I grew up in a working-class family in Chicago with parents who firmly supported higher education for their children but lacked the financial resources to pay for our college educations. Fortunately, in the 1950s I won a competitive four-year progressive scholarship to Mundelein College, a small, private, independent Roman Catholic women’s liberal arts college on Chicago's North Side with a very good reputation (photo right). The scholarship covered my tuition as long as I maintained a 2.5 average on a 3.0 scale, took a 15-hour load each semester, and completed the BA degree in four years.All other expenses were up to me.
Mundelein was founded and administered by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and named for Cardinal George Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago. The 14-story building ("the Skyscraper"), was completed and opened in 1930. In 1991, Mundelein became an affiliated college of Loyola University.
Thanks to my parents, I lived at home, commuting to Mundelein via bus and the El, toting the lunch my mother packed for me. It was a good hour’s trip each way, but you can do a lot of French homework on a bus, once you get used to it. To earn money for books, clothes, and any other incidentals, several of my college friends and I were lucky enough to get summer jobs at one of the warehouses that Sears Roebuck had scattered around the city.
Chicago's Loop in the 1950s.
The company headquarters was in Chicago (Sears Tower, etc.) and it had a large retail presence in the Chicago area. Its warehouses received goods in bulk from manufacturers, processed them, and redistributed them to the branch stores. The warehouse I worked in received and processed women’s clothing. The facility was divided into the offices (air-conditioned with places to sit) and “the floor” (definitely not air-conditioned and also chair less) where we college students spent most of our time with the non-office permanent workers. Large boxes filled with, for example, a particular women’s dress were unloaded from the huge semis which arrived daily. We unpacked the boxes, hung the dresses on hangers, tagged them with price tags, sorted and divided them to be sent to the branch stores, and prepared them for shipping.
Since we were temporary workers, we could be assigned to do any or all of the processing duties. Also because we were temporary, one or another of us would be assigned to take the place of an office worker who went on vacation or who was sick. Over the four summers I spent there, I did all the chores on “the floor,” and most of the jobs in the office. I was especially picked to work at the receiving desk, making sure the metal seal on the truck was intact before it could be unloaded and then processing all the bills of lading. It was a very busy (read hectic) few hours first thing in the morning, because several other departments had little to do until I processed the appropriate paperwork. I also worked in most of the other offices, including Auditing, where I spent the day entering tiny numbers in tinier spaces; I preferred the truck seals and bills of lading.
Photo of Theodora (Teddy) taken for her graduation from Mundelein College.
Overall, it was a very good experience; the work was physically taxing but not difficult, and I met some wonderful people. Everyone was helpful, generally friendly, and welcoming. My friends and I enjoyed going back each summer. At the end of my fourth summer, the personnel director surprised me by inviting me to join Sears’ management training program. I turned down the offer, as I had already been awarded a fellowship to attend graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And the rest became ... my own history.
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Dr. Bostick taught at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining the History faculty at Christopher Newport College in 1970. Since retiring as Professor Emerita from Christopher Newport University in 2006, she remains very active with CNU's Lifelong Learning Society.
Our English wordChristmas is named after Jesus Christ (Christ + mass), but our word Easter comes from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and springtime. Wikipedia gives as proof of this origin an Anglo-Saxon era treatise written in Medieval Latin by the Roman Catholic monk Bede in the year 725, The Reckoning of Time.
Bede, a major early English historian, wrote that "Ēosturmōnaþ" (Old English, Easter month) "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month" (i.e., April). "Theirs" means the early pagan Anglo-Saxons in England. Whereas the Roman Church called Easter by the Latin Pascha (from the Greek "Passover"), Bede noted that many English in his time were still calling the Paschal season "by her (Ēostre's) name, calling the joys of the new rite (Christian festival) by the time-honoured name of the old (pagan) observance."
The picture above right, dated 1884, is by a famous German illustrator of books and magazines, Johannes Gehrts (1855-1921). The ink drawing is titled Ostara, which is Old High German for Ēostre.The Anglo-Saxons who invaded and settled England were descended from ancient Germanic tribes, so their traditions go back to that time.
Easter Bunnies
The Easter Bunny who greets children at stores like Wal-Mart and puts goodies in their Easter baskets the night before Easter is spring's equivalent of Santa Claus and is no more connected with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ than Santa is connected with the Nativity. However, rabbits and their cousins, hares, have been major fertility symbols since before recorded history because of their outstanding reproductive ability. In the drawing above, notice that a rabbit, or hare, is running close to the heels of the goddess. This animal appears in numerous depictions of her. Wikipediaquotes German author Jacob Grimm stating in his Deutsche Mythologie("German Mythology," 1835) that "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara" (English, Eostre)--an association repeated by other authors but never proven.
The Easter Bunny tradition originated in Germany in the 17th century and was brought to America by German Lutheran immigrants. According to Wikipedia, Germany's "Easter Hare" judged children's behavior at the beginning of the Easter season (like Santa at Christmas), sometimes wore clothes, and delivered baskets containing colored hard-boiled eggs, candy, and sometimes toys to children's homes the night before Easter. The baskets represented bird nests and were lined with grass or other soft material.
Easter Eggs
Eggs have symbolized birth, fertility, and renewed life for countless ages. In ancient times they were believed to ensure the fertility of crops, animals, and humans. They also represented rebirth of the natural world in spring. Wikipedia tells us that 60,000-years-old "decorated, engraved ostrich eggs" have been found in Africa, and that in the "pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth ... and kingship." Therefore, "decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago."
Once they became Christians, the people of Mesopotamia saw the egg as representing the empty tomb of Jesus. Therefore, as Wikipedia records, they stained their Easter eggs with red coloring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion." The egg shown left above, with the Christian cross, is from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery. The egg shown right above is Ukrainian, with the Paschal greeting "Christ is Risen!" on it. This custom of the Easter egg as a symbol of the Resurrection spread from Mesopotamia into the Orthodox Church and later into Europe through the Roman Catholic and then Protestant Churches.
The Date of Easter
At the First Council Nicaea (year 325), the Church of Rome established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring equinox, so the date varies from year to year. Whatever the date is in any given year, is it not interesting that Easter is always connected with that First Day of Spring, when for thousands of years, ancient (or pagan) religions have celebrated the resurrection of nature and, in many cases, the return also of various deities--some of whom were believed to have died (as does nature, in winter) and then been born again in spring.
My wife and I were again fortunate to be able to take a cruise last month. It was great to get away from the day-to-day routine and relax! The ship was the Anthem of the Seas. Great cruise...great time...highly recommended!
Below are copies of a few pages of the daily "CRUISE COMPASS" and a copy of an evening menu.
The downside of a cruise is the return to reality when it is over. Cooking, cleaning, trips to the grocery store, etc. resume at an unexpected expediency. But in the end, the getaway is a pleasant escape...at least for a few days!
Working Our Way through College:
Introduction
by A. Jane Chambers
A New Feature about and by
CNC's Early Alumni and Faculty,
edited by A. Jane Chambers.
In her essay " Making History: The Genesis of a Department," in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, Dr. Teddy Bostick, CNC professor emerita of history (photo right) recalled that "the College and I were a good fit. I was delighted, and remained so, to teach at CNC, in part because I could identify with the students ... Like many of them, I had a working class background and was one of the first in my extended family to attend college. I had commuted to school, lived at home, and worked to supplement my scholarship money" (p.51).I expect that many early CNC alumni and faculty can identify with the above passage.
Dr. Bostick at the Civil War battleground in Antietam, MD. Memories book, p. 50.
In its earliest decades, no CNC students lived on the college's campus; the first dormitory, Santoro Hall, was not built until the fourth decade. Most students also had working class backgrounds, with parents employed at the very large shipyard in Newport News or stationed at one of the various military bases in Hampton Roads. Many students were the first in their families to attend college, and the majority of them, especially in the first and second decades, worked their way through CNC in part or completely while attending classes and/or having full time summer jobs. Dr. Bostick's experience not only echoes that of a great many CNC students, but also that of some of the school's early professors and administrators--including Jim Windsor and me.
Young Marine Jim Windsor in Korea.
Born in 1932 in a coal-mining town in West Virginia, Jim Windsor did not want to live like his father, who died at middle age in a coal-mining accident. In his "Oral History," dictated to his grandson Jay Windsor, then-retired CNC President Dr. James Clayton Windsor recalled “When I graduated from high school three friends and I decided to join the Marines ... to see the world and save money for college. It was in June, 1950, about five years after the end of World War II, so it was a time of peace and we did not anticipate that we would be involved in a war" (quoted in my website essay "Marine Sergeant James C. Windsor in the Korean War").
Three weeks after teenager Jim enlisted, North Korea attacked South Korea, beginning the Korean War. Young Jim was then in Basic Training at Parris Island, SC, "in the summer months so it was very hot, frequently 90-100 degrees. The island was covered with sand fleas [with] a hurtful bite which left a red bump which itched." But the fleas were "good preparation for the swarms of large black mosquitoes which populated Korea," where he was stationed "for almost one year, beginning in September, 1951" ("Marine Sergeant"). He left Korea a matured man with a Purple Heart, a citation and medal for extraordinary valor, and a very clear knowledge of the brevity of human life. He also left with sufficient funds to begin his academic studies at The College of William and Mary.
Like Dr. Windsor, many early CNC students, and some faculty, were military veterans. Some also served in combat, mainly in Vietnam; luckier ones served in times of peace. Also like Jim, their military service helped them "work their way" financially into and through CNC and, sometimes, other colleges or universities as well.
Beginning in February, three of us CNC First Decaders will begin this new website feature by sharing with you readers our memories of "Working Our Way through College"--with a hope that our stories will encourage you to share yours. The above logos represent places where we worked. In the 1950's I worked four consecutive summers in four different jobs in three states, beginning with a pre-college job at a Ford dealership in Charlotte, NC, my hometown. In the 1960s, CNC student Charles G. Snead worked two summers at Dy-Dee Diapers on the Virginia Peninsula. Also in the 1960s, young Teddy Bostick worked three summers in a large Sears warehouse in Chicago, the hometown of Sears.
If you too worked your way through college, please contact usvia an email address below. We want to hear--and share in future months, on this website--your memories of your work--when, where, and what you did and what you particularly liked and/or disliked about it. You'll hear back from us soon, by phone if possible. We especially hope to hear from CNC First and early Second Decade students, but we welcome also the accounts of CNC faculty of those early years.
If you or someone you know attended, taught at, coached at, or was a staff member or an administrator at Christopher Newport at some time between 1961 (CNC's opening year) and the late 1980's, Trible Library's newest website, CHRIS, is a resource you probably will want to explore ASAP--and perhaps often. Why? Because almost all CNC publications from the 1960s through the early 1990s are available there, except the catalogs, and those plus later publications will be uploaded until all CNC and CNU publications from the 1990s up to the present are also there.
Much of your CNC history is probably on this website--individual and group photos of you, your professors, your classmates, your campus, your clubs, sports teams and more. Anything about you, or by you, that was published in one or more yearbooks or the student newspapers or other CNC publications is now or will be soon on CHRIS. Currently there for example, are the Trident yearbooks from 1964 through 1970 (every single page, even the ads), every issue of CNC's first newspaper, Chris's Crier (mimeographed, 1961 - 63), and every issue of The Captain's Log (printed professionally, 1964 - 1991/92).
Using CHRIS is easy. The link is chris.cnu.edu, which opens the header shown above. In the upper right corner of the header is a SEARCH feature. Just type into it the subject you are looking for--e.g., the name of a PERSON you know (or believe) was at CNC in its first three decades (or just type in your name) or the name of a SPORT, CLUB, or ORGANIZATION at CNC then. Up will pop small photos (thumbnails) of CNC publications containing photos of and/or information about that subject. Click any thumbnail to enlarge it and then start enjoying what you have discovered. Although the search box is very accurate, it is not perfect. Occasionally an error has occurred because of technical difficulties.
CHRIS was created by Matthew Shelley, who has been working on this exciting new project for several years and expects to continue doing so. Head of Instruction for the Paul and Rosemary Trible Library, Matt is a CNU alumnus who graduated in 2006 with a B.A. degree in History. In 2011 he received his master's degree in Library and Information Science from the University of South Carolina at Columbia. He joined the Trible Library staff in 2016. His main responsibility is teaching CNU students how to use the library's resources. However, Matt also works in the library's archives, the source of the material he is continuing to research for CHRIS.
Photo provided by Matt Shelley.
You can contact him atmatt.shelley@cnu.edu or (757) 594-7245 to ask questions or report any error(s) you noticed while using CHRIS.
January
January (Latin Januarius: “of” or “pertaining to” Janus) was named in honor of the mythological Roman god Janus, whose festival month was January. He was greatly revered by the Romans, who erected a major temple to him. Janus literally means “gate” or “passageway.” Janus was often depicted (left photo) holding a large key signifying his role as gate-keeper and guardian of portals. Janitor (Latin, "doorkeeper") is from the word Janus; janitors traditionally were citizens entrusted with the keys to important buildings. Janus was also the patron of all beginnings and endings, from those of time (especially new years) to those of events like voyages, marriages, and crop plantings.
Janus's two faces--one looking forward; the other, backward--did not represent the idea of being "two-faced," or hypocritical. Instead, they symbolized this god's ability to see the past and the future, day and night, beginnings and endings. The 18th century statue in Vienna by Johann Wilhelm Beyer (photo right) depicts Janus with a youthful face looking forward as he speaks to the war goddess Bellona and an older face looking backward. I believe the one face beardless and the other bearded might also have signified the human progression from youth to maturity, innocence to experience, ignorance to knowledge.
Material from
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers: Our Latin Calendar, Part 1
by A. Jane Chambers
published January 3, 2018
Revised short version published January 25, 2022.
Native American and British
Place Names in Hampton Roads
Part 3: The Eight Shires
COMPLETED
Southside Elizabeth City Shire (now Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, & Virginia Beach)
Although not shown on the multi-colored Shire Map of 1634 shown previously, Elizabeth City Shire included the South Hampton Roads area now occupied by the five independent cities named above (map right). In 1636, King Charles I granted the request of Adam Thoroughgood, an immigrant from Norfolk, England, to name the entire area after his English home. The king named it New Norfolk County. Thoroughgood had started a colony with 105 people along the Lynnhaven River (Wikipedia). The next year, New Norfolk was divided into Upper Norfolk County and Lower Norfolk (map left below). Upper Norfolk County became Nansemond County in 1646, named after the Nansemond tribe living there.
Half a century later, in 1691, with significantly increased population, Lower Norfolk was split into two parts (map right above)--Norfolk County (the western half--now Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth) and Princess Anne County(the eastern half--now Virginia Beach). Princess Anne County was named for the daughter of King James II, Anne Stuart, who was later Queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 until her death in 1714 (Wikipedia).
The Anglo-Saxon Place Names (Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and those Sex Places)
Some of our Tidewater place names are over a thousand years old, going back to the Anglo-Saxon era in England (450 - 1066)-- the time when Germanic tribes from the northeast of Europe--the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes--invaded the British island from the North Sea and over a long period settled in what is now England and lower Scotland. They killed, drove out, and bred with many of the natives, the Celts (except in upper Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall). The invaders shared a common history, culture, and language (with variations in dialects) which we call Old Engish, or Anglo-Saxon, and over time created independent kingdoms.
From 757 to 1066 (the Norman Conquest) there was an informal confederation of seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the place the conquerors named Engla land ("land of the Angles")--Wessex, Sussex, Kent, Mercia, Essex, East Anglia, and Northumbria (map above left). The Jutes founded the kingdom of Kent ; prominent Virginia colonist William Claiborne, born there, established New Kent County in 1654, in territory annexed from York County. One kingdom of the Angles, East Anglia (map above right) had two parts: the North Folk ("people of the north") and the South Folk ("people of the south"). These became the place names Norfolk and Suffolk.
Virginia's House of Burgesses established the "Towne of Lower Norfolk County" in 1680; it was incorporated as the City of Norfolk in 1705. Portsmouth, located directly across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, was founded by House of Burgesses member Colonel William Crawford and established as a town in 1752 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. It was named for Portsmouth, England (Wikipedia).
Suffolk was originally just a small port town on the Nansemond River in Nansemond County called Constant's Warehouse, for settler John Constant. It was renamed Suffolk in 1742 after Royal Governor William Gooch's English home. The Native American Nansemond tribe that has lived in villages along Suffolk's Nansemond River since at least 1584 continues to live there as one of Virginia's federally recognized tribes (Wikipedia). West of the Nansemond River, forming the border between Suffolk and Isle of Wight County, is Chuckatuck Creek. It is a short distance from my house and actually a wide river, not a creek. Like the much wider Nansemond River, it empties into the James. Chuckatuck is an Algonquin word meaning "crooked creek." The Suffolk community also called Chuckatuck dates back to the 19th century.
The Saxons established the kingdoms of Essex,SussexandWessex--located in the east, south (suth), and west below Mercia and East Anglia (see map left above). The names have no connection with sex. The Old English forms of them were Eastseaxen, Suthseaxen, and Wesseaxen--seaxen meaning "Saxon." Each name means "the land of the Saxons in the place that is east" (or south, or west). Not on that map is Middlesex (Old English Middelseaxen)--originally an area in Essex between Essex and Wessex, very close to London. Much of London is still in Middlesex. On the Southside of the James, south of Surry, there is a Sussex County. And Virginia's Middle Peninsula (map below) has Essex county and a Middlesex county--all named after these Saxon kingdoms.
Middle Peninsula Place Names
Other British county names on the Middle Peninsula are King and Queen County, established in 1691 from New Kent County and named for King William III and Queen Mary II (as was The College of William and Mary); King William County, formed by English colonists from the above in 1702 and named for the same king; and Gloucester County , founded in 1651 and named for Henry Stuart, Duke of Gloucester, third son of King Charles I. Mathews County was part of Gloucester County until 1791, when the Virginia General Assembly split Gloucester, creating Mathews from it. The new county was named for the new American nation's Brigadier General Thomas Mathews (Wikipedia).
The Middle Peninsula's southern border is the York River; its northern border is the Rappahannock River, from the Algonquian word lappihanne (or toppehannock), meaning "river of quick, rising water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows," the name used by the local Rappahannock tribe (Wikipedia).
Accomac Shire (Virginia's Eastern Shore)
Virginia's Eastern Shore, the 70-mile long end of the Delmarva Peninsula, is not technically considered part of Hampton Roads. However, under the orders of King Charles l it was made one of the eight shires of the Virginia Colony in 1634 and named Accomac, from the Native American word Accawmack, meaning "the other shore" (Wikipedia). The Accawmack tribe belonged to the Powhatan Confederacy (map right), but befriended the English colonists, especially as relationships between the English and the mainland Indians continued to worsen. The English changed the name of Accomac County to Northhampton Countyin 1642, wanting to eliminate "heathen" names in the Virginia Colony. In 1663, the county was split, the northern two thirds becoming Accomac County and the southern third keeping the British name Northampton County. In 1940, Virginia's General Assembly added the "k" to Accomack (Wikipedia).
As small as it is (only 70 miles long and extremely narrow), our Eastern Shore has at least nine Native American place names. During my research for this section of this article, I happened upon an article entitled "How Did Places like Machipongo and Wachapreague Get Their Names?" The author, a blogger named Ryan Webb, describes himself as "a sociolinguist ... from Machipongo," with "a Master's degree in applied linguistics, the scientific study of language, from Old Dominion University in 2017." He further states that since 2017 he has "begun to research and preserve the language, culture and history of Virginia's Eastern Shore." I will cite Webb's comments on some of the Algonquian names below.
In discussing the Native American names, I will begin with the first such name on the bottom of the map below and move upward. Kiptopeake is the name of a community and a State Park at the southern end of the Eastern Shore, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It was the name of the brother of Debedeavon, the chief ruler of the Accawmack tribe that lived on the Eastern shore when the first English colonists arrived. His title was "Ye Emperor of Ye Easterne Shore and King of Ye Great Nussawattocks." Because he was jovial, he was called "the Laughing King" (Wikipedia).
The village of Machipongo was named after "the Matchipungoes, one of the larger native tribes" on the Eastern Shore that "established several villages.... The word now spelled as Machipongo means fine dust and flies and was the Algonquin name for Hog Island" (Ryan Webb).
The town of Nassawadox "was named after the first church organized on the Eastern Shore in 1623, Nuswattocks Parish .... The Nuswattocks were a small Native American tribe that lived near present-day Nassawadox Creek" (Ryan Webb). [Note the paragraph on Kiptopeake above and "Nussawattocks"].
The name Pungoteague [left on the map] "comes from an Algonquin word meaning sand fly river. Accomack County court sessions were held in the town's two taverns from 1663-1708" (Webb).
This "seaside town in Accomack," Wachapreague, "is named for one of the Machipongo villages that was located at or near present-day Wachapreague. The name roughly translates as little city by the sea" (Webb).
The bayside town ofOnancock "is named for an Algonquin word that means foggy place. It was originally occupied by Native Americans until 1670" (Webb).
The name Accomacwas discussed fully in the opening paragraph of the section.
The name Chincoteague "comes from an Algonquin word that means large inlet. The island is named after the Gingoteague tribe that lived on the northern mainland of the Eastern Shore. As late as 1872, the post office on the island was called Gingotig" (Webb)
The name Assoteague is from the name of the Native American tribe that lived in the upper part of Virginia's Eastern Shore.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article as much as I have enjoyed writing it and learning from it. I believe it is the longest article for this website that I have ever written. I promise not to write another one this long!
James City Shireis the second of four shires called a "city" (originally spelled "cittie") in 1634--at a time when the entire population of the Virginia Colony was barely 5,000 people. To us, a city is a large town with thousands, if not millions, of inhabitants. However, "originally in early Middle English" the word cittiemeant "a walled town, a capital or cathedral town"(OED). Jamestown was a walled town and the Colonial Capital of Virginia from its beginning (1607) until 1699, when it was replaced by Williamsburg. The word cittie was first given to the Colony's most populated areas in 1619, then kept for four of the eight shires created in 1634--Elizabeth Cittie, James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie.
