We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 7: Stiller, Philbin, Reiner, Prine, Davis and Holm

JERRY STILLER, 92

The George's father in "Seinfeld" and Carrie's in "King of Queens."  With wife, was the comedy duo of Stiller and Meara.  Also in movies like "Zoolander and with his son Ben in "The Heartbreak Kid."  Died May 11.

REGIS PHILBIN, 88

Best known as host of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Live! With Regis and Kelly.  Set a Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" in 2004. Died July 24.

CARL REINER, 98

Laid the building blocks of TV comedy in the 1950s and 1960s.  Directed movies including four with Steve Martin, including "The Jerk."  Of course "The Dick Van Dyke Show."  Died June 29.

JOHN PRINE, 73

Illinois-born and a great one.  Singer-songwriter.  I liked him before his death, but really didn't know how great he was until I went to YouTube and started listening to his songs.  Wow, what a talent.  Died April 7.

MAC DAVIS, 78

Country singer-songwriter who wrote "In the Ghetto" for Elvis and sang "Baby, Don't Get Hooked On me."  Then there's my favorite "It's Hard to Be Humble."  Died September 29.

IAN HOLM, 88

Star of stage and probably best known for his role as Bilbo Baggins in "The Lord of the Rings."  Died June 19.

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 6: Brimly, Osmond, Dubois, Lewis, Rogers and Morricone

WILFORD BRIMLEY, 85

Recognized for his thick mustache and down-home drawl and performances in "The China Syndrome," Cocoon," Absence of Malice" and  "The Natural."  Was a real-life cowboy.  Died August 1.

KEN OSMOND (EDDIE HASKELL), 76

If Eddie Haskell doesn't do it, then think "Leave It to Beaver."  Wally's buddy and character indeed.  Died May 18.

JA'NET DUBOIS, 74

Played neighbor Willona Woods on "Good Times" TV show and co-write and sang the theme song to "The Jeffersons."    You know, "Moving On Up."  Okay, stop singing it now.  Died February 17.

REP. JOHN LEWIS, 80

Famed Civil Rights activist and member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  One of the 13 original Freedom Riders and led the "Bloody Sunday" march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.  Died July 17.

KENNY ROGERS, 81

Sang many crossover hits from country to pop like "The Gambler," "Islands in the Stream" and "We've Got Tonight."  First gained fame in the 1960s with the group First Edition and "Just Dropped In (To see What Condition My Condition Was In)."  Died March 20.

ENNIO MORRICONE, 91

Italian composer who orchestrated more than 500 movies including the Spaghetti westerns "A Fistful of Dollars" and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."  Died July 6.

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 5: Lopez, Dennehy, Pointer, Wurtzel and Khan

TRINI LOPEZ, 83

Singer best known for his cover of "If I Had a Hammer" died August 21

BRIAN DENNEHY, 81

Had more than 180 acting credits and lauded for roles a s Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" and voice of Django the rat in "Ratatouille."  Died April 15.

PATRICIA EVA "BONNIE" POINTER, 69

Was a member of and songwriter for the Pointer Sisters who won three R&B Grammys for songs such as "Fire," "I'm So Excited" and "Jump for My Love."  Died June 8.

ELIZABETH WURTZEL, 52

Opened the door for dialogue on mental health with her memoir "Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America."  Died January 7.

IRRFAN KHAN, 53

Gained fame from his roles in "Life of Pi," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Spider-Man" and "Jurassic World."  Died April 29.

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 4: Douglas, Willard, Reddy and Van Halen

KIRK DOUGLAS, 103

One of the last remaining stars of Hollywood's Golden Age.  Known for many movies, but the biggest was "Spartacus."  Died February 5.  "My name is Spartacus!"

FRED WILLARD, 86

Always made us laugh on TV and in the movies.  Some of his TV shows:  "Modern Family," "Everybody Loves Raymond.  Plus "This Is Spinal Tap" in the movies.  I had often seen him, but didn't know his name.

HELEN REDDY, 78

She had a lot of hits, including "Delta Dawn" and "Angie Baby" (one really strange song).  But, by far best known  for her 1972 smash "I Am Woman."  Died September 29.  I wrote about the musicians on this list in more detail in my Down Da Road I Go blog under Music Deaths.

EDDIE VAN HALEN, 65

The lead guitarist of the rock band Van Halen, and, what a guitarist.  Some of their great songs: "Jump," "Panama" and "Hot for Teacher."  Married TV Star Valerie Bertinelli of "One Day At a Time."  Died October 6.

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 3: Sayers, Glenn, Cardoz, Withers and Little Richard

GALE SAYERS, 77

Former NFL running back and member of the NFL Hall of Fame.  Played for the Chicago Bears.  Died September 23.  When he'd break loose, it was off to the races.  The "Kansas Comet,"  Da BEARS!!!!!   A reason I'm a Bears fan.

ANNIE GLENN, 100

Disabilities advocate.  Died May 18.

FLOYD CARDOZ, 59

Chef.  Died March 25

BILL WITHERS, 81

Soul singer.  Died March 30.

LITTLE RICHARD, 87

One of Rock's first successful black crossover artists.  "Tutti Fruiti," "Long Tall Sally, and "Good Golly Miss Molly."  Born Wayne Penniman.  Died May 9.

We Remember People We Lost in 2020-- Part 2: Bryant, Connery, Preston, De Havilland and Trebeck

KOBE BRYANT, 41

Eighteen-time NBA All-Star.  Won five NBA Championships.  Died January 26.

SEAN CONNERY, 90

Probably the most famous and beloved Agent 007s.  Played James Bond 7 times.  Also "The Untouchables," ""Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" and "The Hunt for Red October."  Died October 31.

KELLY PRESTON, 57

Actress.  "Jerry Maguire."  Husband was John Travolta.  Died July 12.

OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND, 104

The last living lead of 1939's "Gone With the Wind."  Played Scarlett O'Hara's sister-in-law.  Nominated for five Academy Awards during her50-year career.  Died July 26.

ALEX TREBECK, 80

Longtime host of "Jeopardy."  Began hosting it in 1984.  Died November 8.

We Remember, People We Lost in 2020-- Part 1: Boseman, Daniels, Ginsburg and Rigg

From the December 6, 2020, Parade Magazine "We remember" by Dillon Dodson.

I do Music Deaths in my Down Da Road I Go blog.

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, 42

Movie actor.  "42" (Jackie Robinson), "Get On Up" (James Brown), "Marshall" (Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and, of course, "Black Panther." Died August 28.

CHARLIE DANIELS, 83

A whole lot of great music, especially "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" a #1 crossover hit in 1979.  Died July 6.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG, 87

Supreme Court Justice.  Leader in women's rights and gender equality movement.  Died September 18.

DIANA RIGG, 82

Actress "Game of Thrones" and "Avengers" TV show.  Died September 10.

December 25, 1776-- Part 2: Washington Crosses the Delaware

So, late Christmas night, Washington and his troops hopped into boats and crossed the Delaware River to test his theory.  He was right.  The Hessians were totally unprepared for the surprise they got at dawn December 26.

About 2,400 Continental troops rushed into Trenton and captured it with little difficulty.  The British/Hessian force surrendered after an hour and a half.

The mission, now known as the Battle of Trenton, had huge significance to the American cause.  Not only did it raise American spirits and morale, but revised the hope of the colonials who were beginning to think independence could not be achieved.

Thanks, George.  --DaCootTrent

December 25, 1776: Washington Crosses the Delaware-- Part 1: To Catch the Hessians By Surprise

From the December 25, 2020, AeroTech News "Remembering Christmases past, major military events."

Throughout the history of our country, several notable military events have taken place on this date.

1776:  WASHINGTON'S FAMOUS CROSSING OF THE DELAWARE RIVER

The winter of 1776 didn't start very well for General Washington and his Continental Army.  They suffered many defeats in the first few months of the American Revolution and had been pushed out of New York and New Jersey and now were in Pennsylvania.  For the troops, the morale was low.

Washington desperately needed to renew their faith in the battle for independence, so he decided to surprise the Hessians --  German troops hired by the British -- who were stationed in Trenton, New Jersey.  He figured that doing so after the enemy's Christmas celebrations that would find them groggy, hungover and not ready to fight.

Also, there was one of those winter storms brewing as well as armies generally going into winter quarters and not fighting until spring.

--Cooter

Wilmington, North Carolina's Revolutionary Anniversaries Upcoming in 2021: The American Revolution

From the December 21, 2020, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Battleship North Carolina, Wilmington  Ten among major  2021 anniversaries" by Hunter Ingram.

Okay, 2020 has not been such a wonderful year, but there are some interesting and noteworthy  anniversaries that took place in Wilmington, N.C., coming up next year.

These are ones dealing with the American Revolution:

JANUARY:  

The 240th anniversary of the British capturing Wilmington during the American Revolution.  In April, one of the region's leading Patriots, Cornelius Harnett, would die on his birthday after being held in a roofless prison by the British in downtown Wilmington.

****************************

FEBRUARY:

The 255th anniversary of the Stamp Act Rebellion at Brunswick Town:  One of the earliest acts of rebellion in the colonies against the British crown.  The rebellion, which started with protests the preceding fall, saw Patriots holding future Royal Governor William Tyron under house arrest until he met their demands to stop the Stamp Act, which was a new tax on the colonists.

****************************

FEBRUARY:

The 245th anniversary of the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge on Feb. 27, 1776:  The swift battle  saw the clash between North Carolina Patriot and Loyalist militias.  The Loyalist militia was aided by the Scottish Highlanders.  This took place in present-day Pender County.

The Patriot victory kept the British from invading the South for three years.  Today, the site is today the Moore's Creek U.S. National Military Park.

--Cooter

About 'It's a Wonderful Life'-- Part 2: Becoming a Classic

When it was first released in 1946, as I said earlier, the movie was not intended to be a Christmas movie.  And, it initially flopped at the box office.  The film's copyright was not renewed.

So, in the 1970s, "It's a Wonderful Life" was free for broadcasters to air repeatedly.  And they did and did and did and did.  So much so, that it either became a classic for some or made others, like my wife, gag.  Fortunately, for some reason, I didn't see it that much.

But, for those of us who are fans of it, we began to notice that this less-than-jolly-ho-ho-ho movie was a great one.  And, a Christmas tradition was begun.  I am surprised that we don't have a cable station offering a 24-hour array like TNT and TBS  do for "A Christmas Story."

NBC currently owns the rights to the film and broadcasts it on Christmas Eve every year (and several other times beforehand).  In 2016, Variety reported that the network's  42nd Christmas Eve showing had  4.5 million viewers.

