ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE:
(Today through July 16th)
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1. NEW article: Why Independence Day Should Be in August: Hold Those Fireworks!
2. NEW article: The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier: Second Year, Last Issue (Vol. 2, No. 6, dated May 27, 1963).
3. CNC's Fine Arts Center Update (with recent photos by A.J. Jelonek and a live stream link).
4. Seldom Known Facts about Our Pledge of Allegiance: Part 2.
5. The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier: Second Year, Issue 5, Pages 3 - 6 (Vol. 2, No. 5, dated May 1, 1963).
6. NEW humor: The Elderly Lady and the Young Bank Teller.
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I think what's important is to base one's convictions on compassion for others and an ambitious sense of the possible, to commit to achieving ambitious goals, to plan carefully, to think and write clearly, to work hard, to learn constantly, and to progress always with integrity and sensitivity.
Wendy Kopp
Founder, Teach for America
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Why are kindergarten teachers so optimistic?
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Why Independence Day Should Be
in August:
Hold Those Fireworks!
by A. Jane Chambers
Every July the Fourth we Americans celebrate Independence Day, the legal separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain in 1776. However, much of what we think we know about its history is actually wrong, including the date.
The Famous Painting
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Above is a photograph of the very famous, and monumental (12-foot x 18-foot), oil on canvas painting by American artist John Trumbull titled Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson encouraged Trumbull to paint it. Because Trumbell wanted to depict accurately not only the room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall where the Second Continental Congress had met, but also as many of the 56 founders of our nation as he could, it took him 33 years of research, carriage travel to the 13 states, and individual portrait paintings to complete the work, which was placed in the United States Capitol's rotunda in 1826.
As realistic as Trumbull's painting is (Jefferson declared the depictions of the men "admirable likenesses") it is not completely accurate, however. In his Revolutionary War book titled 1776, published in 2005, famous American historian David McCullough wrote of the painting, "No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia." The painting shows 42 of the 56 delegates (Trumbull found it too difficult to show all 56) and includes several who participated in the congressional debate but never signed the document.
Trumbull also depicted all 42 men being in the same room at the same time, which never happened, as McCullough wrote. Trumbull's painting has too often been wrongly interpreted as depicting the signing of the Declaration. In fact, it depicts another event entirely: presentation of the draft of the Declaration to the Congress, which happened on June 28, 1776--not July the 4th. The draft was then debated for several days, with various changes being made, before the final version of the document was written and signed.
The Proposal of Independence
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The above detail from Trumbull's painting shows the Committee of Five: the five delegates appointed on June 11 to draft and present to the full Congress what would become our Declaration of Independence. The men and the Colonies they represented were (L-R) John Adams (Mass.), later 2nd Pres.; Roger Sherman (Conn.); Robert R. Livingston (NY); Thomas Jefferson (Va.), later 3rd Pres.; and Benjamin Franklin (Penn.). Jefferson agreed to write the document they would create.
The first person to advocate American independence from Great Britain was English born American Thomas Paine, who encouraged the common people to fight for their own government in Common Sense, a 49-page pamphlet first published anonymously on January 10, 1776. On May 15, 1776, in Williamsburg, the Virginia Convention passed a resolution instructing Virginia's delegates in the Continental Congress to propose that Congress "declare the United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain."
As instructed during the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee proposed this resolution to Congress in June, and John Adams seconded it. It was named The Lee Resolution, sometimes called "The Resolution for Independence." The Committee of Five was chosen then to work on an Independence document in case the Lee Resolution passed. On July 2nd the Second Continental Congress voted to approve The Lee Resolution. The news was announced that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day, July 3rd, in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
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The Date to Celebrate
John Adams felt that July 2nd was the day the new nation should celebrate annually, writing the next day (July 3rd) to his wife Abigail: "The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America ... it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival." So strongly did Adams believe July 2nd was the correct date for celebration that for years he refused to attend July 4th events.
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The Congress met again on July 4th, to formally adopt the final version of the Declaration that Jefferson had penned--with that date on it. Contrary to the belief of many Americans, the Declaration was not signed by all 56 members on that date however. In fact, only two of the founding fathers signed it on July 4th: John Hancock and Charles Thompson, the group's secretary. Early printed copies of it with just these signatures were quickly distributed to military officers and political committees. Later, Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all declared that they too had signed it on July 4th. But most historians have concluded that our Declaration was signed by most of the other founding fathers on an engrossed copy on August 2, 1776, with Hamilton signing a second time. Some delegates signed the document even later.