The four "City" shires included land on both the north and south shores of the James River (see above map). The maps below are two of several in this article showing how additional counties were created later from these shires as the Virginia Colony grew. The part of James City Shire located on the south side of the James River, for example, became the county of Surry in 1652. A century later, in 1754, the western part of Surry became the county of Sussex.
SURRY was named for the southern English county of Surrey. The name comes from an Old English word from the 8th century literally meaning "Southerly District." The meaning "two-seated, four-wheeled pleasure carriage" is from 1895, short for Surrey cart, an English pleasure cart first made in Surrey, England (OED). The county seat is the small town of Surry, The name Sussex will be explained later.
Two of the 1634 shires are not located in Hampton Roads: CHARLES CITY and HENRICO CITY. The names were chosen to honor the two sons of King James I--Henry (from the Latin Henricus) and Charles, who became King Charles I because Henry, the first born son, died at age 18 from typhoid fever.
On the Peninsula, the border between James City Shire and Charles City Shire is the Chickahominy River, named for the Chickahominy tribe, which is one of seven tribes in Virginia now recognized by the federal government.
Southside Shires
Warrosquyoake River Shire (now Isle of Wight County)
Only two of the eight shires still had their Algonquin names in 1634, the Accomac Shire (or Accomack)--Virginia's Eastern Shore--and the Warrosquyoake River Shire (spellings vary), named after a river (now the Pagan River) settled by a tribe of that same name that had villages in the area. The tribe was driven away by the English settlers following the Great Massacre of 1622, in which the natives killed about 25% of all Virginia Colony settlers in an attempt to drive them out of the territory. The name Warrosquyoake was replaced in 1637 with the name Isle of Wight. after an island a few miles off England's southern coast in the English Channel (Wikipedia). Below are images of Virginia's (L) and England's (R) Isles of Wight.
Since I have lived in Virginia's Isle of Wight over thirty years, I have read various accounts of why the name was chosen for this county. Our Isle of Wight has little in common with England's. Our county, not an island, is mostly flat and rural, with a population of some 37,000 people in 363 square miles. England's island is filled with high hills and cliffs, has a population of over 140,000 in 146 square miles, and is primarily a resort known for its numerous beaches and sailing clubs. I've concluded that the name must have been chosen by 17th century settlers who once lived in England's Isle of Wight--a theory stated in Wikipedia.
The meaning of the word Wighthas mystified many, with all sorts of theories being offered. My own theory is that the word comes from the Old English wiht ,which does not mean "white" but "person," or "man" in the sense of any human being. This meaning was still very much alive in England in the middle ages and even in early modern English, as used by Lord Byron in his description of Don Juan: "Forsooth, he was a wicked wight."
The decision to replace the name Warrosquyoake with the name Pagan for the river that flows from Smithfield into the James seems strange. When replacing Native American names, the English usually picked names that honored important benefactors or rulers, or lovingly recalled places in Great Britain dear to them (towns, cities, counties). The English word pagan does not do either of those things. In fact, the word has had negative connotations since the 14th century, when it meant non-Christian or non-Jewish people. It came to mean also low class, rustic, uneducated people. Pagan and heathen basically were synonymous by the 17th century. Was the word chosen to insult the Native Americans? Show hatred for them? Relationships between the tribes and the colonists had indeed eroded seriously after a series of wars between them. And many settlers wanted to rid the Virginia Colony of what they considered "heathen" names.
Wikipedia suggests an entirely different meaning of pagan, however, quoting a 1993 Daily Press article by Peninsula author Parke Rouse, who wrote that the Smithfield river's name possibly came from the Algonquin word for pecan, meaning "that which is cracked with a tool," as nuts are. To support his theory, Rouse stated that 17th century English explorers noticed many pecan trees along the banks of that river.
PART 1 of this series gave the histories of the British place names Hampton Roads, Hampton, Cape Henry, Cape Charles, Point Comfort, and the Native American village Kecoughtan. PART 2 covered the British names Virginia, Jamestown, the James and York rivers (and the rivers' Native American names)--plus the native names Chesapeake (the bay) and Werowocomoco (the headquarters of Chief Powhatan). Published in September and October of 2020, both of these articles are now located in the website's ARCHIVES, under the sub tab THIS-N-THAT, about halfway down.
In just 17 years the little Virginia Colony that began in 1607 at Jamestown expanded significantly, with communities springing up in areas north, south, east and west of the Chesapeake Bay, primarily along its banks and rivers. The Algonquian-speaking natives fought to keep their land, but although greatly outnumbering the English, they found their arrows, knives, spears and tomahawks poor matches against bullets and cannon balls. Some tribes, like that in Kecoughtan, just gave up and relocated elsewhere. By 1634, with the Virginia Colony's population at about 5,000, King Charles I, son of James I, ordered a new system of government for the colony, dividing it into eight shires (soon renamed counties), as shown below.
Patterned after county government in England, each shire was governed by a lieutenant and an elected sheriff (from Mid. Eng. shire + reve, or reeve, a law enforcement officer). Discussed here first will be the Peninsula shires: Warwick River, Elizabeth City, Charles River, and James City--three of which (see map) were the smallest.
Peninsula Shires
Warwick River Shire (now the City of Newport News)
Neon green on the Shire map and yellow on the County map above, Warwick River Shire was so named in 1634 because by that time Warwick River had become a major port on the James River. The name Warwick honored Sir Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, a prominent member of the Virginia Company. The shire's first courthouse and jail were at Warwick Towne, the first county seat, abandoned In 1809 (Wikipedia).
The community of Denbigh, now a neighborhood in Newport News, was named for nearby Denbigh Plantation (also called Mathews Manor), home of Captain Samuel Mathews, who came to the Virginia Colony before 1618 and was the father of Colonel Samuel Mathews, royal governor of the Colony from 1656-1660. Denbigh was the county seat of Warwick from 1810 until 1952 (Wikipedia). The name Denbigh goes back to the 13th century. Below is an aerial view of the town of Denbigh in Denbighshire, Wales, and the remains of Denbigh Castle, built in 1282 by order of King Edward I. The Welsh name Denbigh means "little fortress"(Wikipedia). It is pronounced DENbee in the UK, Australia, and the USA.
Warwick County ceased to exist in the 20th century as the town of Newport News grew, largely because of the C&O Railroad and the Shipyard. In 1869, Newport News became an independent city. In 1952, the rest of Warwick County became briefly the City of Warwick, then it became part of the City of Newport News in 1958. The origin of the name Newport News is somewhat debatable, although the settlement was referred to as Newportes Newesas early as 1621 (Wikipedia). Probably the name originated in the "good news" Captain Christopher Newport brought to Jamestown, after the Starving Time (winter of 1609-1610), that a fleet of ships bringing more supplies and men had entered the James River on its way to Jamestown.
Elizabeth City Shire (now the City of Hampton)
Elizabeth City Shire and Norfolk's Elizabeth River were both named for Princess Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of King James I, in honor of her godmother, Queen Elizabeth I. The City of Hampton began In 1610, after the Starving Time in Jamestown. Under the leadership of Colony Governor Sir Thomas Gates, Jamestown colonists seized and settled the village of the Kecoughtan tribe located near Point Comfort on the Chesapeake Bay (map above). The small town they established there they first called Kecoughtan. In 1619, the area including their town was named Elizabeth Cittie. In 1634 it became Elizabeth City Shire. The colonists eventually named their townHamptonto honor Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southhampton, a major leader of the Virginia Company of London (Wikipedia). In 1705 Hampton was incorporated as a town and became the seat of Elizabeth City County The native name Kecoughtan remains in Hampton as the name of both a major road and a high school. Most streets in the Wythe neighborhood in Hampton have Algonquin names in memory of the 30 tribes who first owned the Virginia Colony area.
Charles River Shire (now York County)
Native Americans called the river on the north side of the Peninsula the Pamunkey, after a tribe that lived on its banks. In 1634 it was renamed the Charles River to honor England's King Charles I and Charles River Shire was formed. In 1643, after the English Civil War began, the river and shire (then county) and port town were renamed York after a city of that name in northern England. Yorktown, founded in 1691 as a port from which the English colonists could export tobacco, became the county seat in 1696 (Wikipedia). It still is, although Yorktown has never formally been incorporated as a town. It is best known as the place where the American Revolutionary War ended in 1781 with the surrender of General Cornwallis to General George Washington
The map above shows York County with the town of Poquoson to its right. Poquoson was incorporated in 1952 and became an independent city in 1975. Poquoson is an Algonquin word roughly meaning "great marsh." The native Americans used pocosin (spellings varied) to describe low ground, marshy and woody, that was usually covered by water in the winter but dry in the summer (Wikipedia). Salt marshes dominate the area. Poquoson has also long been called "Bull Island" because for centuries farmers let their cattle graze freely in its salt marshes. Today Poquoson residents still call themselves "Bull Islanders" as do the students at Poquoson High School, whose mascot is a bull.
with photos and information from Daily Press Archives
The above picture shows Locomotive 2756 ready to be pulled across Warwick Boulevard into Huntington Park on August 26, 1963. All photos of this 1940s era locomotive that are in this article, except the last one, are from the Daily Press Archives collection titled Look Back: Huntington Park locomotive - Daily Press.
I wish I had been there. were you there? Were any of your friends or relatives there when engine 2756 was moved from C&O's tracks in Newport News to its new home in Huntington Park? Our webmaster Ron Lowder's father-in-law, Donald J. O’Brien, was there. "He was a railroad engineer, " Ron recalls, "and as my wife remembers (Maureen was only 13 then), he was involved, at least behind the scenes, in the train engine's movement."
C&O's locomotive 2756 before being moved to Huntington Park in Newport News.
A caption in the Daily Press Archives summarizes this historical event: Several hundred people gathered on Sunday Aug. 26, 1963, to watch a retired Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive be pulled across Warwick Boulevard and set in its resting place in Huntington Park in Newport News. The locomotive was donated to the city as a museum piece - an example of the type of steam engine used to carry million of tons of coal into Newport News piers over several decades. Police blocked traffic at 6 a.m. as a volunteer crew of C&O employees laid a temporary section of track across the road. By nightfall, the train was ready to be shoved into position.
No doubt the most difficult, and most time-consuming, task was that of laying and then removing sections of track. This work was done by C&O volunteers. Of course, heavy equipment was also used, along with human muscle power, but notice that it took three men to lift, carry, and put in place just one railroad tie for connecting two sections of track. The photos above were taken in Huntington Park. The one below, taken on Warwick Boulevard, shows the steam engine and its tender being pulled across the road by a cable attached to a heavy vehicle.
Once in place in Huntington Park, number 2756 instantly became a very popular attraction, drawing people of all ages. Virtually every child living in or visiting Newport News from 1963 until the mid-1970s delighted in fully and freely exploring it--like the unidentified boys in the two 1974 photos below.
Easy access to the beloved "Iron Horse" ended, however, In 1976. A tall chain-linked fence was put around it when authorities discovered that there was asbestos in number 2756 and possibly lead in its paint, which was beginning to peel. The picture below evokes two small children's disappointment as they stare through the fence.
In 1963, no one imagined that C&O locomotive 2756 would ever be moved again. But early in the next century, it would leave Huntington Park for a new home--a renovated Lee Hall Railroad Station further up on Warwick Boulevard (route 60), in the village of Lee Hall. The station, now a railroad museum, is located at the corner of Elmhurst Street and Warwick. Take your children and/or grandchildren there sometime to explore the museum and climb aboard the engine.
Members of the staff of Christopher Newport College's 1968 Trident yearbook chose the engine as a setting for their staff photo in the book. Four decades later, the editors of Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade,selected the photo as a chapter illustration, as shown below.
Pictured above are DAN CLARK (very top), Editor-in-Chief of the 1968 yearbook; women (on the left, from top down)--LYNN WALKER, Sports Editor, DENISE ROBERTS, Business Manager, UNIDENTIFIED woman (standing), and LOUISE ELLIS, Layout Editor (seated); and men CHARLIE SILLS, Photographer (seated, middle); and (on the right, top down) BARRY KIEMER, Photo Assistant, and JAY DECH, Copy Writer. Other staff (not shown) were PATTI PHELPS, Art Editor and SUE MULLINS, Copy Writer and possibly the unidentified woman in the photo. The staff's advisor was Professor GRAHAM PILLOW.
` NOTE: If you and/or your children or grandchildren explored Engine 2756 in Huntington Park (or Lee Hall) and you have memories--and maybe photographs--you'd like to share, please send your material to Jane Chambers or Dave Spriggs (email addresses below). We will include your feedback in this website's next FEEDBACK.
Glowing balls like the one dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve are not the only time markers dropped in America on New Year's Eve. One of the numerous other things dropped then is a 15-foot tall red music note in Nashville, Tennessee--shown above near the top, left of the Music City sign. Previously an 80-foot Guitar Drop took place at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe, but the cafe's partnership with the city ended in 2011.
Key West, Florida has a Conch Drop on New Year's Eve at Sloppy Joe's Bar, where a six-foot manmade Queen Conch Shell drops 20 feet to the top of the bar as part of the island's official New Year celebration. Increasingly more popular, however, is another Queen drop, held at the 801 Saloon, a Key West gay bar, where a large ruby red high-heel shoe holding drag queen Gary "Sushi" Marion is lowered from a balcony annually. In the above picture "Sushi" is wearing her self-made wedding gown, because following that drop, she legally married her longtime male partner. A third attraction at Key West that same night is the lowering from a high mast on a ship of a Pirate Wench.
Wikipedia's "List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve" gives by time zones and states all of the places in America that have "drops" on New Year's Eve and what those places "drop" (raise and/or lower). Most locales follow the Times Square tradition of using balls, but some use instead objects representing their local culture, geography, or history. Wikipedia's list, described as "dynamic" rather than complete, currently has over 200 entries.
Things to eat or drink are dropped in many places. For example, in Miami, Florida, "Mr. Neon," a 35-foot flat image wearing sunglasses, is raised 400 feet to the top of the Hotel Intercontinental Miami and then dropped at midnight (left above). In 2014, a steel mushroom was dropped in Kennett Square, PA, "The Mushroom Capital of the World" (right above). Mount Olive, N.C., drops a 3-foot pickle from its major industry's flagstaff. Atlanta, GA, drops an 800 pound peach from its 138-foot tower of lights. Other foods so honored include watermelons, popcorn balls, potato chips, cheeses, sausages, drinks alcoholic and non--and even M&M candies.
Animals are favorite things to drop also, especially in rural places. Dropping them alive has gotten a lot of negative press in this century, however, so most places either drop them stuffed (not saying how they died) or just drop manmade likenesses of them. The stuffed possum left above, named Spenser, is dropped every New Year's Eve in the small community of Tallapoosa, GA--a place formerly called "Possum Snout." Princess Anne, MD, drops a stuffed muskrat named Marshall P. Muskrat, who wears a top hat and bow tie. Birds (usually big replicas) are popular drops also--including buzzards and pelicans. And popular seafood reigns in many places. Easton, MD, located on the Chesapeake Bay, drops a giant crab every year (right above); Machias, ME, drops a giant plastic lobster; and various locales drop various fish--mostly large replicas.
Eastover, NC, a town of 3,600 just east of Fayetteville, was once called Flea Hill because a sandy hill there was overrun with fleas. To honor that heritage, Eastover celebrates New Year's Eve by dropping a 3-foot flea named Jasper, which is made of fabric, foam, wire and wood (left photo). On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Chincoteague honors its nearby herd of wild ponies with a Horseshoe Drop (right photo).
There is apparently no limit to what we Americans might drop to celebrate New Year's Eve. In 2015, Indianapolis began a tradition of dropping an actual Indy race car (photo below).
SOURCES:
Detailscame primarily from WIKIPEDIA-- "List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve." Photos came from various places on the internet. And some content came from my personal knowledge.
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Published first on December 27, 2019 as part of
the article "The Times Square Balls and Other
Things Dropped on New Year's Eve."
Published separately on January 1, 2021
1st DECADE VETERANS
Honoring CNC's First Decade Veterans: Navy and Coast Guard
Part 1
Updated November 27, 2020
by A. Jane Chambers
Parts 1 & 2of this series honored CNC's 61 First Decaders who served in our nation's Army and also the two killed in action (KIA): Ric Bahr (Army) and Pat Giguere (Marines). This article honors the 23 First Decaders who served in the Navy and 2 who served in the Coast Guard, plus our first CNC president--H. Westcott (Scotty) Cunningham (Navy). The last article in the series will honor our Air Force and Marine Corps veterans and CNC's second President--James C. (Jim) Windsor (Marines).
Scotty Cunningham (family photo), a Navy lieutenant in WW2., served two years in the Pacific commanding a PT (Patrol and Torpedo) boat, when John F. Kennedy, whom he knew, was doing the same in his PT 109. It was very hazardous duty; many men and boats were lost. Cunningham served again during the Korean War, but having contracted malaria in the southwest Pacific, he couldn't fight in Korea; instead he served as a military briefer at the Pentagon. From 1953 through 1970, he was also an active member of the Naval Reserve, retiring at the rank of Captain. Our website's tab ARCHIVES, sub tab FIRST DECADE HISTORY, has more information about Scotty's military experience.
Internet drawing of ELCO style PT boat.
Ancient Beliefs and Traditions
Reflected in Old Halloween Cards
Revised 2020
by A. Jane Chambers
When the Roman Catholic Church brought Christianity to the British Isles, the church decided that the best way to convert the pagans was not to ban their religious customs, but to accommodate them. It happened that the Christian holiday All Saints’ Day and the Celtic New Year Samhain (so-wen, so-ween, or saw-win) both occurred on November 1st. Celebration of Samhain (“summer’s end” in Gaelic), like that of All Saints’ Day, began on the previous evening: October 31st.
The evening before All Saints’ Day eventually became the Eve of All Saints, or All Hallows’ Eve—then, centuries later, Halloween (or Hallowe’en): a word combining Hallow (meaning “holy,” “sanctified”)and evening ( even, or e’en). It was for Christians a time to gather in churches to pray and fast before the feast on All Saints’ Day. However, since their Samhain traditions never faded, it was also for the Celtic British a time of superstitious beliefs and fears. They believed that during the transition between summer and winter, the veil between this world and the next was particularly thin, allowing the spirits of the dead to reenter this world, as well as devils.
Immigrants from Great Britain brought Halloween to America in the mid-1800s. The holiday became quite popular by the turn of the century. Halloween greeting cards from about 1890 through the 1920s (primarily postcards) reflect some of the beliefs and traditions once strongly embraced but now rapidly receding if not altogether lost.
The greeting card above reflects the centuries old belief that firelight would scare away ghosts, witches, devils--just as light dispels darkness. Thus the carved pumpkins, their faces illuminated from within by candles, were thought to protect people from evil beings once "got out"—put outside entrances to homes on Halloween or carried by people when they went outside. Americans seldom call them "Jack O’Lanterns" now.
JACK O’ LANTERNS
Jack O’Lanterns originated in Great Britain and were carved from large turnips or, sometimes, potatoes, or even beets (Wikipedia photo below). Such lanterns were used to light paths for people traveling at night as well as to protect them from evil spirits. Native to North America, the pumpkin was unknown in the British Isles. Immigrants were quite delighted to find this large fruit here, which quickly replaced the turnip.
The term Jack O’ Lantern (“Jack of the Lantern”) comes from an Irish legend seldom known in the United States. It is a story (with several different versions) about a scoundrel called Drunk Jack or Stingy Jack, who made a deal with the Devil to give the Devil his soul in exchange for some favor. When the Devil came to collect his soul, Jack tricked him into forgiving the debt. When Jack died, neither Heaven nor Hell would let him in, so he was doomed to wander endlessly in the twilight world of lost souls. Oddly enough, the Devil gave him an ember from the fires of Hell to light his way, which Jack put inside a carved turnip. (Wikipedia gives a fuller history).
Severalold beliefs are evident in the Halloween card on the left. The lady is “guising,” disguising herself, by wearing a white burial shroud to protect her from any ghosts of the dead, who will mistake her as one of their own and leave her alone. Devil and witch disguises were similarly used. She carries a Jack O’ Lantern for light and protection. There is a full moon, associated with both evil (werewolves and lunatics) and good (fertility, sweethearts, and visions of one’s future mate). The owls are a reminder that witches might be around and could mean good or bad luck.
WITCHES
The witches below are quite different: one ugly and old, the other beautiful and young--reminding us of the ancient belief in both good and bad witches, as in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, which also popularized the color green for bad witches and black for their clothing. The evil witch here looks longingly at the children inside. It was believed that wicked witches were cannibals who liked to eat children, like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, because eating the young and healthy renewed them, giving them eternal life. Blood drinking is a version this same belief in vampire lore.
The children bobbing for apples are safe from the evil witch because of the tub of water holding the apples. Remember the Wicked Witch of the West dissolving when Dorothy threw water on her? The ancient belief was that water, used for baptism and spiritual purification, was deadly to evil beings. A common test used for centuries at witch trials was to throw or duck the accused into a body of water. If she floated, she was guilty and would be burned at the stake. If she sank and drowned, she was innocent--yet also dead.
Whereas the bad witch above left is accompanied by dark nocturnal creatures associated with evil, a black cat and hovering bat, the good witch is accompanied by an owl, which can represent, depending on the context, either good or evil. Primarily, however, the owl has for ages symbolized wisdom, especially in western world cultures. It was the favorite bird of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.
ROMANTIC HALLOWEEN BELIEFS
Bobbing for apples either floating in water or hanging from strings was popular with young adults as a means of discovering their future mates. For example, a young woman who put under her pillow the apple she caught bobbing might dream that night of her future husband. The card left shows another belief--that a complete, unbroken apple peel thrown over a girl's shoulder would fall in the shape of the initial of her intended mate's name. An ancient symbol of love and fertility, as well as hate and discord, the apple is featured in many myths (The Judgment of Paris) and fairy tales (Snow White). Candied apples were once a favorite Halloween treat, but like apple bobbing, seem now disappearing from Halloween traditions.
