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See www.goodreads.com/list/show/7.Best_Books_of_the_21st_Century
A small part of several bookshelves that keep us both distracted and busy, when away from the TV or iPad..
see comments below for links to Goodreads..
Featuring a plethora of examples that show how to get the worst out of the world's most commonly spoken language, Eats, Shites and Leaves is a wittily informative insight into how the English language can be used and abused in the twenty-first century.
In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation. She proclaims, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. Using examples from literature, history, neighborhood signage, and her own imagination, Truss shows how meaning is shaped by commas and apostrophes, and the hilarious consequences of punctuation gone awry.
"Suppose I was to tell you that it's just beauty that's calling me, the beauty of the far off and unknown, the mystery and spell which lures me, the need of freedom of great wide spaces, the joy of wandering on and on----in quest of the secret which is hidden over there----beyond the horizon?"
— Eugene O'Neill (Beyond The Horizon)
Classic Raven Series #3
* Pentax K20D + Pentax 18-55mm Lens - 3 Shot HDR
Selected images are available high res and unframed at RedBubble
A clip from "PS I love You"
maybe this one... www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/2742631-ps-i-love-you
or Mary thinks it is one by the daughters of a lady who wrote quotes in the margins...
here are some more.. www.allthelikes.com/application.php?app=131393112793
And more sent from an email.. ownquotes.com/blog/top-albert-einstein-quotes-famous-albe...
I have some listed on my Facebook page... I collected them for years from the desk diary at work! Can't find them at the moment!
Here are a few from an ACE email...
Musings for an approaching Election.
In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame; two is a law firm and three or more is a government.
John Adams
If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.
Mark Twain
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of government. But then I repeat myself.
Mark Twain
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
Winston Churchill
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul .
George Bernard Shaw
Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian
Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.
Frederic Bastiat, French economist(1801-1850)
I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
Will Rogers
If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
P.J. O'Rourke
In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
Voltaire (1764)
Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you!
Pericles (430 B.C.)
No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.
Mark Twain (1866)
Talk is cheap...except when government does it.
Anonymous
The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
Ronald Reagan
The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.
Mark Twain
There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save government.
Mark Twain
What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
Edward Langley, Artist (1928-1995)
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
Thomas Jefferson
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
Aesop
I used to collect Quotes...
I have a Word doc from years ago with all the desk calender quote for the day.
I used to add a few each day or week, 100s of pages somewhere on the PC
Here are some more I just found...
"Shoot any scene at the time of realization of the highest emotional stress coupled with sense of pictorial form - is a decisive moment". Henri Cartier-Bresson
“I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.”-Ansel Adams
“True education is concerned not only with practical goals but also with values.”- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
“Buildings should keep you dry and feed the soul.” - Zaha Hadid .
"Each project is a challenge."- Norman Foster.
"As swift as the wind, quiet as a forest, furious as fire, immovable as a mountain." - Takeda family
"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are. I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not."- Kurt Cobain
"A friend is nothing but a known enemy."- Kurt Cobain
"The duty of youth is to challenge corruption."- Kurt Cobain
"There's nothing better than having a baby. Holding my baby is the best drug in the world." - Kurt Cobain
"We're so trendy we can't even escape ourselves."- Kurt Cobain
"The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye."- Jimi Hendrix
"Rap music's been around for too long now to be inspirational. The words are, but the music isn't."- Alexander Lee McQueen
"You can only go forward by making mistakes." - Alexander Lee McQueen
"I want to empower women. "- Alexander Lee McQueen
"Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion."- Vitruvius
"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso
"I am still learning." - Michelangelo
"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings." - Salvador Dali
For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. Vincent Van Gogh
If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. Vincent Van Gogh
I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed. Vincent Van Gogh
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh
I dream of painting and then I paint my dream. Vincent Van Gogh
When I have a terrible need of - shall I say the word - religion. Then I go out and paint the stars. Vincent Van Gogh
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination; do not become the slave of your model. Vincent Van Gogh
Do something worth remembering. Elvis Presley
Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, but when you have it, you have it all over. Elvis Presley
I'am not the King. Jesus Christ is the King. I'am just entertainer. Elvis Presley
A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It's my favorite part of the business, live concerts. Elvis Presley
People think you're crazy if you talk about things they don't understand. Elvis Presley
You only pass through this life once. You don't come back for an encore. Elvis Presley
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine. Elvis Presley
I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to. Elvis Presley
I believe the key to happiness is : someone to love , something to do , and something to look forward to. Elvis Presley
When things go wrong don't go with them. Elvis Presley
"Be as you wish to seem." Socrates
"Wisdom begins in wonder. " Socrates
"Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live." Socrates
"A system of morality which is based on relative emotional values is a mere illusion, a thoroughly vulgar conception which has nothing sound in it and nothing true." Socrates
"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant." Socrates
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing." Socrates
"Once made equal to man, woman becomes his superior." Socrates
"True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us." Socrates
"I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. " Socrates
"The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for. " Socrates
"He is a man of courage who does not run away, but remains at his post and fights against the enemy." Socrates
"By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." Socrates
"I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. " Socrates
"From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate." Socrates
"Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us." Socrates
"He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature." Socrates
"I was angry and frustrated until I started my own family and my first child was born. Until then I didn't really appreciate life the way I should have, but fortunately I woke up." Johnny Depp
"The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants." Johnny Depp
"When kids hit one year old, it's like hanging out with a miniature drunk. You have to hold onto them. They bump into things. They laugh and cry. They urinate. They vomit."
Johnny Depp
"If there's any message to my work, it is ultimately that it's OK to be different, that it's good to be different, that we should question ourselves before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different, talks different, is a different color. " Johnny Depp
"Trips to the dentist - I like to postpone that kind of thing."Johnny Depp
"I'm not sure I'm adult yet." Johnny Depp
"There's a drive in me that won't allow me to do certain things that are easy. " Johnny Depp
"The term 'serious actor' is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? Like 'airplane food.' " Johnny Depp
"As a teenager I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too." Johnny Depp
"I'm an old-fashioned guy... I want to be an old man with a beer belly sitting on a porch, looking at a lake or something."Johnny Depp
"People say I make strange choices, but they're not strange for me. My sickness is that I'm fascinated by human behavior, by what's underneath the surface, by the worlds inside people." Johnny Depp
"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." Francis of Assisi
"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love." Francis of Assisi
"For it is in giving that we receive." Francis of Assisi
from the Profile of www.flickr.com/people/masahiro21/
see more quotes below.. I have a 1000!
Zoe Foodiboo: Welcome and thank you all for coming to our September bookclub meeting. I’ll start by giving a brief overview of the book and the author, then I’ll give you an idea of what we hope to discuss today.
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): waves to Panny
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Zoe Foodiboo: First, a summary of the book….
Zoe Foodiboo: did we all read the book?
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Yes, I did.
webspelunker Ghostraven: I did!
Panny (Panny Bakerly): It's been a while for me...but yes.
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me jumps up and down in her seat. "I did! I did!"
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): yes
AlasAndAlack: /me nods. "Yes. Interesting and enjoyable."
Zoe Foodiboo: Some read it a year ago so we might need a refresher.
Panny (Panny Bakerly): Danke.
Zoe Foodiboo: Written in diary form, ‘The Artificial Silk Girl’ (German: Das kunstseidene Mädchen), is about a young woman named Doris.
Pauline Clary: I didn't
Zoe Foodiboo: It's okay Pauliine :)
Zoe Foodiboo: She’s a street observer, much like the protagonist we read about in Christopher Isherwood’s, ‘The Berlin Stories’, and an aspiring film star who starts off as a secretary in Cologne and ends up destitute in Berlin.
webspelunker Ghostraven: A victim of the capitalist system!
Zoe Foodiboo: yes yes
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me gasps!
webspelunker Ghostraven: Also, of the sexism of the time!
Zoe Foodiboo: hold on there comrade...Through Doris’ observations of life around her and her own failed attempts at stardom via a myriad of inappropriate men, Keun reveals to us the darker side of the “golden twenties”.
Zoe Foodiboo: Now, about the author....
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Zoe Foodiboo: Irmgard Keun was born “here”, in Charlottenburg, an affluent neighborhood, in 1905. She went in an all girls’ Lutheran school and worked as a stenotypist as a young girl.
Zoe Foodiboo: It is said that, like Doris, she had aspirations to be an actress but, after encouragement from her friend, Alfred Doblin (author of Berlin Alexanderplatz), turned to writing.
Zoe Foodiboo: I think Augusta's on her way
Zoe Foodiboo: Anyway
Zoe Foodiboo: As you all know, her debut novel, ‘The Artificial Girl’, was a bestseller, as was her second novel, released a year later, entitled ‘After Midnight’.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Hallo, Sasa :)
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): (Hallo, Sasa!)
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me waves to Sasa
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): hallo Sasa
Zoe Foodiboo: Hallo Sasa!
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): hello
Pauline Clary: Hi Sasa!
Zoe Foodiboo: Wilkommen!
Zoe Foodiboo: Make yourself comfy
webspelunker Ghostraven: Hello!
Zoe Foodiboo: Where was I?
Zoe Foodiboo: oh yeah
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): thank you
Zoe Foodiboo: Both titles were eventually blacklisted by the Nazi regime and, after a failed attempt to sue the Gestapo (!), Fraulein Keun went into exile.
AlasAndAlack: /me looks up from her coffee and sees Sasa's dress. So thankful she didn't put that one on this morning!
Zoe Foodiboo: I think she was badass :)
Zoe Foodiboo: Anyway
Zoe Foodiboo: oh my, Pauline....oopsy daisy!
Zoe Foodiboo: She snuck back into Germany in the early 40s, under pseudonym, and shrouded in false reports of her suicide. She lived with her parents until the war ended, then eventually moved to Cologne, where she died in 1982, at age 77.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Agreed!
Pauline Clary: oops *blushes*
Zoe Foodiboo: /me giggles
Zoe Foodiboo: So, What we’ll discuss today…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me smiles
Pauline Clary: /me nods
Zoe Foodiboo: Our time here is short but please remember that our conversations can continue on Goodreads, Facebook, G+, at Happy Hour, or wherever we run into each other after we leave today. Let’s begin by 1) sharing our thoughts on the reading and the elements that may have led to it being banned.
Zoe Foodiboo: 2) Then let’s move on to a more general discussion of intellectual freedom in early 20th C. Germany and finally, 3) explore how our “characters” or our “rp selves” might have reacted to this book in 1929.
Zoe Foodiboo: Herr Ghostraven will moderate our dialogue. Herr Ghostraven, I’ll hand the reins over to you.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Many thanks Zoe!
Zoe Foodiboo: /me smiles and sits
Panny (Panny Bakerly): I can answer 3 right away...I would have blushed and kept on reading under the covers in the middle of the night.
webspelunker Ghostraven: I feel the book was banned…
Zoe Foodiboo: Oh! and behind me is a photo of the author!