NBC will again rebroadcast the movie this Thursday from 7 to 10 CST.

--DaCootLife

About 'It's a Wonderful Life'-- Part 1: My Top Four Christmas Favs

From the December 19, 2020, CTV News "How the Second World War shaped 'It's a Wonderful Life' by Rachael Scott.

This is my third favorite Christmas movie, even though when it was made, it was not slated as a Christmas movie.  (My top four Christmas movies:

1.  "A Christmas Story"

2.  "Christmas Vacation"

3.  "It's a Wonderful Life"

4.  "Miracle on 34th Street"

I have seen all but the 1st and 4th ones, but hope to see the 4th this week and know that I will see the 1st several times between Christmas Eve and Christmas night for some reason.

--Cooter

U.S. Presidents Descended From Pilgrims

The General Society of Mayflower descendants, an association for people with proven Pilgrim descent, figures that some 10 million people in he United States and 35 million around the world can claim legitimate Pilgrim ancestry.

The Mayflower Society lists 51 Mayflower Pilgrims as possible ancestors.  If you can trace your lineage to any of them, you can become a card carrying member of them.

*********************************

PRESIDENTS

If you are a Mayflower descendant, you're among illustrious company.

According to the Mayflower Society, nine U.S. presidents are descended from Mayflower Pilgrims:

John Adams

John Quincy Adams (of course)

Zachary Taylor

Ulysses S. Grant

James A. Garfield

Calvin Coolidge

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (What, no Theodore Roosevelt?)

George H.W. Bush

George W. Bush (of course)

--CootPres

The Pilgrims 'Went Forth and Multiplied', They Really Did

Yesterday and in November, I wrote about some people who had Mayflower Pilgrim ancestors.  And, they are just a few of the most well-known people in U.S. history who are descendants.

Again, from the "Mayflower: Birth of America" booklet.

Only 51 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower are known to have produced children.  But, to say that the old adage, "Go forth and multiply," applied to them would be an understatement.

It is estimated today that some ten million people in America can claim Pilgrim forebears.

And, it is getting easier to find out if you are one of them.

--CootNotOneOfThem, WellProbably Not

What Do They Have in Common?

What do Ulysses S. Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Amelia Earhart, Taylor Swift and Alec Baldwin have in common?

They're all Mayflower descendants, a group that isn't as elite as it used to be.

--DaMayCoot

The Truth About Plymouth Rock-- Part 2: Did They or Didn't They? Doesn't Matter

Soon, though, the rock began taking on symbolic meaning more compelling than any fact attached to it.  In 1774, with revolutionary fervor boiling in New England, some zealots in Plymouth decided to move the rock to a spot in town, where they hoped, it would stir up patriotic passions.

They accidentally cracked the rock in two, and while the lower half remained at the beach, the upper half found its way to a number of sites in Plymouth over the years.

The two halves were later mended and enshrined under a beachside temple, though the rock was trimmed to fit.  Over the years it has been carved up so often that it is estimated to be only a third of its original size.

But it remains an outsize American icon -- important not for who did or didn't step on it, but, as National Museum of American History curator Larry Bird has noted, "because of what people have turned it into."

--Cooter

The Truth About That Rock, Plymouth Rock-- Part 1

From the "Mayflower: Birth of America."

The Pilgrims may or may not have stepped on this granite boulder when they came ashore at Plymouth, but the legend is far more important than the reality.

The Pilgrims most likely noticed this rock when they came ashore at Plymouth in 1620 because it was like no other rock anywhere around that site.  Geologists call it a glacial erratic -- a glacially deposited rock differing in size and type from rocks native to the region.

In other words, it was like the Pilgrims, from somewhere else.

There is, however, no mention of the stone in William Bradford's firsthand accounts of the colony's founding.  It wasn't until 1741 that the rock was identified as the spot where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore.   That is 121 years later.

And, that assertion was made by 94-year-old Thomas Faunce, who said he'd been told of the rock's significance by his father, a Plymouth Colony settler who had arrived in 1623 and by several of the original Mayflower passengers.

Whether he was being truthful, we can not know.

--Brock-Perry

A 'Stray' Baby Found in DeKalb in 1920

From the MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"At 9:30 o'clock this morning the police received a call from the New DeKalb restaurant that a stray baby had been there for an hour and no one had called to claim it.

"The baby was left at the restaurant and within ten minutes Mrs. T.H. Hobbs called up the police and asked if a baby had been seen.  It turned out that the baby was that of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Duncan  and it was soon returned  to her."

Imagine if that happened today, and why was it that Mrs. T. H. Holmes called the police when it was someone else's baby?

Imagine what would happen if the same thing happed these day?

Must remember to leave the pasture gates closed as those babies can crawl faster than you think.

A Whole Lot More Than A Returned Baby, I'm Sure.  Did They Round Up Stray Babies Back Then?  --CootBaby

Two More USS Oklahoma (Pearl Harbor) Unknowns Identified

From the December 5, 2020, Lexington (Nebraska) Clipper Herald.

In 2015, the decision was made to disinter the remains of the USS Oklahoma Unknowns and use DNA to identify those buried in the mass communal graves.  So far, 242 have been identified, but not Ray Pentica (see today's post in the Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog).

One of those found was Grant Cook, Jr. of Cozad, Nebraska.  In fact, 22 of the sailors and Marines who died on the Oklahoma on December 7, 1941, were from Nebraska.

Remains of the Oklahoma's Unknowns continue to be identified.  Just  this past November 24, two brothers who died on the ship, Harold Trapp and William Trapp were accounted for through DNA testing.

--Pearl Harbor

Already Had the Spanish Flu and Survived By 1920? No Worry Mon

From the December 2, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920. 100 Years Ago.

"If you had the real Spanish flu back in 1918 and 1919, and didn't die of it you won't have it again.

"You can start in the winter with a perfectly light heart and no worry whatsoever as how to treat yourself in the case of a fresh attack, now that the time-honored whiskey and  quinine cure is no longer integrally available."

Prohibition started in January 1920.

It is too bad that these days in 2020 that if you get the virus and survive you only get a temporary immunity from it.

No Whiskey for You.  --Cooter

The Speedwell-- Part 6: Why Did It Leak So Badly?

Prior to the voyage, the Speedwell had been refitted in Delfshaven and had two masts.  

It is theorized that the crew used a mast that was too large for the ship and that its size added stress to the hull which caused it to leak so badly.

Pilgrim William Bradford wrote that "overmasting" strained the ship's hull, but attributes the main cause of problems to actions on the part of her crew.

Passenger  Robert Cushman wrote from Dartmouth in August 1620, that the main problem was caused by a loose board approximately two feet long.

--CootMast

The Speedwell-- Part 5: Leaks Are Upon Us

The Mayflower and Speedwell began their voyage to the New World from Southampton on 5 August 1620, but the Speedwell again began taking on water, and again the two ships had to put into harbor for Speedwell repairs.  This time at Dartmouth.

By now, it was getting very late to attempt am Atlantic crossing as winter was fast approaching.  Much better to start a new colony in the spring or summer to give the colonist a chance to prepare for winter.  The Speedwell's leaking problem was putting the whole expedition into jeopardy.

Repairs were made and a third attempt by the two ships was made.  The Speedwell did its usual leaking and a return to Dartmouth.  This time the decision was made to get rid of the Speedwell.  Some of its passengers transferred to the Mayflowers and the rest stayed in England.

Now, the severely overcrowded Mayflower was to set off again on September 6, 1620.

Winter's A'Coming.  --Cooter

The Speedwell-- Part 4: A Veteran of the War Against Spain and the Spanish Armada

From Wikipedia.

The Speedwell was a 60 ton pinnace that was, along with the Mayflower, supposed to transport the Pilgrims to America.  A vessel of the same name and size had traveled to America 17 years before the Pilgrims as the flagship of the first expedition of Martin Pring.

It was built in 1577, under the name Swiftsure, as part of English preparations for war with Spain and participated in the fight against the Spanish Armada.  During the Earl of Essex's 1596 Azores expedition and served as the ship of his second in command, Sir Gelli Meyrick.  After the war with Spain ended, she was decommissioned in 1605, and renamed the Speedwell.

Captain Blossom, a Leiden, Netherlands Separatist, bought the Speedwell in July 1620.  They then sailed to Southampton under the command of a Captain Reynolds.  There, they met a second ship named the Mayflower,  which had been chartered by merchant investors (again, Captain Blossom).

The Speedwell was already leaking badly at this time.

The two ships lay at anchor in Southampton for almost two weeks while the Speedwell was being repaired.   The group had to sell some of their supplies and food to cover costs and port fees.

--Cooter

The Speedwell-- Part 3: Was the Speedwell's Leaks By Accident or On Purpose?

It later came to light that the Speedwell had been fitted with new and larger masts back in Holland.  Such masts, crowded with sail, would have put stress on the ship and opened leaks.

It is possible that the ship's master did this intentionally.

After being left behind in Plymouth, the Speedwell was sold and refitted.

William Bradford later remarked on Mr. Reynolds' (the ship's master) "cunning and deceit" and noted that the Speedwell went on to make many voyages "to great profit of her owners."

Nice Guy, That Mr. Reynolds.  --Cooter

A Third 'Star Wars' Character Dies (Well, the Human Who Played Him)

This past weekend, I learned that Dave Prowse, who played inside the Darth Vader outfit, died November 28.  He was an English bodybuilder as well as actor.  Darth Vader's voice, however, was provided by James Earl Jones.

Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca died in 2019.  In 2016, Kenny Baker died.  He was inside R2D2.

The Force, The Force.  Stay Away From the Dark Side.

The Other Pilgrim Ship, the Speedwell-- Part 2: 'Leakie As a Sieve' and Likely to 'Sunke Right Downe"

The group from Leiden, Netherlands, the Pilgrims,  remained apart from the others, staying on the smaller of the two ships, the Speedwell.

Finally, on August 5, 1820, the two ships left Southampton to cross the Atlantic and find their colony.  The Speedwell followed in the Mayflower's wake.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize that the Speedwell was not up to the task before it.  The ship proved to be as "leakie as a sieve."  The captains of the two ships conferred and decided it best for the ships to set in for repairs at Dartmouth, England, just 75 miles from where they had started.

Robert Cushman, on board the Speedwell declared that if the ship had "stayed at sea but three or four hours more, she would have sunke right downe."

Work on the Speedwell began as the travelers fretted over the loss of time.  By August 17, the repairs were finished, but winds kept the two ships at Dartmouth.  There was fear that already too much of the food taken along to get them to their destination had already been eaten.