Beliefs about love potions and signs or visions of one’s future spouse during Halloween used to be popular. The cards below reflect two such beliefs--seeing the future mate at midnight on Halloween in a mirror or in the flames of a fire. Although in Europe and Great Britain most such romantic rituals were performed almost exclusively by young women longing for husbands, in early 1900s America they sometimes were performed by bachelors as well.
TRICK - OR - TREATING
This tradition grew from a Medieval Christian practice called "Souling." On All Souls’ Day (November 2nd, following All Saints’ Eve), Christians gathered in churches to pray for the souls of their deceased loved ones who were believed to be in Purgatory, being cleansed of sins before entering Heaven. Poor people, especially children, would go to the doors of the rich and ask for small “Soul Cakes” or other food in exchange for delivering prayers for the dead in those families. “Souling” evolved over centuries into the practice of children, often dressed in costumes, going to the doors of people and entertaining them by singing, dancing, doing acrobatic tricks, or reciting poems (card right). They would then receive treats such as sweets, fruit, or coins. The words “We make the welkin ring” mean that they make the sky ring with their noisy merrymaking.
The term "Trick-or-Treat" was an American addition to Halloween in the late 1920s-early 1930s. Unfortunately the "Tricks" soon included crimes such as property damage and theft (card left). As a result, a few decades later, to curb such criminal behavior, cities and then states enacted laws restricting Halloween “Trick-or-Treating” to young children accompanied by parents or guardians. This Halloween tradition is now almost entirely commercial, although collecting for charities such as UNICEF retains an element of the original “Souling.”
CONCLUSION
This last card, beautifully executed, reflects the overall light tone of virtually all of these early Halloween cards or postcards, reminding us that in early 20th century America, All Hallows Eve was not being taken very seriously. It had already evolved into a time of mirth more than a time of dread. The goblins hovering behind the bed of the sleeping girl are more comical than scary. Further, they seem unable to pass through the thin veil (the curtain) between their world and this one. In contrast, the three fairies have passed through that veil and are protectively hovering over the sleeping girl like Guardian Angels, one seemingly touching her with her magic wand. Any “good versus evil” struggle seems already won by these three good fairies, who by their number might recall the Christian belief in the Trinity that defeats the host of demons.
Watercolor sketches from 1585 of Outer Banks members of the Secoton Tribe, by Roanoke Colony Governor and artist John White.
PART 1 focused on some of the places that the Jamestown colonists first saw, explored, and in some cases named in late April of 1607, when they first sailed intoHAMPTON ROADS--CAPEHENRY,CAPECHARLES,POINT COMFORT and the Native American village KECOUGHTAN, which would later be a part of the City of HAMPTON. PART 2 focuses primarily on Native American names in the waters of Hampton Roads.
VIRGINIA
The name VIRGINIA was given to this part of the New World in 1584 by Sir Walter Raleigh to honor Queen Elizabeth 1(1558-1603), called "the Virgin Queen" because she never married. The queen gave him permission to sponsor exploration and colonization of this yet unseen territory. He sent two groups to what is now the Outer Banks. The first Roanoke Island colony (1585) failed, with most member returning to England; the second one (1587), governed by John White, became known as the Lost Colony because of the mysterious disappearance of all the people. Since 1937, the historical outdoor drama The Lost Colony , written by Paul Green, has been performed on the Roanoke Island site of the original colony. Actor and Manteo citizen Andy Griffith played various roles in it, including that of Sir Walter Raleigh.
Bust details from full-length portraits of Queen Elizabeth 1 and Sir Walter Raleigh. Internet photos. Artists unknown.
THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
Chesapeake Bay satellite (LANDSAT) picture.
In 1585 or 1586, explorers from the first Roanoke Colony discovered the lower region of the Chesapeake Bay, which the area's natives called Chesepiooc, or Chesepiook (with other variations),an Algonquian word whose meaning is not absolutely certain. It might have referred to a village "at a big river" (located at the Bay's mouth), or referred to the Chesepian tribe who lived in the South Hampton Roads area now occupied by the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach. It might have meant "great water." For a very long time, it was believed that the word meant "great shellfish bay." However, in 2005, Algonquian linguist Blair Rudes argued that the word does not mean that (Wikipedia).The name Chesepiooc for the Bay appeared on John White's 1590 map, and the name Chesapeack Bay on Captain John Smith's map, published in 1612.
THE JAMES RIVER
On May 13, 1607, the English colonists landed at a place they quickly named JAMESTOWNE to honor their king, James 1 (also James VI of Scotland). They would eventually name the river where they landed the James also. During the years 1607-1609, Captain John Smith, their first leader, with a small crew and 30-foot boat, soon began exploring and mapping the lands and waterways of the Bay. Smith created a very detailed map published in 1612 in England. Above is a detail from that map that includes, circled in red, POWHATAN FLU (Latin for "flow" or river) and above it IAMESTOWNE (letters J and I were interchangeable then). The native Americans, Smith had learned, had named this major river to honor their king, Powhatan , chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, ruler of some 30 tribes in tidal Virginia.
Detail (L) of a portrait of King James, ca. 1605, by John I. de Critz; statue (R) of Captain John Smith located in historic Jamestown.
THE YORK RIVER
Like that of the James, the York River area was first settled by the tribal natives of Virginia many centuries before the arrival of the English colonists and was named by them the PAMUNKEY, after a tribe by that name that lived on its banks. On the detail above from Smith's Map of Virginia, that name is at the mouth of the now York River, but hard to read. The Jamestown settlers of 1607 named this river the Charles River, in honor of the second surviving son of King James (later to be King Charles l). A few decades later, after the English Civil War began (1642), pitting King Charles I against Parliament, the Charles River and Charles Shire (county) were renamed YORK. Wikipedia states that "the river, county, and town ... are believed to have been named for York, a city in Northern England." However, the ERD's 50 State Guide states that "York is named for James II of England, created Duke of York in 1644." James II was the son of Charles I, who would be tried for treason and beheaded in 1649.
Also on that section of Smith's map above, circled in red is the name of the headquarters of Chief Powhatan, the village of WEROWOCOMOCO. It was located on what would later be the Gloucester County side of the York River. The word werowocomoco is an Algonquian name combining the words werowans (weroance), meaning "leader" and komakah (-comoco), meaning "settlement" (Wikipedia)--the settlement of the leader. Notice that Jamestown is to the left, relatively close to Powhatan's village, an historically significant fact.
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Published October 2, 2020
Native American and British
Place Names in Hampton Roads
Part 1
by A. Jane Chambers
I've lived in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia since 1963--first in Newport News, while in the English Department at Christopher Newport; then after retirement, in Isle of Wight County, with an expansive view of the lower Hampton Roads from my modest home. In my decades here, I have learned much more about the history of this area than I knew when I first arrived. As a student of the English language, I have found especially interesting the mixture here of native American and British place names tied to Virginia's earliest colonial history.
HAMPTON ROADS
Why does the name of a body of water include the word roads?Because roads is a shortened form of roadstead, a Middle English word combining road (any "open way for traveling between two places" and Old English stede ("place"). The Online Etymology dictionary (OE) uses Hampton Roads as an example of the nautical meaning, since the 14th century, of roadstead (or roads) as a "narrow stretch of sheltered water" where ships may ride safely at anchor near, but not at, a shore. On the map below, the water named Hampton Roads is the part of the Chesapeake Bay largely located between the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (I-64) and the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge-Tunnel (I-664). It is where Norfolk's Elizabeth River, Suffolk's Nansemond River and Virginia's longest river, the James, converge, forming a safe channel for the largest of ships, commercial and military. The name now includes the lands touching the lower Chesapeake Bay, as shown on the map below.
HAMPTON
The city of Hampton,Hampton Roads, and Hampton River were all named to honor Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton, a major leader of the Virginia Company of London, which financed the 1607 Jamestown expedition. Southampton County might have been named for the Earl, or for the city of Southampton in England (Wikipedia). The word Hampton comes from the Old Englishhāmtūn--from hām (homestead, home, settlement) plus tūn ("town, yard, enclosure")--i.e., hometown. The word became an English and Scottish place name, and eventually also a surname. Cities, communities, and families in Britain, Canada, Australia and of course America have that name.
CAPE HENRY and CAPE CHARLES
Cape Henry was the first British place name in Hampton Roads. After their very long (144 days) voyage from England, on April 26, 1607, the Englishmen in the three ships sent by the Virginia Company reached a cape at the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. They anchored and named the place Cape Henry in honor of the heir-apparent to the English throne, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, then only 13 (he died at 18). They sent some men ashore in a small boat to explore the area for several days. On April 29th, the men raised a wooden cross near the shore and a minister delivered a prayer of gratitude for their safe arrival in the new land. In 1935 a granite cross was placed in this area (photo right), in First Landing State Park, next to Fort Story, location of the old (1792) and new (1881) Cape Henry Lighthouses (photo below).
Cape Charles was named in honor of Charles l, who became heir to the throne of his father, King James 1, after his brother Henry's death--and later the ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Located at the southern tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore, Cape Charles is the northern side of the wide entrance from the Atlantic Ocean into the Chesapeake Bay. Since 1964 the cape has also been the northern end of the 17.6 miles long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. The two capes, Henry and Charles, are called the Virginia Capes.
POINT COMFORT (now Old Point Comfort)
On April 28, 1607, Christopher Newport sailed the Susan Constant from Cape Henry into the Chesapeake Bay to explore it further. Anchoring her near what would become Fort Monroe, Newport sent crew members out to find the water's depths. They located a channel which "put them in good comfort" and named the land next to it Cape Comfort, which the Virginia Company in 1609 described in its Second Charter as "the pointe of lande called Cape or Pointe Comfort." Exploring the site for a few days, the group found it an ideal defensive location.The lighthouse located there since 1803 (photo left), owned and maintained by the U. S. Coast Guard, is the second oldest lighthouse in the Bay and oldest still in use (Wikipedia).
KECOUGHTAN
This painting, titled Trading with the Indians, was created by artist Stanley King for the National Park Service.
While still in the lower Chesapeake Bay that spring of 1607, the English colonists met some friendly Algonquian-speaking natives living near Point Comfort in their Kecoughtan village. The natives kindly welcomed the travelers, and the relationship remained primarily friendly between the peoples of the two radically different cultures for the first two years of the Jamestown settlement, as reflected in the above painting. Captain John Smith's account of an unplanned visit he and about 40 men spent with the Kecoughtan tribe during the Christmas season of 1608-09 is well known. Trying to get to Chief Powhatan's village to get food for their colony during a starving time that winter, the group encountered violent weather in the Bay--"extreame wind, raine, frost, and snowe"--that forced them for " 6 or 7 daies ... to keepe Christmas amongst the Salvages, where wee were never more merrie, nor fedde on more plentie of good oysters, fish, flesh, wild foule, and good bread, nor never had better fires in England then in the drie warme smokie houses of Kecoughtan."
In the summer of 1609 everything changed for the worse when the English settlers began raiding various native villages, stealing food, burning dwellings, killing even women and children, and building forts in Hampton Roads. A series of wars called the Anglo-Powhatan Wars began in 1610 and the surviving Kecoughtans fled to merge with other Powhatan groups (Wikipedia).
The Algonquian tribal name Kecoughtan survives, however, in today's city of Hampton. PART 2 of this article will focus more on other native American names in Hampton Roads.
If you took or taught classes at CNC between 1964 and 1968, you probably remember the ordeal of being in Newport Hall or Gosnold Hall on hot, sticky days when neither classroom building was air conditioned. Both were designed for air conditioning, but not funded for it for several years. How did we faculty and students survive the often overwhelming and humid heat on the Shoe Lane campus in those years, especially in summer classes?
Glued inside each 1965 CNC yearbook, the Trident, was a copy of this color photo of Christopher Newport Hall--the only picture thus far located showing all of the original Newport Hall.
Notice in the above photograph of CNC's first building, Christopher Newport Hall, that the two separate one-story units on the front had some tall, very narrow louvered windows which opened outward. When cranked straight out, these provided some small relief from the heat, especially on breezy days, for those using the first campus library (left) and/or the lecture hall (right).
Less fortunate were the people using the offices and classrooms in the two-story unit of Newport Hall. The only windows that opened there were the small rectangular transoms below the fixed windows visible in the above Trident photo. Located in all the offices and classrooms, these transoms were essentially useless, because they opened only a few inches. Even worse, there were no shades, blinds, or curtains on most windows to block the sun's heat.
The one area on Newport's first floor that was air conditioned from the beginning was the Computer Center, because, unlike humans, the computers could not tolerate any humidity at all. On extremely hot days, especially during summer sessions, Professor Graham Pillow had more visitors than usual in that Computer Center because some faculty and staff, including me, would create excuses for stopping by there to cool off for a while. The photo on the right, from the 1969Trident, shows Graham Pillow working at a now obsolete machine in his Center.
Hotter than the first floor was, of course, the second floor, which housed faculty offices and classrooms. I don't think classes were ever cancelled there, however, even in extreme heat. During one summer class meeting, English Professor Barry Wood placed a thermometer on a patch of shade on his classroom floor, and it quickly read over 100 degrees!
The above picture of Barry Wood (left) is from the 1969 Trident; that of Steve Sanderlin (right) is from the 1972 Trident.
In his essay "Remembering the English Department's First Decade," Professor Steve Sanderlin wrote: "Teaching under such conditions was a real challenge! Dress rules suddenly changed: in summer sessions, students (but not faculty) could wear Bermuda shorts. Cold beverages, previously forbidden, were allowed in the classrooms. Huge, heavy roll-around fans were brought in, but these only blew the hot air around and made so much noise that one had to scream loudly to be heard. For the first time in my career, I taught without a coat and tie. Some of us longed to be back in the old Daniel building!" (Memories of Christopher Newport College, p. 42). Built in 1914, the Daniel building, although not air conditioned, had excellent ventilation because of its very high ceilings and tall windows that opened wide.
Like Newport Hall, Gosnold Hall (1966 Trident photo above), completed in September of 1965, also had no air conditioning--plus the same style windows as Newport. In his Memories book essay "Marine Biologist Finds CNC His Perfect Port," Professor Ron Mollick (1971 Trident photo left), a San Diego native who joined CNC's Biology Department in the fall of 1968, wrote that initially he thought that his office in Gosnold was "uncomfortably hot" because of "malfunctioning air conditioning equipment," but , he added: "I soon learned that most buildings on campus were not air-conditioned! I immediately purchased a great big box fan that I placed at my door. It blew a gale and required that I weigh down every paper on my desk" (p. 57).
President Cunningham and Registrar Jane Pillow at the reception and mailboxes area inside the newly opened Smith Hall in 1967. Daily Press photo.
Ratcliffe Gymnasium and the combined Captain John Smith Library and Smith Hall Administration Building opened in the fall of 1967. Both had central air conditioning. The hotter the weather, the more time students and faculty spent in those buildings, of course. And faculty also often lingered longer than necessary in Smith Hall, reading their mail posted in the reception area and socializing with colleagues in various offices.
Finally, in 1968, funding was allocated for the much-needed air conditioning of both Newport Hall and Gosnold Hall. Dr. Sanderlin recalled in his Memories book essay that the installing of the central air conditioning system in Newport was "not without some mishaps .... One day as I was walking down the hall on the second floor, I heard a loud noise and anguished cries. The maintenance man installing equipment in the attic had fallen through the ceiling and landed on a student sitting in a classroom! Fortunately, no one was badly hurt. But this incident and others were not uncommon for a while" (p. 43). Accidents aside, what a relief it was for all when we were able to retire our electric fans.
The choice was clear. In an age of segregated schools,
I would integrate every school I attended from tenth grade on.
This was my means of protest. I could never let it be said that no
black person had attended or would ever attend this school or that school
....I had no fear of being the "only" one.
Michael S. Engs (Ed.D)
in "Christopher Newport College 1965:
A Sanctuary from the Draft," p. 197.
As a son of college-educated parents, his father a military officer and his mother a teacher, in the 1950s Michael S. Engs attended racially integrated schools on military bases. Not until his father retired and his family settled in Newport News, Virginia, in the early sixties did he experience school segregation, beginning his high school studies at then all-black George Washington Carver High School. After he finished the ninth grade there, his parents sent him to Walsingham Academy, a private Catholic school in Williamsburg, so that he would be better prepared for college. He was the first African American to attend Walsingham, where his dreams of attending college were encouraged, and where he made the vow quoted above.
Michael Engs as a CNC freshman. 1966 Trident, p.64.
Michael next became the first black student at Christopher Newport College. He completed his freshman and sophomore studies at CNC in 1965-67, when the young college was a two-year branch of The College of William and Mary (W&M). In his above-mentioned essay in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade (2008), he recalled with fondness his two years there: "What struck me...was the ease with which [CNC] accepted people of color....There were no 'special programs' or assumptions that deficiencies in a student's educational background might exist. No suggestion that race was the basis for your being accepted. What Christopher Newport offered was a level playing field, a place where I could succeed or fail on my own merits" (pp. 197-198).
After his success at CNC of W&M, in the fall of 1967 Michael enrolled as a junior at W&M itself, in Williamsburg, where he completed his four-year degree in English in 1969. He is now featured in Building on the Legacy: African Americans at William & Mary, An Illustrated History of 50 Years and Beyond (Donning Publishers, October 2019), written by Jacquelyn Y. McLendon (Ph.D), Emerita Professor of English and Africana Studies at William and Mary. In a July 15, 2020 email to me, Dr. McLendon wrote that Michael "was one of the first group" of black students and "one of the first two black undergraduates to receive a degree."
The photo above shows pages 40 and 41 of Building on the Legacy, with the cover of Memories of Christopher Newport on page 40. On that cover, middle right side, next to the head of Captain Christopher Newport is the CNC freshman portrait of Michael Engs shown at the beginning of this article. Dr. McLendon wrote to me that in her historic book "the discussion of Michael Eng's time at W&M begins on page 41 and continues to 43" and that "according to the index, his name appears on pages 39 - 43" (July 15, 2020).
In 2017, I became aware that the first book about blacks at William and Mary was being written, and that Michael would be included in it. I was contacted then by Dr. McLendon, who had been directed to me and to the Memories book by Michael, with whom she had been corresponding while researching material for her book. I was told then that the book would include the 1966 CNC yearbook photograph of Michael, quotations from his essay in Memories, and other information provided to Dr. McLendon through her correspondence with him and with me. I pointed to additional essays in our book that included material about Michael, such as Barry Wood's discussion of Michael as a student (pp. 243-244) and Kim Lassiter's memory of him as a classmate (178-179). I've not yet had a chance to read Building on the Legacy, however, which has had positive reviews. A hardback, with numerous photographs in color as well as in black and white, it costs $46.95 and is currently available only at W&M's bookstore. I will request that CNU buy several copies of it to be housed in Trible Library and Klich Alumni House.
Professor Emerita Dr. Jacquelyn Y. McLendon earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in English at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She was Assistant Professor at Hofstra University, and then at Amherst College, before joining the faculty at William and Mary, where she served as Academic Coordinator for the 50-Year Celebration of African Americans in residence at W&M and as Professor of English for 28 years. She is also Director Emerita of Black Studies at W&M, has publishedscholarly books and articles on African American writers, focusing onwomen and the Harlem Renaissance, and has edited American and African American literature anthologies. She is currently a freelance writer in Hampton, VA.
Photo of Dr. Jacquelyn Y. McLendon courtesy of W&M.
Dr. Michael S. Engs was in ROTC at W&M and afterwards served 3 years in the U.S. Army. Then he moved to Arizona, where he earned an M.A. in Counseling & Guidance at the University of Arizona and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Northern Arizona University. He had a 33-year career as an administrator and faculty member in the Pima County Community College District in Tucson, AZ. After retiring in 2007, he then worked as an educational consultant and also taught graduate-level courses at Northern Arizona University-Tucson and undergraduate-level courses at Pima College.
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
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 booktitled 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
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 Postand the next day, July 3rd, in the Pennsylvania Gazette.
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.
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?
SOURCES: Primarily personal knowledge, general knowledge,
and generous use of Wikipedia.
_____________________
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Published July 3, 2020.
Seldom Known Facts about
Our Pledge of Allegiance:
Part 2
Revised June 2020
by A. Jane Chambers
This 1917 painting by American artist Edward Percy Moran depicts Betsy Ross presenting the 1776 American flag to General George Washington (in boots).
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."
Historical and Current Events Affecting the Pledges
GeorgeBalch (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.
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."
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
By the early 1920s the Bellamy pledge was essentiallythe 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.
Chart from Wikipedia
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"
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).
Minister George MacPherson Docherty (L) and President Eisenhower (bowing) on Feb. 7, 1954, at the New York Ave. Presbyterian Church.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Homesof 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 onCNC/U and PFAC is currently (June 19, 2020) the23rd 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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Published June 19, 2020.
The Memorial Day Poppy:
A Tradition Born from a Poem
Revised May 2020
with additional content and photographs
by A. Jane Chambers
Shown above, next to his most famous poem, is Lt. Colonel John McCrae (1872 - 1918), a Canadian poet, soldier, and physician. At age 41, as World War I began, he volunteered to join a Canadian fighting unit as a gunner and medical officer. He had previously fought as a volunteer in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and considered military service his major duty, having a father as a military leader in Ontario.
While McCrae's unit was fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres, in the Flanders region of Belgium, the German army attacked the French positions north of the Canadians with chlorine gas on April 22, 1915, launching one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. Luckily, the Germans were unable to break through the Canadian line although fighting for over two weeks in a battle McCrae described in a letter to his mother as "a nightmare" during which "all that time ... gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds....And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way" (Wikipedia).
Lt. Alexis Helmer (photo L), a close friend of McCrea, was killed on May 2 during this fierce battle. There was no chaplain available, so McCrae performed the burial service himself. He noticed with surprise that red poppies were growing quickly around the graves of his dead comrades. As Sarah Pruitt writes in her essay "The Poppy and the Poet," "the brutal clashes between Allied and Axis soldiers tore up fields and forests" in this region, "tearing up trees and plants and wreaking havoc on the soil beneath. But in the warm early spring of 1915, bright red flowers began peeking through the battle-scarred land: Papaver rhoeas, known variously as the Flanders poppy, corn poppy, red poppy and corn rose...classified as a weed" (www.history.com).
