping track of those who left voluntarily- displaying some particularly colorful names. In the midst of the Georgia Gold Rush, President Andrew Jackson put increasing pressure on the tribes to move, and refused to protect them from state laws stripping the Nation of all land except personal residences (some strong supporting evidence in the case to get Andrew Jackson replaced on the $20 bill with Harriet Tubman- go Harriet!). The Treaty of New Echota was signed in 1835 by a minority party within the Cherokee Nation, ceding all its southeast territory and agreeing to the move west. The enforcement of this treaty led to what is now known as the Trail of Tears. The remaining Cherokees were forced to march 1000 miles to Oklahoma in the dead of winter, carrying everything they owned. Over 4000 people died, and the rest had to build new lives in foreign territory, with few possessions and little hope.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Colonel Badass

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For this installment of Wacky Whiskers Wednesday, we bring you Colonel Edward E. Cross of the 5th NH Cavalry! To put it frankly, Colonel Cross was quite the badass. He was six foot, two inches tall and would wrap a bandana around his head during battle, a lovely addition to his fancy uniform. Cross was in battle at Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, where he lost his life on July 2, 1863 when he was shot by a sniper who was hiding some 40 yards away! Oh yeah...and he had quite the impressive beard! ‪

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: Bulletproof

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For your Wacky Whiskers Wednesday viewing pleasure, we present Brigadier General Reuben Lindsay Walker, a VMI grad who fought 63 battles for the Confederate Army, without every being wounded! After the war, he went on to become superintendent of the Marine and Selma Railroad, and oversaw construction of the Texas State Capitol building.

Animals for Cincinnati

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106 years ago, President William Howard Taft, of bathtub and Supreme Court fame, promised to send any animals he received as gifts to the Cincinnati Zoo, according to The Washington Post. The question that remains is: what bumpkin gifted him with "several dozen possums."

Hotel Edison

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We always come across the coolest 19th and early 20th century stationary when we are looking through Civil War Pensions. This stationary from the Hotel Edison in NYC advertises a "radio in every room" and "1000 rooms with bath and shower"! Construction began on the Hotel Edison in 1931 and Thomas Edison himself was there to turn on the lights for its grand opening! Hotel Edison is still located at 46th and 47th Street, west of Broadway in NYC.