Finally, they were able to sail, but after just a short time, the Speedwell began leaking badly again.  The ships returned to Plymouth and it was decided to abandon the Speedwell.

Many of the Speedwell's colonists were put aboard the Mayflower, exasperating already crowded conditions.

So Much for the Speedwell.  --CootWell

What Was the Speedwell?-- Part 1

From "Mayflower: Birth of America."

The Separatists (Pilgrims) were actually supposed to journey to America in two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell.  So, what happened to the Speedwell. Why is it not well-known, like the Mayflower?

The Pilgrims in Leiden, Netherlands had purchased their own ship to make the voyage.  It was named the Speedwell.  Just 50-feet long, it was considered safe enough  to make the dangerous voyage across the Atlantic.

They also hired a captain for it.  Sadly, both the ship and captain proved untrustworthy.

The Pilgrims left the Netherlands and sailed to the English port of Southampton tom meet up with another ship that was hired by the London investors in the proposed colony.  From there, they were to sail across the Atlantic.

That other ship was the Mayflower, under the command of Christopher Jones.

So, What Happened to the Speedwell?  Why Has It been Overlooked in History?  --CootAtist

Pilgrims Arrive 400 Years Ago-- Part 6: Afterwards

1621 to 1692

NOVEMBER 1621

A second English ship sent to America by Plymouth Colony's investors arrives off Cape Cod.  Other ships carry new colonists follow over the next few years.

JUNE 1630

A flotillas of ships begins delivering more than 700 English Puritans to the new Massachusetts Bay Colony, in present-day Boston.

Over the next 10 years, this new colony will grow to be much larger and influential than Plymouth Colony.

*********************************

MAY 9, 1657

Plymouth Colony's longtime governor, William Bradford, dies.  He had spent 20 years writing a now-famous history of the Mayflower Pilgrims called "Of Plymouth Plantation."  There are those today who want this thrown out because of the word plantation which brings to mind slaves.

JUNE 20, 1675

King Phillip's War begins.  The conflict between Indians and English colonists across southern New England is devastating.  By the time it ends in 1678, the Indian population of the region is reduced by 40 to 80 percent.

JUNE 8, 1692

The final meeting of the Plymouth Colony legislature is held, as the colony is absorbed into the larger Massachusetts Bay Colony.

--CootPilgrim

Pilgrims Arrive 400 Years Ago-- Part 5: Hard Times, Then a Feast

1621

Well, 399 years ago.

JANUARY-FEBRUARY

Struggling to build their settlement, the Pilgrims are ravaged by disease and want of food.

By spring, nearly half of them are dead.

MARCH 16

A Native-American man named Samoset enters the Plymouth colony and introduces himself to the Pilgrims.  Soon afterwards, Massasoit, leader of the Indians in the region, visits the settlement.

A peace treaty between his people, the Wampanoags, and the Pilgrims is adopted.

APRIL 5

The Mayflower departs Plymouth and returns to England. 

I imagine there were more than a few Pilgrims wondering if they should have been on it.

SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER

Sometime during this period, the Pilgrims and some 90 Indians join for a harvest festival that has come to be called the First Thanksgiving.

This feast takes place over several days, not just one day.

--Thanks and Thanks.  

Corporal Edward J. Aumack, Killed in the Korean War-- Part 2

From HonorStates.com.

CORPORAL EDWARD J. AUMACK

From Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Death:  October 20, 1951  Fighting near Yongon-ni, North Korea.

Corporal U.S. Army, Korean War 

Light Weapons Infantryman

Company C, 1st Battalion,  5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team.

Service Number:  51026861

Killed in Action.  Received Purple Heart.

I was unable to find out where he was buried.

Corporal Edward J. Aumack, Killed in the Korean War

In November I did several posts on the Aumack Family Cemetery in Hazlet, New Jersey, which is being cleaned up in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  The small cemetery is where the remains of a Civil soldier, American Revolution and two War of 1812 veterans are buried.

I wrote about them, and also came across the name of this Army soldier from Hazlet, New Jersey, with the same last name, who was killed in the Korean War.  I am of the opinion that he is likely a member of the family.

From Honor States.org. 

--Brock-Perry

Pilgrims Arrive 400 Years Ago-- Part 4: Looking for a Place to Live

DECEMBER 8, 1620

At dawn, the expedition looking for Thievish Harbor fought off an attack by Indians.   Later that day, they were hit by a gale with snow alternating with rain.  They spent the night on what became known as Clark's Island.  

DECEMBER 9

They spent the day exploring the island and rested the next day, the Sabbath.

DECEMBER 11

Explored the harbor behind the island and found it could accommodate a ship the size of the Mayflower.

DECEMBER 12

Back on the Mayflower.  Told the others they had found a site for the colony.

DECEMBER 16

The Mayflower entered Plymouth Harbor, but it wasn't until December 20, that they decided where to build their colony.

DECEMBER 21

Pilgrims land at the site that would become their colony.

So, I Guess December 21 Would Be The Real Date of the Pilgrims Arrival At Their Colony.  --Cooter

Pilgrim Did You Know: Famous Folks Tracing Ancestry to Them: U.S. Presidents and Others

From the History Site.

Did you know that these famous people can trace their ancestry to the Pilgrims:

Humphrey Bogart

Julia Child

and, Presidents:

James Garfield

John Adams

--Cootgrim

Five Things You May Not Know About the Pilgrims-- Part 2: Not Plymouth, England, Been There, Done That, and Tolerance

3.  THE PILGRIMS DIDN'T NAME THEIR COLONY AFTER PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND.

The site had actually been named that before the Pilgrims had arrived and had already been shown as such on maps (with some variations of spelling such as Plimoth).

It is sheer coincidence that the Pilgrims had originally sailed from Plymouth, England.

4.  SOME OF THE MAYFLOWER'S PASSENGERS HAD BEEN TO AMERICA BEFORE.

Several of the crew had already been there.  One man, Stephen Hopkins, had already tried to settle in the New World at Jamestown ten years earlier, but his ship wrecked off the coast of  Bermuda, stranding him before his eventual return to England.

William Shakespeare admitted that he had based his play "The Tempest" on this story and had even named one of its characters, Stephano, after Stephen Hopkins, who was once one of his neighbors as well.

5.  THE PILGRIMS WERE RELATIVELY TOLERANT OF OTHER RELIGIONS.

They were strict on their interpretation of religion but did not attempt to convert others.  They did not observe Christmas, but allowed others to take the day off.  They allowed men who were not of their faith to hold public office.

Gosh, I Didn't Know Some of This Stuff.  --Cooter

Five Things You May Not Know About the Pilgrims-- Part 1: Religion and the Wrong Place

From the History site by Beth Dunn.

1.  NOT ALL THE MAYFLOWER PASSENGERS WERE MOTIVATED BY RELIGION.

The ship actually carried three distinct groups.    About half were Separatists (Pilgrims)  Others were friendly to the Pilgrims, but not hard core members.  Still others were  laborers, soldiers,  and craftsmen of various skills needed for a new settlement.

2.  THE MAYFLOWER DIDN'T LAND IN PLYMOUTH FIRST.

They first landed on the tip of Cape Cod, in what is now known as Provincetown.  They were actually supposed to land at the mouth of the Hudson River, but had missed it.  Intention was to continue on to the Hudson, but winter changed their minds and they decided to settle at what became Plymouth.

--Cooter

Pilgrims Arrive 400 Years Ago-- Part 3: A Birth, Not Nice Exploring and 'Thievish Harbor'

1620

NOVEMBER 20

Birth of Peregrine White born to Susanna and William White.

NOVEMBER 27

Another expedition from the Mayflower, this time led by the ship's master, Christopher Jones.  Jones soon returned to the ship because of harshness of New England winter setting in.  The rest of exploring done under leadership of Myles Standish.

Essentially, this exploring led to grave looting, stole corn and raided homes.

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By now, it was becoming critical to find a place to settle.  Many wanted to settle where they were, but the Mayflower pilot, Robert Coppin, had been in the area before and said he kind of remembered a good harbor across Cape Cod Bay.

He called the place "Thievish Harbor" because it was where a Native had stolen one of his company's harpoons.

DECEMBER 6

A group set off from the Mayflower to explore and look for Thievish Harbor.

--Cooter

400 Years Ago, the Mayflower Arrives-- Part 2: Around Cape Cod, a Near Mutiny, the Compact and a Landing

All events in the year 1620.

NOVEMBER 11

The Mayflower sailed around the northern tip of Cape Cod into what is today's Provincetown  Harbor and dropped anchor.

The Pilgrims were no doubt anxious to get off the ship, but a problem arose with the Strangers (the non-Pilgrim members of the ship) who became somewhat mutinous.  But, the signing of the Mayflower Compact solved the problem.

NOVEMBER 12

The Pilgrims spent the day worshipping since it was the Sabbath and they believed the whole day should be dedicated to worship.

NOVEMBER 13

The Pilgrims went ashore

NOVEMBER  15

Myles Standish led 16 men on an overland expedition to explore and find a source of fresh water.  During this time, they observed a small party of Natives, but they soon ran away.

--Cooter

400 Years Ago, This Mayflower Ship Arrived-- Part 1: Going to the New World

I saw one of those neat collector book/magazines in the local Jewel about the Mayflower and Pilgrims and then remembered those cancel culture folks want this gone because of what happened to the Indians afterwards.  I don't much like cancel culture folk anyway, so instead of burning it or protesting out in front of the store, I bought it.

I like these magazines and have been amassing a whole bunch of them.  They are generally just 100 pages long, with lots and lots of pictures, so it doesn't take too long to go through one.  These are the new coffee table books of this age I guess.

Sadly, the price of them keeps going up every year.  Now one will cost you between $13 and $15.

Anyway, since this year and month marks the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrim arrival in the New World, I will be writing segments of the "Mayflower: Birth of America" book/magazine for the rest of the month.

The book magazine started off with a Pilgrim Timeline.

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1620

SEPTEMBER 6--  The Mayflower departs from Southampton, England

NOVEMBER 9--  The Mayflower's passengers spot Cape Cod, considerably north of their intended Hudson River.

NOVEMBER 11--  The Mayflower rounds the tip of Cape Cod, drops anchor near present-day Provincetown, Massachusetts and the Mayflower Compact is signed.  The people spend the next few weeks exploring Cape Cod.