The above photo showing poppies growing atop a French trench is the only known color picture that shows poppies on a World War 1 battlefield. Taken in 1915 by an official French war photographer, this photo was published in 2009 in Flanders Fields Music courtesy of www.greatwar.nl.
The sight of the blood-red poppies among the recent graves inspired McCrea to write "In Flanders Fields" the very next day (May 3, 1915). Various friends urged him to publish it, and in late 1915 it was published in the English magazine Punch. The poem was often used at countless memorial ceremonies, and became one of the most famous works of art to emerge from the Great War. Its fame had spread far and wide by the time McCrae himself died, from pneumonia and meningitis, in January 1918 (Wikipedia).
An American woman, Moina Michael (1869 - 1944) initiated the practice of wearing red poppies to remember the deceased military. She read “In Flanders Fields” in the Ladies’ Home Journal two days before the armistice. A professor at the University of Georgia when WWI began, she had taken a leave of absence to volunteer at the New York headquarters of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), which trained and sponsored workers overseas. Inspired by McCrae’s verses, Michael wrote her own poem in response, which she called “We Shall Keep Faith” (copy below).
As a remembrance of the Allied solders' sacrifices in the Great War, professor Michael vowed to always wear a red poppy. Finding a batch of red fabric blooms at a department store, she kept some for herself and gave others to her colleagues. After the war ended (1918), she returned to the university town of Athens, GA, and began making and selling red silk poppies to raise money to support returning American veterans. In the summer of 1920, she managed to get Georgia’s branch of the American Legion to adopt the poppy as its symbol. Soon after that, the National American Legion voted to use the poppy as the official U.S. national emblem of remembrance when its members convened in Cleveland in September, 1920 (Sarah Pruitt, in www.history.com).
The red poppy quickly became a major symbol of both our Memorial Day (celebrated the last Monday of May) and also of Remembrance Day (celebrated November 11) in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand. Moina Michael became known worldwide as "The Poppy Lady." In 1948, four years after her death, the U.S. Postal Service issued the above postcard and stamp honoring her, and in 1958 the state of Georgia placed an historical marker near her birthplace.
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Published May 25, 2018
Revised and published again May 15, 2020
Why the Name Shoe Lane?
Historical Street Names
in the CNC/U Area
Revised April 2020
by A. Jane Chambers
with Thanks to alumnus Mike Coburn for inspiring this article
The occasion was the May 12, 2017 Golden Reunion of CNC's Class of 1967. I had talked briefly to the group about the names of CNC's first buildings. After I then mentioned that our recently opened Alumni House (where we were located) had the mailing address 72 Shoe Lane, someone asked, "Where did the name 'Shoe Lane' come from?" "I have no idea!" I admitted. Then alumnusMike Coburn spoke up, saying he thought the name came from some horse stables in the area long ago.
SHOE LANE
Mike later emailed me to confirm that his memory had been correct. Shoe Lane and two streets that meet it directly across from CNU, BriarPatch Place and Paddock Drive, he wrote," relate to the stables that once occupied that piece of property." He included a link to a Daily Press article of May 24, 1992, " 'Tally-ho' Is A Virginian Tradition," written by Alexander Wiatt, a Hampton veterinarian. It mentions that in 1946, the Hampton Horse Show (dating from the 1920s) moved to Mrs. R.W. Mitchell's Briar Patch Stables on Shoe Lane, in then Warwick County, and was renamed the James River Hunt. So these three names originally honored horse shoes, horse stables, and small enclosed fields for holding horses near stables (paddocks) .
On the 2017 CNU campus map above, Shoe Lane is near the bottom, above the word "ATHLETICS." The mark just right of the word "Lane" indicates the beginning of Paddock Drive. The mark left of the word "Shoe" shows the beginning of Briar Patch Place. The original street address of CNC was 50 Shoe Lane, which originally began at Warwick Blvd.
MOORE'S LANE
Crossing Shoe Lane just past Briar Patch Place (campus map, left) is Moore's Lane, the second residential boundary of Christopher Newport. That name also goes back to the rural days in Warwick County. Les Pendleton, who was at CNC 1965-66, recently wrote to me that his maternal grandparents were "the Moores for whom that lane is named. " They had a farm on that lane, he recalled, and Les's family also lived on Moore's lane, as did many of his "aunts, uncles and cousins."
Les Pendleton's maternal grandparents were among the many people who sold their land between 1961 and 1963 to the City of Newport News once the City decided to provide 72 acres of land in the Shoe Lane area for the "new campus" of CNC. The farm the Moores sold bordered Moore's Lane and included what is now CNU's Parking Lot I (yellow squareon the map).
WARWICK BOULEVARD
Warwick Blvd. (campus map, right), one of the four original boundaries of CNC/U, now splits part of the campus. The name "Warwick" has an interesting history. After the founding of Jamestown (1607), the Virginia Colony was divided in 1634 into eight shires (counties), one of which was called "Warwick River Shire," because that river had become a major port on the James. The area was essentially (with few changes) what is now the City of Newport News (see map below).
Historian Dick Anderson, in A History of Warwick (1953), wrote that the name "Warwick" was "after Sir Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, who was a prominent member of the Virginia Company, though he never visited the [New] World County bearing his name. Patterned after county government in England, Warwick was then governed by a lieutenant and an elected sheriff."*In March of 1643, the Colonial Assembly "outlined the boundaries" and "shortened the name to Warwick County." *[Etymology: Sheriff--from Middle English shire (= county) + reve, or reeve (= a law enforcement officer).
In 1869, the village of Newport News broke from Warwick County to become the independent City of Newport News, having grown considerably after development of the coal piers, the eastern terminus of the C & O Railroad, and Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. In I952, the remainder of Warwick County became, briefly, the City of Warwick. Then, in 1958, Warwick became part of the city of Newport News (Wikapedia).
J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, which meets Warwick at the entrance to CNU and The Mariners' Museum, was so named in 1958 by the Warwick City Council to honor the only city manager of the City of Warwick. Mr. Morris (1909-87) also was a leader in the funding, building, and operating of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, completed in 1964 (Wikapedia).
The map above is from page 2 of the 1970-71 CNC catalog. In the upper left corner you can see the small corner of Prince Drew Road that was originally the fourth boundary of the campus. The 2017 CNU map (at beginning of article) shows most of that street now as a major boundary. I have found no information about its name.
HIDEN BOULEVARD
In recent years, part of Hiden Blvd. (pronounced HY-den) has become a new boundary of Christopher Newport (upper right on CNU map). This name honors Philip Wallace Hiden (1872-1936), a businessman and mayor of Newport News (1920-24) who owned most of the land in Warwick County in the Nutmeg Quarter area. Hiden also organized and directed the James River Bridge Corporation, which funded and built the original James River Bridge, which opened in 1928, plus two other Southside toll bridges, thus opening travel from Newport News to Portsmouth, and (via the private bridge built by Carl Jordan) to Norfolk, to vehicular traffic rather than ferries (Wikapedia).
Mr. Hiden died in 1936. His wife,Martha Woodroof Hiden, born in 1888, lived until 1959. During 1951-57, the family divided a 200-acre parcel of land in the Nutmeg Quarter area into the residential neighborhood they named Hidenwood--possibly a combination of the name "Hiden" and "Woodroof," Mrs. Hiden maiden name.
Do you have questions and/or information about the early years of Christopher Newport? If so, contact us! You too might inspire an article for this website--or write an article yourself!
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Published June 23, 2017
Published again April 17, 2020
Photos and Facts about USNS Comfort
and Her Humanitarian Mission
in New York City
by A. Jane Chambers
UPDATED APRIL 17, 2020
(paragraph 2 below)
with some photos and comments by
Marie Boudreau Smith
On Saturday afternoon, March 28, 2020, the U.S. Naval Hospital Ship Comfort left her home port, the Naval Station in Norfolk, on a humanitarian mission--to support New York City in its battle against America's newest foe, a Coronavirus (COVID-19) now rapidly attacking not only Americans but also numerous people in other nations. A fully-equipped floating hospital, with 1000 beds, 12 operating rooms, and 8 Intensive Care Units, the Comfort will care for many New York City patients who do not have COVID-19, thus freeing many beds in the city's hospitals for use by victims of the virus.
MISSION UPDATE
Within one week of its arrival in NYC, USNS Comfort's mission changed from treating only non-COVID trauma and emergency civilians to treating both those patients and up to 500 COVID patients. The major reason for this abrupt change in mission was that the shelter-in-place orders by both the city and the state have resulted in a major decrease in trauma cases such as vehicle accidents and assaults. Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, in a Pentagon press briefing, said the Comfort now has 500 of its 1000 beds, including 100 ICU beds equipped with ventilators, fully staffed and fully equipped for the COVID patients and that the ship has been reconfigured to keep those patients separated from the non-infected patients and crew. One crew member diagnosed earlier with COVID has been isolated and is being treated. The Vice Admiral stated he was confident that risks of spreading the disease aboard ship have been "mitigated ... to the maximum degree possible." The ship has been divided into 2 zones, which will never interact. ("USNS Comfort Prepared for 500 COVID-19 Patients," USNI NEWS, April 7, 2020).
On March 28, as the Comfort moved north through the Hampton Roads area of the Chesapeake Bay, she sailed past historic Fort Monroe, in Hampton, before turning east, into the Atlantic Ocean. Many people stood on the waterfront to watch the massive ship. Some also photographed it, including Christopher Newport First Decader and alumna Marie Boudreau Smith (AA degree, 1966), who took the full-length picture above of the mammoth ship, plus the bow and stern photos below.
Marie B. Smith's initial comment on her Comfort photos, posted on Facebook, included these words:
"I can not tell you how many times I have seen this hospital ship go in and out of Norfolk over the last few decades. I always stop to watch, but today (March 28) was different ... People cheered, clapped, saluted and waved flags as the ship left our harbor. No matter what is happening ... the American people will rise to meet any challenge. I had tears in my eyes when I left ... I love this country."
Using a long lens,Marie photographed the ship at Point Comfort on Fort Monroe, standing right in front of the famous Chamberlin--once a grand waterfront hotel, now a unique, and expensive, retirement community. This spot, she wrote was "a little less crowded" than the boardwalk and the beach. She noted most people, like her, were observing social distancing. There were also "two women sitting on the wall near me and I could hear them reminding people to stay apart. One was a health care worker."
Below are some very interesting facts about USNS Comfort., in a document provided by the U.S. Navy.
USNS Comfort and her identical sister ship, USNS Mercy, were originally oil tankers. Built in the mid 1970s, they were sold to the Navy and converted to hospital ships in the late 1980s. Mercy, home stationed in San Diego, is currently in Los Angeles, on a mission identical to Comfort's. The Navy photo below, taken March 24, four days before Comfort's departure for NYC, shows supplies and personnel being loaded aboard the ship at Naval Station Norfolk and gives some indication of the size of her.
The next three official Navy pictures, taken inside Comfort, show in order a few of the 1000 beds, a CAT scan in a radiology section, and an operation in progress in one of the 12 operating rooms.
Comfort arrived in New York Harbor on Monday morning, March 30. She was docked at Pier 90, where she was welcomed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Below are two photographs taken by Mike Segar of Reuters International News Organization, based in NYC. I am guessing he shot these from a helicopter. The first shows the ship passing by our well-known Lady Liberty. The second shows Comfort with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter hovering above her, a reminder that the ship has two helicopters used often for transporting patients.
Our English wordChristmas is named after Jesus Christ (Christ + mass), but our word Easter comes from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and springtime. Wikipedia gives as proof of this origin an Anglo-Saxon era treatise written in Medieval Latin by the Roman Catholic monk Bede in the year 725, The Reckoning of Time.
Bede, a major early English historian, wrote that "Ēosturmōnaþ" (Old English, Easter month) "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month" (i.e., April). "Theirs" means the early pagan Anglo-Saxons in England. Whereas the Roman Church called Easter by the Latin Pascha (from the Greek "Passover"), Bede noted that many English in his time were still calling the Paschal season "by her (Ēostre's) name, calling the joys of the new rite (Christian festival) by the time-honoured name of the old (pagan) observance."
The picture above right, dated 1884, is by a famous German illustrator of books and magazines, Johannes Gehrts (1855-1921). The ink drawing is titled Ostara, which is Old High German for Ēostre.The Anglo-Saxons who invaded and settled England were descended from ancient Germanic tribes, so their traditions go back to that time.
Easter Bunnies
The Easter Bunny who greets children at stores like Wal-Mart and puts goodies in their Easter baskets the night before Easter is spring's equivalent of Santa Claus and is no more connected with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ than Santa is connected with the Nativity. However, rabbits and their cousins, hares, have been major fertility symbols since before recorded history because of their outstanding reproductive ability.
In the drawing above, notice that a rabbit, or hare, is running close to the heels of the goddess. This animal appears in numerous depictions of her.
Wikipediaquotes German author Jacob Grimm stating in his Deutsche Mythologie("German Mythology," 1835) that "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara" (English, Eostre)--an association repeated by other authors but never proven.
The Easter Bunny tradition originated in Germany in the 17th century and was brought to America by German Lutheran immigrants. According to Wikipedia, Germany's "Easter Hare" judged children's behavior at the beginning of the Easter season (like Santa at Christmas), sometimes wore clothes, and delivered baskets containing colored hard-boiled eggs, candy, and sometimes toys to children's homes the night before Easter. The baskets represented bird nests and were lined with grass or other soft material.
Easter Eggs
Eggs have symbolized birth, fertility, and renewed life for countless ages. In ancient times they were believed to ensure the fertility of crops, animals, and humans. They also represented rebirth of the natural world in spring. Wikipedia tells us that 60,000-years-old "decorated, engraved ostrich eggs" have been found in Africa, and that in the "pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth ... and kingship." Therefore, "decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago."
Once they became Christians, the people of Mesopotamia saw the egg as representing the empty tomb of Jesus. Therefore, as Wikipedia records, they stained their Easter eggs with red coloring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion." The egg shown left above, with the Christian cross, is from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery. The egg shown right above is Ukrainian, with the Paschal greeting "Christ is Risen!" on it. This custom of the Easter egg as a symbol of the Resurrection spread from Mesopotamia into the Orthodox Church and later into Europe through the Roman Catholic and then Protestant Churches.
The Date of Easter
At the First Council Nicaea (year 325), the Church of Rome established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring equinox, so the date varies from year to year. Whatever the date is in any given year, is it not interesting that Easter is always connected with that First Day of Spring, when for thousands of years, ancient (or pagan) religions have celebrated the resurrection of nature and, in many cases, the return also of various deities--some of whom were believed to have died (as does nature, in winter) and then been born again in spring.
Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, is one of America's most famous writers and humorists. Of his own birth and death he wrote: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it ... The Almighty has said, no doubt: 'Now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together' " (Biography). And he did, at age 74. He lived in and wrote about more parts of America--and the rest of this planet-- than most Americans, even today, have ever seen. He was a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi ("Mark Twain" means safe water, two "marks"--12 feet deep), a typesetter, journalist, popular lecturer, publisher, and creator of boys Tom Sawyer (1876) and Huckleberry Finn (1884). He also greatly enjoyed whiskey and tobacco and wrote about both.
Painting by Susan B. Dukee.
ON WHISKEY
I always take Scotch whiskey at night as a preventive of toothache. I have never had the toothache; and what is more, I never intend to have it.
Twain agreed for his likeness to be used in advertisements like this one.
Twain developed a taste for Bourbon in his riverboat days; later, in England, he also discovered Scotch. He was a regular drinker but not an alcoholic. As a single man of 30, in an 1866 letter to Will Bowen, Twain wrote, "I know better than to get tight oftener than once in 3 months. It sets a man back in the esteem of people whose opinions are worth having." He also wrote at another time, "I love a drink, but I never encouraged drunkenness by harping on the alleged funny side" (quoted in Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field, by Henry W. Fisher). One of his examples of the bad side of drunkenness is in Twain's depiction of the drunken, abusive, worthless father of Huckleberry Finn, is also hates black people, unlike his young son.
ON TOBACCO
I have made it a rule never to smoke more than one cigar at a time.
I have no other restriction as regards smoking.
As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself,
it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep
and never to refrain when awake.
--70th birthday speech at a party in New York City in his honor
Twain's addiction to tobacco began in his childhood; his grandmother once threatened to use a whip on him if she ever caught him chewing tobacco again. He was smoking cigars before puberty. At age 35, in an 1870 letter to Joseph Twichell Twain wrote, "When they used to tell me I would shorten my life ten years by smoking, they little knew the devotee they were wasting their puerile word upon--they little knew how trivial and valueless I would regard a decade that had no smoking in it!"
Twain smoked so many cigars that he purchased them by the barrel--several barrels at a time. In his non-fiction travelogue and social commentary Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (1897), he wrote about his last failed attempt not to stop his smoking, but to limit it: "I pledged myself to smoke but one cigar a day. I kept the cigar waiting until bedtime, then I had a luxurious time with it. But desire persecuted me every day and all day long; so, within the week I found myself hunting for larger cigars ... and still larger ones ... I was getting cigars made for me ... yet larger ... Within the month my cigar had grown to such proportions that I could have used it as a crutch ... I knocked my pledge on the head and resumed my liberty. "
ON ABSTINENCE
Total abstinence is so excellent a thing
that it cannot be carried to too great an extent.
In my passion for it I even carry it so far as to
totally abstain from total abstinence itself.
The above autographed declaration in an album Mark Twain gave to former First Lady Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes was published in The Washington Post on June 11, 1881. Twain never gave up what he called his "habits," although he did at least once urge someone else to do so. In Following the Equator, he wrote about an unnamed elderly lady friend of his who was very ill.
Original 1897 copy of Following the Equator. Notice what Twain wrote under the photograph: "Be good and you will be lonesome."
She had run down and down and down, and had at last reached a point where medicines no longer had any helpful effect upon her. I said I knew I could put her upon her feet in a week. It brightened her up, it filled her with hope, and she said she would do everything I told her to do. So I said she must stop swearing and drinking, and smoking ... for four days, and then she would be all right again.
And it would have happened just so, I know it; but she said she could not stop swearing, and smoking and drinking, because she had never done those things. So there it was. She had neglected her habits, and hadn't any ... there were none in stock. She had nothing to fall back on. She was a sinking vessel, with no freight in her to throw overboard ...
Why, even one or two little bad habits could have saved her, but she was just a moral pauper ... it seemed such a pity; but there was no help for it. These things ought to be attended to while a person is young; otherwise, when age and disease come, there is nothing effectual to fight them with (pp. 31-33).
The sixteenth century painting above, by Italian artist Jacopo Bassano, shows Saint Valentine baptizing Saint Lucilla.Hovering above are two cherubim, familiar to Christians and Jews as infant-like angels. They look very much like artistic depictions of the plump, winged Greco-Roman god Cupid-- but without his bows and arrows. The painting is a reminder of the frequent fusion of religious and mythological images in Renaissance Christian art, and the continuing fusion of these symbols in the observance of some holidays.
St. Valentine and February 14
Valentine's Day began hundreds of years ago, in the year 496 AD, when Roman Catholic Pope Gelasius established February 14th as The Feast of St. Valentine (St. Valentine's day), which is still being observed today in the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the Lutheran Church.
The precise identity of St. Valentine is unclear. The name "Valentine" (Latin, Valentinus), derived from "valens" (worthy, strong, powerful) was popular in antiquity. The Catholic Encyclopedia lists three saints named Valentine connected with February 14, one in Africa. The two who lived during the Roman Empire are probably the same man--a priest or bishop imprisoned, tortured, and then executed for performing weddings for soldiers (then forbidden to marry) and for ministering to Christians being persecuted. The Roman Martyrology, the Catholic Church's official list of saints, lists only one St. Valentine (Wikipedia).
Typical of the time, legends as well as truths soon became associated with his name. It was said that Valentine healed the blind daughter of his jailer while imprisoned and that before his execution (on February 14th) he wrote a farewell letter to her which he signed as "from your Valentine."
The Late Middle Ages and Chaucer
So how did we get from a martyred saint in antiquity to today's boxes of chocolates and Valentine cards (and cartoons) featuring Cupid with his bow and arrows ? Very slowly. And via the medieval tradition of courtly love (knights and their fair ladies)--and (perhaps) a poem written in the early 1380s by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Two lines in Chaucer's poem The Parlement of Foules ("Parliament of Fowls," meaning gathering of birds) are considered the first reference in English literature to St. Valentine's Day as a day of romantic courtship (photo left):
"For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make."
Modern English:
"For this was on St. Valentine's Day,
When every bird comes there to choose his mate."
In the poem, the speaker falls asleep and dreams he is at an annual gathering (parliament) of birds, where numerous birds of all kinds are having a comical debate to win their mates. The narrator states that the parliament is held on St. Valentine's Day, making the day an occasion for mirth and courtly love, rather than religious observance and heavenly love. Chaucer wrote this poem to honor the marriage engagement of England's King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. Both were age 15 when engaged and 16 when married. She died, childless, at age 28 (Wikipedia).
Cupid Then and Now
The ancient Greeks called him EROS (physical love, sexual desire); the Romans called him CUPID, from the Latin Cupido, meaning "desire." Though there were various beliefs about his parentage, the Greeks primarily believed he was the son of the adulterous goddess of love, Aphrodite, and her lover Ares, god of war--whom the Romans called Venus and Mars. Ancient artists portrayed him largely as a slender youth; later artists portrayed him as a chubby toddler. Whether youth or baby, the mythological Cupid always had his bow and arrow--generally used in a thoughtless, mischievous, sometimes even cruel manner; and those hit by his arrows, whether humans or deities, suffered uncontrollable erotic desire.
Roman copy of Eros after original statue by 4th century BC Greek sculptor Lysippos.
The portrait above, created in 1630 by Flemish artist Erasmus Quellinus II, shows Cupid riding on a dolphin--an image seldom imagined in modern times but depicted often in ancient and later art. In all ages dolphins have been believed friendly to humans, so why not friendly to deities? The dolphin here could represent affection, and Cupid's riding on it might symbolize how swiftly love moves.