P.S.: Did you know that both Adams and Jefferson died on July 4, 1826--the 50th anniversary of the adoption of (but not signing of) the Declaration of Independence?
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SOURCES: Primarily personal knowledge, general knowledge,
and generous use of Wikipedia.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published July 3, 2020.
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The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier :
Second Year, Final Issue
(Vol. 2 , No. 6, dated May 27, 1963)
by A. Jane Chambers
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| Posing on the staircase in Trible Library during their 50th Reunion at CNU are (L-R) Row 1: Patty Lottinville, Doris McCauley Smith, Ernie Bretana, Nancy Staton Thomas & Joyce Gold Conner; Row 2: Orvin Melson, Pat Baldwin, Ellen Rankin Lasher, Claude Stanley & Pat Garrow. |
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The first 50th Reunion at Christopher Newport, honoring the Class of 1963 (photo above), might never have happened had there been no Volume 2, No. 6 (May 27, 1963) issue of Chris's Crier. The records of all of CNC's earliest students had been lost, possibly when Smith Hall was razed. Further, the 1963 commencement program was one of several 1960s and early 1970s programs missing in our campus's library. Professor Barry Wood had names of some of the 1961-63 students in his old grade books, but minimal contact information about them. CNU's Alumni Association had only two names of 1963 degree recipients, but one of those graduates was deceased.
Fortunately, in 2007, six years before this first 50th Reunion was scheduled (May 20, 2013), I had found and copied for my research all 9 of the 11 issues of Chris's Crier housed then in the Archives of the Captain John Smith Library. As valuable as the entire collection was, most valuable of all was this final issue. The names of the class members recorded there, plus the students' plans for academic year 1963-64, were subsequently printed on page 36 of Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, 1961-1971, published in early December, 2008 (see below).
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Finding this class of 1963 information in that issue stimulated me to begin a very long search (still continuing) for CNC's First Decade students (whom I've dubbed "First Decaders"). Therefore, by 2013, I had many names, along with contact details, of the 1963 class members. CNU provided a first-class Golden Celebration for the attendees at no charge--a wonderful, memorable two-day event. The Friday dinner was attended by 11 former students, 4 of their former professors (Georgia Hunter, Graham Pillow, Jim Windsor, and Barry Wood), 15 CNU officials (including President and Mrs. Trible), and over a dozen other guests. Class members who also attended the following morning's 2013 CNU commencement were again treated royally--provided a continental breakfast, dressed in academic gowns, given souvenir academic stoles, seated close to the stage, and applauded by the audience of thousands.
Despite its limitations and faults--including hand-written headlines, amateur art work, unnumbered pages, and at times illegible typing--our first student newspaper, Chris's Crier, deserves a place of honor in the history of Christopher Newport.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published July 3, 2020.
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CNC's Fine Arts Center Update
by A. Jane Chambers
with recent photos by alumnus A. J. Jelonek
and a YouTube link to a live stream
of the building's construction
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| The two artistic renderings and map used in this article were provided to CNU by Glave & Holmes Architecture and are used here courtesy of CNU. All other photos are courtesy of A.J. Jelonek. |
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CNU alumnus A. J. Jelonek ('15) took advantage of the Covid-19 lockdown to drive down in late April from the DC area to CNU, where he took some pictures of the construction of the Fine Arts Center being built adjacent to Ferguson Center. He has shared these photos with us, plus a You Tube link to a live stream of the construction.
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The above first picture taken by A.J. shows the right end of the front of the Ferguson--Fine Arts complex, which faces Warwick Boulevard. Compare this photo with the artist's depiction (top photo) of this same scene. When construction of the Fine Arts Center is completed, the colonnade in front of Ferguson Center will then be extended all the way to the area of the glass domes--hiding the brick part of the art center visible in A.J.'s photo. Notice also, behind the metal skeletons of the domes, one end of the main part of the 3-story Arts Center.
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This photo and the next are closer shots of the 4-story high domes and the 3-story building behind them. This first close-up shows also much of Trible library with its two domes and, behind it, the larger gold dome atop the second Christopher Newport Hall. This second close-up, below, shows the side entrance to Trible Library and, beyond it, the rear entrance to Christopher Newport Hall. Visible also on the left is an orange metal workman's platform attached to a crane.
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The front of the Fine arts Center faces the campus. Below is an artistic rendering of that front, showing various entrances and the walled-in service area. The large white entrance in front of the domes has a twin facing Warwick Blvd., as shown in the first artistic depiction here.