DECEMBER 16--  The Mayflower arrives at Plymouth Harbor

A Bit Late in the Year to Be Starting a Colony in My Books.  --CootPil

10 Lesser Known Facts About Revolution Era America-- Part 2: Blood Sports, Dueling and Opium

5.  IT WAS THE PEAK OF BLOOD SPORTS

Bears vs. a dog or a bunch of dogs and then there was goose-pulling.

4.  NEWSPAPER EDITORS HAD TO CARRY GUNS

Attack a politician in print, defend yourself on the dueling field.

3.  NOVA SCOTIA COULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED THE 14TH COLONY

Before the Revolution, it was just British North America, not the 13 colonies and N.S. was considered part of it.

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2.  THOMAS JEFFERSON CONSUMED OPIUM HABITUALLY

Well, our 3rd president had a habit.  And then, there was his slave.

1.  POLITICS WERE VERY, VERY UNCIVIL

And you thought politics are uncivil now.  They pale to those of the 18th-century.  Lord help you if you insulted Andrew Jackson.

I Challenge You to a Duel!!  --CooterCoward

10 Lesser-Known Facts About Revolutionary-Era America-- Part 1: We're Taller, and We Can Read Better and Make Babies Better. Then There Is That Drinking Thing

From the July 4, 2018, ListVerse by Kevin Klatman.

Go to the site for pictures and a lot more information.

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10.  AMERICANS WERE TALLER THAN THE BRITISH

On average, the British stood at 5-foot, five inches, and Americans were three inches taller.

9.  AMERICANS HAD A HIGHER LITERACY RATE THAN THE BRITISH

Much of this because the Puritans in New England valued education for religious purposes.

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8  ONE IN THREE WOMEN  WHO WALKED DOWN THE AISLE WAS PREGNANT

Perhaps because of the practice of bundling.

7.  AMERICANS DRANK ... A LOT

Alcohol safer than water.  Go figure.

6.  SOUTH CAROLINA: ONE OF THE MOST TOLERANT AND CULTURED OF THE COLONIES

New England colonies were too Puritan to go much for the arts.

--CooterGiveMeABeer

A World War II Marine Comes Home-- Part 2: Howard E. Miller, Killed on Betio in the Pacific

Howard Miller was born  May 6, 1921, and died on November 22, 1942, the third day of the hard-fought battle for Betio, Tarawa while serving  with Company A, 1st Battalion,  6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force.  Almost 6,400 Japanese, Koreans and Americans died in the fight for Betio.

Miller attended San Mateo High School and was a football player.  After graduation, he worked at Bethlehem Steel in San Francisco.  He was on a four-day furlough from Marine boot camp, when he married Elizabeth Bettinger. She learned he had died on New Year's Day, 1944.

His body was found after nearly a decade of excavations by History Flight, a Florida non-profit that researches and recovers missing U.S. service members.  This group has accounted for most of the lost Marines on Betio.

The Marines were buried, but the location of those sites was lost.  Mr. Miller's boots had bone fragments in it and DNA on those led to his identification.  They also found his dog tags nearby.

A World War II Marine Comes Home, A Fitting Veterans Day Story-- Part 1

From the November 10, 2020, East Bay Times by Peter Hagarty.  San Mateo, California.

A U.S. Marine  has come to his final resting place decades after gunfire cut him down as he was defending this nation thousands of miles  from home.

Howard Miller died during the grueling Island Hopping Campaign across the Pacific as Americans moved closer and closer to striking distance against Japan. Back then, his brothers in arms lowered the 22-year-old  private first class into  an unmarked grave on Betio, a little-known island that is part of the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

His remains were flown into San Francisco where active-duty Marines in full dress blues moved the casket and it was then transported  to San Mateo for burial.

Happy 245th Birthday USMC

Today marks the 245th anniversary of one of the world's greatest fighting forces, the United States Marine Corps.

Today's Corps traces its roots back to the Continental Marines of the American Revolution.  It was formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas by resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775, hence today's birthday.

Nicholas was authorized to raise two  battalions of Marines, and that was the beginning.

Happy BD, Jarheads!!!  --CootJar

Might the County Fair Relocate to DeKalb in 1920?

From the September 16, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"Is DeKalb to have a fairgrounds?  While there seems to be no particular head of a movement for  a fairground for the last few days the talk has been more and more on this line and there is  a big chance that it will crop out in a movement.

"The argument has been , if Sandwich, which is not located on any main road either highway or railroad, can draw a 20,000 crowd,  what would this city draw if the fairgrounds were located here?  The argument is a good one and is causing more than one person to think it over."

A little intercounty tiff.  The fairgrounds are still in Sandwich, though.

--CootFair

A Coal Shortage in 1920

In the last post, I wrote about the Normal School in DeKalb, Illinois, (NIU) having a shortage of coal in 1920.  Evidently this was not just here, but elsewhere.  I came across an blurb in the September 20, Bloomington-Normal Pantagraph newspaper from 1920 as follows:

"A large group of citizens met in the BHS (Bloomington High School)  auditorium to  tackle the coal shortage.  They decided to wire President Woodrow Wilson and ask him to take action against speculators.

"Keeping the McLean  County Coal Co. open is the heart of the issue."

************************************

And, I found a copy of the November  2, 1920 Duluth (Minnesota) News Tribune with headlines "Duluth Coal Companies Charged With Illegal  Combination, Shortage Forced, Prices Boosted."

"A group of West Duluth residents yesterday charged that coal companies have conspired to cause a shortage of coal and to boost prices.  The residents have formed a committee to urge the U.S. District Attorney to  start proceedings against the coal companies."

--Cooter

A Coal Shortage at the Normal School in DeKalb (NIU)

From the September 2, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The Normal school is in quite a predicament  at present in regard to coal there being not a single lump of coal in the bins at school.   Ever since  the first of May the school has been without fuel and all of the electricity  that has been used has been obtained from the electric company.  

"Now that the start of the fall term of school is near the shortage  is very serious as everything in the dormitory is run either by steam or electricity.  There is a car of coal  on the way but when it will arrive is a matter of speculation.

--CootCoal

Voting in the 1918 Election: A War Winding Down and a Full-Fledged Pandemic

One hundred and two years ago on Tuesday, November 5, Americans were heading to the polls to vote.  It was not a presidential election, but stakes were high.  People were electing members of the 66th Congress.  It was also the lone election to take place during the United States' involvement in World War I (though it was winding down) and there was a full-scale pandemic going on at the time.

Campaigning was disrupted tremendously around the country as states had banned large gatherings.  Nebraska, for example, lifted a ban on public gatherings to allow campaigning five days before the election.

The president was Democrat Woodrow Wilson, but the republicans swept to control of both houses in Congress.

This was also a big election for women suffragists.

And, Now We have 2020.  --Cooter

Chicago's Mother of Black History, Vivian Harsh-- Part 2: 300 Essential Black Books

Using her $500 grant from Julius Rosenwald, Vivian Harsh visited libraries serving black communities in New York, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Detroit and Newark, New Jersey.  From these, she drew up a list of 300 essential books for readers interested in black literature and history.

To acquire them for her Chicago library, she solicited donations and appealed to booksellers.  And, she continued adding volumes above that number.  When she retired in 1958, her library's Special Negro Collection had 2,000 books, plus newspaper clippings, pamphlets and manuscripts.  All this accomplished while she ran the library.

And, she was a neatness person.  En route to her desk each morning, she would stop and pick up even the smallest scrap of paper..  She was constantly telling her employees about the importance of keeping the premises neat and clean.

Sadly, she was extremely private about her personal life and never wrote anything about it.  That is why her archives are now being examined to piece together her life.

Chicago's Mother of Black History, Vivian Harsh-- Part 1: Education the Key

From the February 2, 2020, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

She didn't write a book, but her name is on a special collection in the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library in Chicago.  When she died in 1960, the Chicago Defender's obituary was headlined:  "Historian Who Never Wrote."

Vivian Harsh once said:  "If we as Negroes knew the full truth about what we, as a race, have endured and overcome just to stay alive with dignity, our respect and hunger for education would triple overnight."

Her devotion and dedication to all things history began back when she was at high school at Wendell Phillips in Chicago, where she joined the Herodotus History Club.  The ancients called Herodotus the "Father of History."

Vivian Harsh was the "Mother of Black History."

After the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library opened on the South Side, with Harsh as the head librarian, the Rosenwald Fund gave her a $500 grant to study libraries serving black communities in other cities.  Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist and president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. was responsible for making the Hall Branch a reality in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood.  Not to mention all the hundreds of Rosenwald schools built in the South to educate black children.

Death of Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) in 2019

From the May 3, 2019, Chicago Tribune "Actor who played Chewbacca in several 'Star Wars' films" by Andrew Dalton, AP.

Actor Peter Mayhew, who played the shaggy, towering, noise-making Chewbacca in several of the "Star Wars" films died May 2, at age 74.   He was 7-foot-3 and played the menacing but lovable sidekick and best-buddy to Han Solo as co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon in the original "Star Wars" trilogy.

He went on to appear as a Wookie in 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" and shared the part in 2015's "The Force Awakens.

"He put his heart and soul into the role of Chewbacca," said a family member.

Actor Mark Hamil, who played Like Skywalker, said:  "He was the gentlest of giants -- A big man with an even bigger heart who never failed to make me smile & a loyal friend."

He was born and raised in England and had worked in one film and was working as a hospital orderly in London when George Lucas found him and cast him for "Star Wars."

Chicago's Cemetery Lady, Helen Sclair

And, out last stop on this tour of the Bohemian National Cemetery is the final resting place of Helen Sclair, whose efforts in the field of local cemetery-study are tremendous. That's right.  She is now dead and has joined those whose memory she devoted much of her life to saving.  Every tombstone has a story and it was her desire to find out as many as possible.

We need more people like her.  She died in 2009.

Her last address is the same where she is now.  While she was still alive, she lived her last eight years in a house on the cemetery grounds.

She is credited with uncovering a treasure trove of historic documents in the state archives at Northeastern Illinois University about Chicago's first cemetery, which was on the site that today is Lincoln Park.  Mrs. Sclair was of the opinion that not every body was dug up when the cemetery became a park.

So, the next time you're at the zoo or enjoying Lincoln Park, just think....

Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 11: The Pilgrim Statue

The statue depicting an older woman shrouded in long robes, was designed by Czech-born sculptor Albin Polasek.  It is one of his two works displayed at the Bohemian cemetery --the other, Mother, is located just outside the crematorium.

Polasek moved from New York to Chicago in 1916, to become the head of the department of modeling and sculpture at the Chicago Art Institute.  The life-size sculpture was commissioned as a memorial to Frantiska Stejskal, the mother of the Stejskal-Buchel families, and shows a woman walking toward the family's mausoleum.