According to Wikipedia,Cupid has wings because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds, and he is boyish because love is irrational. His symbols are the arrow and torch because love wounds and inflames the heart. The 1909 Valentine card shown left reflects this "inflamed heart" belief. Another interesting belief (which seems to have disappeared now) is that Cupid's arrows (sometimes depicted as darts) are of two kinds; one type has a sharp golden point, the other type has a blunt tip of lead. People wounded by his golden arrows (or darts) are filled with uncontrollable desire, but those struck by his lead arrows (or darts) feel instant aversion and want to flee those attracted to them.
Though Cupid is still a danger to humans in modern cartoons, which frequently show him as stupidly or mischievously misfiring his arrows, Time and Christianity have transformed him into a more likeable little fellow, who draws back his bow to help people rather than harm them. This romantic view is illustrated by the two Victorian-era Valentine cards below, which suggest Cupid's motive is to join people in true love, not to reduce them to misery.
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Published February 7, 2020.
The Times Square Balls and Other Things Dropped on New Year's Eve
by A. Jane Chambers
Glowing balls like the one dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve are not the only time markers dropped in America on New Year's Eve. One of the numerous other things dropped then is a 15-foot tall red music note in Nashville, Tennessee--shown above near the top, left of the Music City sign. Previously an 80-foot Guitar Drop took place at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe, but the cafe's partnership with the city ended in 2011.
THE TIMES SQUARE BALLS
The Ball Drop tradition in our nation began in 1907 with Adolph Ochs, owner of the New York Times newspaper, then housed in the tall, narrow 25-stories building numbered One Times Square. Ochs, son of German Jewish immigrants, hired a young immigrant metalworker, Jacob Starr, to build a time ball to drop from a flagpole on top of his newspaper's building on New Year's Eve. This first ball, made of iron and wood, was 5 feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds, and held one hundred 25-watt light bulbs. After 13 years, it was replaced with a 400 pound ball made of wrought iron.
Some 35 years later, in 1955, the iron ball was replaced by an aluminum ball, which weighed only 150 pounds and had 180 white light bulbs. This is the white ball most of us watched on our home TVs for 40 years. For a period of seven years (1981 - 88) this ball had red light bulbs and the addition of a green stem with a leaf, which made it an image of "The Big Apple." In 1989 it was changed back to a glowing white ball. Then In 1995, aluminum skin, rhinestones, and computer controls were added (photo right).This upgraded aluminum ball's short reign ended, however, with the end of the 20th century.
The Times Square Ball entered the 21st century in a big way. For the Millennium Celebration (2000), the ball was totally redesigned by Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting (left photo above). Then, in 2007, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Times Square Ball Drop, Waterford Crystal and Philips Lighting together created a spectacular new ball, with no incandescent or halogen bulbs. Instead it had Luxeon LED lighting, which dramatically increased its brightness and color capabilities (right, above).
In 2008 Waterford and Philips introduced Big Ball, considered the "permanent" Times Square Ball ... for now, at least. The photo above shows Amy Huntington, CEO of Philips Lighting, who was present for the annual testing of the ball on December 30, 2016. Big Ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds. It has 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangular-shaped panels of various sizes that are illuminated by 32,256 Philips Luxeon LEDs. Big Ball is now an all year attraction on top of One Times Square with its light show entertaining the public from January through December as well as on New Year's Eve.
OTHER THINGS DROPPED
Key West, Florida has a Conch Drop on New Year's Eve at Sloppy Joe's Bar, where a six-foot manmade Queen Conch Shell drops 20 feet to the top of the bar as part of the island's official New Year celebration. Increasingly more popular, however, is another Queen drop, held at the 801 Saloon, a Key West gay bar, where a large ruby red high-heel shoe holding drag queen Gary "Sushi" Marion is lowered from a balcony annually. In the above picture "Sushi" is wearing her self-made wedding gown, because following that drop, she legally married her longtime male partner. A third attraction at Key West that same night is the lowering from a high mast on a ship of a Pirate Wench.
Wikipedia's "List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve" gives by time zones and states all of the places in America that have "drops" on New Year's Eve and what those places "drop" (raise and/or lower). Most locales follow the Times Square tradition of using balls, but some use instead objects representing their local culture, geography, or history. Wikipedia's list, described as "dynamic" rather than complete, currently has over 200 entries.
Things to eat or drink are dropped in many places. For example, in Miami, Florida, "Mr. Neon," a 35-foot flat image wearing sunglasses, is raised 400 feet to the top of the Hotel Intercontinental Miami and then dropped at midnight (left above). In 2014, a steel mushroom was dropped in Kennett Square, PA, "The Mushroom Capital of the World" (right above). Mount Olive, N.C., drops a 3-foot pickle from its major industry's flagstaff. Atlanta, GA, drops an 800 pound peach from its 138-foot tower of lights. Other foods so honored include watermelons, popcorn balls, potato chips, cheeses, sausages, drinks alcoholic and non--and even M&M candies.
Animals are favorite things to drop also, especially in rural places. Dropping them alive has gotten a lot of negative press in this century, however, so most places either drop them stuffed (not saying how they died) or just drop manmade likenesses of them. The stuffed possum left above, named Spenser, is dropped every New Year's Eve in the small community of Tallapoosa, GA--a place formerly called "Possum Snout." Princess Anne, MD, drops a stuffed muskrat named Marshall P. Muskrat, who wears a top hat and bow tie. Birds (usually big replicas) are popular drops also--including buzzards and pelicans. And popular seafood reigns in many places. Easton, MD, located on the Chesapeake Bay, drops a giant crab every year (right above); Machias, ME, drops a giant plastic lobster; and various locales drop various fish--mostly large replicas.
Eastover, NC, a town of 3,600 just east of Fayetteville, was once called Flea Hill because a sandy hill there was overrun with fleas. To honor that heritage, Eastover celebrates New Year's Eve by dropping a 3-foot flea named Jasper, which is made of fabric, foam, wire and wood (left photo). On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Chincoteague honors its nearby herd of wild ponies with a Horseshoe Drop (right photo).
There is apparently no limit to what we Americans might drop to celebrate New Year's Eve. In 2015, Indianapolis began a tradition of dropping an actual Indy race car.
SOURCES:
Details in THE TIMES SQUARE BALLS came primarily from TIMES SQUARE, published on the internet by the Times Square Alliance.
Details inOTHER THINGS DROPPED came primarily fromWIKIPEDIA--"List of objects dropped on New Year's Eve."
Photos came from various places on the internet. And some content came from my personal knowledge.
We welcome your FEEDBACK.
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Published December 27, 2019.
The Words
Christmas, Xmas, and Holiday,
and the First Christmas Card
by A. Jane Chambers
The Word CHRISTMAS
The English wordChristmasgoes back to the 8th century, when England’s Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity by Roman missionaries. It was formed from the Old English (OE) wordsCrīstes(possessive form of "Christ") + mæsse ("mass," the Roman Catholic Eucharistic service), and meant “the festival of Christ,” celebrating the birth of Christ. Crīstesmæsse evolved during the middle ages to become, in Middle English (ME), Cristemasse, or Cristmas, and then finally the modern spelling Christmas.
The Word XMAS
In recent decades, especially in America, some people have wrongly concluded that the letter X inXmas is an attempt to “X out,” or erase the word Christ—to "Take Christ out of Christmas." Nothing could be further from the truth. For almost a thousand years, Xmas has been an abbreviated form of Christmas, properly pronounced as "Christmas."
The first letter of the word Christ in Greek (Χριστού) is X ("Chi")--an abbreviation for Christ that is as old as the once secret Christian symbol of the fish, which for centuries also often included the Greek word for fish--IXOYE (photo left above). For early Christians, those letters stood for "Jesus ( I ), Christ (X),God (O), Son (Y), Savior (E).” Another early abbreviation for Christ was Xp, the first 2 letters of the word Christ in Greek, first used by converted Roman emperor Constantine on his military standards, or labarum (middle photo). XP is still used on labarum and on priest's vestments in some Catholic churches (photo right).
Xr, meaning “Chr,” was yet another abbreviation for the word Christ. In England, the Old English words Xres mæsse ("Christ's mass") were in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (ca. 1100). Early scribes and early printers also used X + other letters to form words such as Christian (Xian).
When printed greeting cards became popular in England (mid-1800s) the meaning of Xmas was clearly understood, as shown in two Victorian-era cards below. And in America also, Xmas was used in both greeting cards and advertisements in the 20th century with a clear understanding of its meaning. Only in recent decades has the false notion of its meaning gained popularity.
The Word HOLIDAY
The wordHoliday, like the word Christmas, which goes back to the early days of Christianity in England, comes from the Old English word hāligdæg, a compound of the words hālig("holy") +dæg("day"). Hāligdægs("holy days") were days of religious festivals on the Christian calendar, particularly Christmas and Easter. Over the centuries, the spelling and pronunciation gradually changed. By about 1200, the word was spelled halidai, later haliday. During the 14th and 15th centuries, the word came to mean both "religious festival" and "day of recreation," since Christians celebrating holy days were freed from work on those days. The modern spelling,holiday, came into being about the time of William Shakespeare.
Prominent in all four Victorian-era Christmas cards shown above are images of holly--still a major symbol of Christmas. Its red berries recall for Christians the blood shed by Christ on the cross, and its prickly leaves recall the crown of thorns Christ bore there. Also, as was true from pagan to Christian times, as an evergreen, holly (like all evergreens) is a reminder of the return of life (in the spring) after the dead of winter. For Christians, holly also is a reminder of Christ's Resurrection and the promise of eternal life for believers.
The FIRST PRINTED CHRISTMAS CARD
People sent handwritten Christmas greetings for many years before the first printed Christmas card was made. In 1843, in England, Sir Henry Cole, founder of London's Victoria and Albert Museum, paid artist John Calcott Horsley to create the card shown above (Wikipedia). Some 2000 copies of the card were sold for one shilling each (equivalent to about $5.89 in America today). The few cards having color were water-colored by Horsley and no doubt cost more.
Pictured in the center, in bright colors, is a large, prosperous three-generational family enjoying a Christmas toast of red wine--a scene reflecting the lives of both senders and receivers of this card. Left and right, in dull colors, are scenes of London's poorer classes--mostly laborers--who struggle for the food, clothing, and warmth they need just to survive. The card's message is much like that in A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens (also published in 1843), in which, near the end, a reformed Scrooge calls out in glee, “A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world!”
Editor's Note: The following, often printed erroneously as anonymous, is an excerpt from Crazy English (1989), one of over 40 books written byRichard Lederer, PhD (born 1938), an American author, speaker, and retired English teacher best known for his books about the English language and word play such as puns, oxymorons, and anagrams (Wikipedia).
Let's face it--English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
Richard Lederer at the 2006 Mensa World Convention, where he was a speaker. Photo from Wikipedia.
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
English book illustrator Arthur Rackham's 1909 depiction of Hansel and Gretel meeting the witch.
In the well-known German fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, published in 1812 in the Grimm brothers' collection of folk stories, the siblings Hansel and Gretel meet an elderly woman who lives in a forest in a house made from gingerbread and other edible sweets. After being warmly received and well fed, they discover she is a cannibalistic witch who plans to eat them. The children outwit her, push her into the fiery oven intended for them, and escape.
Witches Eating Children
Sometimes, while affectionately talking to and touching or holding a beloved infant, a mother or other friend or relative says to that baby, "I could just eat you up!" The adult doesn't mean that literally, of course, but why do we humans even say it? A strange compulsion to express love by biting the flesh of the beloved seems built into us, doesn't it? Fortunately, though, rarely do any of us eat our children, or someone else's.
Cannibalism among humans is a historical fact, however--still happening, though rarely. In earlier centuries, in some European countries, especially reflected in folklore, it was believed that witches were cannibals who ate infants and young children--sometimes as sacrifices to Satan, but sometimes as a means of renewing themselves physically. By devouring the young and healthy, such witches believed they could overcame disease, aging, and even death.
Evil Witches and Good Witches
Above are two Halloween greeting cards made in America in the early 1900s. They feature witches who are strikingly different: one ugly and old, the other beautiful and young—reflecting the ancient belief in both good and bad witches. The old one, obviously the evil one, is looking longingly at the children inside--no doubt wishing to capture one for dinner. She is accompanied by dark and nocturnal creatures, a black cat and a hovering bat, both traditional symbols of wickedness.
The good witch, on the other card, is accompanied by an owl, which can represent, depending on the context, either good or evil. Primarily, however, the owl has for ages symbolized wisdom. It was the favorite bird of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom. The owl is also a reminder that witches originally were prophets — seers like blind man Tiresias and the woman Cassandra in Greek mythology; astrologers like the wizard Merlin, in Arthurian legends; and people with magic powers who studied the heavens and could foresee the future. They could cast spells for good or ill, and were both revered and feared. The large smiling moon and shooting star, a traditional good luck sign, add to the positive tone of the Good Witch card.
WITCHES and WATER
In the card showing the evil witch, the children bobbing for apples are safe from her because of the tub of water. One very old belief about witches and other evil beings is that water can literally kill them. Remember how the Wicked Witch of the West died in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz? She melted away when Dorothy threw some water on her. (I played that witch role in high school and well remember the scene in which I "melted.") Oz also had a Good Witch, named Glinda, who helped Dorothy return home. The 1939 movie popularized the idea that wicked witches were green and dressed totally in black.
Another belief about witches and water, common from Medieval times into the 18th century, was that throwing or ducking someone accused of witchcraft into a body of water was a definite way of determining guilt or innocence, because water, used for baptism and spiritual purification, rejects evil beings. If guilty, the person floated; if innocent, the person sank (and usually drowned).
Such an actual test by water occurred in 1706 in what was later Virginia Beach. Grace White Sherwood (born ca. 1660), a widow of about 47, was bound hands to feet and thrown ("ducked") from a boat into the Lynnhaven River. Fortunately, she was able to stay afloat and was pulled back into the boat. She was jailed for eight years for witchcraft. It was the only time in Virginia that a trial by ducking occurred. The full account is in my essay What's in a Name?Witchduck Road and the "Witch of Pungo," located on this website in the tab Archives, subtab This-N-That. The marker belowand a statue are now on the "Witch Duck" site.
Witches and "Devil Marks"
One way to know a woman was probably a witch was to examine her naked body for "Devil Marks"-- unusual moles, birthmarks and so forth. Before and again after the ducking of Grace Sherwood, a Jury of "Ansient and Knowing women" undressed and searched Grace "For all teats spotts and marks...not usuall on Others" and swore they found "two things like titts on her private parts of Black Coller." These were seen as "The Devil's marks," evidence of her being a witch.
WITCHES and BROOMS
Why do witches fly on brooms? I'll discuss this topic next October. Meanwhile, if you have a theory to share, send it to us (with your source).
SOURCE: Personal knowledge resulting from research I did while (1) creating and teaching a 400-level topics course at CNC called “The Gothic Tradition in English and American Literature,” (2) while writing my doctoral dissertation (Coleridge’s “Christabel” in Context) for my Ph.D. degree at UNC-Chapel Hill, and (3) while writing my website essays Ancient Beliefs and Traditions Reflected in Old Halloween Cards and What's in a Name?Witchduck Road and the "Witch of Pungo"--both located on this website in the tab Archives, subtab This-N-That.
The above photo appeared in the New York Tribune in 1915. The location was America. Note the 15-starred American flag hanging on the left. Note also the American flag on the right, which the children are saluting. Then read further to learn more facts about our Pledge of Allegiance than most Americans know.
The Balch Pledge and the Bellamy Pledge
For over 30 years, two different Flag Pledges were observed simultaneously in America: The Balch pledge (created 1887) and the Bellamy pledge ( created 1892, with later modifications).
The BALCH pledge was written by a Civil War Union Army veteran, Captain George T. Balch. Serving in his last years as auditor of the New York Board of Education, Balch worked with both the federal government and private organizations to distribute flags to every American school, and in 1887 he wrote the following short pledge meant to promote patriotism by teaching children, particularly immigrant children, loyalty to the United States:
"We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!"
This pledge was received with enthusiasm by numerous public schools-- plus the Daughters of the American Revolution and a Union military veterans organization called the Grand Army of the Republic.
For five years (1887 - 1892) the pledge composed by George T. Balch (photo left above) was the only Pledge of Allegiance used in the U.S. A. Among its critics was Francis Bellamy (photo right above), a Baptist minister and Christian socialist who found Balch's pledge "too juvenile and lacking in dignity."
Having resigned from his Boston church, where his socialist views of Christianity were not always appreciated, in 1892 Bellamy was working for a popular children's magazine, The Youth's Companion, which was planning to participate in a National Public-School Celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. The magazine's marketer, James B. Upham, wanted the magazine to instill in student readers the idea of American nationalism and to encourage them to raise flags above their schools. Some critics believe Upham's motive was more commercial (to sell flags) than it was patriotic.
Upham had Bellamy write a pledge for the occasion, which read:
" I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
As a socialist, Bellamy considered using the words equality and fraternity in his pledge (echoing the French Revolution) but did not do so because he knew school superintendents were against equality for women and African Americans. He also was a firm believer in separation of church and state; therefore, unlike Balch, he did not include mention of God in his pledge. Upham and Bellamy got the National Education Association to support the Youth's Companion as major sponsor of the Columbus Day celebration and also convinced Congress and President Benjamin Harrison to make the public school flag ceremony the center of the celebration. Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance was first used, nationwide, in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances.
The Balch Salute and the Bellamy Salute
The Balch Salute that accompanied the Balch pledge instructed students to stand first with right hands outstretched toward the flag, then to move those hands to their foreheads in a military style salute, and next to move their right hands to their hearts. And at the end of the recitation, they were to drop their right hands to their sides. The picture above, dated as 1899, is the best one I've been able to locate on the internet of children reciting this pledge. Apparently they were speaking the last words of the pledge, because their right hands are placed at an angle over their hearts. Notice the teacher with her back to the wall, guiding them.
The above photograph shows students in 1941 reciting the Bellamy pledge while giving the salute created in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. The 1915 photo at the top of this article also recorded that salute. Bellamy's pledge was printed on September 8, 1892, in The Youth's Companion, as part of the "Official Programme" of the National Columbian Public School Celebration of Columbus Day, with the following instructions concerning how to salute the flag:
"At a signal from the Principal, the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the Flag the military salute—right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat [the Pledge] together, slowly. At the words, ‘to my Flag,’ the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, towards the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.”
As can be seen in the many photographs on the internet of students reciting this pledge, the "palm upward" instruction was seldom followed. Students almost always began and ended their recitation with their right hands outstretched towards the flag palm down. Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute adopted later in Germany, our Congress ruled on 1942 that the Bellamy salute be removed and replaced with the hand over heart salute during the Pledge of Allegiance.
This 1917 painting by American artist Edward Percy Moran depicts Betsy Ross presenting the 1776 American flag to General George Washington (in boots).
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."
Historical and Current Events Affecting the Pledges
During our nation's Civil War (1861- 64) GeorgeBalch (1828- 1894) was in his thirties, whereas Francis Bellamy (1855- 1931) was a very young schoolboy. Despite their generational age gap, I expect 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 in their memories when they were writing their respective pledges. Both men were also highly educated, with degrees from West Point (Balch) and the University of Rochester (Bellamy) and therefore undoubtedly also knew well their nation's early history.
Above is the Great Seal of our nation, used since 1782 to authenticate documents of our federal government. The theme of the Great Seal is stated verbally in the Latin motto E PLURIBUS UNUM ("from many, one," or "out of many, one") and 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 named appropriately 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 recent past history, a major current event motivated the authors of these two pledges, particularly Balch. 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 from "the Old World" were largely from a variety of European nations and were predominantly Roman Catholic. America was quickly becoming "the Melting Pot."
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 pledge was immediately used in all public schools in the city--especially those with immigrant children enrolled. The purpose was to Americanize the children, to assure that their loyalty was to our nation, not to their native lands.
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
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.
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) 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 have never required that the pledge be recited in schools--including Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont & Wyoming. In addition, 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"
Newsweek cover, July 7, 2002.
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 President Lincoln used "under God" in his Gettysburg Address; therefore it should be added to the Pledge. The DAR gave him an award. In 1952, the Catholic fraternal service organization the Knights of Columbus 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).
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).
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. If interested in this topic, go to your computer!
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Note: Part 1 of this essay, which focused on the beginnings of both the Balch and the Bellamy pledges and their individual flag salutes, is now located in our Website Archives (left margin tab), in the sub tab This-N-That.
SOURCES: Personal knowledge, general knowledge, internet photographs, and Wikipedia.
The above photo, "Living Emblem of the United States Marines," is actually a picture of about 100 officers and 9,000 enlisted Marines stationed at Paris Island, S.C. in 1919. In the distance at the top, you can see some of the buildings on their base. If you look closely at the picture's bottom, you can see some of the uniformed men on the first rows.
The photographer was Arthur Samuel Mole (1889-1983), a British born naturalized American who became famous during WW1 for his "living photographs" made on military bases in America. Mole (photo right) and his partner, John D. Thomas, arranged thousands of members of the military on the grounds of their bases to form huge compositions of patriotic images. Looked at from the ground or from directly above, each such composition looked meaningless, but viewed from the top of the 80-foot tower where Mole stood to take the picture, the thousands of men clearly formed a patriotic image. Mole's mastery of perspective enabled him to photograph each huge group from the exact place where the lines of perspective would resolve themselves into a clear image (Wikipedia).
HOW THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE CREATED
Mole and Thomas used an 11 x 14 inch view camera, positioned on their 80-foot high tower. First they put the outlay (wire frame) of the desired image on a glass plate in the camera. Then, this image from the camera was transferred to the ground beneath the tower. Assistants located there fixed the design to the ground, using thousands of yards of white tape. Using a megaphone and a long stick with a white flag on it (so it could be seen from the distance), Mole showed them precisely where to place the tape. Preparing for each "living photograph" took several weeks, and positioning the thousands of people took many hours (Rare Historical Photos).
