Posts Tagged Historic Places

AP Photo

“George Lincoln Rockwell, center, self-styled leader of the American Nazi Party, and his “hate bus” with several young men wearing swastika arm bands, stops for gas in Montgomery, Alabama, on May 23, 1961, en route to Mobile, Alabama.”

A bit of background behind this photo. George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party and a Holocaust denier. Additionally, he was a white supremacist and thus against the Civil Rights Movements. When the Freedom Riders began their journey to desegregate the Deep South’s bus stations, Rockwell bought a Volkswagen van and turned it into a “Hate Bus” by plastering swastikas and pro-white slogans all over it. They drove it around the Deep South, putting on rallies and speaking engagements with the Ku Klux Klan. The photo above was taken on May 23rd, three days after the Freedom Riders were assaulted at the Greyhound Bus Station in Montgomery.

While Rockwell was for racial segregation and believed other races to be inferior, he wanted to form associations with the Nation of Islam. He believed religious leader Elijah Muhammad was the “black people’s Hitler.” Rockwell also admired Malcolm X and believed he (Malcolm X) was the true leader of Black America. Malcolm X did not feel admiration in the slightest for Rockwell. In 1965, while Rockwell was on another “Hate Bus” campaign in the South, Malcolm X sent him the following telegram:

This is to warn you that I am no longer held in check from fighting white supremacists by Elijah Muhammad’s separatist Black Muslim movement, and that if your present racist agitation against our people there in Alabama causes physical harm to Reverend King or any other black Americans who are only attempting to enjoy their rights as free human beings, that you and your Ku Klux Klan friends will be met with maximum physical retaliation from those of us who are not hand-cuffed by the disarming philosophy of nonviolence, and who believe in asserting our right of self-defense – by any means necessary.

The “Hate Bus” was later repossessed after a loan default.

Photo

Andreas Feininger—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“The Statue of Liberty, photographed during a blackout in 1942 — an eloquent expression of the nation’s mood in the first full year of a global conflict with no real end in sight.”

LIFE

Cartoon Credit: Cartoonstock.com

Definition: To take from one to give to another.

Origins: The origins of this idiom is said to be from a popular 16th century legend. According to the legend, money was taken from the St. Peter Church in Westminster, London to pay for the repairs of the St. Paul’s Cathedral in Rome. The saying, however, was seen in print before the legend. Around 1382, the saying first appeared in “Select English Works” by John Wycliffe.

Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997, 542.
Cartoons via

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm is the first and oldest alligator farm in the United States. Located on Anastasia Island, Florida, the farm was created by George Reddington and Felix Fire in 1893.  And by the late 1910′s, St. Augustine Alligator Farm became an established Florida attraction. Around this time, they boasted that their farm had a “complete collection of deadly snakes found in Florida.” Advertisements issued in 1916 stated that the farm now included thousands of reptiles.

After a string of fires and storms in 1920-1921, Fire and Reddington relocated the Alligator Farm inland from Anastasia Island to the city of St. Augustine. Ownership changed in 1937 when Reddington, who by now had bought Fire’s interest, sold the Alligator Farm to W.I. Drysdale and F. Charles Usina. The new owners began actively promoting the attraction nationally. The farm also became known for other things besides alligators and reptiles. According to its website, the farm now included “ostriches, crocodiles, Galapagos Tortoises, a variety of monkeys and birds, and many examples of Florida wildlife. The museum also contained a number of mounted marine and terrestrial specimens.”

In the last few decades, St. Augustine Alligator Farm continued to grow and was accredited by The American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AZA) in 1989. This accreditation meant that it was recognized for the quality and the good treatment the animals received and the honor showed in a slight name change – St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. The website sums it up best when it states that even through all the years and ownership changes, “St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park is a successful example of a small, privately owned specialized zoo.”

St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park’s website.

(National Archives)

This 1879 picture details a parade by Rex, an all-male krewe (semi-mythological creature) whose leader is known as the “King of Carnival.” The Krewe of Rex established the official Mardi Gras colors of green, gold, and purple. Photo Credit: Howard Tilton Memorial Library/Tulane University/AP/TIME

The earliest date given to the beginning of the Mardi Gras celebration in the United States is 1703. However, New Orleans was not its birth place, it was in fact Mobile, Alabama and was originally called Boef Gras (Fat Beef). [Zim's Side Note: New Orleans was not founded until 1718, fifteen years after the first Mardi Gras celebration.]