Zoe Foodiboo: /me waves behind her head at the wall
webspelunker Ghostraven: Because it didn't show German women in a favorable light…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
webspelunker Ghostraven: The 3 K's were not observed here…
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Oh, I don't know about that, it didn't show most German men in a favorable light, either--
Zoe Foodiboo: oh boy!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): it was not only German women in a bad light...the men were not shining in particular either
Zoe Foodiboo: Hallo Augusta!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Hallo Augusta
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): hallo Augusta
Panny (Panny Bakerly): Agree.
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me waves to Augusta
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): waves to Augusta
webspelunker Ghostraven: No respect for the family…
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Hallo alle
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me laughs, she and Saraphen were thinking the same thing. :)
webspelunker Ghostraven: The state…
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): that will lead you to a path of ruin Eloise :)
webspelunker Ghostraven: And replace the church with National Socialism…
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): a fun path
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Actually, reading the book, that book amazingly reminded me, "Sex in the City". It was quite interesting.
Zoe Foodiboo: /me nods
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me raises her hand with a thought on why it might have been banned.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, I had the same thought!
webspelunker Ghostraven: Please Eloise!
Zoe Foodiboo: Though in Sex and the City it was much easier for women to find success on their own.
webspelunker Ghostraven: True!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Yes, that's true, Zoe.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): That's the total difference.
webspelunker Ghostraven: 60 jahrs difference!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): But the way to talk about women's life and sex is really like 90s style.
Zoe Foodiboo: Well, and by her own definition and on her own terms.
AlasAndAlack: Sex in the City and Bridget Jones.
Zoe Foodiboo: Doris' situation was really quite sad…
Panny (Panny Bakerly): Female point of view.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Eloise has something to say..
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): I felt the book was probably most likely banned not so much because it viewed men and women unfavorably, but actually, because it turned an understanding, often sympathetic view toward men and women, to understanding their circumstances, to having, in short, empathy and sympathy for a sort of person, a kind of plight, for which the Nazis had absolutely no symmpathy or empathy.
Zoe Foodiboo: /me nods, Yes very much so, Eloise.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Good point…
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I would agree with that.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I agree, Eloise
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me and the homosexuality aspect too.
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): To my mind, Doris was a very sympatheic person, in many ways, all the more because of her faults.
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): at first I thought" They banned this?"
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): but it eventually did reveal a darker side of Berlin
AlasAndAlack: One must not have sympathy for the human condition when soon people would be killed for circumstances such as their heritage, religion and sexual orientation
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): the economy
Zoe Foodiboo: Yes, she seemed sympathetic to the play? movie? I can't remember now....with the lesbian actress?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): drugs
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): (Good point, Alas!)
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): untraditional morals
Zoe Foodiboo: whispers: Hi Adele
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Hallo, neighbor!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Hallo Adele
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): hello Adele
Pauline Clary: Hi Adele
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Hallo Adele
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): /me waves to Adele and sips her tea
webspelunker Ghostraven: I found the position of women in society scary…
Adele Kling: Guten tag, alle.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
webspelunker Ghostraven: Greetings!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): women were working, but still relied on men for the lifestyle
Zoe Foodiboo: Yes, and Doris so desired a glamourous lifestyle.
webspelunker Ghostraven: And their position in society…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Zoe Foodiboo: /me nods
webspelunker Ghostraven: Remember what Doris' mother said..
Panny (Panny Bakerly): (brb...phone call)
Zoe Foodiboo: Didn't she comment about how when monied women marry monied men and sleep with them, they are considered good German women, but when poor women sleep with poor men, they are "whores"
Zoe Foodiboo: oh there's augusta
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Actually that's another interesting point. Her wish to become "glomorous" is really reminds me people's desire in 21st century, too.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Did anyone else notice the impact of the war in the background?
AlasAndAlack: Even when Doris worked, the goal was to earn money so that her outward appearance would snag her a male to keep her.
Adele Kling: Good point, Alas
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): YEs, I felt about that, Web.
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I think she was terribly hurt by Hubert
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, and you have to belong to someone!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): being famous and living well would have been a nice revenge
AlasAndAlack: Yes, the war. The unemployment blamed on the war. The war veteran Doris befriends. Very prominent what war had done to people.
Zoe Foodiboo: /me smiles at Augusta
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, Gustav, I had feelings too from reading this.
Zoe Foodiboo: whispers: welcome back
Adele Kling: Hello, Frl. Augusta.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Hallo
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Strangely, perhaps--as brilliantly as she portrayed the unique difficulties of women at the time--I found the novel more about the human condition more generally, at root. So many men, too, lived in dire straights in the novel. Gender didn't seem to drive success or failure, but more the determinants of either.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, reminds me of contemporary America!
Adele Kling: /me laughs
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): That's what how war effected us, I think.....
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, no work…
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): but there was money to be had in Berlin
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me reads from the book, "Me--and my fur coat who is with me--my skin gets all tense with the desire that someone find me attractive in my fur, and I find him attractive as well ... something's crying in me--I want to bury my face in my hands to make it less sad." (I think this is more about being human, than about being a woman, really.)
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): But it all starts with the fur coat…
Zoe Foodiboo: What does the fur coat represent?
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, materialism!
webspelunker Ghostraven: I think it represents the desperation of the working classes!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): ... I think it was more about how the desire to have things led to bad behavior
AlasAndAlack: And it is important to the plot that she have to leave her home. Stealing the coat is the impetus.
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I think it's deeper than that
Zoe Foodiboo: /me nods, "Go on, Sara...."
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): I think it represents everything, hope, wish, fame, stability, money, love.
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): she would not have stolen the coat if Hubert had not been a ....
webspelunker Ghostraven: But do we look as Doris as a person or as a representation?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): sad example of the male species
webspelunker Ghostraven: Indeed!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): it was his denying her love that made her desperate to get it elsewhere
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): (I look at her very much as a person, which is not to say they are mutually exclusive.)
webspelunker Ghostraven: But he was a two timer!
AlasAndAlack: /me enjoys the delicate pause Sarphen leaves in her sentence when describing Hubert
webspelunker Ghostraven: Cheating on his wife…
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): she didn't care if he married for money...but he was supposed to love her
webspelunker Ghostraven: Exploiting her needs both emotional and physical!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): true
webspelunker Ghostraven: Does Hubert represent the bougeoise?
webspelunker Ghostraven: A tawdry example at that!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I don't think he does
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I dont' think so
AlasAndAlack: He was aspiring to greater things…
webspelunker Ghostraven: Notice how all the female characters are victims…
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I'm not sure that the book is about class per se
webspelunker Ghostraven: The males predators…
Zoe Foodiboo: I think he's trying to climb the social ladder just like Doris
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Oh, I don't read it that way at all, Webs.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Why?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): and of the neighbor, Web?
Pauline Clary: /me was taking photos
webspelunker Ghostraven: Because you're of that class?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): being sent to a nursing home
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): no, not at all
webspelunker Ghostraven: Which neighbor?
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): the veteran?
Adele Kling: /me wishes she had reread the book
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): the blind one ....uhmmmmm
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, but he was a coward…
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): The characters are all flawed in one way or another
webspelunker Ghostraven: When Doris fought for him, he remained silent!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Oh no, he was clearly seeing Berlin is not the city like Doris wishes.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Was that because he was a coward?
or because he was allowing Doris to have her voice?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): a coward??
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): or because at the time there was nothing in hos power to do about it?
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): To be strong when she thought of herself as weak?
webspelunker Ghostraven: whispers: He remained silent while Doris argued to take him out…
webspelunker Ghostraven: She said so herself!
AlasAndAlack: Yes, Gustav. When Doris tries to explain in words to the blind man just how gay and fun Berlin was, his conclusion from her description is that Berlin is a very unhappy place.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
AlasAndAlack: *maybe I should not have used the word "gay" when I meant happy.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): He remained silent because that's the only way he was surviving in the relationship with his wife.
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): (Because he could not see the exterior--the fur coat--he could only "see" the interior, the "reality" of the city that she saw and felt, too, but was desperate to be distracted from acknowledging.)
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): he did, but the circumstance of his life didn't allow for happiness...I think it was more futile acceptance on his part
Pauline Clary: What time period is book spanning?
webspelunker Ghostraven: Does the blind man represent Weimar Germany?
webspelunker Ghostraven: Damaged from the war…
webspelunker Ghostraven: Blind to the world around him…
webspelunker Ghostraven: Being taken off to a home to die?
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Or that part of society that wasn't trying to delude themselves
webspelunker Ghostraven: 1932-3
Pauline Clary: ah ok
AlasAndAlack: My impression was that Weimar Germany was more like Doris - struggling to ignore the bad parts. Against odds. Whereas Brenner, the blind veteran, sees the ugly part she tries to dismiss.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Interesting isn't it, that the blind man is the one who sees clearly?
webspelunker Ghostraven: I think Brenner is key here…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Adele Kling: /me nods
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Yes, in short, the blind man saw the truth, and all the seeing people felt it, but in a bustling city like Berlin, and given the realities of just getting by, were desperate to see (and be seen as) everything else.
AlasAndAlack: Yes Agusta! I'm thinking of the lines where Doris says "I just want him to like my Berlin." And Brenner concludes "The city isn't good."
webspelunker Ghostraven: Remember…
Pauline Clary: And the middle class
webspelunker Ghostraven: When this book was written the Nazis still hadn't come to power!
webspelunker Ghostraven: Question...
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Yes, it was 1930 or 1931 when the book was written?
webspelunker Ghostraven: Did Doris have sex with Brenner?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): no, I dont' think so
webspelunker Ghostraven: Sex is alluded to in many scenes in the book…
webspelunker Ghostraven: yes!
webspelunker Ghostraven: I'm not sure…
AlasAndAlack: If I remember rightly, no she didn't have sex with him but she does try to "comfort" him. The references to sex are somewhat veiled, not surprisingly.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
AlasAndAlack: So yes, Web, maybe she did.
webspelunker Ghostraven: "Comfort" can mean many things!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I think it was more a case of him ....helping himself
webspelunker Ghostraven: The blind man with a pretty woman who pities him is an old story…
Pauline Clary: /me looks puzzled
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): laughs
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): /me looks up: Who said sex?
AlasAndAlack: /me gigglesnorts her coffee. "Funny, Saraphen."
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): see...this is where I get into trouble
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Web did
webspelunker Ghostraven: That got her!
Zoe Foodiboo: /me snorts
webspelunker Ghostraven: Why?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): because I tend to speak before I think lol
webspelunker Ghostraven: Why so quiet everyone?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): but no I don't think she had sex with him
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): I thought that "comfort" implied BJ. And it was quite gray zone to be defined as sex.
AlasAndAlack: Why what? Why does Gustav get into trouble here?