Because of perspective distortion, there are always many more people at the top of each Mole and Thomas photo than there are at the bottom. In the above "Human Statue of Liberty" photo, for example, there are about 16,000 people forming the flame of the torch but only about 2,000 people forming the rest of the picture. This photo was taken on the parade grounds at Camp Dodge, in Des Moines, Iowa in July of 1918, during excessively hot and humid weather. According to a July 3, 1986 article in the Fort Dodge Messenger, many men fainted (they were wearing wool uniforms) as the temperature neared 105 degrees. The photo was made to promote the sale of war bonds, but was never used for that purpose (Rare Historic Photos).
One person whose great grandfather took part in the "Statue of Liberty" photo recorded that the extreme heat during the photo shoot "was intensified by the mass formation of men" and added these details: "The dimensions of the platting for the picture seem astonishing. The camera was placed on a high tower. From the position nearest the camera, occupied by Colonel Newman and his staff, to the last man at the top of the torch as platted on the ground was 1,235 feet, or approximately a quarter of a mile" ("Mole & Thomas Patriotic Photographs").
The "Human American Eagle" was created at Camp Gordan, in Atlanta, GA in 1918. There are approximately 12,500 officers, nurses, and men in this picture. The nurses (all female then) are the ones dressed in all white. Look closely at the bottom rows. As usual in these photographs, at the top you can see military buildings in the distance.
"Uncle Sam" was made at Camp Lee, VA in 1919 and required the use of roughly 19,000 men. If you look closely at the lower half of the beard, you'll see that some of the men forming that part of the picture, especially at the beard's end, are dressed in all white and lying down.
There are about 25,000 officers and men in the "Human Liberty Bell, made at Camp Dix, N. J. in 1918. Most of them were used to make the upper part of the photograph, of course. Can you see the word "LIBERTY" in the upper part of the bell? Notice that the bell's crack was made with a combination of men in white shirts and the actual ground.
This photograph, "Human U. S. Shield," required about 30,000 officers and men to stand still for hours. It was made in 1918 at Camp Custer, MI. Notice that there are 13 stripes as well as 13 stars, both symbolizing the original 13 states.
MOTIVATION AND PURPOSE
The person whose great grandfather took part in the "Statue of Liberty" photo discussed earlier, also recalled the patriotic love motivating the naturalized Americans soldiers who fought in what was then called "The European War." He (or she) described the "hundreds of men of foreign birth, born of parents whose first impression of the Land of Freedom and Promise was of the world's greatest colossus standing with beacon light at the portal of a nation of free people, holding aloft a torch symbolic of the light of liberty which the statue represents. Side by side with native sons these men, with unstinted patriotism," offered to sacrifice "not only their liberty but even life itself for our beloved country ("Mole & Thomas Patriotic Photographs").
Arthur S. Mole no doubt felt this same patriotism. When he was 14 years old, in 1903, he and his family sailed to America from their native England. They too were no doubt moved by the sight of the Statue of Liberty. When America joined the allied forces in "The European War" (called World War 1 only after World War 2 began), Mole and Jones left their profitable photography business in Chicago to travel all over America, apparently at their own expense, to create and photograph these massive military formations--not to profit from them but to distribute them for the purpose of supporting America's involvement in the war. I read somewhere (I can't recall where) that Mole and Jones donated most of the proceeds from sales of these pictures (printed in various publications and on postcards) to veterans who returned to America after "the Great War."
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Sources
"Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas Patriotic Photographs," in U.S. Militaria Forum. Link: www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/48414-arthur-s-mole-and-john-d-thomas...
My wife and I have taken at least one cruise a year since my 2008 retirement. Like other folks my age, we finally have had the time and resources to enjoy travel occasionally. We have taken a number of cruises and found them a major way to relax, enjoy a change of scenery and see the world.
My purpose here is two-fold: (1) to solicit input from those of you who have taken a cruise or multiple cruises and care to share your experiences with your fellow website readers, and (2) for me to share with those of you who have not cruised but are contemplating it, a few things you might want to consider before booking that first cruise. I am not an expert on cruising but there are a few things I have learned over the years that might be of benefit to you.
So, ARE YOU A CRUISER?
IF YES
We would love to hear about your cruising experience! Please take a few minutes to describe your most enjoyable cruise, including the following:
If you are contemplating a cruise in your future, the following might help in your planning. Below are some of things you will have to decide along the way.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?
Your preferred cruise destination will dictate critical aspects of your cruise such as these: Where the ship departs from, how many days the cruise lasts, whether the cruise ends at the same port from which it departs (most do except for transatlantic cruises), where the ship stops on the way there and on the way back, and how much money you are willing to part with in order to take the cruise.
DEPARTURE PORT
We have cruised from a variety of ports including Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Charleston, Baltimore, and New Jersey (Port Bayonne). An advantage to departing on a cruise from Baltimore is that it is possible for us to drive to the port from our home in Newport News in just 3 hours. There is parking available at all ports from which we have departed. If you plan to park at the port, expect a daily parking fee of anywhere from $6 to $20 a day depending on the proximity to the ship and the level of security provided for your vehicle. If you fly to the city where the port is located, there will be shuttle buses to take you from the airport to the ship (and vice versa). If you take a bus such as Greyhound, check to be certain it will take you to the port.
Getting to the port is a very important first step. Each method of transportation has its advantages and disadvantages and costs can vary greatly. I recommend spending time to research the best option for your budget. The cost of transportation to and from a cruise port can often be as expensive as the cruise itself, or more.
CABIN SELECTION AND BOOKING
The cost of your cruise will also depend on which category of room you choose. Most cruise lines offer a variety of options within these broad categories:
Inside Cabin (with or without a window)
Balcony Cabin
Suite
Inside Cabin
Balcony Cabin
Suite
Please note that room appearances vary greatly within a single ship and on different cruise lines. It is wise to get a picture of the exact room category that is being booked.
Another cost factor is when you book your cruise. There are two time periods that are usually most advantageous cost-wise. It is usually cheaper to sign up for a cruise nine months to a year before it departs. However, cruises that depart within the next 30 days often have bargain rates if the cruise has not sold out. Cruise lines attempt always to sail with a full ship; otherwise they will lose money. That is why prices can change drastically, particularly during the period just before a cruise departs.
An additional angle involving cost is the cruise line's reward program. if you are a member of the cruise line's reward program, you might get a better deal. Regardless, it is wise to check the prices on a daily basis. Often, if the advertised price goes down, the cruise line may refund the difference to you (but only if you ask). Also, if rooms in a certain category are not selling fast enough, you may be offered a free or small cost upgrade.
Options available for booking your cruise are doing so directly from the cruise line you have selected, or using one of several online companies that specialize in finding you the best deal. We have used both approaches but find that the best deals are available via the on-line companies. Those we like best are
There are two categories of port-visited activities that you can book in advance of your cruise: Those sponsored by the cruise line and those sponsored by independent companies at the port visited. Generally, independent company's prices are better than those of cruise-sponsored activities. If using an independent source, however, check its reputation on-line and make sure your activity gets you back to the ship in plenty of time before the ship departs.
Activities such as tours, scuba diving, and hang gliding are typically offered at ports. Again, make sure your booked event is via a reputable company.
DAILY COMMUNICATIONS ONBOARD
Royal Caribbean publishes a daily flier entitled “CRUISE COMPASS” which is delivered to your cabin nightly. It covers the next day's activities on board ship and other critical information. Below is a page from a typical Compass edition.
A cruise ship is like a floating hotel. The bigger the ship, the more activities going on during the day and night. As the above Compass page shows, there are generally more things to do onboard when the ship is sailing than when it is in a port.
SUMMARY
Booking a cruise is not rocket science but it does require some detailed planning. I hope that some of the information presented above will be of value to you novice Cruisers. I hope we will also hear from you experienced Cruisers regarding your personal cruise experiences.
Our English wordChristmas is named after Jesus Christ (Christ + mass), but our word Easter comes from the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess of the dawn and springtime. Wikipedia gives as proof of this origin an Anglo-Saxon era treatise written in Medieval Latin by the Roman Catholic monk Bede in the year 725, The Reckoning of Time.
Bede, a major early English historian, wrote that "Ēosturmōnaþ" (Old English, Easter month) "was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month" (i.e., April). "Theirs" means the early pagan Anglo-Saxons in England. Whereas the Roman Church called Easter by the Latin Pascha (from the Greek "Passover"), Bede noted that many English in his time were still calling the Paschal season "by her (Ēostre's) name, calling the joys of the new rite (Christian festival) by the time-honoured name of the old (pagan) observance."
The picture above right, dated 1884, is by a famous German illustrator of books and magazines, Johannes Gehrts (1855-1921). The ink drawing is titled Ostara, which is Old High German for Ēostre.The Anglo-Saxons who invaded and settled England were descended from ancient Germanic tribes, so their traditions go back to that time.
Easter Bunnies
The Easter Bunny who greets children at stores like Wal-Mart and puts goodies in their Easter baskets the night before Easter is spring's equivalent of Santa Claus and is no more connected with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ than Santa is connected with the Nativity. However, rabbits and their cousins, hares, have been major fertility symbols since before recorded history because of their outstanding reproductive ability.
In the drawing above, notice that a rabbit, or hare, is running close to the heels of the goddess. This animal appears in numerous depictions of her.
Wikipediaquotes German author Jacob Grimm stating in his Deutsche Mythologie("German Mythology," 1835) that "The Easter Hare is unintelligible to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara" (English, Eostre)--an association repeated by other authors but never proven.
The Easter Bunny tradition originated in Germany in the 17th century and was brought to America by German Lutheran immigrants. According to Wikipedia, Germany's "Easter Hare" judged children's behavior at the beginning of the Easter season (like Santa at Christmas), sometimes wore clothes, and delivered baskets containing colored hard-boiled eggs, candy, and sometimes toys to children's homes the night before Easter. The baskets represented bird nests and were lined with grass or other soft material.
Easter Eggs
Eggs have symbolized birth, fertility, and renewed life for countless ages. In ancient times they were believed to ensure the fertility of crops, animals, and humans. They also represented rebirth of the natural world in spring. Wikipedia tells us that 60,000-years-old "decorated, engraved ostrich eggs" have been found in Africa, and that in the "pre-dynastic period of Egypt and the early cultures of Mesopotamia and Crete, eggs were associated with death and rebirth ... and kingship." Therefore, "decorated ostrich eggs, and representations of ostrich eggs in gold and silver, were commonly placed in graves of the ancient Sumerians and Egyptians as early as 5,000 years ago."
Once they became Christians, the people of Mesopotamia saw the egg as representing the empty tomb of Jesus. Therefore, as Wikipedia records, they stained their Easter eggs with red coloring "in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at His crucifixion." The egg shown left above, with the Christian cross, is from the Saint Kosmas Aitolos Greek Orthodox Monastery. The egg shown right above is Ukrainian, with the Paschal greeting "Christ is Risen!" on it. This custom of the Easter egg as a symbol of the Resurrection spread from Mesopotamia into the Orthodox Church and later into Europe through the Roman Catholic and then Protestant Churches.
The Date of Easter
At the First Council Nicaea (year 325), the Church of Rome established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring equinox, so the date varies from year to year. Whatever the date is in any given year, is it not interesting that Easter is always connected with that First Day of Spring, when for thousands of years, ancient (or pagan) religions have celebrated the resurrection of nature and, in many cases, the return also of various deities--some of whom were believed to have died (as does nature, in winter) and then been born again in spring.
March (Latin Martius: "of" or "pertaining to" Mars) was named for the Roman god of war, Mars, identified with the Greek god of war, Ares. They differed however in that Ares represented war as destruction whereas Mars represented war as a means of peace. March was named for Mars for several reasons. Mars was thought to have been born on the first day of March, and March was also the month in which the Romans began resuming wars that had been suspended during the cold winter months.
Bust of Mars in the Palazzo Altemps, Rome.
Mars was the son of the chief Roman goddess, Juno, but conceived without the help of her mate, the chief god Jupiter. Juno was impregnated with a magic flower that had fertile properties, given to her by the goddess Flora. Mars was also the god of agriculture and the father and protector of Rome. He fathered the twins Romulus and Remus, whose mother was a Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia. Abandoned as infants, the twins were nursed by a she-wolf and sheltered by shepherds. Later, Romulus became the founder of Rome.
Mars is also known for his love affair with Venus, made immortal in the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphosis, completed in the year 8 AD. Ovid's myth of the adulterous love of Mars and Venus was based on Homer's account of the affair between Aphrodite and Ares. Above is one of many famous paintings depicting the story of Mars and Venus. It is titled "Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan," an 1827 painting by Alexandre Charles Guillemot that depicts the lovers being trapped by Venus's husband, who ensnared them in a net he had fashioned.
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers: Our Latin Calendar, Part 1 of 4
by A. Jane Chambers
First published January 3, 2018
Republished March 8, 2019
Roomba: My iRobot Adventures with New Technology
by
Ron Lowder, Webmaster
Like most couples, my wife and I each have chores related to keeping our lives organized and our home clean and safe. One of my chores happens to be vacuuming the house on a regular basis. So, like most men with a regular chore that consumes valuable time (at least an hour every two days or so in my case), I have always been on the lookout for ways to accomplish a thankless task without spending the time normally required.
One day I was at Lowes and happened upon the aisle where the robot vacuum cleaners are displayed. My mind immediately went crazy with the possibilities of such amazing technology available to relieve me of my laborious task of vacuuming. And low and behold, the robot vacuums were on sale! After careful consideration of the various models on display, I purchased the iRobot 890 model.
When I came home with the iRobot (Roomba), my wife was skeptical. "How well does that thing clean?" she asked. I had to demonstrate its talents. She was (at first) reluctant to accept the robot into our family but soon came to accept “him” (as we have tagged a male gender to the device even though “he” has a female voice when “he” gets stuck.) His home within our home became our foyer, a central location for him since it provides equal access to all parts of our first floor.
We have four animals: two dogs and two cats. While Roomba is cleaning the house, the two dogs tend to ignore him (unless he bumps into them, which is gentle) but the cats are both afraid of the creature and stay on a elevated surface the entire time he is running. Likewise, our three-year-old granddaughter is careful to be on a staircase step or sitting on a chair when Roomba is vacuuming...but is entertained by watching him work.
Roomba is loaded with sensors that help him navigate during cleaning. But he does get into trouble occasionally, which requires human intervention. We have a fireplace in our living room with a recliner chair beside the hearth. He often gets stuck between the chair and the hearth and screams out (in his female voice) for help, with all four of his indicator lights flashing frantically.
All in all, Roomba is truly amazing from a technological standpoint. It does a very good job cleaning our floors and carpets. And there is even a model available that empties the dust bin when the cleaning job is completed. Remembering back to my childhood, it was a big day when my dad brought home our first Electrolux vacuum, which was built like a tank and lasted my entire youth. So where do we go from here technologically? Who knows! Perhaps I'll ask my Echo Dot (Alexa, who can communicate with Roomba)...she seems to know everything!
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Published February 8, 2019
ShockingVintage Drug Medications
for Children
by A. Jane Chambers
Did your mom ever give you cough medicine containing alcohol, or paregoric to put you to sleep? How about a beer before your bedtime? Soda pop in your sippy cup? The following ads show some bad drug medications given to children not always in the "dark ages" of the 18th and 19th centuries, but often in the early 20th century--and in some cases, even today.
Cocaine comes from COCA leaves in South America. When first introduced in North America (late 1800s) cocaine was used in many medications. It was often used to numb pain--hence the cocaine toothache drops for children.
Coca-Cola, invented in 1886, was originally a patent medicine. It was named for its two major ingredients: cocaine (from coca leaves) and caffeine (from kola nuts). In 1904 the cocaine was removed and replaced by a cocaine-free extract from coca leaves (Wikipedia information).
Diacetylmorphine (commonly called heroin) is derived from the morphine alkaloid found in opium. In 1895, the German drug companyBayer marketed diacetylmorphine as an over-the-counter drug under the trademark name Heroin. Beyer developed it as a cough suppressant that would not have the addictive side effects that had been found in morphine. Ironically, heroin ultimately had a higher rate of addiction than morphine (Wikipedia).
Paregoric was a popular medicine for controlling diarrhea, curbing coughs, and calming children for several centuries, including the early 20th century. It was especially used to numb pain when babies were teething. The major ingredient was opium, or morphine, which is derived from opium. Not until 1970 was paregoric regulated (Wikipedia).
In many cultures, alcoholic beverages--especially beer and wine-- have been given to children for centuries, usually with meals. Alcohol has also been considered worldwide to be good for the health of both the very young and the very old, as reflected in the ad above. If "an apple a day kept the doctor away," parents believed also that "a beer at bedtime" would make their children and grandparents sleep well.
The address on this soda pop ad has no ZIP Code, which means the ad's date is sometime before 1963. Many parents are still giving soda pop to their children at early ages today. Tooth decay begins very early in such children. Sugar and caffeine also turn them into wild people. And diet sodas usually have artificial sweeteners such as aspartame that weaken their bones.
February (LatinFebruarius: "of" or "pertaining to" Februa) was the month sacred to the ancient god Februus , whose name means "purifier." He was also associated with Dis Pater, a Roman god of the Underworld. To the ancient Romans, March was the beginning of the year, and February was the end of the year--thus the logical time to be rid of the old before welcoming the new. Romans purified themselves and their city and appeased the dead with sacrifices and offerings during yearly festivals called Februalia (plural of Februa), cleansing rituals which took place in mid-February. Such rituals were thought to drive out evil spirits and purify the city, thus bringing about renewed health and fertility.
The month of February is probably named more for the festival than for the god. Our traditions of Spring Cleaning and New Year's Resolutions possibly grew out of ancient rituals like these.
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers: Our Latin Calendar, Part 1 of 4
by A. Jane Chambers
First published January 3, 2018
Republished February 8, 2019
Our Latin Calendar: January
by A. Jane Chambers
January (Latin Januarius: “of” or “pertaining to” Janus) was named in honor of the mythological Roman god Janus, whose festival month was January. Janus literally means “gate” or “passageway.” Janus was the guardian of portals (gates and doorways) and the patron of all beginnings and endings, from those of time (especially new years) to those of events (voyages, marriages, plantings of crops). He had two faces, one looking forward; the other looking backward. He saw past and future, day and night, beginnings and endings. He was greatly revered by the Romans, who erected a major temple to him.
Janus was often depicted holding a large key (drawing left above)-- signifying his role as gate-keeper, guardian of portals. The word janitor, meaning in Latin "doorkeeper," comes from the word Janus. Traditionally, janitors were entrusted with the keys that opened and closed buildings. Images of Janus vary. The 18th century statue in Vienna by Johann Wilhelm Beyer (above right) depicts Janus with a youthful face looking forward (at the war goddess Bellona) and an older face looking backward. Sometimes, he is depicted as a beardless youth, as on the ancient coin below left; sometimes as a bearded older man, as in the Vatican Museum bust below right. I believe the one face beardless and the other bearded might have signified the human progression from youth to maturity, innocence to experience, ignorance to knowledge.
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers: Our Latin Calendar, Part 1 of 4
by A. Jane Chambers
Published January 4, 2019
Childhood Christmas Memories
Captured by Norman Rockwell
by A. Jane Chambers
Norman Rockwell (1894 - 1978), born in New York City, was so artistically talented that at age 14he was transferred from high school to the Chase Art School. By age 18, he had completed studies at two of NYC's prestigious art schools: the National Academy of Design, then the Art Students League of New York. By age 19, he was art editor of Boys' Life, the magazine of the Boy Scouts of America. At age 22 (in 1916) he created his first cover painting for The Saturday Evening Post, followed by seven more cover illustrations in that first year, beginning a career of 47 years with Post during which he created 323 original cover paintings. A prolific artist, Rockwell produced over 4000 works in his lifetime, 700 of them housed in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, the small town in which the painter livedfrom 1953 until his death in 1978 at age 84 (Wikipedia).
Rockwell created numerous pictures related to Christmas. The nine I chose for this article reflect memories of that season, especially childhood memories, that I feel are timeless and universal. I've arranged these pictures roughly in chronological order, from pre-Christmas events up to Christmas day.
Rockwell quite often used people he knew as the models for his paintings. This painting, for example, features the artist's entire family. The young man being joyfully welcomed home, with an armful of Christmas gifts, was one of Rockwell's three sons, home from college for the holidays. The woman hugging him was his mother, Rockwell's second wife. To the left are his two brothers--left and right of Rockwell's friend Grandma Moses. To the right is Rockwell himself, with his ever-present pipe. Placement of the three young children in the foreground emphasizes that mixture of joy and awe little children often feel toward young adults. This painting and the others in this article came from the Internet.
This more intimate homecoming painting shows a young married couple reuniting before Christmas with the parents of (I think) the young wife. There are no children in this scene, suggesting to me that the young couple are just beginning their married life.
I was ten when this painting was created (1949) and can identify with the excited children in it. When Christmas grew near, our postman began arriving with packages--some from far-away relatives; others from more mysterious places. Rockwell titled this painting "Jolly Postman."
Everyone in my childhood family helped decorate our green, freshly cut Christmas trees. The adults had to decorate the upper branches, of course, and sometimes, like this man, had trouble getting the tree and its topmost ornament to work together.
Did you also sneak out of bed to watch the grown-ups enjoying their holiday parties? In my family now, there is not such a separation of adults and children at holiday gatherings as there was in my childhood. What about yours?
How and when did you have that shocking moment when you had to face the truth that there was NO REAL Santa Claus?
This painting was originally part of an automobile ad, with the little boy shouting that the family had arrived "in Dad's new Plymouth!" My large family, like many others, traditionally gets together the night before Christmas to exchange gifts. What about yours?
Sweet and sentimental, this picture reminds us that Rockwell's images of childhood were often more idealized than realistic. But I still like it.
This famous painting appeared in December of 1933 on the cover of the Post. Although rocking horses are no longer fashionable Christmas gifts, don't we still have some adults like this grandpa who commandeer children's Christmas gifts "just for awhile" like this--especially mobile gifts such as bicycles and skateboards? The Christmas spirit sometimes overtakes us older folks as much as it does the young children.