Other examples of his work in the Chicago-area include  the 7-foot-tall The Sower at the Chicago Botanic Garden (sporting a face mask these days but otherwise in the buff) and Spirit of Music in Grant Park.  These statues have not yet been taken down by certain people.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 9: SS Eastland Disaster

On July 24, 1915, the SS Eastland -- loaded with Western Electric employees and their families -- prepared to depart from its dock on the Chicago River in downtown Chicago and head across Lake Michigan for a company picnic in Michigan City, Indiana.

The boat suddenly listed to its side and capsized, trapping hundreds in the vessel as water poured in.  Out of the 844 people drowned, Bohemian Cemetery has 143 Eastland victims buried in its plots, the most of any cemetery in the Chicago area.

Of  the 22 families wiped out by the disaster, four are buried in the cemetery.  Some, including those of Czech ancestry, include a short line -- "obet Eastlandu" or "victim of the Eastland."

Almost 100 years later, a memorial was dedicated to the victims of that ship at the Bohemian cemetery.  A black plaque described the disaster on one side and details of the Eastland gravesites on the other.  A granite slab with a ship's wheel juts out of the slab with carved ripples that represent the sinking of the ship and its raising following the incident.

Sadly, Today, the Tragedy Is Hardly Remembered.  

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 8: The Cermak Family Mausoleum (That Would Be Mayor Anton Cermak)

Tens of thousands of people waited in line for hours -- in the bitter cold-- to pay their respects to Chicago's 36th mayor, Anton Cermak, and an estimated 50,000 assembled in the Bohemian cemetery for the conclusion of his funeral procession in March 1933.

The Czech immigrant, who once sold firewood from a wagon, worked his way up to become chief of Chicago's Democratic machine and was considered a unifier of the city's working ethnic groups.  He was hit by bullets intended for President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt during a ride with him in a convertible car in Miami, on Feb. 15, 1933, and died 19 days later.

Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, visited the site on Oct. 2, 1933.

The inscription upon his final resting place says:  "I'm glad it was me instead of you," which Cermak allegedly told FDR after he was shot.  The Tribune reported the quote without attribution.  Scholars doubt Cermak ever said these words.

Also in the Cermak mausoleum is one of the former mayor's daughters, Helena, who had been married to former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner Jr.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 7: Wanda Stopa Burial Site

Chicago's youngest and first assistant U.S. District Attorney was a brilliant Polish immigrant named Wanda Stopa.  She had been one of two women to graduate from John Marshall Law School in 1921.  But just three years after graduation, Stopa left her career, married a Russian count then fell in love with a rich, married advertising executive, Y. Kensley Smith, who paid for her to live in New York.

When Smith refused to leave his wife Geneivieve, nicknamed Doodles, Stopa showed up at their Palos Park home on April 24, 1924, intending to kill Smith's wife.  She took a shot, but it hit the couple's elderly caretaker, Henry Manning, killing him.

Stopa went on the run, killing herself by swallowing poison in a Detroit hotel room.

Approximately 10,000 Chicagoans turned out for her wake and funeral.

Chicago's National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 6: Civil War and Spanish-American War Memorials

CIVIL WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL

I'll write more about this in my Saw the Elephant: Civil War blog.

Dedicated in 1892.  Said to be the first Bohemian soldiers monument in America.

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SPANISH AMERICAN WAR VETERANS MEMORIAL

If this statue looks familiar, then you've probably seen it in another cemetery or outside a government building in another state. The 8 1/2-foot-tall figure atop a granite boulder "represents the veteran as he appeared in the ranks" during the 1898 war, according to the Chicago Tribune story on the statues unveiling in September 1926.

A cross-shaped plaque listing the names of 147 Spanish-American War veterans was added in 1964.

Chicago's National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 5: N. Brada Is First Burial in 1877

 MARKER MEMORIALIZING FIRST BURIAL

Dates differ as to when the infant known as N. Brada was buried here.  The marker says the internment occurred July 1, 1877, but the cemetery's official listings recorded it August 6, 1877.

One possible reason for this, a Friends of the Bohemian National Cemetery newsletter points out, is it wasn't until after the baby girl was buried that the cemetery applied for the permit.  Technically, the cemetery did not exist until July 1, 1877.

Originally near the entrance gates, the child's final resting place was moved to another, more private location within the cemetery.  This marker is only a cenotaph, or commemorative plaque.

National Bohemian Cemetery-- Part 4: About the Cubs Fans

 Burials are not allowed at Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, but at the cemetery, located just five miles northwest of the field, a local man came up with another option.

More than 200 niches for cremation urns are tucked into a 24-foot long, ivy-covered red brick wall with a yellow "400" painted on it -- mimicking the one in center field at Wrigley Field. Old box seats, home plate, original sod and a stained-glass window featuring the iconic centerfield scoreboard permanently set at 1:20 are also included.

I wonder if the ivy is Wrigley Field ivy.  Back in the 1970s, I bought an ivy cutting at Wrigley Field and planted it by my garage in Round Lake Beach and before long, it had taken over that whole side of the garage.  I named it the Dave Kingman Memorial Ivy as he was our big home run hitter back in those days.

After the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, just about every cemetery in the Chicago area sprouted small Cubs and Cubs World Series Champ flags.  Even a spot along a local road where a Cub fan had died during the playoffs had a Cubs World Champion flag on it.

It appears that there are still niches available, so for that Cub fan of yours....

Wrigley Field Forever.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 3: The Cubs Treestone Marker

 One couple have shown their own design to show their never-ending support for the Cubs in a style  found throughout the cemetery's grounds.  The tree-stump gravestone, or treestone, is made from limestone, which is easy to carve and can feature a variety of symbols.

In this example, which is the first one installed at the cemetery in  more than 70 years, there are branches from two trees barely touching, forming the shape of a heart.  According to its sculptor, Walter S. Arnold, this treestone features a transistor radio -- which is tuned to WGN AM 720 -- because the husband, who was blind, loved to listen to the play-by-play while attending Cubs games.

There's a crack through the name of his wife, who survives him, symbolizing her broken heart.  At the bottom are symbols of then things they enjoyed together.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 2: A Break from the Catholic Church

In response to the Catholic Church, the Bohemians decided to build their own cemetery on 40 acres in Jefferson Township, which was then  a few miles north of Chicago.  On January 17, 1877, an assembly of Bohemian leaders decided it was time for their own cemetery, the Bohemian National Cemetery.

Freethinking leaders involved in the cemetery's creation are honored Ladimir Klacel Circle, named after the Bohemian philosopher.  He's not buried there, but there is a bust of him which was the first public statue placed in the cemetery.

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AROUND THE CEMETERY

**  COLUMBARIUM AND CREMATORIUM

This two story limestone building looks like a basilica with its domed ceiling and bell tower provides spaces for storage of cremation urns and cremation of remains.  The main level's ceremony hall has a more-than-23-foot-tall ceiling, intricate ornamental decoration and stained-glass windows and has hosted funerals, speaking engagements, concerts and meetings since its completion in 1913.

More than 700 spaces or niches for the ashes of the deceased are also housed here.

And, There Is A Lot More.

Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 1: Meet the 'Cemetery Lady'

 From the October 11, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Inside Bohemian National Cemetery with 'Cemetery Lady' Helen Sclair" by Kori Rumore.

Bohemian National Cemetery, at Pulaski Road and Foster Avenue on the Northwest Side, is a burial ground that welcomes all on its 124-acre site with beautiful scenery and memorials to people and events important in Chicago history.

Helen Sclair knows a whole lot about this cemetery as well as the more than 700 burial sites in the Chicagoland area.  She is a tour guide to these cemeteries and says she never "seen a cemetery she didn't like."

The Bohemian National Cemetery, where more than 120,000 people are buried, is the result of tensions between the Roman Catholic Church and local immigrants who came to Chicago from Bohemia and Moravia, now known as the Czech Republic.  These immigrants, called Bohemians, were expected by the Catholic Church to make confession before death.  If not, they were banned from burial within Chicago's Catholic cemeteries.

--Cooter

Uncle Ben and Mrs. Butterworth Also Changing Brands

 From the same paper as last post.

Uncle Ben's brand of rice and side dishes is also rebranding itself and Mrs. Butterworth's, one of Aunt Jemima's breakfast competitors is expected to take steps as well in these days of BLM.

Shortly after the Aunt Jemima announcement, Mars, which owns Uncle Ben's said they were going to "evolve" the brand.

The image of Uncle Ben, an elderly white-haired black man has been on boxes of rice for more than 70 years.  In 2007, Mars had said there would be no significant changes because  there was "a timeless element to him."

Also on Wednesday, Chicago-based Conagra Brands, which acquired Mrs. Butterworth when it bought Pinnacle Foods in 2018. said it had begun a brand and packaging review of the product line.  Mrs. Butterworth's iconic brown bottles have been on shore shelves since the 1960s.

--Cooter

Quaker Oats Rebranding Aunt Jemima Because of Racial Stereotype

 From the June 18, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Quaker Oats to rebrand Aunt Jemima" by Mary Ellen Podmolik.

The Aunt Jemima brand, which has been on syrup and other Quaker Oats products form over 130 years, is being retired.

Chicago-based Quaker Oats, now a unit of PepsiCo, announced Wednesday June 17, that the company would first be removing the image from packaging and later would change the name.  Of course, this is because of the current wave of BLM  after the death of George Floyd and black awareness sweeping the country.  I just have to wonder why it took Blacks so long to figure out they were offended by these images.

Aunt Jemima's image has been changed over the years, already moving it from the controversial first "slave figure."  A 1968 makeover  replaced a kerchief on her head with a headband.  In 1989, she got a gray-streaked hairstyle without a headband, plus pearl earrings and a white lace collar.  At that time, a tribune executive said it would no longer be changed because "that kind of familiarity and recognition is an invaluable asset."

--Cooter

'Jesse James' Rides Horse on Lincoln Highway in DeKalb in 1920

 From the August 19, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"Last night about six o'clock the people of the business section were  very much surprised to see  a girl come riding on horseback down the Lincoln Highway dressed like Jesse James in his prime.  The girl looked to be about 12 or 13 years old and when asked where she was from, replied Vermont and that she was on her way to California.

"The biggest surprise to the crowd who gathered was the fact that she was 22 instead of just being just a 'kid.'  She stopped  for about 15 minutes then was on her way west."

I couldn't find any information on her but that sure would have been an interesting story.