Adele Kling: I haven't read the book, my apologies.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Why?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): at the time sex was for the ones who could gain her something
Pauline Clary: Some reviews tell it wa a bit of a dull read
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): she was very matter-of-fact about that
Pauline Clary: Was it?
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I don't think it was
webspelunker Ghostraven: How about feeling superior?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): he rested his head on her thighs...not the other way around
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): comfort implied BJ? What does Herr Boberg got to do with this?
AlasAndAlack: We 20th century types want more specifics than 1930's could to give us.
webspelunker Ghostraven: It was only considered dull because it challenged the status quo!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): laughs
Zoe Foodiboo: hahahaha, Sasa....
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): hahaha
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): *giggles*
webspelunker Ghostraven: Aha!
Pauline Clary: /me laughs
Zoe Foodiboo: Sorry, I was taking photos....have we already discussed our views of Doris from our 1929 selves vs our 2014 selves?
webspelunker Ghostraven: So maybe we're saying there was a sexual relationship!
Pauline Clary: ok back to the sex
Zoe Foodiboo: oh, we're talking about sex
webspelunker Ghostraven: Not yet…
Zoe Foodiboo: I should've known....
Pauline Clary: come on…
webspelunker Ghostraven: Doesn't everybody?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): no...I think it was the equivalent of sexting for her
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): right!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): /me nods
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): *pretends to not understand a thing about that*
Zoe Foodiboo: /me grins
AlasAndAlack: I was just wondering if in 1930, a reader would think the depiction of sex was scandalous or just a frank description of what was happening around them?
Zoe Foodiboo: depends on who you are, I guess.
Pauline Clary: Some where very experimenting
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): They might have been surprised by how she approached it
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): I think that's why this book got banned after all.
Pauline Clary: trying lesbian relationships
AlasAndAlack: I've read Bridget Jones diary. I'm not surprised by the description of her love life. But I do not think it is a common occurrence in everyday life.
Zoe Foodiboo: oh dear, webchen crashed
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): it was all the sex talk !
Pauline Clary: Isn't the book called the Brdget Jones of the 30s?
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): oh web fainted
AlasAndAlack: ((Oh dear, now my life sounds so boring to me - why can't I be Bridget Jones!))
Pauline Clary: Yes, all the women talking about sex here
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): wb Web :)
AlasAndAlack: Wb Web.
Zoe Foodiboo: It's often compared to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): WB Web
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): too much for him
Pauline Clary: wb Websi
AlasAndAlack: You missed nothing, we were still talking about sex.
Zoe Foodiboo: Hallo webby
webspelunker Ghostraven: Sorry, crashed!
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): is that nothing?
Pauline Clary: hihi
AlasAndAlack: Lol, Sasa, not nothing. Just more detailed descriptions.
AlasAndAlack: So back to sex in the book instead of sex in general…
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): sex was used to gain status for her
webspelunker Ghostraven: Or maybe Zoe's final query?
Pauline Clary: I understand it didn't make her happy
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): and I think it holds true in Berlin 1920
Zoe Foodiboo: I think Alas brought my inquiry up earlier
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Yes, I agree, Sara.
webspelunker Ghostraven: How do we see ourselves then versus now?
Pauline Clary: Now in 1929?
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): That's the difference between Sex in the City and this book.
Zoe Foodiboo: Well, and does this book give us any ideas about our own rp in 1920s Berlin?
webspelunker Ghostraven: yes!
Zoe Foodiboo: Eloise reminds me of Doris sometimes
Pauline Clary: Like what ideas?
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): LOL
Zoe Foodiboo: so does Ilse
webspelunker Ghostraven: Pauline where you be in that book?
Pauline Clary: Nowhere
Pauline Clary: I didn't read it
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Being single and anonymous
intentionally in Berlin? I don't think that's Augusta... *giggles*
Pauline Clary: I just read some stuff on Goodreads
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): In 1920s, the social position that women could get was quite limited. In 2014, it's not like that.
Zoe Foodiboo: I think Zoe would find Doris silly....
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I agree Gustav
Zoe Foodiboo: but Zoe is very naive in Berlin
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): am I in the book?
Pauline Clary: In 1920s it depended on your debts
webspelunker Ghostraven: Would Zoe be a Doris?
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): So, both of them are talking about sex life in a city but the stand point is different.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Would Gustav and web be dead?
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Me?
Zoe Foodiboo: No, I don't think so. Zoe is supported by her grandfather, even though she likes to give the impression that she’s “on her own”.....but she feels like his money is her money.
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, we died in the war!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Augusta can relate to her choosing Berlin as a place to start over, but not to why. And not with the sex part.
Zoe Foodiboo: /me nods with Augusta's comment
webspelunker Ghostraven: Hmm…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Well, I think I'll be sent to a gas chamber if I stayed in Berlin longer....
Pauline Clary: I have some dollars, worth trillions of Reichmarken
webspelunker Ghostraven: I don't think we're being honest with ourselves here!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): No?
Zoe Foodiboo: Why not?
webspelunker Ghostraven: No!
Zoe Foodiboo: Well okay, you don't have to yell....
AlasAndAlack: The character of Alas would be outside this story. Alas has but to send a telegram and money comes to her. Pity her daddy's money is from Wall Street and October 29th is due soon.
Zoe Foodiboo: /me tsks
webspelunker Ghostraven: We have these pretty little pictures of ourselves but we ignore our characters' warts…
Zoe Foodiboo: Ah, so will Alas find herself penniless on Oct 30? That would make for good rp....
webspelunker Ghostraven: But Gustav now you would be a hero!
Pauline Clary: Yup, all we speculants are about to die in Wallstreet crash
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): I don't have any warts…
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I paid good money to have my warts removed
webspelunker Ghostraven: Or become streetwalkers or..
webspelunker Ghostraven: Nazis!
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me ((thousand pardons..RL family issue. I'm back now))
webspelunker Ghostraven: We all have warts!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): *waves to Panny*
Zoe Foodiboo: Any last words? I know some must go and prepare for El D......
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): butSara would grab Doris's hand and go to the parties too
webspelunker Ghostraven: On our souls!
AlasAndAlack: After October 29, Alas may very well end up like Doris. I am not sure what will happen. And I keep my warts under wraps for as long as I have clothes to cover them!
Adele Kling: I have plenty of warts, and they are noticeable.
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): ((waves to Panny))
Zoe Foodiboo: Maybe Alas can rp stealing Eloise's fur coat :)
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me giggles
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): /me gasps!
Zoe Foodiboo: hee hee
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): hahaha
Zoe Foodiboo: Well, I'd offer mine but I don't have one
Panny (Panny Bakerly): /me I won't steal it...but can I pet it?
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): if she leaves it within reach ILse will have it
webspelunker Ghostraven: Eloise misses the plight of the downtrodden!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Augusta's imperfection is that she still sees things through a socially "proper" lens
AlasAndAlack: /me eyes Eloise's fur. "Worth stealing, yes :)
webspelunker Ghostraven: Yes, one that's fractured!
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Augusta thinks she's being "modern" but in a lot of ways she's not
webspelunker Ghostraven: Very true!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): That's really interesting, Augusta
Zoe Foodiboo: /me smiles at Augusta
Zoe Foodiboo: Your rp self is so well-formed :)
AlasAndAlack: Alas thinks she knows what is out there. She thinks she is not innocent. She will be surprised. And humbled I expect.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): /me smiles
webspelunker Ghostraven: Meanwhile…
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Hallo Herr
webspelunker Ghostraven: The Brownshirts are coming…
Zoe Foodiboo: Last two minutes.....does anyone have any suggestions for the next book?
Zoe Foodiboo: Herr who?
webspelunker Ghostraven: Marx?
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): NO
Zoe Foodiboo: /me sighs
webspelunker Ghostraven: Trotsky?
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Herr Snuff out there.
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): has Groucho Marx written a book?
Adele Kling: Why?
Zoe Foodiboo: Oh!
Pauline Clary: I hope 'Between Red and Black' will get translated into English soon
Zoe Foodiboo: /me waves
Zoe Foodiboo: Hallo!
webspelunker Ghostraven: Later Sasa!
Adele Kling: Yes, Groucho has
Zoe Foodiboo: Snuffaluffagus
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): What is that about Pauline?
webspelunker Ghostraven: last thoughts anyone?
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): (( no he hasn't .... yet ))
Pauline Clary: Does anyone know it?
AlasAndAlack: But he didn't write it in 1929.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): Tell us about it
Adele Kling: Neither did Karl
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Oh what's that, Zoe. Gosh that reminds me something but I can't remember!
webspelunker Ghostraven: But it was read!
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): was he the one with the curly hair and a harp?
webspelunker Ghostraven: and influenced everythign!
Adele Kling: Oh yeah : )
Zoe Foodiboo: Well, you can always send me your suggestions later.
webspelunker Ghostraven: *everything
Zoe Foodiboo: Or we can talk about it on FB.
AlasAndAlack: Groucho had the painted mustache.
Adele Kling: hehe
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): no I meant Karl
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): Thank you so much to Zoe and Webs, the book club rocks socks! And this book was beautiful and amazing, I can't wait to read the next one (whatever it will be). :)
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): People bought it, put it in a shelf, and pretended they'd read it, Webchen
webspelunker Ghostraven: Karl had a beard!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): thank you Zoe and Web for hosting this
Pauline Clary: I'm reading a book that plays in 1920s Berlin atm
Zoe Foodiboo: Thank you for coming!
Sasa Steigerwald (SasaSteigerwald Resident): thank you
webspelunker Ghostraven: Our pleasure!
Gustav von Rosenheim (gustav2005 Resident): Thank you!
Saraphen Calliope (Saraphen Resident): I have to run...was interesting today :)
Eloise (EloiseSchiltzen Resident): .-'`'-. APPLAUSE APPLAUSE .-'`'-.
Pauline Clary: Thank you!
Zoe Foodiboo: You all should go to El D!
webspelunker Ghostraven: Thanks for having us!
Adele Kling: I enjoyed it. Hope to be prepared for the next one.
AlasAndAlack: Much thanks.
Augusta Carolina Maria v.Nassau (gardengirl Resident): This was so enjoyable!
Panny (Panny Bakerly): Danke.
Adele Kling: Bis Spater!
Zoe Foodiboo: Toodloo! Check our FB/G+ page for our next selection.