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The photograph below by A.J. shows on the left the point where the large white entrance facing the campus will be. Apparently it and its twin facing Warwick will be entrances into the stacked domes. Visible also is a corner of the Fine Arts Center.
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This last photo shows much of the front of the building. It also shows, again, on the left, the framing for the campus-facing entrance into the domes . To the far left are visible an orange crane and one (possibly two) workmen.
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Finally, to orient you more fully to the Fine Arts Center project, here is a map showing the complete building, in dark brown, and its campus surroundings. The building replaces the parking lot behind Pope Chapel; however, two new parking areas will be created around the large green space between Ferguson Center and Warwick Blvd.
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TO WATCH CONSTRUCTION LIVE:
Click the You Tube link below--day or night, 24/7. Construction is on schedule and expected to be completed by the end of this summer.
https://youtu.be/QOHeq_C9hEs
MORE INFORMATION about the new Fine Arts Center and the over fifty years relationship between Christopher Newport and the Peninsula Fine Arts Center is in the article The New and the Old Shared Homes of CNC/U and PFAC, published on this website on July 21, 2017. To access that article, open the tab Website Archives on the website's HOME, then open the sub tab Your News and scroll down about 1/4th its length. There are almost 90 articles in this sub tab; the one on CNC/U and PFAC is currently (June 19, 2020) the 23rd article. As time passes it will soon be the 24th, then the 25th, etc.
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ANDREW ADRIAN (A.J.) JELONEK is the Venue Coordinator at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. A native of Leesburg, VA, A.J. received his B.A. in Theater from CNU in 2015, with a minor in dance. At CNU, he appeared onstage in various theater productions, was a brother of Alpha Psi Omega, the national theater honors society, and served as the president of Initiative Student Theatre and the secretary of the Film Club. Maybe one day he will also be performing at the Kennedy Center.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published June 19, 2020.
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Seldom Known Facts about
Our Pledge of Allegiance:
Part 2
Revised June 2020
by A. Jane Chambers
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| This 1917 painting by American artist Edward Percy Moran depicts Betsy Ross presenting the 1776 American flag to General George Washington (in boots). |
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There was no pledge of allegiance to our flag or nation in any form until well over a century after Betsy Ross made the first flag in 1776. Then, as the 19th century neared its end, two pledges of allegiance for school children to recite were written within five years. In 1887, Civil War veteran Captain George T. Balch, auditor of the New York City Board of Education, wrote the first one:
"We give our heads and hearts to God and our country;
one country, one language, one flag!"
In 1892, in Boston, Baptist minister and Christian Socialist Francis J. Bellamy, writing for a popular children's magazine, penned the second one, meant primarily to be used in a nation-wide Columbus Day celebration:
" I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands,
one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
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Historical and Current Events Affecting the Pledges
George Balch (1828- 1894) served in the Union Army during our nation's Civil War (1861- 64), whereas Francis Bellamy (1855- 1931) was then just a young schoolboy. However, no doubt this devastating war, often pitting brothers against brothers, and bringing our young nation to the edge of total destruction as a nation, was an event very real to both men when they were writing their respective pledges. Both were also highly educated, with degrees from West Point (Balch) and the University of Rochester (Bellamy); therefore both undoubtedly also knew well our nation's earliest history, including the meaning of the Great Seal.
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Used since 1782 to authenticate documents of our federal government, the Great Seal ( photo above) has as its theme the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM ("from many, one," or "out of many, one"). It is echoed visually in the 13 stripes, 13 stars, and 13 arrows--all reminders of the Revolutionary War, our first flag, and the 13 colonies ("the many") that united to form "the one" nation: appropriately named the United States of America.
The Civil War had shattered that unity. In the latter part of the 19th century, it was being restored--but slowly. Balch's pledge called America "one country"; Bellamy's called it "one nation, indivisible"--stressing more fully the unity of it. Though it had been divided, as predicted in Lincoln's "House divided" speech, Bellamy implied that it was again and must continue to be a united nation.
In addition to America's early and then recent history, a major current event also motivated the authors of these two pledges. When Balch wrote his pledge, 1887, there were 38 states in our nation; five years later, when Bellamy wrote his, there were 44 states. The "many" making the "one" was rapidly growing and changing--not only the number of states, but the makeup of the nation's citizenry, adding an additional meaning to the motto E Pluribus Unum. In Colonial times, immigrants to "the New World" were primarily English-speaking Protestants from the United Kingdom. In the latter 19th century, immigrants were largely from a variety of European nations and were predominantly Roman Catholic. America was quickly becoming "the Melting Pot."