--CooterJames

If It's Not Tonsils, It's Polio in DeKalb County in 1920 and 1945

 From the August 12, 2020,  MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"Tonsil cases at the hospital occupied a great deal of the time of the attendants this morning because of the fact that there were four who had their tonsils removed instead of the usual one or two.

"The children having the occupation performed were Waite Embree, Evelyn Hiland, Marian Miller and Lilea Miller.  All of the children are doing nicely  and will be able to go to their homes this evening."

I had my tonsils removed  when I was child.  That was so mean, they promised me ice cream but my throat was too sore to eat any of it.  I screamed for ice cream.

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"The DeKalb Lodge Loyal Order of the Moose has purchases a portable  iron lung from the Portable Life Saving Company of St. Louis, Mo.  The new equipment is now at the fire station, where every member of the department will be taught how to use it."

The portable iron lung was used to treat cases of polio.

That Promising Ice Cream That You Couldn't Eat Was Not Nice.  --DaCoot

A Marauding Herd of Cattle and Polio in DeKalb County

August 5, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The owner of a herd of cattle that was taken to the police station on a charge of having trampled the garden of O.S. Greenwood is Albert Ashelford and he was brought into the local police station yesterday and  assessed a fine for allowing his cattle to run loose."

From Find-A-Grave.  Albert Ashelford was born 16 June 1867 in DeKalb Co., Illinois, died 22 December 1922 (age 84) in DeKalb County and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb, Illinois.

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"Those polio cases in Rockford are causing Sycamore people to use every precaution with their youngsters.  Sycamore had its share of polio two years ago and doesn't want it again."

Disease problems even back then in this age of the coronavirus.

--Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 5: Served in World War II

In 1941, as war with Japan looked likely, the Oregon was redesignated  IX-22 in February and after Pearl Harbor, it was decided that the best thing for the ship would be to be broken up for scrap.  She was struck from the Naval Registry on 2 November 1942 and was sold to ship  breakers on 7 December.  

In March 1943, she was towed to Kalama, Washington to be broken up, but after the work was begun, the Navy  decided that the Oregon could be of use in the planned invasion of  Guam scheduled for mid-1944, either as a storage hulk or a breakwater.

The breakers were ordered to stop after clearing the superstructure and internal equipment was removed.  The Oregon was then loaded with ammunition and towed to Guam as part of the invasion fleet.

After capture of that island, the Oregon remained through the end of the war in 1945 and for several more years after that.  On the night of 14-15 November 1948, the ship broke free of her moorings during a typhoon and drifted away.  After an extensive search, aircraft located the ship some 580 miles southeast of Guam.

It was then towed back to Guam and remained there until 1956 and she was sold for scrap and broken up in Japan.

Several parts of the ship remain in Portland.  Her foremast was placed at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and her ship's wheel is at the Oregon Historical Society.  Both of her funnels also remain but are not on public display.

--Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 4: Service in the Pacific, the Boxer Rebellion, WW I, Pres. Wilson and the Washington Naval Treaty

 After the war, the Oregon had an overhaul and was assigned to the U.S. Asiatic Squadron and participated in the Philippine-American War (Philippines Insurrection).  It also sailed to Japan and reinforced the Eight-Nation Allied Force in China's Boxer Rebellion.  

In 1901, she returned to the U.S. for a refit before returning to her Asiatic Station before being decommissioned in 1906.  During the next several years, the Oregon was modernized and then recommissioned in 1911 and patrolled off the west coast of the United States.

During World War I, the ship saw no action but did  escort troop ships carrying soldiers bound for the Russian Civil War. Afterwards, she was decommissioned for a short time in 1919 before recommissioned for a short time the same year and hosted President Woodrow Wilson during a review of the Pacific Fleet in Seattle, Washington.

In 1920, she was assigned the hull number BB-3 and beginning a year later, a group of naval enthusiasts started a campaign to turn her into a naval museum to be based somewhere in her namesake state.  The Washington Naval Treaty in 1922 required the Oregon to be demilitarized which she was.

By 1924 she had become listed on the Naval register as an "Unclassified Relic."

In 1925, the Navy loaned the Oregon to that state and she was moored in Portland and restored as a museum vessel.

But, That Was Not Her End.  --Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 3: The Battle of Santiago de Cuba

 The USS Oregon arrived off the port of Santiago de Cuba on June 1st and joined the blockading fleet.

At 8:45 am on July 1, Admiral Cervera sortied with his fleet on his flagship, the Infanta Maria Teresa.  Luckily for the Spanish, the Oregon was out of its usual position and another battleship, the USS Massachusetts was recoaling at Guantanamo Bay at the time.

Lookouts aboard the armored cruiser USS Brooklyn discovered the approach of the Spanish fleet and fired a gun as a warning and the battle was underway.  The goal of the Spaniards was to escape and put out to sea.  Cervera went after the Brooklyn

The Oregon took the lead in the ensuing chase as it was the only ship with its steam up.  It was followed by the Brooklyn.  American gunfire son set the Infanta Maria Teresa afire and fearing an explosion, Cervera ordered the ship run aground.  The Almirante Oquendo did likewise a short time later.  The Vizcaya was also forced aground and surrendered.  The two destroyers were particularly savaged by American gunfire.

Only the Cristobol Colon had a good six-mile lead and was still running west.  The American ships slowly caught up with her and struck its flag, running ashore and scuttling the ship.  Thus ended the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

The Oregon was not hit in the action owing to the poor quality of the Spanish gunfire.

With the American success here and in Cuba and the Philippines, Spain sued for peace on 17 July and the Spanish-American War ended 12 August 1898 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

It Wasn't Much of a Battle, Actually.   --Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 2: Completed a 16,000 Cruise from Pacific to Atlantic in 66 Days (Pre-Panama Canal)

Two of the Indiana-class battleships were built on the U.S. East Coast and the Oregon on the West Coast.  The Oregon was commissioned on 15 July 1896 and joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

On 15 February 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, Cuba, during rising tensions between Spain and the U.S..  The Oregon was in dry dock at the time and was refloated the next day and placed under the command of Captain Charles Edgar Clark and ordered to steam the U.S. East Coast to join the North Atlantic Fleet and arrived after a 16,000 mile journey in just 66 days.  

While passing through the Cape Horn the ship encountered a horrific storm  (these three battleships had very low freeboards and did not do well in rough seas).  This was before the Panama Canal was built and became a major reason for its construction.

The Oregon arrived in Key West on 26 May and joined the North Atlantic Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson.  The Spanish fleet had been located and blockaded in the harbor of Santo de Cuba, Cuba.  The Spanish squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Pasqual Cervera y Topete and consisted of  the armored cruisers Infanta Maria Teresa, Cristobol Colon, Vizcaya and Almirante Oquendo and destroyers Pluton and Furor.

--Cooter

NIU's Official Entryway Garners an Award in 1995

 From the September 9, 2020, MidWeek   "Looking Back."

1995, 25 Years Ago.

"As Northern Illinois University prepares to kick off its centennial  celebration next month, one of the October 1 events will be the presentation of the Restoration Recognition Award.

The City of DeKalb's Landmark Commission is honoring NIU for recreating the past through the entry gate on Castle Drive.  The design is based on the original gateway to the State Normal School."

And, that is one really pretty entry way to one of the most beautiful spots on campus.

--Cooter

Pigeons Coming to DeKalb County in 1920

From the April 22, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"If everything goes as has been planned, the Chicago Concourse Club will send out about 5000 homing pigeons to be released from here Sunday morning.

"During the war, this type of pigeon won great fame for themselves by carrying messages while under fire.  A man will also be sent along with the birds to see that they are liberated in the right way."

--Cooter

Boys Stealing Rides on the Street Cars in 1920

From the April 2, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The DeKalb-Sycamore Traction Company  is complaining about small boys stealing rides on the back end of the street car.    It isn't that the company is afraid that it will lose a few 'shekels' but that the boys may be injured.

"The police are watching for them and if caught the boys are apt to get in trouble."

--Cooter

DeKalb High School Cadets Get Guns in 1920

From the April 22, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The High School Cadets are not marking time since they received the new equipment of guns and rifles  from the government.

"Wednesday two squads  of the company were out for target practice and used the bank of the Kishwaukee River as a backstop.  The boys used the regular ball ammunition and some of them made very good scores."

Students with guns?  Well, it was a different time, wasn't it?

These students were probably the forerunner of today's JROTC at DeKalb High School.

Target Shooting.  --Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 1: Fought in Spanish-American War, Served in Two World Wars

I came across an article in the Naval History blog  "Whatever happened to the USS Oregon" and there was also an article in the National Interest site "How the US Navy battleship Oregon traveled 12,00 miles to win a war" so decided this would be an interesting ship to write about.

From Wikipedia.

USS OREGON (BB-3)

The third and final member of the Indiana class of battleships (also the USS Massachusetts BB-3).  All three of these ships fought in the Spanish-American War.    Commissioned 1896, decommissioned 1906.  Recommissioned in 1911, decommissioned 1919.  Stricken from Navy list  1941.

Besides the Spanish-American War, the ship also saw service in WW I and WW II.

351.2 feet length, 69.3 foot beam.

15 knot speed, 473 crew

ARMAMENT

four 13-inch

eight 8-inch

four 6-inch

twelve 3-inch

twenty 6-pounder

six 1-pounder

five torpedo tubes

Am Interesting and Heavily-Armed Warship.  --Cooter

DeKalb's Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Clock

From the March 4, 2020, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1995, 25 Years Ago.

"The restoration of the DeKalb Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Clock, located on the north side of Lincoln Highway near Third Street, has been a project of the DeKalb Landmark Commission, the Downtown DeKalb Association and the DeKalb Memorial Clock Committee for about two years.

"The clock was originally erected with donated funds in 1921 and was located at the northeast corner of Third and Lincoln."

--Cooter

Wondering What the Police Did in 1945? Did You have a 'Double-D' Charge?

From the May 6, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"Police department report for the month of April, as prepared by Chief of Police Horace Fothergill shows thirteen arrested during the thirty day period.  The arrests included ten on the "double-D" charge, drunk and disorderly, three on disorderly  conduct, and one person was arrested for not having a drivers license.

"Other activities of the department during the month included six autos stopped for defective lights, eleven complaints answered, two attempted burglaries, three stolen bicycles recovered, three minor auto mishaps, nine funeral and three bank escorts, five fires attended and five dogs disposed of  on the order of the department by the veterinarian."

"Defund the Police?"   Yea, Right.   Idiots.   --Cooter

Electric Park to Open in Sycamore in 1920

From the May 6, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"On May 9, Electric Park will again open its doors to the dancers and those who who care for amusement on Sunday, which the ordinance of this city does not allow.

