As I’ve said before, I used to do curatorial work at a Lincoln/Civil War museum. The collection was large and had a lot of first-rate material, including a substantial amount of archival matter. At the same time, though, it had a small staff, and if you work at a small museum you wear a lot of [...]
Archive for March, 2009
Surprise! I’m here to see your archives!
Posted in Uncategorized on March 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Hearing Lincoln
Posted in Abraham Lincoln, History and Memory, tagged Abraham Lincoln on March 26, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Here’s one of my historical pet peeves. The next time you’re watching a movie or documentary about Lincoln, pay attention to the reconstruction of his speaking voice. Filmmakers and producers rarely get this right.
If you read accounts by people who knew Lincoln, you’ll find that the one word used more than any other to describe his voice is ”shrill.” [...]
A look behind the banner
Posted in American Revolution, Colonial America, History and Memory, Tennessee History, tagged East Tennessee, Lloyd Branson, Revolutionary War, Sycamore Shoals on March 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Ah, the banner—that nifty picture strip that runs along the top of so many sites and blogs with a dash of personalized flair. Maybe you’ve been wondering where I got mine. If you guessed that it’s from Lloyd Branson’s painting Gathering of the Overmountain Men at Sycamore Shoals, 1780, now in the fabulous Tennessee State Museum, then give yourself a [...]
Piedmont history on the battlefield’s doorstep
Posted in American Revolution, Colonial America, Museums and Historic Sites, tagged American Revolution, Guilford Courthouse, Revolutionary War, Tannenbaum Historic Park on March 22, 2009 | 4 Comments »
My string of Guilford Courthouse-related posts is finally coming to a close, with this last historic site review from my jaunt over to North Carolina. The final site in this batch is Tannenbaum Historic Park in Greensboro, managed by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, which is just a stone’s throw away.
Two centuries [...]
A battlefield you shouldn’t miss
Posted in American Revolution, Museums and Historic Sites, tagged Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Guilford Courthouse on March 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »
My apologies to those of you who are sick of hearing me talk about the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, but I’m afraid you’ll have to indulge me a little more.
As I said in my last post, I’m going to start offering some informal reviews of historic sites and museums that I visit. I made Guilford the centerpiece of my trip to [...]
Pay a visit to Old Salem Museums & Gardens
Posted in Colonial America, Museums and Historic Sites, tagged Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Old Salem Museums & Gardens on March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of my favorite things to do is visit museums and historic sites, and I might as well make good use of it. So from now on, when I get back from one of my historical excursions, I’ll be posting an informal (but hopefully informed) analysis of the sites I visit, from the perspective of [...]
Remembering the Revolution in Maryland
Posted in American Revolution, History and Memory, tagged American Revolution, Charles Carroll, John Eager Howard, Maryland, Revolutionary War on March 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A lively discussion about Maryland’s state stong bounced around the historical blogosphere a few weeks ago. I think Kevin Levin initiated the discussion, and then Richard G. Williams weighed in here and here.
At the time, I only knew a few snippets of “Maryland, My Maryland,” although I was aware that it was originally a Confederate hymn of defiance. So when I read the [...]
Making sense of Guilford Courthouse
Posted in American Revolution, Historiography, Museums and Historic Sites, tagged Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 13, 2009 | 4 Comments »
I’ve mentioned before how thrilled I was to learn about a new book called Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, by Lawrence Babits and Joshua Howard. We’ve long needed a full-scale treatment of this battle, and I can’t think of anyone better suited to co-write it than Babits, whose earlier book on the [...]
Facing historical figures
Posted in Historiography, History and Memory on March 8, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I think my favorite living historian is David Hackett Fischer. His books are wide-ranging, exhaustively researched, intelligently argued, and beautifully written. He’s a tremendous inspiration to me, and his work has provided me with many instructive lessons on the craft of history.
One of those lessons involves how to approach historical figures. The temptation, of course, [...]
Let me recommend American History Now
Posted in History on the Web on March 5, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I logged on tonight to find a very kind comment from Jim Cullen, a teacher and author who blogs at American History Now. I wasn’t familiar with his site, but I’m going to follow it eagerly from now on. It’s got that mix of scholarly insight and distinctive personality that makes historical blogging so interesting.