Vicksburg, Mississippi (est. 1825, pop. (2013) 23,542) • MS Delta
• 3-story, stone Second Italian Renaissance Revival style bldg. w/ hand-carved limestone & marble steps • designed by Louisiana-born Jewish-American architect, Leon C. Weiss (1882-1953) • sometimes mistakenly attributed to Vicksburg architect William Stanton (1840-1908) [photo], Confederate war vet & designer of the original (1887) B'nai B'rith Literary Stock Club at Cherry & Crawford Sts., which burned in 1915 • the present structure resembles Weiss's 1908 Elk's Club building (demolished, 1968) —MS Preservation
• Weiss became a partner at New Orleans architectural firm, Weiss, Dreyfus & Seiferth • political connections with Governor Huey "The Kingfish" Long resulted in a portfolio of public buildings that included Louisiana's skyscraper State Capitol • following his conviction in a 1940 trial which critics claimed was tainted by anti-semitism & "guilt by association," Weiss was imprisoned for fraudulent use of the US Mail • he went back to work after his 1952 release, died a year later
• this building served as a social club for Vicksburg's growing Jewish community, which had provided ~80 members by the 1890s • renowned from Memphis to New Orleans for its swimming pool, meeting rooms, ballroom & library • banquet hall could accommodate 500 guests
"The club and club house is known all over this part of the Mississippi valley as the center of the most lavish, yet refined, hospitality, while its cuisine under the direction of its accomplished caterers, past and present, is no less celebrated," —Picturesque Vicksburg, 1891
• with Vicksburg's Jewish population dwindling, the bldg. was sold to the City in 1967 • housed the Police Department for 35 yrs. • restored to by mayor Laurence Leyens, a descendant of an early Jewish Vicksburg family —Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South, Marcie Cohen Ferris, 2005
• now called B'nai B'rith Literary Club (aka BB Club) • houses Story Cook Favorites catering company which leases out the building's lavish rooms for various events
• Jews in Mississippi —Mississippi History Now
• The End of a Deep South Way of Life —BBC
• Anshe Chesed Cemetery —National Park Service
• As Numbers Fall, Jews Hope to Save Cemetery —Vicksburg Post
• designated Mississippi Landmark, 1988 • Uptown Vicksburg Historic District, National Register 93000850, 1993
Returning home from a lovely mini-vacation, re-reading one of my favourite serie for the hundred time 😋
Such a wonderful time seeing family y friends both old y new. 💞
And yes I always carry a towel... you never know when you may need it 😜
Looking forward to catching up with all of my amazingly beautiful friends 💞
Hope you all are having a wonderful relaxing weekend 😽 ~L
www.goodreads.com/book/show/6091075-so-long-and-thanks-fo...
"The Creature From Beyond Infinity" was the first novel published by Henry Kuttner, an author who was one of the half dozen or so pillars of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. It first saw the light of day in a 1940 issue of "Startling Stories" magazine under the title "A Million Years to Conquer," and finally in book form in the 1968 Popular Library paperback... Although that original title may perhaps be a more accurate descriptor, the pulpier "Creature" title gives a truer feel for what this book is: pulpy as can be!
In it, we meet Ardath, the sole survivor when his Kyrian spaceship crash-lands on Earth while our planet is still in the throes of its infancy. Ardath is instructed by his dying captain to repair the ship, put it into orbit around Earth, go into hibernation stasis for several aeons, and await the coming of genius mentalities on the new Earth. Ardath follows his captain's orders, sleeping for ages and awakening every million or so years to see what's cooking down below. Ultimately, he is able to collect four comparative geniuses from various periods of Earth's history, with the intention of creating a eugenically superior strain of man. From the dawn of prehistory he selects Thordred, a Conan-type usurper; Jansaiya, a priestess of Atlantis; Li Yang, a Chinese advisor to a Genghis Khan type; and Scipio, a Carthaginian revolutionary. I've always been a sucker for a story with two ongoing parallel plots, and Kuttner here gives us a doozy. On modern-day Earth (well, the Earth of 1941, anyway), Stephen Court, one of the foremost scientists in the world, fights desperately to counteract the Plague, a scourge from space that turns its victims into radioactive, life-sucking zombies. Naturally, these two plot strands eventually intertwine, and that's when things really start humming, in this exciting and clever little tale. [From a review at Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/223276.The_Creature_from_Beyo...
Manhattan, NY (settled 1624, pop. 16MM) • SoHo
• St. Denis Hotel (1853), designed by James Renwick (1818-1895) • named after its first proprietor, noted chess player Denis Julien (1806-1868) • owned by the Renwick family, gifted to them by relative, Henry Brevoort (1747-1841), successful farmer & prominent late 18thC. landowner • one of NYC's most fashionable hotels, 1853-1917 • 1st NYC bldg. w/exterior terra cotta ornamentation • billed as the most centrally located hotel in the city in what was then “the most fashionable part of Broadway”
Miller’s 1866 “Stranger’s Guide to the City of New York”: “It is architecturally one of the handsomest buildings on Broadway, occupying seventy-six feet on that thoroughfare, and one hundred and twenty on Eleventh Street. Besides parlors, reception-rooms, and reading-rooms, the St. Denis contains over one hundred and fifty well lighted and ventilated apartments. The hotel is… the frequent resort of wealthy and distinguished foreigners. The ‘up town’ location of the St. Denis is on the most fashionable part of Broadway.” —Daytonian in Manhattan
• on 1 JUL, 1913, "The NY Times" published an article lauding the St. Denis: “It was at the St. Denis that General [Ulysses S.] Grant began his famous memoirs. The General had some difficulty in getting a start, and to coach him, Mark Twain, whose company published the book, took a room at the hotel for more than three months.”
• the Grant/Twain story has persisted as part of St. Denis history despite an abundance of countervailing evidence found in, e.g., Mark Twain’s Autobiography & the Grant Foundation website • more in Grant’s Greatest Battle
• nevertheless, the hotel was patronized by countless other military officers, wealthy businessmen, entertainers, & politicians • celebrity guests included P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill, Sarah Bernhardt & Abraham & Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882)
• the First Lady, traveling alone, made frequent visits devoted to shopping sprees, incurring massive debt, which she concealed from the President • on On September 17, 1867, 2 yrs. a financially struggling widow out of the limelight, she checked in to the St. Denis as a “Mrs. Clarke,” on a secret mission to pay off her debt • plan was to find a discreet auction house & have "Mrs. Clarke's" clothing & jewelry quietly auctioned off • her assistant in making arrangements for the auction was her erstwhile White House seamstress & confidant, Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave [photos] who, upon Mary Lincoln's request, traveled to New York from her home in Washington
• prohibited from occupying a room near other hotel guests, Mrs. Keckley was given cramped quarters in the little used 5th floor attic, an example of Civil War era racial discrimination that prompted Mrs. Lincoln to demand that she, "Mrs. Clarke," be moved to an attic room adjacent to Lizzie's • later, when Mrs. Keckley was refused service in the hotel restaurant, she retired for the evening “without a mouthful to eat.”
“Come, Elizabeth, get up, I know you must be hungry. Dress yourself quickly and we will go out and get some breakfast. I was unable to sleep last night for thinking of you being forced to go to bed without anything to eat.
“I dressed myself as quickly as I could, and together we went out and took breakfast, at a restaurant on Broadway, some place between 609 and the St. Denis Hotel. I do not give the number, as I prefer leaving it to conjecture. Of one thing I am certain—the proprietor of the restaurant little dreamed who one of his guests was that morning.” —"Behind the Scenes”, by Elizabeth Keckley
• the auction was a failure, resulting in a humiliating national scandal
• following an 1873 fire, hotel leased by William Taylor, member of a family of hotel & saloon magnates (in the 19thC. “saloon” = fine dining establishment), e.g., the Taylor family's Saloon & International Hotel [illustration], considered among best dining establishments in the city, served 3,000 people most weekends • the Taylors had opened a restaurant in the St. Denis c.1863 [menu] & their Taylor’s Epicurean Palace was, by one account, “the most spacious and elegant restaurant in the world” • in 1875, under Taylor management, hotel was renovated & expanded w/a large new addition
Ad: Taylor's Restaurant.
Cor. Broadway and Eleventh Street,
NEW YORK.
EUROPEAN PLAN.
Rooms $1.00 per Day and Upward.
“During the past year, the St. Denis has been en-
larged by a new and handsome addition which
about doubles its capacity. All the latest improve-
ments have been placed in the new building, with
a large and very attractive new Restaurant con-
necting with the old one, to provide for the
increase of patronage.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, Proprietor.
• site of Alexander Graham Bell’s 1st public demonstration of the telephone in New York • attended by 200 guests, event took place 11 May, 1877 in the 2nd floor Gentlemen’s Parlor
• in the 20thC., amid changes in the surrounding neighborhood [photos], plans made to replace the aging St. Denis with a loft bldg. • hotel, sold at auction, Feb., 1920, escaped demolition • renovation stripped façade ornamentation, converted the structure to a mixed use store & office bldg., [photos] where numerous artists including Marcel Duchamp maintained their studios • received a coat of orange lacquer, 1927, described by owners as a “jazz touch”
• demolished 2019 [photo] to make way for a 10 story boutique office building • The Death and Life of a Great American Building
Photo notes: Eleanor Dark AO (26 August 1901 – 11 September 1985) was an Australian author whose novels included Prelude to Christopher (1934) and Return to Coolami (1936), both winners of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for literature, and her best known work The Timeless Land (1941).