"Robert Murphy is the man that has charge of the park and intends to have a place that will suit the most particular.  He is trying to get a colored jazz orchestra and if he does he will promise the dancers plenty of pep to keep time to."

Electric Park was on Ill. Highway 23 (DeKalb-Sycamore Road) about where the Burger King is located today. Must have been quite the sight back then.  An early Six Flags.

--Cooter

Polio Scare at the Fair in 1920

 From the September 9, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"Officials of the Sandwich Fair have announced that children are welcome to attend the fair, which opened today, and that there is no truth to the rumors that children are not being allowed on the grounds.

The officials state that there is no polio in the area and that the rumors that children were being barred from the grounds because of the polio scare are not true."

Something to think of in these coronavirus days.

--Cooter

Not That DeKalb County Was Rural and Agricultural in 1920, But....

From the March 4, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

""Frank Furr will move from the Kelley farm to the Marshal farm which he bought.

"D. Werden will move from the Hines farm to the Kelley farm.

"Sam McCormick will move from his own farm to Wisconsin.

"Carl Modeen will move into the McCormick farm.

"Henry Lankton has sold his farm to Cooper and Leonard and will move to Genoa.

"Fred Anderson will move from the Waite farm to a farm north of Kirkland."

And Cooter Will Figure Out How to Milk a Cow.  --Cooter

Criminals Active Even During War Time in 1944

From the December 18, 2019, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Chief of police, B.F. Peck today asked that the Secret Service department remind the merchants that check thieves and check forgers  do their Christmas shopping  with stolen and forged checks if merchants and housewives aren't particularly  careful.

"Chief Peck  stated that the government mails out nearly one million checks each day and that check thieves steal as many as they can from mailboxes."

Bah!!  Humbug!!!  Where's the Christmas Spirit.  --Cooter

Coal Restrictions (Because of the Coal Strike) Lifted in 1919, Just in Time for Christmas Shopping

From the December 18, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Sighs of relief were heard all up and down Lincoln Highway yesterday and last evening.  The coal lid had been lifted and stores were running on regular schedule, lights  were on, and shoppers could shop as early as they wanted to.

"Merchants abided by the coal restrictions last week, although the shortened hours hindered Christmas trade and caused confusion and congestion during the few hours stores  were allowed to be open, but were grateful for the order which came Saturday announcing that all restrictions  were to be lifted Monday."

There was a coal strike going on in the United States.  No wonder the stores were staying open a bit longer as mentioned in the post yesterday.

--CooterCoal

Top Prices Paid for Skins, Hides and Junk in DeKalb in 1919

From the Nov.  27, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

Advertisement in local newspaper.

"WANTED FURS--  Skunks, $2 and $6;  Muskrats, 75c to $3;  Mink, $3 to $7;  also horse hide, beef hides, sheep hides.  And also pay the highest prices for junk.

"Call 1026, Ike Gordon, 232 South 5th, DeKalb, Ill."

Got Junk?  Got Hides?  --CootSkunk

Moratorium Problems at DeKalb High in 1969

From the Nov. 20, 2019, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1969, 50 Years Ago.

"A couple of NIU students were reported to have been physically ejected from DeKalb High School by high school students yesterday, following the passing out of moratorium day literature.

"George Walters, principal, stated that the university students  were in the high school building without permission."

*********************************

"Effective September 1970, DeKalb Senior High School will change from a three year  high school, grades 10 through 12, to a four-year high school, grades 9 through 12.

During the Vietnam War Era Protests.  --Cooter

Norfolk Naval Shipyard Turns 250

From the October 2, 2017, Virginia-Pilot (Norfolk)  "Ironclad Legacy:  Norfolk Naval Shipyard older than the nation and the Navy, turns 250."  Robert  McCabe.

You can see the famed Hammerhead Crane from 1940.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, is the Navy's oldest and largest shipyard turns 250 on October 15.

Today, it services highly-secured nuclear powered submarines and aircraft carriers by 10,500 civilians and 750 military personnel.

The carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and submarine USS Rhode Island are there right now.

Naval Station Norfolk is the world's largest Navy base and that turns 100 this year.

--Cooter

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921-- Part 6: What Could Have Been

 At Tulsa's Greenwood Leadership Academy school, classrooms are named after teh Dreamland movie theater and other black businesses that white Tulsans burned down, said Kristi Williams, operations manager at the school.  Her great aunt fled with her date from one theater when armed whites came to destroy the black part of town in 1921.

Williams, whose family descended from Blacks enslaved by the Oklahoma-based Muscogee (Creek) Indian nation, emphasizes to her students the joint power and financial resources that communities like Tulsa's Black Wall Street once embodied.

"I just always imagine -- what would Greenwood look like if the massacre never happened?  We had an economy within an economy," says Williams.  "What could have happened?  What could we be."

Never Forget Or Overlook the Past.  

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921-- Part 5: Educating the Young About It

 After generations of determined public silence on the massacre -- long dismissed by white Tulsans dismissively as a race "riot" -- black and white  Tulsans are increasingly trying to tell the story of Black Wall Street, including its fiery and deadly ending.

Teaching about the massacre is being added by state and city school standards, so that this fall third graders will learn about it. (I think third grade is a bit young, though.)  Even preschoolers in some districts are being told about -- not about how it ended, but what it was, said Danielle Neves, deputy chief of academics for Tulsa public schools.

"Four-year-olds can understand that people like them once owned movie theaters and hotels and had a thriving community," Neves said.

We Spent the Next Week in Class Studying About 9-11 and Events As They Unfolded

I not only stopped my lesson plans for September 1, but continued doing so for the next week.  I told my students this was going to be their Pearl Harbor or JFK assassination.

We located Israel, the Arab countries of the Middle East as well as Washington, D.C., New York City and Pennsylvania, all major parts of 9-11.

I then started talking about world events that led up to what happened.

My seventh graders then began writing a 500-word essay on their own experience on 9-11.  You can't get any closer to history than when you write about something you have actually experienced.

I retired in 2006, but every one of my classes after 2001 had to write a 500-word essay on their experiences from that day.  They could also include what happened to the rest of their relatives on that day.

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921-- Part 4: Trump and Racism and Tulsa

 Today, opponents of President Trump say his statements and actions embolden white supremacist sentiment in the country.  That includes his opposition to renaming military bases named after Confederates and his emphasis on tough law and order responses to recent protests.

Trump denies any racism on his part and says his administration has been beneficial to black citizens.

Of course, the law and order does not apply to the demonstration, but rather to when they devolve into rioting and looting.  I completely agree with that.  Police should not just stand by and watch when it gets to that point.  They need to stop by whatever steps are necessary.

Tulsa's Republican mayor, G.T. Bynum, has formed a commission for marking the 100th anniversary of the massacre for next year.

The Tulsa Race Massacre, 1921-- Part 3: Part of a Surge of White Attacks on Blacks in the Country

 The Tulsa rampage was part of a surge of white attacks on black communities-- from Washington, D.C., to Chicago to the Pacific Northwest--  at the time, said Scott Ellsworth, a historian who has worked for decades to bring the Tulsa massacre to light.

The Ku Klux Klan was surging as well, putting many of its members in public office and other influential positions.

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson gave a White House screening and praise to "The Birth of a Nation," a tremendously influential and viciously racist film on the South.

You sure don't read much about these sad happenings from history, but they should be better known so they don't happen again.  It is horrible that Whites could do something like that to Blacks.  And, for no reason apparently.

I need to temper my anger at black rioting and looting with remembrances of things like this.

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre-- Part 2: To Be Lynched for Stepping on a White Girl's Foot?

 Historians say that the trouble began after a Tulsa newspaper drummed up a furor over a black man who allegedly stepped on a white girl's foot.  When black Tulsans showed up to prevent his lynching, white Tulsans responded with overwhelming force.

A grand jury investigation at the time concluded, without evidence, that unidentified agitators had given Tulsa's Blacks firearms and what was described as their mistaken belief "in equal rights, social equality and their ability to demand the same."

Back in June of this year, President Trump was planning to hold a giant rally in Tulsa, which brought national interest back on this race riot.  That, and it was also originally planned for Juneteenth.

The black Greenwood District which was hit hard was once known as Tulsa's "Negro Wall Street."  Today, visitors from all over the country and of all races journey to the site.

Seriously?  To Be Lynched for Stepping on a White Girl's Foot?

In Case You're Wondering About the Submarine at the Top of This Blog

From Wikipedia.

This is the German submarine SM U-118, one of 329 submarines Germany had during World War I.

It was commissioned in May 1918.  During the war, it sank two Allied ships.  With the surrender of the German Imperial Navy later that year, the SM U-118 was transferred to Fraallience and was to be broken up.  As it was being towed through the English Channel to Scapa Flow a storm was encountered and the towing hawser broke and the ship ran aground at Hastings in Sussex, England.

Attempts to get her off or destroy her failed.  The ship then became a popular tourist attraction.  definitely something you don't see that often on a beach.  Tours were made of the interior.

It was broken up between October and December 1919.  Part of the keel may still be buried in the beach.

Anyone Have a Shovel?  --Cooter

The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre-- Part 1: 'Black Wall Street'

From the June 18,2020, Chicago Tribune "Black Tulsans live with fiery legacy" by Ellen Knickmeyer, AP.

A once-thriving black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was destroyed nearly a century ago.  There were black-built and black-owned house, churches and businesses which covered dozens of blocks in an area known as the "Black Wall Street."   About all that remains now are burned bricks and a fragment of a church basement.

On May 31 and June 1, white residents burned and looted Tulsa's black Greenwood district to the ground and even used lanes to drop projectiles on them.

These attackers killed up to 300 black Tulsans and forced survivors for a time to live in internment camps overseen by the state National Guard.

How Americans Struggled to Bury the Dead in 1918 Flu Pandemic-- Part 5

Public funerals and wakes were banned  in cities including Philadelphia and Chicago.  Iowa prohibited public funerals and even the opening of caskets.   Exceptions were only made for  parents and wives identifying  soldiers before burial -- and even then, they could only open   the caskets if family members covered their mouths and noses with masks and refrained from touching the body.

"In many communities, processing  the loss of loved ones entails a series of rituals and rites and laying a person to rest in a respectful way,"  Bristow says.  "In many cities, the restrictions on public events meant that families  and communities had those rites interrupted, so grieving didn't take place in public but became an individual process, which had long-term consequences.  Without an opportunity to share it with those around them, that grief was carried for decades."

