Since I did not write the blog post I’d planned for Black History Month, I thought I’d cover February and March (Women’s History Month) with a few words about Amanda Berry Smith, who was born in rural Baltimore County in 1837. Amanda’s parents were enslaved to the...
On February 14, many people in the Western world celebrate love and chocolate, so it can be a happy occasion. If you are lacking one or both of these causes for revelry, Valentine’s Day may not be such a great day. Rest assured, however, that you are not alone in your...
Today is, at least according to one post on social media, National Bootlegger’s Day. This makes sense because January 17 was the day Prohibition took effect, and this year marks the 100th anniversary of that day. While smuggling of alcohol to avoid taxes had long been...
When I started building my nativity set, we could only afford to buy a few figures and I got animals to go along with the nuclear holy family because I thought a young child would find furry four-legged creatures more interesting than men in bathrobes. Each year we...
Expectations were low as we headed to historic Wateloo Village in northwest New Jersey. Even so, when we first arrived, it appeared that those sea-level expectations were too high. The 19th Century canal town is now owned by the state of New Jersey and all appearances...
We learned all about American canals in school, or so I thought. In the days before trains, men loaded goods onto canal barges. Then the barges would be pulled slowly by draft animals trudging up the tow path. It was a slow means of transportation, but still faster...
At first, I thought I heard wrong. I could have sworn the state park employee behind the counter told a co-worker that she needed an “Ammonia Coke.” Being nosy, I had to ask. And I heard right. She wanted to head down to the local lunch counter for a “hand-pumped”...
We may owe our independence as a nation to a fancy tent and some pilfered uniforms. As autumn began in 1782, George Washington set up camp outside New York City. A year after the decisive victory at Yorktown, the situation was by no means as jubilant as most Americans...
I like to look for historical corollaries in the admittedly not historical Game of Thrones books and TV adaptation. So the creepy eye stones placed on bodies lying in state have intrigued me. Did any real cultures ever follow this practice? It makes sense for people...
Since the laws in the U.S. did not grant women the universal privilege to vote until 1920, most people are aware that women’s ability to participate in the political and legal process was severely restricted for centuries after the first European settlers landed on...