Format: B&W photograph December 1947
Repository: Blue Mountains Library bmcc.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/default/
Part of: Local Studies Collection PF 1531
Provenance: Michael Dark
Links:
www.goodreads.com/book/show/536952.Storm_Of_Time
adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dark-eric-payten-12401
Vicksburg, Mississippi (est. 1825, pop. 23,542) • Facebook • MS Delta • The Town & the Battle —NY Times
Inscription:
John C. Pemberton
Lt. General C.S. Army
Commanding Department of
Miss. and East Lousianna
Cadet U.S. Military Academy 1833
2nd Lt. 4th Art. July First 1837
First Lt. Mar. Nineteenth 1842
Captain September Sixteenth 1850
Resigned April Twenty-Fourth 1861
Brig. Gen. C.S. Army June 17 1861
Major General February 13 1862
To Rank From Jan. Fourteenth 1862
Lt. General Oct. Thirteenth 1862
To Rank From October Tenth 1862
• Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton (1814-1881) • born in Philadelphia, PA • graduated 27th of 50 cadets in the U.S. Military Academy class of 1837 • fought in the Seminole Wars (1835-1842) • wounded & decorated for gallantry during the Mexican–American War (1846-1848)
• met & married Martha (Pattie) Thompson (1827-1907) of Norfolk, VA while in garrison at Ft. Monroe, 1848 • Patty owned a house slave, a gift from her father • she was a descendant of Elbridge Gerry, a signator of the Declaration of Independence, 5th Vice President of the U.S. & namesake of "gerrymandering," a manipulation of electoral district boundaries to gain political advantage
“To Pemberton's family a southern girl was a strange animal, and the visit to Martha's relatives, planned by his sister Anna, ‘was about like an excursion into darkest Africa.’” —Pemberton: Defender of Vicksburg, by John C Pemberton (the General’s grandson), 1942
• stationed in the South & married to a southern woman, Pemberton admired southern values & had long advocated states’ rights • at the outbreak of the American Civil War he was offered a colonelcy in the Union Army but, in concert with Pattie's wishes, Pemberton cast his lot with the Confederacy • appointed Lieutenant Colonel • rose to Lieutenant General —John C. Pemberton, by Michael B. Ballard
• in the spring of 1863, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant (once a slaveholder himself) launched the Union Army campaign to capture Vicksburg with a force that grew to 77,000 men • Pemberton, who had fought along side Grant in Mexico, commanded the 33,000-man Army of Vicksburg in defense of the city
"See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket... We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg." —President Abraham Lincoln
the Siege of Vicksburg was a decisive battle in the American Civil War, fought over a bid for independence by slaveholding states in the agricultural South • a Northern view of slavery —Quora • a British view of the Rebellion —History Today
• the Federals under Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman attacked 19 & 22 May • when repulsed with great loss, Grant decided to lay siege to the city, cutting off Confederate supply lines • Women Lived in Caves During the Siege of Vicksburg —Maggie MacLean
• the victory over Sherman aside, Pemberton, remained a "Yankee" in the eyes of many of his men, unable to restore their confidence in his leadership after their defeat at the Battle of Champion Hill:
"Today proved to the army and the country, the value of a General. Pemberton is either a traitor or the most incompetent officer in the Confederacy. Indecision, indecision, indecision ... Is he a traitor? Time will show. I cannot believe him such a villain. He is incompetent. Our soldiers and officers are determined not to be sold if they can possibly help it." —Cofederate Surgeon John A. Leavy, John Pemberton: The Wrong Man at the Wrong Place, Civil War Trust
• Pemberton's urgent requests for reinforcements were refused by Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who had earlier urged the outmanned & outgunned Pemberton to abandon Vicksburg in spite of orders from Richmond to hold it at any cost • Johnston's 24,000-man "Army of Relief" remained on the sidelines while half-starved Confederate soldiers & Vicksburg citizens suffered the privations of siege warfare for 47 days —Civil War Trust
Marker: Debate and Decision
From his headquarters in this grand mansion, Confederate General Pemberton followed the movement of enemy troops during the siege. He watched his men suffering from lack of food and the relentless Union bombardment. After nearly 7 weeks, he gathered his commanders together. Did they have the will to keep fighting? Debating late into the night of July 2, 1863, Pemberton made the difficult decision to surrender.
At 10 AM to-morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and the Garrison under my command, by marching out with my colors and arms, stacking them in front of my present lines, after which you will take possession.
General John Pemberton
July 3, 1863
• Pemberton surrendered his forces on July 4, 1863, American Independence Day • the Mississippi River was now in Union hands & once again open to the North's commercial traffic • Rashomon at Vicksburg —NY Times • The Unconditional Surrender Continues —HistoryNet
• the humiliating defeat exacerbated the cross-cultural antipathy toward Yankees that had pervaded the South for generations & would continue to do so well into the future • the devastated City of Vicksburg did not officially celebrate the nation's birthday again until 1944 (though unofficial celebrations were not uncommon)
• the victorious Union (U.S.) Army, which sealed the fate of both the Confederacy & slavery in America, was desegregated — in 1948 —How Liberals Invented Segregation by Nicholas Guyatt
• blamed by many Southerners for the loss of Vicksburg, Pemberton was again accused of incompetence & because he was a Northerner, labeled a traitor • he accepted a reduction in rank & continued to serve the Confederacy as a colonel
"This brave officer has suffered more from traducers than any other in the Southern Confederacy. He happened to have been born in a Northern State, and although he had married in Virginia, had reared his children as Southern people, had resided many years among us, and had rejected the offer of a large fortune to cast in his lot with the North, there were not wanting men ungenerous enough to impute his Northern birth to him as a crime, and to 'foretell' that upon the first opportunity he would prove a traitor to the cause he had espoused at so great a cost." —Richmond Times Dispatch, June, 1863
"He was accused of being a traitor to Vicksburg. He was not a traitor to Vicksburg. He was a loyal man fighting a losing battle." —V. Blaine Russell (1890-1980), historian & columnist, "Vicksburgesque," Vicksburg Evening Post
• despite his refusal to come to Vicksburg's aid, Johnston retained his command in the Confederacy • after the war he became friends w/Union Gen. Sherman, later serving as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral
• Pemberton requested a court of inquiry into his controversial role at Vicksburg, but was refused • he & Joe Johnston continued blaming each other for decades —Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg, by Andrea Warren
The Man Who Surrendered Vicksburg Dead —Harrisburg (PA) Patriot
• with negligible financial resources after the war, Pemberton worked a small farm in Warranton VA, a gift from his mother • returned to Philadelphia with his family, 1874 • after his death in 1881, Pattie moved to NYC where she lived at 226 W. 78th St. with their daughter, Patti Pemberton Berman (1850-1940) & grandson Leopold Clarence Berman (1882-1959) • Leopold legally changed his name to Pemberton Berman while a student at Yale (1899-1903) • became a prominent Wall Street broker & close friend of U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles
• the General, Pattie & 3 of their 7 children are buried in Philadelphia's Laurel Hill Cemetery • in 1961, the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy installed a bronze memorial at his grave site
• bronze statue cost $2,880, paid for by the Federal Govt. after neither his home state of Pennsylvania nor Mississippi, which he defended, were willing to provide the funds • sculpted 1917 by Edmund T. Quinn (1868-1929) • studied painting at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins & trained as a sculptor at the studio of Jean Antoine Injalbert, Paris
• Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg (1863) • the 47-day Union siege ended in the Confederate surrender of the city • victory here & at Port Hudson, LA, gave the Union control of the Mississippi River • park includes 1,325 historic monuments & markers, 20 miles (32 km) of Civil War era trenches & earthworks, 144 cannons & the USS Cairo, a restored gunboat... read on
• originally established in 1899 • 5th national military park under the control of the U.S. War Department • ownership transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior & the National Park Service, 1933 • 8th oldest National Park • Facebook
• Vicksburg's State Memorials • the military leaders of the Battle of Vicksburg [photos]
• National Register # 66000100, 1966
My contribution to the new craft special of 91Magazine, January 2014... a little Nordic pincushion pattern. x
Vicksburg, Mississippi est. 1825, pop. (2013) 23,542 • MS Delta
• Captain Louis Guion (1838-1920), Company D, 26th Regiment, Louisiana Volunteer Infantry • born in Lafourche Parish, LA • attended U. of Mississippi, & law school at U. of Virginia & U. of Louisiana (now Tulane) entered Confederate army in 1861 • postwar resumed law practice • was at various times a sugar planter, melter & refiner at the New Orleans Mint & Confederate Commisioner of Vicksburg National Military Park • considered an authority on Southern history [photo]
“During the dark Reconstruction days he stood staunchly shoulder to shoulder with those fearless ones who helped to keep the honor of the Southland unblemished, for he loved the land of his birth with the passionate devotion of a true patriot.” —Obituary, Confederate Veteran Magazine, March, 1920
Lewis Guion Log (Vicksburg, 1863)
“Friday [May] 22nd. Enemy commenced with Artillery & musketry at daylight The cannoning terrific about 11 A.M. About 12 N. the enemy commenced massing in our front & charged our position about 3 P.M. & came within 30 steps of parapet, but were repulsed with heavy loss. Regmt behaved finely, men mounted on top of parapets to receive the enemy. This charge was led by the 9th Iowa Regmt which lost 40 percent of men engaged. This Regmt (9th Iowa) left home with 1100 men & now number 145. (this is the statement made by Adj. of the regiment while they were burying their dead under a flag of truce) The forces were from 5 Regmts, Gen. Steele was slightly wounded. Neither Genl. led the charge, a number of the enemy remained near the trenches, where they could not be enfilied [sic], & left under the cover of night. They were engaged all night removing their dead & wounded & not fired upon by us. 6 Killed & 3 wounded today” —The Defense of Vicksburg: A Louisiana Chronicle
monument cost: $270 for bronze, $280 pedestal, paid for by daughter Mary Guion Boatner • sculpted, 1920, by Massachusetts sculptor Tho. A.R. Kitson, aka Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson (1871-1932) [bio]
• Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg (1863) • the 47-day Union siege ended in the Confederate surrender of the city. Victory here & at Port Hudson, LA, gave the Union control of the Mississippi River • park includes 1,325 historic monuments & markers, 20 miles (32 km) of Civil War era trenches & earthworks, 144 cannons & the USS Cairo, a restored gunboat... read on
• originally established in 1899 • 5th national military park under the control of the U.S. War Department • ownership transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior & the National Park Service, 1933 • 8th oldest National Park • Facebook
• the military leaders of the Battle of Vicksburg [photos]
• National Register # 66000100, 1966
Ridiculous as it sounds I feel personally 'invested' in Charles Finch's new novel, 'The Last Enchantments' as the novel, published yesterday, features a photo-montage of two of my photos. That old adage 'you shouldn't judge a book by its cover' always makes me nervous when I get a license request for such a use but I think the Designer at St Martins Press has done a wonderful job and I wish Charles the very best for his new novel.
For those intrigued by the book, you can read some reviews here : www.goodreads.com/book/show/17910101-the-last-enchantments
"Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds"
McLean Drive, Vancouver, BC - but could be almost anywhere in the "developed" world. In Cory Doctorow's new book "Pirate Cinema" the protagonist survives by dumpster diving and squatting. A useful guide for some no doubt.
This image got to #469 on Explore January 10, 2013
This type of low height dumpster is usually used for demolition waste. If the more normal 8' high dumpster had been used, there would not have been a picture.