Joe Cain dressed as the make-believe Chickasaw chief Slacabamarinico. Photo Credit: The University of South Alabama Archives/Alabama Heritage

One of the earliest, well-known celebration occurred in 1830 on New Year’s Eve. It was begun by Michael Krafft and his friends who did not want to end a dinner party. After raiding a nearby hardware store, the group proceeded down the town streets with their stolen rakes, hoes and cowbells and woke the town up. Afterwards, the group formed Moblie’s first modern mystic organization called the Cowbellion de Rakin Society. Ten years later the Cowbellions presented their first parade with floats and a carnival theme.

During the Civil War, Mobile was under Union occupation and city soon became discouraged. The stress of the war had halted the Mardi Gras celebration until 1866 when Joseph Stillwell Cain dressed as “Chief Slacabamorinico” in full Chickasaw Indian regalia. Unbeknown to the Union army as well as the United States Government, Cain was making a political statement with his attire. It was meant to be a reminder that the Chickasaw never surrendered during the war and by suit, the people of Mobile should never surrender as well. Cain revived the celebration for future generations and while donning feathers and a skirt he rode the streets while encouraging the city. He was not punished because the government did not understand the meaning behind his costume. Because of his efforts in reviving Mardi Gras, the Sunday before Mardi Gras Day is called “Joe Cain Day,” where the city dresses in costume and celebrates him.

The date of Easter determines the date of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras Day also known as “Fat Tuesday,” takes place on the Tuesday before the Ash Wednesday.

Sources
Mobile Mardi Gras website.
Carpenter, Allan and Carl Provorse, compl. Facts About the Cities. 2nd ed. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1996, 5.

Panoramic view of Niagara Falls, the American Falls on the left and the Canadian Falls (Horseshoe Falls) on the right

Annie Taylor in her barrel right before her ride over the falls

Daredevils have risked their lives to accomplish dangerous and seemingly impossible feats all for the lure of fame and fortune. From the beginning of the twentieth century to today, some daredevils have even attempted the odds of death and the wraith of Mother Nature by tackling the rapids and falls that comprise Niagara Falls.

Annie, looking dishevelled, is assisted from her barrel after the fall

At the age of sixty-three, Annie Edson Taylor became the first woman to challenge Niagara Falls and the first to do so in a barrel. On her birthday, October 24, 1901, the widow and schoolteacher rode her barrel over the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the falls. She hoped that this stunt would bring her fame and fortune.

Annie with her infamous barrel during her "Heroine of Niagara Falls" tour

Taylor’s barrel was 22 inches in diameter at the head, 34 inches in the middle and 15 inches at the foot. Made with white Kentucky Oak, the barrel was four and a half feet long and weighed the same as Taylor – 160 pounds. At the bottom of the barrel, a 100-200 pound anvil was place for ballast. The inside was padded with a small mattress and after she climbing in, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i with a bike pump. 

At 4:05pm, Taylor went over the Falls. It took 35 minutes for rescuers to get close enough to the barrel to cut it open. Inside they found Taylor with cuts and bruises but no major injuries. Upon climbing out she muttered, “nobody ought ever do that again.”

While Taylor received her initial goal of fame and was dubbed “Queen of the Mist,” it was only fleeting and did not last. She died in poverty on April 29, 1921.

Annie Edson on tour for fame and fortune

Information
Annie Edson Taylor: Daredevil One
Daredevils of Niagara Falls
Marvin Kusmierz, “Anna Edson Taylor (1839-1921): Bay City Teacher was First Person to go over Niagara Falls,” Bay-Journal,  Feb., 2003.

Photos
Panoramic photo of Niagara Falls
Annie in her barrel before
Annie being helped out
Annie and her barrel
Annie on tour

Old Soldiers: 1913

July 1913. “Gettysburg reunion: Veterans of the G.A.R. and of the Confederacy, at the Encampment.” Harris & Ewing glass negative.

Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

The Chrysler Building in a photo dated June 17, 1930.

From 1930-1931, the Chrysler Building in New York City was the tallest building in the world until the Empire State Building took over the title in 1931. Walter Chrysler commissioned the building and dedicated it to “world commerce and industry.”