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The photo above, taken in New York City in 1890, shows a classroom of Italian children reciting the Balch pledge. Because Balch worked for the city's Board of Education, his 1887 pledge was immediately required in all public schools in the city. The motivation behind requiring all American children--especially immigrant children--to recite the pledge daily was to assure their loyalty to our nation, whether or not it was their native land.
By the opening years of the 20th century the two different pledges had been adopted by various adult organizations as well as school systems, but the Balch pledge steadily lost ground to the more popular Bellamy pledge. For example, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) adopted the Balch pledge in 1906, but switched to the Bellamy pledge in 1915.
History of the Bellamy Pledge from 1923 to 1943
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By the early 1920s the Bellamy pledge was essentially the pledge, although not yet officially adopted by Congress. The chart to the right summarizes changes to the pledge, only one of which was made by Bellamy, who died in 1931. He added only one word ("to"), for balanced syntax. In June of 1923, the first National Flag Conference was held in Washington, D.C. to draw up rules for civilian flag use. During that year, and the following one, the words "the Flag of the United States" and then "of America" were added, primarily to assure the loyalty of immigrants.
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| Chart from Wikipedia |
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Two decades later, during World War 2, four major events occurred in the pledge's history, all in the early 1940s. On June 22, 1942 Bellamy's pledge was formally adopted by Congress as the flag pledge; on December 22, 1942, the Bellamy salute (see Part 1 of this article), which had become in Germany the Nazi Party salute, was removed from the pledge and replaced by the hand over heart gesture. In 1945 the official name The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted by Congress.
In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Some states--Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont and Wyoming--have never required that the pledge be recited in schools. Also, as of 2007, there are no pledge laws or statutes listed for Oregon, Nebraska, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico.
1954: The Addition of "Under God"
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Two decades later, during World War 2, four major events occurred in the pledge's history, all in the early 1940s. On June 22, 1942 Bellamy's pledge was formally adopted by Congress as the flag pledge; on December 22, 1942, the Bellamy salute (see Part 1 of this article), which had become in Germany the Nazi Party salute, was removed from the pledge and replaced by the hand over heart gesture. In 1945 the official name The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted by Congress.
In 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Some states--Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont and Wyoming--have never required that the pledge be recited in schools. Also, as of 2007, there are no pledge laws or statutes listed for Oregon, Nebraska, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico.
1954: The Addition of "Under God"
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Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, a strong supporter of our Founders' belief in Separation of Church and State, did not include God in his patriotic pledge. The first person to propose changing that was Louis A. Bowman, chaplain of the Illinois Society of Sons of the American Revolution, who argued in 1948 that because President Lincoln used "under God" in his Gettysburg Address, it should be added to the Pledge. The DAR gave him an award. In 1952, the Catholic fraternal service organization the Knights of Columbus officially added "under God" after "one nation" to its recitation of the Pledge and urged Congress to make this change official. Several Congressional attempts to do so failed (Wikipedia).
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| Minister George MacPherson Docherty (L) and President Eisenhower (bowing) on Feb. 7, 1954, at the New York Ave. Presbyterian Church. |
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| On February 7, 1954, President Eisenhower, recently baptized a Presbyterian, honored President Abraham Lincoln's birthday by attending Lincoln's church, the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. Sitting in Lincoln's pew, Eisenhower was deeply moved by the sermon delivered by pastor George MacPherson Docherty, which was based on the Gettysburg Address. Docherty argued that "under God" should be included in the Pledge because that was what defined our nation and set us apart. The two men (photo left) had a conversation after the service, and the next day Representative Charles Oakman (R-Mich.) introduced such a Pledge bill in Congress and it passed (Wikipedia).
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On Flag Day, June 14, 1954, Eisenhower signed the bill and the controversial phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. The Cold War provided the impetus for addition of this phrase. At that time in our nation's history, many of our citizens wanted to emphasize the difference between a "godly" nation (the U.S.A.) and an "ungodly" one (the USSR--i.e., Russia). Even before the addition of "under God," federal government requirement or promotion of the Pledge of Allegiance resulted in criticism and legal challenges on various grounds, only one of which has been mentioned here (Separation of Church and State). The history of our Pledge of Allegiance might not yet be finished.