Willcox, AZ, (1877, pop. 3,796) • Pinterest
• town founded 1877 as "Mahley's Camp" or just "Maley" • originally a tent city called Sour Dough Camp housing laborers, most Chinese, building the Southern Pacific Railroad • named for the owner of the right of way, James H. Mahley (b. c. 1850), who apparently changed the spelling of his name to "Maley" c. 1882, the year he moved to Dos Cabezas, AZ (now a ghost town)
• spelling issues arose again in 1880 when the town was erroneously renamed “Wilcox” (with one "L") in honor of two-L’d Union General Orlando B. Willcox (1823-1907), a vet of the Mexican-American & Civil Wars, then commanding the Department of Arizona • the missing “L” was added to the town’s name in 1889 —Willcox by Kathy Klump, Peta-Anne Tenney
• in the early 20th c., Willcox was the top cattle producer in the US
• in 1911, William Randolph Hearst offered a $50,000 prize to the 1st aviator to fly coast to coast in less than 30 days • Calbraith (Cal) Perry Rodgers was the winner, piloting the Vin Fiz Flyer on the 1st transcontinental U.S. flight ever • en route, he landed at Willcox on Haloween, Tues.,Oct. 31st, 1911 [poster] • The Tale of the Vin Fiz —Wright Brothers • The Epic Flight of the Vin Fiz Flyer —Aerofiles • How a Grape Soda Powered the First Transcontinental Aeroplane Trip —Atlantic
• birthplace of 50s cowboy singer and actor Rex Allen (1920-1999) • known as "The Arizona Cowboy" [photo] • narrated over a hundred Disney movies & TV shows • wrote & recorded many songs, starred in several Westerns during the early 1950s & in the syndicated television series Frontier Doctor (1958–1959) [promo] • Willcox also among the locations of syndicated series 26 Men (1957–1959)
• Railroad Avenue Historic District, National Register # 87000751, 1987
“Bleak House” opens in the twilight of foggy London, where fog grips the city most densely in the Court of Chancery. The obscure case of “Jarndyce and Jarndyce,” in which an inheritance is gradually devoured by legal costs, the romance of Esther Summerson and the secrets of her origin, the sleuthing of Detective Inspector Bucket and the fate of Jo the crossing-sweeper, these are some of the lives Dickens invokes to portray London society, rich and poor, as no other novelist has done. “Bleak House,” in its atmosphere, symbolism and magnificent bleak comedy, is often regarded as the best of Dickens. A “great Victorian novel,” it is so inventive in its competing plots and styles that it eludes interpretation.
This book is the first thing I've ever won in a goodreads giveaway! Usually the idea behind the giveaways is they send you a free copy in exchange for an honest review on the site. I've only just started but it is so far a pretty funny book of personal essays.
Still working on the same annoying order at work, but yin afterwards left me feeling much more chill & happy. Came home and made tomato soup with tortellini, and a little BLT with leftover tempeh bacon from the cookoff. Jeff & I watched a couple episodes of Bojack Horseman, cleaned the kitchen, and suddenly it was almost bedtime? Why does this keep happening?
52/365.
Kachinas are spirit beings in western Pueblo religious beliefs, often represented through masks and dolls, as shown here. This snapshot is from a wonderful book by Barton Wright entitled ‘Kachinas: A Hopi Artist's Documentary’, which Adam got for me in a recent trip to New Mexico. I devoured it from cover to cover — and it’s given me a vision for my next art project: an interactive Kachina World with animatronics dolls. Each of the kachinas depicted in these pictures could be characters in that interactive play, dancing to the music and giving you inspiration about the spirits they represent. It was so nice of Adam to give me this marvelous book — he immediately thought of me and thought I should have it. :)
Learn more about Kachinas:
Learn more about the Kachinas book:
www.goodreads.com/book/show/1966616.Kachinas
View photos of our related Wonderbots experiment:
A fabulous new craft book featuring a project from my dear friend Kirsty Anderson of Wooden Tree, reviewed on my blog today. x
Vicksburg, Mississippi (est. 1825, pop. 23,542) • Facebook • MS Delta • The Town & the Battle —NY Times
• aka Pemberton House, Mrs. Willis's House • 2-story Greek Revival brick residence • double-tiered portico added later • built by wealthy businessman William Bobb (1802-1871) • newly widowed Martha Patience Vick Willis (1796-1856) purchased the house in 1823, moved in w/son John • Mrs. Willis was the niece of Vicksburg founder, Newit Vick
• bldg. served as one of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton's two Vicksburg headquarters during the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, a decisive battle in the American Civil War (1861-1865), fought over a bid for independence by slaveholding states in the agricultural South • the North’s attitude toward slavery —Quora
• by the 1860s, the Mississippi River had become crucial to the U.S. economy • to strangle northern commercial interests, Confederate forces closed the waterway to navigation • the blockade was enforced at Vicksburg, called the "Gibraltar of the West" because of it's strategic location on bluffs overlooking the river —National Park Service
"See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket... We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg." —President Abraham Lincoln
• in the spring of 1863, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, a former slaveholder, launched the Union Army campaign to capture Vicksburg, with a force that grew to 77,000 men
• Confederate Gen. Pemberton, a Northerner (Pennsylvania) who had fought along side Grant in Mexico, commanded the 33,000-man Army of Vicksburg in defense of the city
• the Federals under Gen. Wm. Tecumseh Sherman attacked 19 & 22 May • when repulsed with great loss, Grant decided to lay siege to the city
• Pemberton's urgent requests for reinforcements were refused by Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston • had earlier urged the outmanned & outgunned Pemberton to abandon Vicksburg in spite of his orders to hold it at any cost • Johnston's 24,000-man "Army of Relief" remained on the sidelines while half-starved Confederate soldiers & Vicksburg citizens suffered the privations of siege warfare for 47 days —Civil War Trust
Marker:
Debate and Decision
From his headquarters in this grand mansion, Confederate General Pemberton followed the movement of enemy troops during the siege. He watched his men suffering from lack of food and the relentless Union bombardment. After nearly 7 weeks, he gathered his commanders together. Did they have the will to keep fighting? Debating late into the night of July 2, 1863, Pemberton made the difficult decision to surrender.
At 10 AM to-morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and the Garrison under my command, by marching out with my colors and arms, stacking them in front of my present lines, after which you will take possession.
General John Pemberton
July 3, 1863
• Pemberton surrendered his forces on July 4, 1863, American Independence Day • the Mississippi River was now in Union hands & once again open to the North's commercial traffic • Rashomon at Vicksburg —NY Times • The Unconditional Surrender Continues —HistoryNet
• the humiliating defeat exacerbated the cross-cultural antipathy toward Yankees that had pervaded the South for generations & would continue to do so well into the future • the devastated City of Vicksburg did not officially celebrate the nation's birthday again until 1944 (though unofficial celebrations were not uncommon)
• the victorious Union (U.S.) Army, which sealed the fate of both the Confederacy & slavery in America, was desegregated — in 1948 —How Liberals Invented Segregation by Nicholas Guyatt
• blamed by many Southerners for the loss of Vicksburg, Pemberton was accused of incompetence & because he was a Northerner, labeled a traitor • he accepted a reduction in rank & continued to serve the Confederacy as a colonel
"This brave officer has suffered more from traducers than any other in the Southern Confederacy. He happened to have been born in a Northern State, and although he had married in Virginia, had reared his children as Southern people, had resided many years among us, and had rejected the offer of a large fortune to cast in his lot with the North, there were not wanting men ungenerous enough to impute his Northern birth to him as a crime, and to 'foretell' that upon the first opportunity he would prove a traitor to the cause he had espoused at so great a cost." —Richmond Times Dispatch, June, 1863
"He was accused of being a traitor to Vicksburg. He was not a traitor to Vicksburg. He was a loyal man fighting a losing battle." —V. Blaine Russell (1890-1980), historian & columnist, "Vicksburgesque," Vicksburg Evening Post
• despite his refusal to come to Vicksburg's aid, Johnston retained his command in the Confederacy • after the war he became friends w/Union Gen. Sherman, later serving as an honorary pallbearer at his funeral
• Pemberton requested a court of inquiry into his controversial role at Vicksburg, but was refused • he & Joe Johnston continued blaming each other for decades —Under Siege!: Three Children at the Civil War Battle for Vicksburg, by Andrea Warren
• the house was purchased in 1890 by Mary Frances Harris Cowan (1849-1914), whose husband, Confederate Lt. Ludwell Blackstone Cowan (1828-1892) is said to have participated in the building of the electric spark underwater torpedo (naval mine) • on 12 Dec, 1862 it sank the USS Cairo, the first US warship ever destroyed by this type of weapon
• the building later housed Sisters of Mercy Catholic boarding school St. Anthony's Hall, then a tour home/B&B • acquired by the National Park Service as part of the Vickburg National Military Park, August, 2003
• Pemberton's Headquarters —National Park Service • Historic Structure Report —National Park Service
• HABS: MS-266 (1972) • National Register 70000319, 1970 • Uptown Vicksburg Historic District, National Register 93000850, 1993 • designated National Historic Landmark, 1976
"People come, people go – they’ll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past." - Nicholas Sparks,
#TheRescue
#Goodreads
Philadelphia, PA, est. 1682; pop. 1,567,442 (metro 6MM)
• built in 1740 • earliest known photograph is dated 1859 — bldg. was then 119 yrs. old [photo] • Georgian-Colonial trinity aka "bandbox" design • typically, trinity houses had 1 room per floor & were built facing each other in rows of 4 identical bldgs. • in addition to the room on each floor, this house had a walkable attic room & a cellar
• served as both business & residence for shopkeepers & artisans for over 150 yrs. • among the occupants in the 18th c. were a shoemaker, apothecary & an upholsterer named Betsy Ross, who is said to have sewn the first American flag in this building • estimates of when & how long she lived here have her arriving in 1773 at the earliest & departing as late as 1791
• over time the house changed in appearance [photos] as neighborhood houses were razed & replaced w/larger commercial buildings —Where's Betsy
Betsy Ross
• Elizabeth "Betsy" Griscom (1752-1836) was a fourth-generation American • daughter of Samuel Griscom (1717-1793) & Rebecca James (c. 1730-1793) • the 8th of their 17 children • great granddaughter of Andrew Griscom (c. 1654-1694), a Quaker carpenter who migrated from England to New Jersey in 1680, 1 yr. before William Penn founded Philadelphia
"She often laughed at the curious fact that she was born on the first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first day of the year, and the first year of the 'new style' [which was] the dividing line between the old way of measuring the years time and the new method under the [Gregorian calendar… She was also] the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter." —C.B. Satterthwaite, great grandson, The Des Moines Register, 07 Jan, 1906
• at age 3 Betsy's family moved to a large home at 4th & Arch Sts. • went to a Friends (Quaker) public school • 8 of her siblings died before adulthood • lost her mother, father & sister, Deborah, to the 1793 yellow fever epidemic
• upon completion of her schooling at age 12, her father apprenticed her to upholsterer John Webster • fell in love with fellow apprentice John Ross (1752-1773), son of an Episcopal asst. rector at Christ Church • defying her parents, in 1773 Betsy, age 21, eloped w/John
• Betsy's sister Sarah & her husband Capt. Wm. Donaldson rowed the couple across the Delaware River, heading 5 miles downstream to Gloucestertown, NJ • they were married at family friend William Hugg Jr.'s tavern & inn, known locally as Hugg's …more: The New Jersey Hugg Line
• because her marriage to a non-Quaker was considered an act of "disorderly and undutiful conduct," Betsy was split from her family & read out of meeting, i.e., disowned by her Quaker community • became a member of Christ Church • the Ross's pew No. 12 [photo] was adjacent to Martha & George Washington's No. 56 & not far from Deborah & Benjamin Franklin's No. 70
• the newlyweds — now trained upholsterers — opened their own business • c. 1773 they rented a house, probably at what is today 239 Arch St. although the exact site is still debated by historians • most records point to this house or one next door at No. 241, long since razed
"The identity of the location was always preserved in the family, which agrees with the records in the old Philadelphia directories… from 1785, the first published, to the removal of Betsy Ross and her husband from 239 Arch Street, in 1791" —Betsy Ross grandson George Canby, New York Times, 05 July, 1908
• Benjamin Franklin & Benjamin Chew were among the Rosses' customers • business slowed during the Revolutionary War as fabric was in short supply • John Ross joined the Pennsylvania militia • mid-Jan., 1776, he was gravely wounded by a powder explosion at a Delaware River ammunition cache, apparently while standing guard • Betsy nursed him in their home, but he died within days
• in June, 1777, Betsy married girlhood suitor Joseph Ashburn, a privateer who commanded the sailing sloop Swallow • the couple had 2 daughters • the 1st, Aucilla ("Zillah"), died in infancy
• British troops entered Philadelphia on 26 Sep., 1777 after their victory at the Battle of Brandywine • the Ashburn home was forcibly shared with British occupation soldiers as the Continental Army suffered through the killing winter at Valley Forge • the British soldiers nicknamed Betsy "Little Rebel" —US History•org