How Americans Struggled to Bury the Dead in 1918 Flu Pandemic-- Part 4: Like a Scene Out of the Middle Ages

Those buried in the mass graves were primarily poorer and immigrant residents so there was a class aspect to death and what happened to you.  The more affluent were more likely to secure the rites of passage into the hereafter than the poorer, more recent arrivals.

The scenes on the streets of Philadelphia appeared to be straight out of the plague-infested Middle Ages.  Throughout the day and night, horse-drawn carriages  kept a constant parade through the streets as priests joined the police   in collecting corpses draped in sackcloths and blood-stained  sheets that were left on porches and sidewalks.

The bodies were piled on top of each other in the wagons and limbs were protruding from underneath the sheets.  I couldn't help but think of that scene in the Monty Python movie.

The parents of one small boy who had succumbed to the flu begged the authorities to at least have him the dignity of being buried in a wooden box that had been used  to ship macaroni instead of wrapping him in a sheet and having him taken away in a patrol wagon.

How American Struggled to Bury Bodies During the 1918 Flu Pandemic-- Part 3: Boston and Philadelphia

Gravediggers at Boston's New Calvary Cemetery were spotted dumping corpses out of coffins could be used again.  The War Industries Board  ordered casket makers to manufacture only plain caskets and immediately cease production on "all fancy trimmed and couch and split panel varieties.  It limited caskets sizes for adults  to five feet, nine inches and six feet, 3 inches.

The worst horrors were seen in Philadelphia, where the number of deaths approached 1,000 a day at the pandemic's peak.  Entire neighborhoods were  draped in crepe that was mounted on front doors to mark deaths inside.

Civic leaders  recruited the J.G. Brill Company, a streetcar manufacturer, to construct thousands of  rudimentary boxes in which to bury the dead, while desperately needed coffins arrived in the city under armed guard.

Five hundred bodies crowded the city morgue, which had a capacity for only  36 corpses.    The city scrambled to open  six supplementary morgues and placed bodies in cold storage plants.  Some Philadelphia  residents were  unceremoniously tossed into mass graves  that had been hollowed out by steam shovels.

How America Struggled to Bury Bodies in 1918 Flu Pandemic-- Part 2: Shortages of Gravediggers and Coffins

Cemeteries struggled to keep up with the mounting death toll.  With gravediggers absent from work -- either because they had gotten the flu or were afraid they would--  grieving families were sometimes forced to  excavate graves for their loved ones.

In New Brunswick, New Jersey, 15 workhouse inmates were handed spades and shovels under the watchful eyes of guards.  In Baltimore, city employees were called into  emergency duty as gravediggers while soldiers from Fort Meade were pressed into service to bury a three-week backlog of 175 bodies at Mt. Auburn Cemetery.

Casket companies, already hard-pressed to supply coffins for  the thousands of U.S. Doughboys killed overseas, could not keep up with this increased demand.  Facing a desperate shortage in the nation's capital, District of Columbia Commissioner Louis Brown hijacked two train cars filled with 270 coffins bound for Pittsburgh and rerouted it to the city hospital under armed guard.

How America Struggled to Bury the Dead in the 1918 Flu Pandemic-- Part 1

From the February 12, 2020, History site.

The terrifying, lethal influenza virus that swept across the world in 1918-1920,  history's deadliest pandemic, which claimed the lives of approximately 50 million people worldwide and 675,000 here in the United States.  Nearly 200,000 Americans died of it in October 1918 alone.

The sheer number of bodies overwhelmed undertakers, casket makers and grave diggers.  At the same time, a prohibition on public gatherings that included wakes and funerals compounded the grief of stricken families who could not properly mourn their deaths.

The mass mortality led to macabre scenes.  In Baltimore, the Red Cross nurses reported going to disease ravaged homes to discover sick people in bed next to the dead.  In other cases, corpses were covered with ice and left in bedroom corners where they festered for days.

Inundated  undertakers stacked coffins in funeral homes and even in their living quarters.  In New Haven, Connecticut,  six-year-old John Delano and his friends played outside a mortuary, scaling a mountain of caskets piled on a sidewalk, unaware of the contents inside them.  "We thought,  -- boy, this is great.  It's like climbing the pyramids."

--Cooter

It Happened on July 31: Chris, Marq and Tommy

From the July 31, 2020, Chicago Tribune "On July 31..."

**  1498--  Christopher Columbus reached the island of Trinidad on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere.  (Especially interesting in these days of rage when his statues are being attacked and removed.  He made a huge impact on world history regardless of where you stand on him.)

**  1777--  The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was given the rank of major general in the American Continental Army.   That is very, very young.  But, without him and France, I don't think the colonies would have achieved their independence, and then all the leaders would have been branded as traitors and all sorts of bad things might have happened to them.)

**  1877--  Thomas Edison took out a patent leading to the development of the phonograph.  (And that development sure had a huge impact on my life.

--Cooter

Ebony, Jet Photo Archive Fetches $30 Million at Auction

From the July 26, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times by Sam Charles and Mitchell Armentrout.

The iconic photo archive of Ebony and Jet magazines, which chronicled 70 years' worth of black history and culture, has a new owner.

A consortium of philanthropic groups announced its $30 million acquisition at auction, Thursday from Johnson Publishing, Ebony's parent company and promised to donate the treasure trove of history to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Getty Institution and other leading cultural institutions.

The collection has more than 4 million prints and negatives including photographs of Martin Luther King Jr., Sammy Davis Jr., Diana Ross, Nat "King" Cole, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Robinson, Prince and Stevie Wonder and many others.

There are also photos of everyday life for black Americans from church to food to fashion.

As a history person, I am so glad these people bought the photos and are donating them to organizations who will take care of them as well as make them available to the public.

Thanks.  --Cooter

Coal Strike Hits Home in 1919

From the Dec. 4, 2019, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Lincoln Highway resumed its war-time appearance again last evening, this time doing its bit in the conservation of coal.  All boulevard lights with the exception of corner lights were dark last evening by order of the city administration and folks passed up and down the main street in darkness as they had done during the war.

"But, today the country faces the most critical stage of the coal strike, the small surplus is gradually being consumed  and as the pile decreased, the demand for wages increased, and no arbitration in sight."

Use the Coal for Bad Little Boys and Girls.  --Cooter

See If You Can Guess the Date of These Headlines from the Seattle Daily Times

Help Bar Deadly Influenza from Seattle

CHURCHES, SCHOOLS CLOSED

Epidemic Puts Ban on All Public Assemblies

Seattle to Make Fight on the Disease

Police Ordered to Close Public Places

Guess the Date of These Headlines.

***********************************

Here's some more front page headlines to give you a clue:


Only One-Half of City's Quota for Loan Subscribed

Blast Shatters Dozens of Towns in New Jersey

New Wage Scale in Shipyards to Run from August 1

************************************

These might help even some more:

Americans and French Smash Foe

U.S. Troops Smash Huns in Argonne

************************************

The date of the newspaper is October 5, 1918.  The so-called Spanish Flu Pandemic was going on as well as World War I.  Today we have the COVID-19 Pandemic and Black Lives Matter.

--Cooter

NIU Makes Plans for Building Construction in 1970

From the March 4, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1970, 50 Years Ago.

"New buildings which NIU plans to construct in the next 10 years include a science building, student services center, liberal arts classroom, men and women's physical education buildings, a fine and applied arts structure, more student housing and a building with business affairs and computer services will be housed.

"Also to be considered would be the construction of a golf course, sports arena and auditorium and a building to house an engineering school."

This is Northern Illinois University's 125th anniversary.

In the Midst of a Building Boom.  --Cooter

The "Wets" Have It In Shabbona, Illinois, in 1945: Still A Drinking Town

From the April 22, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"The 'wets'  were victorious in the local option election in the village of Shabbona by the slim margin of seventeen votes.

"On the question of whether the sale of alcoholic beverages should be prohibited, 174 voted no and 157 voted yes."

How Wet I Am.  --CootDrunk

Anti-Vietnam War Protest in DeKalb By NIU Students in 1970

From the April 15, 2020, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1970. 50 Years Ago.

"More than 200 Northern Illinois University students led by the Student Mobilization Committee marched through downtown DeKalb at about 9 p.m. last night to protest the Vietnam War.

"The campus activities are related to the nationwide anti-war week.  The SMC attempted to have the college shut down classes today, but permission was refused.  Students also picketed the draft board office on North Fourth Street yesterday."

I was at Northern Illinois as a freshman living in Lincoln Hall when this happened.

It Was a Scary Time.  --Cooter

Cigarettes and Corn in 1944

From the Nov. 20, 2019, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."

1944, 75 Years Ago.

"Remember way back when City Clerk Bill Wallmark always had a pack of cigarettes on the counter for the convenience of callers?  It is probably now that Bill has an extra smoke  now for anyone if they ask for it, but he has eliminated the 'help yourself' plan."

*****************************

"Fairdale neighbors with tractors and corn huskers husked and shelled the crop of corn for Mrs. Eunice White  Monday.  Mr. White had been ill for several weeks and unable to husk his corn before he passed away Wednesday."

Mighty Neighborly in Fairdale.

*****************************

Hey, Bud.  Got a Smoke?   --Cooter

Closed Due to Confederadication

That's as in Confederate eradication.  CONFEDERA DICATION.

Certain groups today are bent on destroying the last vestiges of the Lost Cause with a vengeance and I feel that I need to keep up with that at this time.

And, so much is happening that I need to write about three blog entries a day to keep up with it in my Civil War II:  The Continuing Attack on the Confederacy blog.  Right now I am about two weeks behind and would like to get it where I am no more than a day or two behind.

So, in keeping with this, I will not be writing in this blog for awhile until that happens.

So, Until That Time I Will be Suspending This Blog.  --Cooter

Crispus Attucks (A Black Man) Killed By British Troops at the Boston Massacre in 1770 Has Similarities With Floyd's Death-- Part 1

From the June 7, 2020, Chicago Tribune "After Floyd's death, a slaying from 1770 evokes similarities" by William J. Kole, AP.

Like George Floyd, he was black, in his mid-40s and died at the hands of a white man.  And, like Floyd, he may have helped touch off a revolution.

Many in the Black Lives Matter movement are invoking the name of Crispus Attucks -- a black American gunned down by a British soldier in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770 -- as a symbol of entrenched white-on-black violence and oppression.

Attucks is widely seen as the first casualty of the American Revolution and 250 years after his death, he's becoming a rallying figure for a nation battling old demons.

Sad to say, though, I don't think many of those you black and white people out there marching, protesting and, in all too many cases looting and destroying Confederate monuments have a clue who Crispus Attucks is.

--Cooter