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SOURCES: Personal knowledge, general knowledge, internet photographs, and Wikipedia.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published first August 23, 2019
Revised and republished June 19, 2020
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The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier :
Second Year, Issue 5,
Pages 3 - 6 of 6
(dated May 1, 1963).
by A. Jane Chambers
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Above are the 1964 Trident portraits of CNC's second Student Government Association (SGA) officers, elected April 24, 1963, to serve during the 1963-64 academic year: Jay Dunn, President (left), Guy Futrell, VP (top right), Michele Miller, Secretary (mid right), and Janie McHugh, Treasurer (bottom right).
This fifth issue of Chris's Crier is the longest issue of the nine that we have of the eleven written, which is why we have published it here, with comments, in two parts. As in almost all issues of Chris's Crier, the pages aren't numbered and readers aren't always told that a given article is continued on another page, or given the correct page numbers. Errors like these sometimes cause confusion. On page 3, for example, the editorial "The Perspective of Responsibility" seems to end at the top of the second column. But on page 6, we discover another full column of that article and also learn its author's name, which should have followed the title on page 3.
Despite such errors, issue 5 of Volume 2, like all issues of this fledging student newspaper, is a valuable source of information about the earliest years of CNC's history. The major topic covered in this issue is the SGA--specifically CNC's first SGA, headed by student Jim Cornette, who wrote the spirited "Responsibility" editorial (pp. 3 & 6) and also the "Student Government Calendar of Events" (pp. 4 & 6), detailing 27 actions taken by the first SGA during CNC's second year, 1962 - 63. If you read nothing else in this issue, please take a few minutes to read that impressive list.
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The first SGA initiated virtually every campus activity--from athletics (e.g., organizing and sponsoring bowling and basketball leagues and a softball team) to socials (including a Christmas party, a Spring Fashion Show, and a Museum Picnic). It created an annual Miss CNC contest (photo right), started the Circle K Club, visited area high schools to talk about CNC, painted and decorated the Student Lounge, and even sent personal Christmas cards to faculty and administrators. The SGA also conducted elections for the next year's SGA officers and Honor Council members.
This issue of Chris's Crier provided information used in my article "The First Student Organizations" in the book Memories of Christopher College, the First Decade (p. 88 f.). Several articles about the early years of the SGA that are on our website are also indebted to this issue and other Crier issues. To see these, open the website tab ARCHIVES and then the sub tab FIRST DECADE HISTORY. Scroll way down almost to the bottom.
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| SGA President Jim Cornette crowns Charlotte Anderson as the first Miss CNC during the 1962 Christmas party. Watching are contestants (from left) Virginia Carey and Lorena Elder. |
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
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Published June 19, 2020.
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THE ELDERLY LADY AND THE YOUNG BANK TELLER
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The Elderly Lady
and
the Young Bank Teller
by A. Non
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An elderly lady handed her bank card to a female bank teller and said, “I would like to withdraw $500.”
When the young woman told her, “For withdrawals less than $5,000, please use the ATM,” the elderly customer asked, "Why?"
The teller irritably told her, “These are the rules. Please leave if there is no other matter. There are other customers waiting behind you.” She then returned the card to the lady, who stood silent for a moment, but then returned the card to the teller and said, “Please help me withdraw all the money I have.”
The young woman was astonished when she checked the customer's account balance, which was $3.5 million dollars. She nodded her head, leaned down and said to her, “My apologies, M'am, but our bank does not hold so much cash currently. Could you make an appointment to see our manager and come again tomorrow?"
The lady then asked, “How much am I able to withdraw now?”
The teller replied, “Any amount up to $300,000.”
The elderly woman then told her that she wanted to withdraw $300,000. It took some time for the young teller to complete this transaction, but she did so without complaint, then handed the cash to her customer respectfully.
The elderly lady put $500 in her purse, handed the rest back to the teller, and asked her politely to deposit the balance of $299,500 back into her account.
MORAL:
Don't be rude to the elderly. They can easily outwit the young, the disrespectful, and the dumb.
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ANSWER: Because every day they try to make the little things count.
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Dr. Jane Chambers, Editor and Head Writer
Ron Lowder Sr., Webmaster
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Donations to our Treasury are gratefully accepted. Make out checks to CNC First Decaders. Mail them to Sonny Short, FD Treasurer, 12738 Daybreak Circle, Newport News, VA 23602.
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Please don't hesitate to send us an email with a comment...we LOVE to hear from you!
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