• Betsy was pregnant with Elizabeth ("Eliza") when Joseph accepted a job offer & shipped out as first mate on the 6-gun brigantine, Patty • returned to be present for the Feb., 1781 birth of their 2nd daughter
• Joseph became master of the 18-gun Lion & took her to sea late in the summer of 1781 • on 31 Aug., his ship was captured off the coast of France by a 44-gun British frigate, the HMS Prudente
• prior to March, 1782, the British refused to designate captured rebels as prisoners of war, thus the captives from the Lion were viewed as traitors, charged with high treason & committed to Plymouth, England's Mill Prison [images] • while incarcerated, Ashburn met fellow prisoner John Claypoole, a longtime friend of the Ross family
• Claypoole, a Continental Army vet, had been wounded at Germantown & consequently discharged • in 1781 he signed on to man the 18-gun Pennsylvania privateer Chevalier de la Luzerne & was captured in April • in the spring of 1782 Ashburn died in prison, leaving Betsy a 2-time war widow at age 30 —Betsy Ross and the Making of America
"In the Night of the 3d of March Mr Joseph Ashburn departed this life after an illness of about a week which he bore with amazing fortitude & resignation" —John Claypoole, Mill Prison
"The story goes that Ashburn, while in Mill Prison, often talked with John Claypoole about his wife, Betty*, and at his death sent farewell messages by him to her. Claypoole, on his arrival in Philadelphia, hastened to deliver these messages, and inside of eight months he married her." —John Claypoole's Memorandum-Book *Betsy is referred to as "Betty" in some 18th, 19th & early 20th c. books & media
• in 1782 Claypoole returned to Philadelphia, called on Betsy & married her the following year • gave up his seafaring career to join her at the Arch St. upholstery shop • though renamed "John Claypoole, upholsterer," to customers the shop remained Betsy's place • the couple had 5 daughters: Clarissa, Susanna, Rachel, Jane & Harriet, who died at 9 months • sometime after Susanna's birth in 1786, the Claypooles moved from Arch St. to a larger house on 2nd
• Betsy returned to her Quaker roots, albeit with the Free (Fighting) Quakers, a group exiled from the main Quaker community when their support for the Revolution was ruled a violation of the faith's peace testimony • the couple became members c. 1785 • image: Betsy Claypoole signature taken from the Meeting House roster
• it is widely believed that when the Free Quaker Meeting House shut down in 1834, it was its last attending members — Elizabeth Claypoole & Samuel Wetherill — who closed the doors
• in 1817, after a long illness, John Claypoole died • Betsy never remarried • after retiring, she moved to the home of her daughter, Susanna • she died on 30 Jan, 1836, age 84
The American Flags
"Flags were a rare sight on land in the British North American colonies," —Wooden Teachout, Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism
• American flags were seldom used in parades or displayed by private citizens • colors were flown mainly in battle, over government institutions & on ships, where they were essential to identifying other vessels & determining friend or foe
• this changed after America's 1876 Centennial Exposition, which explains why "flags made prior to the Civil War are extremely rare, and flags made before 1820 are practically nonexistent." —Jeff R. Bridgeman, Stars and Stripes, Early American Life, Aug. 2011
• with the onset of the Revolutionary War, a flag for the "United Colonies" was created without the sanction of the Continental Congress • this 1775 flag was known as the Continental Colors, aka Grand Union, Congress Flag, Cambridge Flag
• on 2 Dec., 1775, the 1st Continental Colors flag was hand sewn by milliner Margaret Manny, who had begun making flags & ensigns the previous year
"Everyone knows about Betsy Ross, why do we know nothing about Margaret Manny? Probably for no better reason than that she had fewer articulate friends and relatives to build a story around her." —historian Barbara Tuchman, The First Salute
• the Continental Colors had 13 alternating red & white stripes with the British Union crosses in the canton • was created to replace the use of individual colony flags • prior to the Declaration of Independence, it was probably the most used unofficial flag of the revolution • American Flag Timeline
• the inclusion of the British Jack in the design signals that this flag was intended not for a civil war of secession, but rather a crusade to secure the American colonists' rights as Englishman • prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Gen. George Washington, still hoping for reconciliation with Mother England, would occasionally toast the King —The Forgotten Flag of the American Revolution and What It Means
• on 3 Dec, 1775, the new flag was raised by 1st Lt. John Paul Jones (1747-1792) on the 30-gun Continental Navy frigate USS Alfred [painting], the 1st national ensign to fly on an American fighting vessel —Naval History Blog
• the flag later flew over the signing of the Declaration of Independence & according to tradition (contested by some scholars), it was raised on a ship's mast atop Charlestown's Prospect Hill [painting] during Washington's 1 Jan., 1776 siege of Boston
• spotting the hybrid British/American flag for the first time, confused British observers took it as a signal of submission: “By this time, I presume, they begin to think it strange that we have not made a formal surrender of our lines,” Washington wrote • his psychological weaponry also included an early form of war propaganda
• absent a single government-mandated flag design, a variety of others were used • within a yr. after Prospect hill, the Continental Colors' Union Jack was replaced by a blue field w/13 white stars in various arrangements, e.g., rows, or possibly a circle?
• on 14 June, 1777, now celebrated as Flag Day, the American Flag was born by resolution of the Continental Congress, the country’s 1st flag law • during the Revolutionary period that followed, the stars on most American flags were arranged in rows of 4-5-4 with the number of points on most stars ranging from 4 to 8 • compared to the Continental Colors, the rows of stars made it easier to identify the flag/ship/nationality at sea —The 13 Stars & Stripes
The Story
• about a year before the Flag Resolution of 1777 Betsy Ross, 5-months a widow & struggling to make a ends meet, is said to have received a visit from a Continental Congress flag committee (apparently a secret one as there are no records of its existence)
• according to the well known Betsy Ross story, in late May of 1776 (but possibly 1777) 3 heroes of the revolution — George Ross, the uncle of Betsy's late husband, financier/slave trader Robert Morris & Betsy's pew neighbor Gen. George Washington [portraits] — called on her to discuss a flag for the new nation
• Rachel Fletcher (Betsy's daughter) recalled that "…she was previously well acquainted with Washington, and that he had often been in her house in friendly visits, as well as on business. That she had embroidered ruffles for his shirt bosoms and cuffs, and that it was partly owing to his friendship for her that she was chosen to make the flag." —Rachel's affidavit
• as told by Betsy, Gen. Washington, then head of the Continental Army, showed her a rough design of a flag with 6-pointed stars • she offered suggestions for modifications & stated a preference for 5-pointed stars • when her visitors expressed concern over the difficulty of producing them, she replied, "Nothing easier," which she then proved by cutting a 5-pointed star in a single snip • video: Make a perfect star with ONE cut! (1:15) • Two Conundrums Concerning the Betsy Ross Five-Pointed Star
• changes approved, Washington redrew the flag w/a pencil • Betsy's friend & collaborator William Barrett, a Cherry St. ornamental painter created a water color copy of the drawing for her to work from • 1-2 other seamstresses sewed alternate designs for the committee, but only Betsy's was approved & used
• what is known today as the "Betsy Ross flag" has 13 red & white stripes & a ring of 13, white 5-pointed stars • though the design may have been in use by 1777, vexillologists believe that between 1777-1795, (the yrs. the official flag had 13 stars) most flags displayed stars in rows, which are easier to produce than a circle
• None of the surviving flags from the 18th century exhibit the Betsy Ross pattern • however a few examples are depicted in the art of the era (although period art is notoriously unreliable for flag research)
• the flag depicted in Chas. Willson Peale's 1779 George Washington at the Battle of Princeton is generally considered credible & "may be the only evidence in a painting… that suggests that a circle-pattern flag may have existed in colonial times… Otherwise, you won't see an American flag with a perfect circle of stars made before the 1890s." —Jeff R. Bridgeman, loc. cit.13 Stars in the Betsy Ross Pattern • historically significant the American flags [images]
• though known as an upholsterer, there is no doubt that Betsy made flags, having sewn pennants & ensigns for the Pennsylvania State Navy Board (as did Margaret Manning & Rebecca Young, whose daughter Mary Pickersgill would go on to sew the enormous flag that inspired the U.S. National Anthem, Francis Scott Key's The Star-Spangled Banner)
• a month before Congress passed the Flag Resolution, Betsy was paid 14 pounds, 12 shillings, 2 pence (~$2,300 in 2017 USD) for what must have been a prodigious quantity of Pennsylvania Navy flags • there is no hard evidence that any of these were American flags • "...today we are reasonably convinced that Betsy’s flag was a naval flag, with a simple ‘in line’ arrangement of the stars…" —John B. Harker, Historian & Betsy Ross descendent
• Betsy (Elizabeth Claypool) was now in the business of producing flags & ensigns for the federal govt. • throughout the Jefferson & Madison admins. the skilled needlewoman made flags as large as 18' x 24' for American military installations, with demand peaking during the War of 1812
• for the rest of her life she — in her words — "never knew what it was to want employment" • her oldest daughter, Clarissa Sidney Wilson (1785-1864) [portrait], succeeded her, supplying arsenals, navy yards & the mercantile marine with flags for years —Betsy Ross•org
"In the last years of her life, Ross was neither more nor less important than other aging women who had lived through the Revolution. That she became famous while others were forgotten exposes the interlocking power of family history, local memory, and national politics." —How Betsy Ross Became Famous by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Historian
The Legend
"…at a time of great historic import such as that time when the Declaration was signed, people have no leisure to think about the minor events which are taking place. Thus, during the revolution no one thought of Betsy Ross as a national heroine, and it was not, in fact until 1870 that William J. Canby (1825-1890) first brought the story of how the first flag was made into general prominence." —Dr. Lloyd Balderston, great-grandson of Betsy Ross, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 Jul, 1908
• there is no record of the the Betsy Ross story prior to 1870 • that year — 34 years after her death — Betsy's 45 yr. old grandson, a title processor named William Jackson Canby, presented a paper titled The History of the Flag of the United States to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania • the document, accompanied by sworn affidavits, was an oral history passed on by descendants of Betsy Ross, including Canby himself who was 11 yrs. old when she died • …more: The Evolution of the American Flag by (Betsy Ross descendants) George Canby (1829-1907), Lloyd Balderston, Ph.D (1863-1933)
• the story was largely ignored until it was mentioned in historian George Henry Preble's 1872 book Our Flag & appeared in the July, 1873 Harper's Monthly [illustration] • with Civil War wounds slowly healing & the 1876 centennial celebration fast approaching, Betsy Ross & the flag entered American consciousness • in the 1880's her story began to appear in textbooks • by the mid 1890s it was often illustrated by an engraving of The Birth of Our Nation’s Flag, an 1893 painting by Charles H. Weisgerber (1856-1932)
• oral tradition has it that in 1892 Weisgerber, a 36 yr. old aspiring artist, was bent on winning a forthcoming art competition • walking along Arch St., he noticed a plaque at No. 239 which identified the bldg. as the site where Betsy Ross sewed the 1st American flag
• inspired, Weisgerber envisioned a scene of Betsy & the 1st flag set in her shop • to fill in details of the story, characters & setting, he drew on period portraits, the testimony of living descendants & the 22 yr. old Canby paper
• with no authentic image of Betsy in existence (according to her relatives), Weisgerber painted a composite taken from images of 4 of her daughters & a granddaughter who was said to closely resemble her • the resulting portrait was critiqued by relatives who had known her & modified accordingly • Weisgerber then created a massive 9' x 12' painting • portrayed the young Widow Ross, saintly matriarch of a new nation, as she presents the 1st American flag to 3 revered American patriarchs
• "the image was [said] …by Mrs. Ross' grandson, George Canby, to be the only correct likeness of [her]" — he was 7 yrs. old when Betsy Ross died —The Times (Philadelphia) 15 Jun 1893
• the flag depicted in the painting — with no evidence to support the authenticity of its design — has since been known as the "Betsy Ross flag," the standard for celebrating the U.S.A.'s birthday each 4th of July
The Apotheosis
• Weisgerber's painting won the $1,000 prize & in 1893 was showcased in the Pennsylvania Building at Chicago’s Columbian Exposition • seen by millions of visitors • contributed to the nascent reverence for Betsy Ross & the flag as sacred symbols of the emerging, quasi-religious American civil religion • politicians, patriotic societies & public sentiment propelled the flag's transformation into an object of veneration, its role expanding well beyond the customary military & govt. functions
On Flag Day, 1894, the Colonial Dames gathered 500 schoolchildren to honor “the adoption by Congress . . . of the flag made by Betsy Ross from the design submitted to her by Gen. Washington” • by 1895, 10 states had laws requiring public schools to display the flag on all school days — Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, loc. cit.
