So much of history is personal. One fascinating source is letters from soldiers to their families. I’m currently reading Diary of a Dead Man, compiled by J. P. Ray, that contains the letters from a Union soldier during the Civil War who ultimately died at Andersonville Prison in Georgia. But what really got my attention
Fear can cause people to do strange things. Like imprisoning Jewish refugees with Nazi prisoners of war. Canada, 1940. The military transport SS Sobiesky arrives with a human cargo of both refugees and POWs. One of the former was Erwin Schild, a 20-year-old Jew who had fled Nazi-controlled Europe for the United Kingdom. But the
I have just learned that August 24, 1456 was the date the first Gutenberg Bible was bound and finished in Mainz, Germany. Contrary to popular belief, Johannes Gutenberg did not invent the printing press. Books had been printed in China and Korea on presses, but with wood and bronze type. Gutenberg’s innovation was a system
The subject of paying reparations for slavery has been raised periodically ever since the end of the Civil War. This was in the back of my mind when I recently read about a very unusual court case, Wood v. Ward, in which a former slave sued for reparations… and won. The details are pretty complicated.
One benefit of studying history is the unusual stories you run across. Especially those involving exceptional bravery. I’ve found another one. Witold Pilecki was a Polish cavalry officer turned resistance fighter in World War II. On September 19, 1940, he went out during a Warsaw street round-up with a specific purpose — to get arrested
I’m not really a fan of horse racing and I’ve never been to the Kentucky Derby. Perhaps I should someday, since my mother was from Kentucky (she always told me Kentucky was the state of fast horses and beautiful women. Or was that the other way around?) It might be because my grandfather got me
A friend of mine has been sending me links to historical photos, which, as a history nerd, I think are worth sharing. There is no central theme except they are in the past, and I think they speak for themselves. Group One (Scroll down) — https://soulfoodfriday.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/getting-some-historic-perspective1.pdf Group Two (Click on each photo to move to
History never ceases to amaze me. For example — In 1883, a 145-page volume entitled A Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts was published. Its appearance was significant for two reasons. It was one of the first American medical guides to offer advice for women and children, including a bit of marital advice. More
Few would consider Herbert Hoover a successful president; his name has become synonymous with the Great Depression. But knowing full well that much of history never makes it into your average history book, I decided to get a good biography and see for myself, especially since I’d recently finished reading about Woodrow Wilson and the
With all the current debate about migrants, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by a recent article entitled “The Accidents of History That Shaped Global Migration” by James Watkins (https://www.ozy.com/acumen/the-accidents-of-history-that-shaped-global-migration/76888?). I already knew that many Irish settled in Boston, especially during the Great Famine of 1845-49 when the potato crop failed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)), because that was