Were you "Mother's Helper" on wash day? Growing up in Charlotte, NC in the mid-20th century, as the oldest of four children and a girl, I definitely had that title on wash days (often not just Mondays). And as I grew older, my laundry chores increased. By my teens, I was frequently in charge of much of the entire laundry process--using the wringer washer, hanging and retrieving the laundry, and ironing virtually everything from my little sister's puffy sleeved dresses (hard work) to pillow cases and kitchen towels (easy work).
I don't remember the brand of electric washing machine we had, but it was very much like the one in this Hotpoint ad (left). I think I did not use the electric wringer, however, until high school--for fear it would crush my fingers. Almost all washing machines in those days had wheels, because most people had to hook the water hoses to their kitchen faucets. My dad, however, was able to hook our machine to the hot water heater on our enclosed porch, next to our kitchen. He also strung a clothesline the length of that narrow room for inside drying in bad weather.
Our clothesline, located in the back yard, had 4 wire metal lines anchored at each end by sturdy metal T-shaped poles set in cement, as in the picture below. Before hanging the laundry, I first had to clean these lines with a damp cloth so that they wouldn't leave marks on the laundry. We kept a few long wooden poles handy (like the one in photo 1 above) in case we needed them to push lines up higher so articles like sheets or blankets wouldn't touch the ground. Our clothesline was also located far away from any trees, not only to avoid shade and maximize sunbeams, but also to minimize bird droppings... which not always worked.
The toddlers (twins?) in the above picture remind me of my brothers, who were 17 months apart in age. Their mother is hanging a load of something people younger than forty have probably have never seen: cloth diapers--indispensable in families with children in the mid-20th century. When soiled, diapers were first dipped in toilets (if necessary), then soaked in a lidded container pail in an strong-smelling solution such as ammonia water until being washed in the machine. Few families could avoid this routine by paying for a diaper service. And few fathers (mine was an exception) willingly changed diapers, much less endured this unpleasant process to clean them.
Whatever the season, laundry had to be washed, dried, and retrieved. On very cold winter days, sometimes clothing froze on the clotheslines--like the long johns in the photo above. Thankfully, my father worked inside a building so never wore long johns. Otherwise, I might have been required to iron them, as I did his boxer shorts.
One invention in the mid-20th century that made my ironing chore much easier was metal pants shapers (photo right). When these were inserted into the legs of a pair of newly washed jeans or khakis, and then adjusted to the correct length and width, the dried pants looked as if the legs had been ironed--and creased! Since I had two growing brothers to iron for (and often wore jeans at home myself), these pants shapers were a wonderful addition to clothesline hanging days.
The humorous verses below seem an appropriate way to end this article. The author is an American woman in her seventies who has published four books of light verse poetry.
A Clothesline Poem
by Marilyn K. Walker
A clothes line was a news forecast, to neighbors passing by. There were no secrets you could keep, when clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link, for neighbors always knew, If company had stopped on by, to spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the fancy sheets and towels upon the line; You'd see the company tablecloths, with intricate design.
The line announced a baby's birth, to folks who lived inside, As brand new infant clothes were hung so carefully with pride.
The ages of the children could so readily be known By watching how the sizes changed; you'd know how much they'd grown.
It also told when illness struck, as extra sheets were hung; Then night-clothes, and a bathrobe too, haphazardly were strung.
It said "Gone on vacation now," when lines hung limp and bare. It told "We're back!" when full lines sagged, with not an inch to spare.
New folks in town were scorned upon, if washing was dingy grey, As neighbors raised their brows, and looked disgustedly away.
But clotheslines now are of the past, for dryers make work less, Now what goes on inside a home, is anybody's guess.
I really miss that way of life; it was a friendly sign, When neighbors knew each other best, by what was on the line.
Parts 1 and 2 of this series were about the six deities for whom the months of January through June were named and Part 3 was about the two rulers for whom July and August were named. This last part is about the "Wrong Numbers" in the names of the last four months: September through December.
As discussed earlier, Julius Caesar replaced the ancient lunar Roman calendar of 10 months with the solar calendar of 12 months, based on Earth's revolutions around the sun. His Julian calendar was the major western world calendar for 15 centuries, until refined and replaced in 1582 by the 12-month Gregorian calendar, under the direction of Pope Gregory XIII. Neither Caesar nor, 1500 years later, Pope Gregory changed the names of the last four months of the old 10-month Roman calendar.
SEPTEMBER
The name of this month is from the Latin mensisseptember,meaning "seventh month." September is from Septem ("seven") and -ber (a suffix equivalent to English "-th"). Note that -ber is the ending of all four of the names discussed here and that mensis is Latin for "month. " Although September was the seventh month in the ancient Roman calendar, since the year 46 BC (date of the Julian calendar) it has been the ninth month. The illustration on the right is described by Wikipedia as "a panel from a 3rd-century mosaic of the months, located at El Diem, Tunisia (Roman Africa)." It depicts two men making wine by crushing grapes with their feet, a characteristic activity of the month of September in Roman art. The remaining three mosiac photos in this article are from the same mosaic of months.
OCTOBER
How many arms does an octopus have? How many keys are in an octave? What does the word October mean? Octo is Latin for "eight." Mensis October was the eighth of ten months on that oldest Roman calendar. In ancient Rome, October "marked the close of the season for military campaigning and farming" (Wikipedia). The mosiac panel on the right has a 8-pointed star (appropriately) above the heads of the two figures, seemingly men, who are facing each other. Their arms and empty hands suggest they are making peace, or perhaps congratulating each other after winning a battle or completing the hard task of harvesting.
NOVEMBER
Novemberis from the Latin novem, meaning "nine." Mensis November was originally the ninth of ten months. Once again, that's a wrong number for our 12-month calendar. The mosiac panel here seems very strange: a human figure with an wolf's head? But November was the month of the Plebeian Games (Latin Ludi Plebeii) in ancient Rome--a major religious festival held November 4 -17. The purpose of this festival was to entertain the common people (plebs) of Rome. The games included both theatrical performances and athletic competitions (Wikipedia). That mosaic apparently depicts some theatrical event, perhaps the myth of the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, reared by a she-wolf. Supposedly Romulus founded Rome after killing Remus.
DECEMBER
The tenth month of the old Roman calendar was mensis December, from the Latin decem ("ten")--again a wrong number for our twelfth month. The famous festival the ancient Romans celebrated in December, the Saturnalia, honored the ancient Titan god Saturn (Latin: Saturnus)--the father of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres and Vesta. Saturn was a god of many things, including both generation and dissolution, plenty, wealth, agriculture, periodic renewal, liberation, and time. He reigned in the mythological Golden Age of peace and plenty (Wikipedia).
Saturn was usually depicted in art as an elderly man holding a scythe or sickle, as in the 2nd-century AD Roman bas-relief shown left below. The familiar figures of Father Time and the Grim Reaper both evolved from images of Saturn.
The Saturnaliawas a time of feasting, role reversals, free speech, gift-giving and revelry, held originally on December 17 but later expanded from the 17th through the 23rd of December. There was continual partying and a carnival atmosphere overturning social norms--e.g., gambling was allowed and the master-slave roles were reversed, with masters providing table service for their slaves (Wikipedia). The December mosaic above right is perhaps based on revelry typical of the Saturnalia, music and dancing.
Will we ever change the names of these last four months of the year, to rid those months of their wrong numbers? After almost 2000 years, I seriously doubt we will.
When Julius Caesar ruled the Roman Republic (October of 49 BC - March 15 of 44 BC) perhaps his most important achievement was reforming the ancient Roman calendar, which had only 10 months and 304 days, with the new year beginning in March. Under his direction, in 46 BC astronomers replaced that lunar calendar with a solar calendar based on Earth's revolutions around the sun. This Julian calendar, with 12 months and 365 days, and Leap Years of 366 days, was the major western world calendar for 15 centuries, until refined and gradually replaced in 1582 by the Gregorian calendar, under the direction of Pope Gregory XII.
JULY
After Julius Caesar's assassination on March 15, 44 BC, four months before his 56th birthday, the lower and middle class Romans, who loved him, rioted, and a civil war quickly followed. During this unsettled time, there was another calendar change. When reforming the 10-month Roman calendar, which began with Martius (Latin for Mars), Caesar had kept Quintilis as the name of the month after Junius (June). So the name of Caesar's birth month was Quintilis ("fifth"), even though Quintilis was then the seventh month. In honor of Caesar, his birth month was renamed Julius--in English, July.
Marble bust of Julius Caesar made posthumously (44 - 30 BC) and located in Museo Pio-Clementino, one of the Vatican Museums.
AUGUST
Head of the Augustus of Prima Porta statue, a high marble statue of Augustus Caesar from the 1st century AD. Discovered in 1863 in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome, the statue is now in the Vatican.
Julius Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law, so shortly before his assassination, he had made his grandnephew Gaius Octavius, son of his niece, his sole heir. Only 18 years old when Caesar died, the youth (called Octavian) inherited all of his adoptive father's property and lineage and changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar. He was then usually called "Caesar." However, most historians refer to him as Octavian between 44 BC and 27 BC to avoid confusion between the two Caesars, as I will do here.
After Julius Caesar's death, Octavian joined Mark Antony and Caesar's close ally Marcus Lepidus in defeating the assassins of Caesar, after which they divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. Not surprisingly, the ambitious three soon fought among themselves for more power. Lepidus was driven into exile and Antony committed suicide after he was defeated in battle by Octavian.
A gifted politician as well as warrior, In 27 BC Octavian appeared before the Roman Senate and offered to retire from active politics and government. The Senate rewarded his seeming modesty by increasing his powers, making them lifelong, and awarding him the title of Augustus ("Great" or "venerable," from the Latin augere, "to increase"). He took the name Augustus from that time forward. Historians use this name to refer to him from 27 BC until his death, in 14 AD.
In the year 8 BC, the Romans honored the memory of Augustus by renaming the month of Sextilis (meaning "sixth") as Augustus (in English--August). As in the case of Quintilis, discussed earlier, Sextilis was the old Roman calendar name that had not changed in the switch from the 10-month calendar to the 12-month Julian calendar, so the month name and number do not match. The Romans picked this month, the eighth, because several of the most significant events in the rise of Emperor Augustus to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred in that month. Augustus also had died in that month.
SOURCES for Part 3: Personal knowledge--plus Wikipedia and Internet photos.
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Published July 6, 2018
Lightning Bugs
by A. Jane Chambers
Remember those early summer evenings when the lightning bugs began their twinkling fairy dances at dusk and you raced into the house to get a big jar to put them in? You jabbed some holes in the jar's lid so your captives could breathe and then raced back outside to catch as many of them as you could. I remember the damp grass cooling my bare feet as I ran here and there chasing those blinking lights.
What did you call these magical creatures with the glowing tails? In my hometown, Charlotte, North Carolina, we called them lightning bugs. As my knowledge of the world outside Charlotte grew, I learned that people living in the more western states called them fireflies, and still later I learned that these insects are neither bugs nor flies, but beetles.
Now that I am an octogenarian, I watch the lightning bugs through the windows of my air conditioned house. I watch the males darting about above my deck and back yard, their lights wooing the females who are watching them below from perches of grass and leaves and blinking back their own light signals of "yes"... or "no."
The male lightning bugs wooed us too, when we were children, teasing us with a game of "Catch me if you can!" And catch them we did, sometimes in great numbers, and usually with our bare hands. Even the most squeamish of us, who would scream at the mere sight of most insects, had no fear of these dancing fairy insects.
Our games of "Catch me" lasted until it got so dark that we heard "Come inside now." When "In a minute" and "Okay" no longer gave us another chance to catch just one last lightning bug, we would proudly show off our jar of lights and then, when pleas to bring the prisoners inside were denied, we would humanely release them.
The lightning bug's life cycle is not to be envied. Although, in all stages of its development, the horrible taste of its body protects it from all predators, it spends only a few weeks above ground, flying about and happily flashing its light. After the male mates, he dies. After the female lays her fertilized eggs, she dies too. But on the other hand (see below), that magical light never dies, from egg stage through adulthood.
Shown above, next to his most famous poem, is Lt. Colonel John McCrae (1872 - 1918), a Canadian poet, soldier, and physician. At age 41, as World War I began, he volunteered to join a Canadian fighting unit as a gunner and medical officer. He had previously fought as a volunteer in the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and considered military service his major duty, having a father as a military leader in Ontario.
While McCrae's unit was fighting in the Second Battle of Ypres, in the Flanders region of Belgium, the German army attacked the French positions north of the Canadians with chlorine gas on April 22, 1915, launching one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. Luckily, the Germans were unable to break through the Canadian line although fighting for over two weeks in a battle McCrae described in a letter to his mother as "a nightmare" during which "all that time ... gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds....And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way" (Wikipedia).
Lt. Alexis Helmer (photo R), a close friend of McCrea, was killed on May 2 during this fierce battle. There was no chaplain available, so McCrae performed the burial service himself. He noticed with surprise that red poppies were growing quickly around the graves of his dead comrades. As Sarah Pruitt writes in her essay "The Poppy and the Poet," "the brutal clashes between Allied and Axis soldiers tore up fields and forests" in this region, "tearing up trees and plants and wreaking havoc on the soil beneath. But in the warm early spring of 1915, bright red flowers began peeking through the battle-scarred land: Papaver rhoeas, known variously as the Flanders poppy, corn poppy, red poppy and corn rose...classified as a weed" (history.com).
The sight of the blood-red poppies among the recent graves inspired McCrea to write "In Flanders Field" the very next day (May 3, 1915). Various friends urged him to publish it, and in late 1915 it was published in the English magazine Punch. The poem would be used at countless memorial ceremonies, and became one of the most famous works of art to emerge from the Great War. Its fame had spread far and wide by the time McCrae himself died, from pneumonia and meningitis, in January 1918 (Wikipedia).
An American woman, Moina Michael, initiated the practice of wearing red poppies to remember the deceased military. She read “In Flanders Field” in the Ladies’ Home Journal two days before the armistice. A professor at the University of Georgia when WWI began, she had taken a leave of absence to volunteer at the New York headquarters of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), which trained and sponsored workers overseas. Inspired by McCrae’s verses, Michael wrote her own poem in response, which she called “We Shall Keep Faith.”
As a remembrance of the sacrifices of Flanders Field, professor Michael vowed to always wear a red poppy. Finding a batch of red fabric blooms at a department store, she kept some for herself and gave others to her colleagues. After the war ended (1918), she returned to the university town of Athens, GA, and began making and selling red silk poppies to raise money to support returning veterans. Thus began her campaign to create a national symbol for remembrance. In the summer of 1920, she managed to get Georgia’s branch of the American Legion, a veteran’s group, to adopt the poppy as its symbol. Soon after that, the National American Legion voted to use the poppy as the official U.S. national emblem of remembrance when its members convened in Cleveland in September 1920. It quickly became a major symbol of Memorial Day (Sarah Pruitt).
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Published May 25, 2018
Car Camping
a Hundred Years Ago
by A. Jane Chambers
Recently, CNC First Decader Danny Peters (B.S., '71) emailed me a collection of old photographs that included three I have reprinted here (photos 4, 5, & 6). These motivated me to explore the internet for more photos of car camping in the 1920s and earlier. In my own twenties (not the 1920s, but the early 1960s) I enjoyed about six weeks of "roughing it" by car camping across America and back with two friends from my undergraduate college. I have added here a few ways in which our car camping experience was both like and unlike that of Americans a hundred years ago.
On our 1963 trip, my two friends and I had a much fancier (and larger) car than this fellow (above) had in the 1920s--a fairly new and very comfortable Pontiac, owned by one of the friends. But like this man's 1920s car, the Pontiac was not air conditioned--except by Mother Nature. We had NO TENT, but we did have sleeping bags and a heavy tarp. Sometimes we slept in the bags on the ground, on top of (or under) the tarp, or on top of picnic tables in campgrounds. Sometimes we slept inside the car, often with some doors open for air (and feet). About once a week, we stayed one night in a motel, enjoying real beds. Occasionally, we spent a day or two with someone's relatives or friends, who provided beds or at least living room floors for us. In our mid-twenties, we could sleep anywhere.
The lady shown abovehad much more hair to deal with than we three. We all had short hair styles, but we too had personal hygiene challenges, which varied with the summer weather. That's another reason we opted to stay in motels at least one night a week, if not staying with people we knew. Showers, shampoos, and Laundromat trips happened during those times.
This family above enjoyed a popular car-tent combination in the 1920s. We had no tent. This family was also better prepared for camping than we three were in 1963. Notice the cooking equipment, the table, and the chairs. We took along no chairs and no table, so ate in the car if we could find no campground with tables. We did have a Coleman stove and a coffee pot, and maybe a pot and frying pan--but we seldom cooked, and what we cooked came from cans. We also ate a lot of sandwiches and peanut butter and vanilla wafer meals. Occasionally we ate at a restaurant, or with friends and/or relatives in various states. There were virtually no fast food restaurants in the early 1960s. We stayed slender on that trip.
The above shows larger tent extensions than that young family had in the previous picture. Notice there are also windows. Another photo I saw showed these extensions opened on the back end of the vehicles.
The couple in the above 1918 picture were also well prepared for meal-making--very important 100 years ago, when not only restaurants but also towns and cities were in many states rather scarce. We three found that true in many states in 1963 too, especially in the desert areas of the southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada) and in states like Utah further north. Also, the Interstate Highway System was in its infancy then, having begun only in 1956, and I don't remember driving on anything except 2-lane highways on that 1963 trip until reaching the main coastal cities in California such as Los Angeles.
Driving this 1926 motor home above must have been challenging. However, although all highways were 2 lanes, traffic was extremely light then and few vehicles drove very fast. Was this motor home built by the car's owner, or manufactured at some plant? I don't know. But I expect it was expensive.
Here we have something only the wealthy could afford in the 1920s--a fancy sedan towing an even fancier trailer. The men in both are in suits and ties. They don't look like they are really going camping, do they? Maybe they are taking the car and its trailer somewhere to show them to prospective buyers.
I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as I did.
Part 1 of this article discussed the histories of the names January, February, and March on the Gregorian calendar, which replaced the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar) that had been the western world's calendar for 15 centuries. In 1582 AD Pope Gregory XIIIreformed that calendar mainly to change the date of Easter, which had been falling further away from the spring equinox. Pope Gregory kept the Latin names for the months that had been used for untold centuries before and after Christianity. Below are brief histories of the names April, May, and June--also derived from the names of ancient deities.
APRIL
The Romans named the fourth monthAprilis, derived from the Latin verb aperire, "to open," because this month is the budding or opening time for trees and some spring flowers. April was also the sacred month of the goddess of love, Venus, whose major festival, the Veneralia, was held on April 1. Her Greek equivalent was the goddess Aphrodite, whom the Roman poet Ovid associated with the month of April in his long poem Festi ("Festivals").
Although Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, she was, ironically, married to Hephaestus (or Vulcan), the lame god of fire and metals. She was frequently unfaithful to him. Her love affair with Ares (or Mars), the god of war, is well known (see Part 1 of this article). By him she had Eros, or Cupid, the god of erotic love, or desire. As in this 1555 painting by Titian (left), Cupid was most often depicted by artists as a winged boy with bow and arrows. This image is still very popular, particularly during Valentine's Day.
By the messenger god Hermes (Roman equivalent, Mercury), Aphrodite had a son named Hermaphroditus. When he was a shy youth, the water nymph Salmacis fell in love with him. He rebuffed her advances but could not resist swimming in her beautiful lake. There she forcefully embraced him and begged the gods to keep their bodies together. Her prayer was granted. He was transformed into a two-sexed person, with her female body and male genitalia--hence the term hermaphrodite, now being replaced by the medical term intersex.
Marble sculpture at Lady Lever Art Gallery, in Wirral, England.
MAY
In Greek mythology Maia was the eldest of seven sisters called the Pleiades, who were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione. Wanting to avoid contact with the gods, Maia lived alone in a cave; however, the god Zeus secretly impregnated her and she gave birth to Hermes. Maia was revered as a nurturer; in Greek "maia" means "midwife." Maia and her sisters were ultimately transformed into a constellation. The Romans identified this Maia with their goddess Maia, to whom the month of May was dedicated.
Pleiades, an 1885 painting by American artist Elihu Vedder located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This 1585 painting of Vulcan and Maia is by Bartholomaus Spranger.
The Roman Maia was the mother of Mercury (Greek equivalent, Hermes)--the protector of merchants and travelers and the messenger of Jupiter, the Roman king of gods (Greek equivalent, Zeus). She was also closely associated with the god Vulcan (god of fire and heat) and thus represented the concept of growth, which occurs in later spring, as the earth becomes warmer (more heated). On the first day of May, the priests of Vulcan sacrificed a pregnant pig to Maia, honoring fertility (growth) in all beings.
JUNE
The month of June is named after Juno, the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera. Juno was the sister of and wife of Jupiter, the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. In both mythologies, these were the chief gods and goddesses, superior to all others. Juno was often called Juno Regina (Juno the Queen). As protector of the Roman state, she was sometimes depicted as warlike, as in this second century AD statue in the Vatican Museums, showing her with a spear and shield. Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva, goddess of wisdom (equated with the Greeks' Athena) were the capitol city's triad of deities, most often worshipped and honored with temples.
Juno's roles were many. A major one was as Juno Moneta, "goddess who alerts people." She saved Rome from a Gallic invasion in 390 BC when her sacred geese sounded the alarm, forcing the invaders to retreat. Her chief role, however, was as goddess of marriage and childbirth. Under the name of Juno Lucina, she watched over women during pregnancy and delivery. Expectant mothers and people who took offerings to Juno on behalf of them were required to untie all knots in their clothing and remove any belts, because the presence of a belt, knot or the like could hinder the delivery of the woman on whose behalf they were making their offering.
SOURCES for Part 2: Personal knowledge--plus the Dictionary of Classical Mythology, by Pierre Grimal, Wikipedia, and Internet photos.
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Published March 30, 2018
Logos with Hidden Images
by A. Jane Chambers
Below are ten logos that have somewhat "hidden" images built into them. Can you find the images? Some are more obvious than others.
The gold arrow points from the "a" to the "z"--suggesting that Amazon carries virtually anything the consumer might want to order, "from A to Z." The arrow is also curved, creating a smile that suggests the buyer will be happy with results.