• in 1897 the City of New York bought thousands of lithographs of Weisgerber’s painting for its public schools: “It is thought that the representation which is declared historically correct, together with such lectures as the teachers may deliver, will add much to the pupil’s knowledge and keep alive a proper reverence for the country’s emblem.” —New York Times, 14 Feb, 1897
• in 1885, NYC school principal George T. Balch (1821-1908), a vet. of the Indian & Civil Wars, wrote Salute to the Flag, the U.S.A.'s first pledge of allegiance
"I give my hand and my heart to my country — one nation, one language, one flag."
• the heightened patriotism of the era inspired a movement to organize schoolyard flag raising ceremonies • the American Flag Assn. was founded in 1897 for the "fostering of public sentiment in favor of honoring the flag in our country and preserving it from desecration" • Natl. Flag Day was proclaimed in 1917
• Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), who worked in the premium dept. of The Youth's Companion magazine, wrote a new U.S. Pledge of Allegiance (1892) for his employer • created as part of the magazine's campaign to sell American flags to public schools • goal was a flag in every classroom • 25,000 schools acquired flags the 1st yr. • though priced "at cost," banner sales proved profitable
• Bellamy also choreographed a salute — the "Bellamy Salute" — to accompany the pledge • because of its similarity to the Nazi heil it was replaced by a right-hand-over-heart gesture during World War II • another Youth's Companion employee, James Upham, headed a flag-centric project designed to engage public schools in the commemoration of the U.S.A.'s 1st Columbus Day (Oct. 1892)
The Verdict
• for nearly a century-and-a-half, historians have debated the available evidence in an attempt to prove that Betsy Ross either did or did not produce the 1st American flag: "There’s no good historical evidence that she did. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t. There’s simply a lack of documentation. Most historians believe the story is apocryphal." —Marc Leepson, author of Flag: An American Biography, The Truth About Betsy Ross
• the identity of the woman who sewed America's 1st flag may never be certain, but there is good reason to believe that its designer may have been Francis Hopkinson (1737-1791) • the NJ representative to the Continental Congress & signer of the Declaration of Independence is the only person entered into the Congressional record for designing the 1st American flag
• it has been speculated that on 14 June, 1777, it was Hopkinson who replaced the British crosses in the Continental Colors with white stars on a blue field • no original sketch of a Hopkinson flag exists, but surviving rough sketches including his design for the Great Seal of the U.S. incorporate elements of 2 of his flag designs —Wikipedia
On 25 May, 1780, Hopkinson wrote to the Continental Board, requesting "a Quarter Cask of the public Wine" as payment for several itemized "patriotic designs" he had completed, most notably, "the flag of the United States of America" • submitted another bill on 24 June for "drawings and devices," including "the Naval Flag of the United States"
• the Treasury Board rejected his request for payment because he "was not the only person consulted on those exhibitions of Fancy" & furthermore was not entitled to compensation as he was already on the government payroll —Did Francis Hopkinson Design Two Flags?, Earl P. Williams, Jr.
• Hopkinson is also considered America's 1st poet-composer • written at age 21, his song My Days have been so Wondrous Free (1759) is regarded as the earliest surviving American secular composition [listen] —UPen•edu
Saving Betsy's House
• by 1859, 239 Arch St. was occupied by the family of German immigrant (Carl) Philip Mund (1822-1883), who operated a tailor's shop on the 1st floor • the landlord, after collecting rent for the first year, never returned • over the succeeding rent-free decades, the Munds operated a variety of businesses in their retail space
• after Canby's 1870 speech identified the location of Betsy Ross's house as Arch between 2nd & 3rd, the Munds — occupants of the block's last standing colonial house — posted a sign: "First Flag of the US Made in this House" • in 1876, as visitors poured into the city for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the Munds ran an ad for their latest 1st floor business: "Original Flag House, Lager, Wine and Liquors. This is the house where the first United States flag was made by Mrs. John Ross." —Historic Philadelphia
• after Philip Mund died his wife Amelia, who objected to running a saloon, converted the space into a cigar store & candy shop which operated until 1892 — her son Charles then devoted the space to a museum/souvenir shop [photo] —The Betsy Ross House Facts, Myths, and Pictures by G.A. Anderson
• c. 1897 citizens led by Charles Weisgerber organized the American Flag Soc. & Betsy Ross Memorial Assn. • goal was to rescue the house from imminent demolition • intended to purchase it from Charles Mund, restore it to its 18th-c. appearance, preserve the memory of Betsy Ross & honor the American flag
• to raise the funds for purchasing the Betsy Ross "American Flag House," the Association devised a rudimentary multi-level marketing strategy • sold lifetime memberships for 10 cents • each member was encouraged to recruit others & form a group of 30; each group founder received a chromolithographograph of Weisgerber's painting • over 2 million monochrome certificates were sold at ten cents each • the colorful chromoliths were available at addl. cost (frame not included) —Enjoying Philadelphia
• the Association leased the house in 1898, purchased it in 1903 • Weisgerber & his family moved in • lived upstairs, kept the museum & a souvenir shop on the 1st floor • in 1902 they named their newborn son Charles Vexil Domus, Latin for "flag house" [photo] • he would later replace his parents as custodian of the house —G.A. Anderson, loc. cit.
• by 1936 the house was on the verge of ruin • in 1937 Philadelphia Mayor Davis Wilson proposed a restoration by WPA workers • this provoked "a storm of protest" from critics
• Pennsylvania Historical Soc. members wrote off the Betsy Ross story as "hokum" and "the bunk" • the protests from scholars & historians sparked an unwinnable faith vs. reason culture war with patriotic organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution & the Patriotic Order Sons of America
• amid the controversy, Philadelphia radio manufacturer & philanthropist A. Atwater Kent (1873-1949) offered to pay up to $25K for the restoration • Historical architect, Richardson Brognard Okie (1875-1945) won the commission
• the design for the restoration was derived from evidence & conjecture • goal was to return the bldg. to its c. 1777 appearance • surviving architectural elements were preserved when possible • materials salvaged from demolished colonial era homes were also used • in 1941, the Association gave the property to the city • the house now stands as one of Philadelphia's most popular tourist attractions
Postscript
• in 1929 Hugg's tavern, where Betsy Griscom defied family & church to marry John Ross, was demolished to make way for the Proprietor's Park swimming pool, which no longer exists • the Revolutionary War-era Hugg-Harrison-Glover House (1764), built on property owned by the Hugg family as early as 1683, was razed in the face of fervent opposition, March, 2017 —Facebook
• 178 yrs. after Betsy's wedding & just 5 blocks from where Hugg's once stood, another American legend was born at the Twin Bar [photo] when Bill Haley (and the Saddlemen) performed there in the early 1950s [poster] • in 1952 Haley's band laid down a cover of Rock the Joint [listen], an historic 1949 recording by Jimmy Preston & His Prestonians [listen] • each of these recordings has been cited as a candidate for the title of first rock 'n' roll song • Gloucester City thus became one of several U.S. sites that claims the title "Cradle of Rock 'n Roll"
Charles H. Weisgerber died in 1932 • his magnum opus, The Birth of the American Flag lay rolled up & hidden away in a barn loft & later in the back of a South Jersey dye-making workshop • his grandson Stuart (son of Vexil Domus) found it — still rolled up — in his mother's basement • its poor condition precluded exhibition: in the 50s, hanging in the old State Museum at Harrisburg, it had been vandalized, then incurred additional damage from repeated unrolling
• Weisgerber sought a Philadelphia home for the massive work but was unsuccessful • after a $40K restoration in 2002 the painting, it's appraised market value just $50K, returned to the State Museum at Harrisburg
• in 1976 the remains of Betsy Ross & 3rd husband John Claypoole were moved from Mount Moriah cemetery, Yeadon, PA, to the garden on the west side of the Betsy Ross House courtyard