Designed by William Van Alen, the Chrysler Building is one of the most famous examples of the Art Deco style. Some notable features associated with the Art Deco style that can be seen on the Chrysler Building include simple, streamlined, geometric forms with an emphasis on becoming curvilinear.

The skyscraper’s tapering, four-sided dome featuring a repeated sunburst design was modeled on the radiator cap of the 1929 Chrysler car.

With the  The National Historic Landmark program stated that the skyscraper “is an enduring symbol of New York in the Roaring Twenties.”

National Historic Landmark website.
Photo found online here.

Theodore and Edith Roosevelt and five of their six children (the oldest, Alice, is not pictured).

In 1901, Theodore and Edith Roosevelt moved into the White House along with their six children. They soon found the living and office space to be too small. A year after moving in, President Roosevelt started construction on a new office building, known today as the West Wing.

whitehouse.gov

A steam-powered threshing machine.

The invention of the threshing machine is credited to Andrew Meikle, a Scottish engineer. The threshing machine came about in the 1780s.

In the United States, Alexander Anderson created a model in 1782. Since Thomas Jefferson and George Washington owned farms, threshing machines were an interest to both of them. Together they went to see the new machine in action in August 1791. A year later, Jefferson ordered one of Meikle’s models from London, In a letter to James Madison, Jefferson shows his excitement over the new machine.

I expect every day to receive from Mr. Pinckney the model of the Scotch threshing machine…Mr. P. [Pinckney] writes me word that the machine from which my model is taken threshes 8. quarters (64. bushels) of oats an hour, with 4. horses and 4 men. I hope to get it in time to have one erected at Monticello to clean out the present crop.

At his Monticello estate, Jefferson ended up using three threshing machines. One was stationary and worked by water, while the other two could be moved and worked by horses. In a July 6, 1796 letter from Washington to Jefferson, the importance of a portable machine can be seen.

If you can bring a moveable threshing machine, constructed upon simple principles to perfection, it will be among the most valuable institutions in this Country; for nothing is more wanting, & to be wished for on our farms.

"Bundle Haulers" tossed grain stalks onto the belt to the threshing machine.

The threshing machine of the yesteryears is the combine of modern times. Both machines remove the grain from the stalks. The main difference is that the combine is self-propelled and eliminates both the man hours and the threshing crew that the old threshing machines used.

The combine allowed farmers to harvest their crops easier and quicker. While the number of acres has risen over the years, the number of farms has dropped. For example, in North Dakota alone, a 1998 study showed that the average farm increased over 1,000 acres but the number of farms have decreased close to 50,000 since 1920.

Information and photos found at the Library of Congress website.
Washington and Jefferson information found at the Monticello website.

An old photo of Boston Light

Boston Light became the first lighthouse established in America when it was first lit on September 14, 1716. Situated on Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbor, it was the last lighthouse to become automated in 1998.

In 1718 Benjamin Franklin, a young Boston printer at that time, wrote a ballad called “Lighthouse Tragedy.” The ballad was about Boston Light’s first keeper, George Worthylake, who drowned when the lighthouse boat carrying him, his wife and daughter and two other men, capsized in the harbor.

During the Revolutionary War, Boston Harbor was under British control and the lighthouse was not in use. American troops, by orders of General Washington, sought to destroy the lighthouse so the British could not use it to help navigate British ships into the harbor. On June 13, 1776, Boston Light was destroyed.

The Massachusetts Legislature approved funds to rebuild the Boston Light in 1783.

As a security measure during World War II, the lighthouse stayed unlit until July 2, 1945. Then, it was equipped with enough candlepower light that was visible for 16 miles.

Next to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey, Boston Light is the second oldest working lighthouse.

Boston Light is the only lighthouse that still employs an official keeper.

Further Reading
United States Coast Guard website.
Boston Lighthouse History, Page 1, Page 2.
Boston Light photo.

Biltmore Estate

At 175,000 square feet with 250 rooms, the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina is the largest privately owned home in America.

• Built by George W. Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt.
• It took six years to build (1889-1895).
• There are 43 bathrooms, 3 kitchens and 65 fireplaces.
• The estate’s vineyard produces more than 250 tons of grapes.
• It is on the National Register of Historic Places list.
• The estate is still owned and operated by Vanderbilt’s descendants.

[Biltmore Estate and National Register of HIstoric Places]