This Atlanta Falcons logo includes a falcon, with head pointing right (see the beak and eye?), talons below the head, and spreading feathers. In addition, the logo is in the shape of the letter "F."
It's easy to see the number "31" in the "B" and "R" in this logo. But do you also know why the company decided to offer 31 flavors of ice cream? The idea was to suggest that you should eat Baskin-Robbins ice cream every day of the month, with a different flavor each day.
Do you see the arrow pointing forward? It is between the capital "E" and the "X." It suggests that Fed Ex will deliver your packages with speed.
The "G" in "Goodwill" is also a smiling face, reflecting the idea of "good will to all"--both the workers and the consumers.
This zoo is in Cologne, Germany. Do you see the giraffe and rhino within the image of the elephant? There's also a famous gothic cathedral in Cologne--the 2 spires of which are suggested between the hind legs of the elephant.
Are you old enough to remember the original NBC logo--a realistic image of a peacock, whose tail feathers spread out as you looked at it. Today's stylized logo still has the peacock in the middle (see the beak?). The six "feathers" are the colors of the rainbow and also the colors from which other colors are made, starting with the 3 primary colors: yellow, red, and blue. Together, the colors suggest the great variety of programs available to NBC viewers.
Here's another zoo logo. Do you see the gorilla and lioness facing each other? The birds are easy to see, but do you also see the fish leaping up from the water?
Do you see the salsa bowl? It dots the "i." Above it is a triangular chip for that dip. Left and right (the middle "t" letters) are two people either sharing (or offering) that chip ... or fighting over it. Very clever, si ?
This famous bike race is a daytime event, so the orange globe might represent the sun. However, it is also the front wheel of a racing bike, and the "r" is a biker hunched over it, with a dot for a head. The big "O" with a dot inside it is the back wheel, and the small "u" suggests the bike's seat. Extremely clever, oui ?
Companies, groups, and organizations of all kinds often spend much time--and money--on their logos, and logo designers frequently make fabulous salaries--especially those who win designing contests.
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Published February 16, 2018
Our Peninsula's Frozen Waterways,
1780 - 2018
by A. Jane Chambers
“The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around; It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound!” *
-- from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
( * Noises heard when one swoons (faints)--i.e., is semiconsious. )
January is apparently the month for frozen waterways surrounding our Virginia Peninsula. In Millennial Moments: Hampton Roads' Frozen Rivers (Daily Press, Dec. 30, 1999), Will Molineux wrote that "at least three times extended cold temperatures in January locked ships in ice here and gave residents the opportunity to walk across rivers"-- in 1780, 1857, and 1918. The photo above, by Sandra Deans Snyder, was taken just a few days after this year's opening blizzard and first long freeze--in (of course) early January. It shows ice at Huntington Beach at sunset, with the James River Bridge in the background.
Molineux tells us that in 1780, Thomas Jefferson, then Virginia's Governor, wrote that the "York River was frozen over so that people walked across it" and the Virginia Gazette (Jan. 22 issue) reported that "six loaded wagons went over the James River, on the ice, from Warwick [Shire] to the opposite shore" and that several boats in the James were grounded by ice and several sank, including a large ship near Mulberry Island. Records in 1857 show that in that January of that year, the Chesapeake Bay was frozen for a mile and a half from the shoreline and that the Elizabeth River froze over so that a large number of people "crowded the thoroughfare on the ice between Norfolk and Portsmouth." And in 1918, the Daily Press wrote in January that "ice jammed the James River, although a few ferries were able to operate between the Peninsula and Norfolk."
The above photo and the next five are from Pictures: When it comes to bitter cold weather, 1977 is the winter Hampton Roads remembers, which is a Daily Press gallery dated 2018 and edited by Mark St. John Erickson. He wrote that "unusually cold temperatures began moving into Hampton Roads just before Christmas [1976], and by January 2[1977], the James River was frozen solid hundreds of feet from the shoreline." This first photo shows people walking on the ice, with the old Red's Pier to the right. The next picture, below, is another view of the frozen James, Red's Pier, and the old JRB and power towers.
Boats have never fared well in ice, whatever the century. They are stopped dead by heavy ice, whether wooden (as in Coleridge's poem) or metal or fiberglass (as in our time). Often they are damaged, or even destroyed, by ice either above or below the water line (as was the Titanic). Here in Hampton Roads, boat owners in January of 1977 found their boats ice locked in marinas, if not sunk by the weight of ice inside them, as shown in the picture below taken at the James River Marina in Deep Creek, in Newport News.
Coast Guard to the rescue! In the 1977 freeze, which lasted all of January and into early February, we were fortunate to have Coast Guard service nearby, to cut through ice in emergency situations. The cutter shown below was sent to help break up the ice at the NuclearPower Station upriver which was choking the water intake pipes.
These last two Daily Press photographs from 1977 are aerial views. The first is of the Menchville area with a heavily iced shoreline. The second is of Jamestown's shoreline. The three ships there were of course ice locked.
The remaining photos were all taken very early this year, shortly after the blizzard of January 3 -4 dumped as much as 10 - 12 inches of snow in Hampton Roads. Temperatures remained well below freezing for over a week.
The pictures above and below, both by Sandra Deans Snyder, were taken at the Hilton Pier behind Hilton Elementary School, in Newport News. Notice how the ice reflects the color of the sky. The children on the ice stayed close to the shore, where the water is very shallow. Notice the brave (or foolish?) one wearing shorts in the bitter cold!
The man in the Daily Press photo below was walking on the ice on Lake Maury, in the Mariners' Museum Park in Newport News. I wonder how deep the water beneath his feet was.
These final two pictures of people walking on ice are also Daily Press photos. Both were taken at Huntington Beach in Newport News.
These three women in the above photo seem to be testing the ice very close to the shore. The water is quite shallow at Huntington Beach.
I can't tell how far out the woman in this final photo has ventured, but it is clear that the iceextended then well past the first power tower beside the James River Bridge. The sun makes this shot spectacular!
A word of advice: Don't make any January travel plans! My Facebook photos show that it also snowed here on January 25, 2013 (but with no frozen rivers), and we had a blizzard here on January 28-29, 2014 (with the James frozen). Februaries are not so great either. On February 18, 2015, there was also ice on the James River.
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Published January 19, 2018
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers:
Our Latin Calendar
Part 1 of 3
by A. Jane Chambers
Our western world calendar evolved from the ancient Roman lunar calendar. It had only 10 months and 304 days, with the new year beginning in March and the time between December and March simply called "Winter." Under Julius Caesar's rule, in 46 BC astronomers replaced that lunar calendar with a solar calendar based on Earth's revolutions around the sun. The Julian calendar had the 12 months we know and 365 days, with Leap Years of 366 days. It was followed for 15 centuries, but it miscalculated the length of the solar year by 11 minutes. Therefore, in 1582 AD, Pope Gregory XIIIreformed that calendar, mainly to change the date of Easter. Traditionally observed on March 21, Easter had been falling further away from the spring equinox. Most of Europe then switched to the Gregorian calendar, but England and her colonies did not make that change until 1752. Until then, the New Year in England and in the American colonies began on March 25.
Pope Gregory XIII kept the Latin names for the months that had been used for untold centuries before and after Christianity. Below are histories of the names January, February,and March.
JANUARY
January (Latin Januarius: “of” or “pertaining to” Janus) was named in honor of the mythological Roman god Janus, whose festival month was January. Janus literally means “gate” or “passageway.” Janus was the guardian of portals (gates and doorways) and the patron of all beginnings and endings, from those of time (especially new years) to those of events (voyages, marriages, plantings of crops). He had two faces, one looking forward; the other looking backward. He saw past and future, day and night, beginnings and endings. He was greatly revered by the Romans, who erected a major temple to him. He's often depicted holding a large key, signifying his role as gate-keeper, guardian of portals.
God Janus and goddess Bellona. 18th century statue in Vienna by Johann Wilhelm Beyer.
The word janitor, meaning in Latin "doorkeeper," comes from the word Janus. Traditionally, janitors were entrusted with the keys that opened and closed buildings. Images of Janus vary. The statue above depicts him with a youthful face looking forward (at the war goddess Bellone) and an older face looking backward. Sometimes, he is depicted as a beardless youth, as on the ancient coin below left; sometimes as a bearded older man, as in the Vatican Museum bust below right. I believe the one face beardless and the other bearded might have signified the human progression from youth to maturity, innocence to experience, ignorance to knowledge.
FEBRUARY
February (LatinFebruarius: "of" or "pertaining to" Februa) was the month sacred to the ancient god Februus , whose name means "purifier." He was also associated with Dis Pater, a Roman god of the Underworld. To the ancient Romans, March was the beginning of the year, and February was the end of the year--thus the logical time to be rid of the old before welcoming the new. Romans purified themselves and their city and appeased the dead with sacrifices and offerings during yearly festivals called Februalia (plural of Februa), cleansing rituals which took place in mid-February. Such rituals were thought to drive out evil spirits and purify the city, thus bringing about renewed health and fertility.
The month of February is probably named more for the festival than for the god. Our traditions of Spring Cleaning and New Year's Resolutions possibly grew out of ancient rituals like these.
MARCH
March (Latin Martius: "of" or "pertaining to" Mars) was named for the Roman god of war, Mars, identified with the Greek god of war, Ares. They differed however in that Ares represented war as destruction whereas Mars represented war as a means of peace. March was named for Mars for several reasons. Mars was thought to have been born on the first day of March, and March was also the month in which the Romans began resuming wars that had been suspended during the cold winter months.
Mars was the son of the chief Roman goddess, Juno, but conceived without the help of her mate, the chief god Jupiter. Juno was fertilized with a magic flower that had fertile properties, given to her by the goddess Flora. Mars was also the god of agriculture and the father and protector of Rome. He fathered the twins Romulus and Remus, whose mother was a Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia. Abandoned as infants, the twins were nursed by a she-wolf and sheltered by shepherds. Later, Romulus became the founder of Rome.
Mars is also known for his love affair with Venus, made immortal in the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphosis, completed in the year 8 AD. Ovid's myth of the adulterous love of Mars and Venus was based on Homer's account of the affair between Aphrodite and Ares. Above is one of many famous paintings depicting the story of Mars and Venus. It is titled "Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan," an 1827 painting by Alexandre Charles Guillemot that depicts the lovers being trapped by Venus's husband, who ensnared them in a net he had fashioned.
In addition to my personal knowledge, my sources for Part 1 of this article have been (for Janus) the Probert Encyclopaedia of Mythology, by Matt and Leela Probert and (for Februus and Mars) the Dictionary of Classical Mythology, by Pierre Grimal--along with occasional use of Wikipedia. Images used all came from the Internet.
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Published January 3, 2018
Rockwell's Rocking Horse Riders
Published December 22, 2017
Road Names in Brandon Heights
in Newport News
by A. Jane Chambers
with thanks to Alexander Bivins
While working on the article Cunninghams' Daughter Visits Brandon Heights Home, I wondered about the history of the names of the streets that make up this 80-years-old neighborhood located between Warwick Blvd. and River Road, next to Hilton Village and near the James River. After publishing my article, on Facebook I asked if anyone knew the origin of those names. Soon I heard from Alexander Bivens, who told me that all five parallel roads in Brandon Heights were named after plantations in Virginia.
The center of Brandon Heights is marked on the above map by the purple pointer. Left to right, after James River Drive, are Stratford Road, Shirley Road, Westover Road, Brandon Road and (but not named on the map) Milford Road. Following this order are pictures of the plantations after which road was named and a few interesting details about each of them.
All of the plantation photos in this article came from internet collections. Above is Stratford Hall, which Alexander Bivins described as"the plantation where the Lee family (as in Robert E. Lee) lived in Westmoreland County"--four generations of them, in fact, according to Wikipedia, which also noted that Robert E. Lee was born there but the family left when he was age four, although he retained fond memories of this home. Two previous Lees were signers of the Declaration of Independence. Much more information is available through The Robert E. Lee Memorial Association, a non-profit tax exempt 501(c)3, which began in 1929 by women who raised the money to purchase Stratford and still maintain it. The plantation is open to the public. The website link is www.stratfordhall.org.
Shirley Plantation is described by Wikipedia as "the oldest plantation in Virginia and the oldest family-owned business in North America, dating back to 1638." Located on the James River in Charles City County, between Williamsburg and Richmond, it is also connected to the Lee family. Anne Hill Carter Lee, mother of Robert E. Lee, was born, married, and lived there with her husband and children. Carter-Hill family members have occupied Shirley since 1738, when the "Great House" shown above was completed. On the rooftop is an emblem of a pineapple, a symbol of hospitality. An eleventh generation Hill family now lives in the upper floors. Shirley is open for tours. Thelink is www.shirleyplantation.com.
Westover Plantation is also on the north shore of the James River in Charles City County, and like Shirley, located on State Route 5 between Williamsburg and Richmond and open to the public. The official site (link:www.westover-plantation.com) describes it as "one of the grandest and most beautiful of the colonial plantations, built in the mid-eighteenth century by the Byrd family" and "a premier example of Georgian architecture in America." The Byrd family has a long history here.
Brandon Plantation, on the south shore of the James in Prince George County, is described by Wikipedia as "one of the longest-running agricultural enterprises in the United States," having been an active farm from at least 1614. Its original owner was Jamestown Colonist Captain John Martin. It was then owned by the Harrison family from 1700 until 1926, when it was bought and restored by Richmond banker Robert Williams Daniel. His son, U.S. Congressman Robert Williams Daniel, Jr., inherited it. After his death (2012) it was purchased by "a Florida family" for $17.8 million, who planned to "occupy the plantation, renovate the main house and continue farming the land" (Washington Times, July 4, 2014). The belief that the main house, completed in the 1760s, was designed by Thomas Jefferson is legendary.
Alexander Bivins provided the following about Milford Plantation: "The Brandon Heights streets were named in the 1930s. At that time, there was a 450-acre plantation in Caroline County (near Fredericksburg, Va.) named Milford. A prominent member of Virginia's colonial legislature who was a powerful figure decades before the Revolutionary War lived there. In the years since Brandon Heights was built, the name of the plantation in Caroline County has been changed to 'Newmarket' by an owner. The estate is still in the community of Milford."
With Alexander's information, I was able to locate Newmarket Plantation (www.facebook.com/NewmarketPlantation), in the small community of Milford. The farm is a wholesale business in vegetables and horse-food quality hay and straw. The owners are Robert (Robby) Caruthers, a farmer, and his wife, Ada, a horse veterinarian. There is no picture of the house, which they extensively renovated and occupy. An ad states the property was "a royal land grant from the King of England in 1726." A newspaper article of Sept. 16, 2017 gives background on the first owner, Colonel John Baylor, whose family owned the plantation 1726-1996. Baylor, who served twice in the Virginia House of Burgess, was a major importer of thoroughbred horses, had an extensive stud farm, and helped make horse racing popular in Colonial Virginia.
What I still cannot locate is information on the developer of Brandon Heights. Perhaps someone reading this article can solve that mystery.
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Published November 10, 2017
Impacts of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma,
and Maria on First Decaders
by A. Jane Chambers
Knowing that some of our First Decaders and/or some of their loved ones lived in the paths of hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria, I recently sent this request to all: "Please let me and your CNC First Decade friends know your status. Many of us have been thinking of you with hope in our hearts and prayers for your safety. I will send any news you send to your former classmates and professors." The majority of those who responded reported they had experienced little or no serious damage. Each of the three hurricanes did, however, seriously impact some. Below are their accounts, edited at times for length.
HARVEY: Houston, Texas
The aerial photo above shows hurricane Harvey in the Gulf of Mexico on August 25, 2017-- bearing down at peak intensity on the Texas coast. Jerry Russell ('65), who lives in Houston, was lucky: "We did not flood. Just a couple of roof leaks." However, Jean Regone Henry ('65), who lives in Maryland, reported shocking news about her brother Bill Regone and his wife, Debbie, who live in Houston: "They lost everything in Harvey--house, furnishings, cars." Below is Jean's account:
The damage came, not from the rain, but from water released by the city when they opened the spillways; 21 inches of the most toxic residue the EPA officials had ever seen sat in Bill's house for almost two weeks, contaminating everything it touched. Bill and Debbie tried to save everything they could, but very little actually survived. They have no flood insurance. They also lost both of their cars, plus their daughter's car and their son's car, which were both parked in Bill's driveway. The spillway water rose so quickly, there was no chance to move the cars before all the roads were flooded.
They rented a townhouse a mile away so they could continue to work on their flooded home once the water receded. A team of Mormons (from a group of 8000) removed drywall and flooring (wood, tile, vinyl) after Bill and Debbie had cleaned out the house. Everything wound up near the curb, where city trucks continued the demolition of family heirlooms, the piano, most of the furniture, doors, and cabinets. The Red Cross has provided survivors with food, bottled water, and some other necessities while they work to salvage whatever they can.
Bill, who is really handy, has restored power so they can use dehumidifiers to dry out concrete, brick, and studs. Debbie and her sister have been decontaminating studs in preparation for a rebuild, if they can get permission. Debbie does not want to give up the house. The concrete slab foundation was saturated, of course, as was the brick fireplace. All the interior walls in their house have now been removed. After scrubbing and disinfecting the supporting studs, they'll have to wait to see if the mold and mildew continue to grow. Our family is worried about the contamination of the soil, the concrete, the brick, and the wood left standing and the effect that contamination may have on their health. The city has health inspectors to advise them, so perhaps things will fall into place.
IRMA: Lakeland, Florida (near Tampa Bay)
The above photo shows hurricane Irma headed toward Florida. Herminio Cuervo ('66), who lives in Lakeland, reported that all in his household (humans and animals) "survived without injury" and that his home was spared but his office "took in some water, so we had to go bail out/dry the carpet," later restored fully by Stanley Steamer workers. The main damage in Lakeland was loss of power, caused primarily by downed trees. Below is Herminio's often humorous account of his experience.
The storm came right over our heads: we were in the East side of the eyeball (as I prefer to call it). Wind gusts over 100 MPH. We had several large oaks (senior citizens) all around the house and we lost many. One of them took the power, TV, phone and internet connections down with him (trees are masculine). To show you how God works in interesting ways, the wires helped the fallen tree go west, away from the house. We lost a large tree which fell on the street and on Monday AM, a neighbor helped us drag it off the road. I did chain sawing to help things out.
At the end of the day, another neighbor, who happened to be a senior lineman at Lakeland Electric, stopped when he saw the downed lines. He looked at them, climbed to the transformer in his bucket, took the lines off, came down, snuck the lines out from under the tree, borrowed my chainsaw and cleared the way. Then he lifted the lines back to the transformer, and when he got down from the bucket, told me, we would get the lights back in less than 2 hours. I thought, wow, with neighbors like this, we are blessed. We had power back before 24 hours, but still no TV, phone, or internet.
My son, Pedro, had parachuted here from LSU Law the day before the storm, so he and I did a lot of hauling of broken limbs, branches, tree trunks to the roadside. The place began to look like a set for the "Walking Dead," which appealed to me. I lost 5 pounds in one day, just hauling things around. Thinking of developing a weight loss program coupled to disaster mitigation. We still need to get that huge oak off the side of the road and fence. Have tree guys doing that; it is very expensive.
At the time Herminio wrote (mid-September), some food staples ("like sliced bread and milk") were in short supply and many people were still without power. However, there was no loss of order in Lakeland ("We have excellent law enforcement here"), the airport was spared ("a hub for cargo in/out"), FEMA and the military were there, and there was no gasoline shortage.
MARIA: Naguabo, Puerto Rico
The aerial photo above shows hurricane Maria, as a category 4, moving toward Puerto Rico (small rectangle left). It hit first the south eastern end (right end), which includes the coastal town of Naguabo ( red spot on the map at right). Close to there is the home of the mother of one of our First Decaders, Kathy Benintende Monteith ('74), who is also the mother-in-law of CNU Alumni Relations Officer Katie Monteith.
On September 15, Kathy wrote: "My dear mom was affected by Irma. She's safe, praise God! She has fresh water and a gas stove. Electricity will most likely be out for awhile longer." The situation worsened in Puerto Rico as time passed, however, as we all know. Kathy heard no more from or about her mother for many days. Then, on September 27, I heard from Kathy again. She wrote the below news.
We received a call yesterday from a dear friend of mom's, that she is okay! She's living in her home and surrounded by a community of love & support! No electricity or water yet. The mountain road to her home is now passable. Gasoline is scarce but was available yesterday in the closest town. Some stores are reopening. USPS and local banks are not in operation since Maria. October 9 UPDATE: Progress is happening! As of last Friday, mom has running water and postal mail service! I'm hopeful to receive mail from her this week. My sister & I are flooding her with cards and necessary needs.
The impact of Maria will be felt by all who live in Puerto Rico for many more weeks, months--perhaps even years. Keep Kathy Monteith's mother, and all others who are there, in mind as you watch the news unfold.
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Published October 13, 2017
Bodie Island Lighthouse:
Worth the Trip
Article and photos by Ron Lowder, Webmaster
My wife, Maureen, is a fan of lighthouses. On sightseeing trips we have taken over our 41 years of marriage, there was often a lighthouse visit on the agenda. And I must say, she has made me a fan of lighthouses also. Even though all lighthouses have the same purpose of helping guide ships at sea, each has unique features and stories associated with it, some of which are fascinating.
Our visit last month to the Bodie Island Lighthouse (correctly pronounced “body”) proved to be the highlight of our week-long Outer Banks vacation. Located south of Nags Head on Highway 12 (about a 15-minute drive from the Outlet Mall) on 15 acres of land, the area is well maintained and well managed.
The name “Bodie” reportedly was originally spelled “Body” or “Boddy.” An early placard in the foyer of the lighthouse has the title “Body's Island Lighthouse.” Locals say that Body (Bodie) Island was named after the original owner of the land. Despite extensive research, I cannot verify that fact. The word “Island” is in the name because the area was once an island. Now it is a peninsula. The history of the land and the name are perhaps a subject for another article!
When Maureen and I visit any lighthouse, we always opt to climb to the top of it to experience the view of the surrounding area, which we did on this occasion also. When purchasing tickets required for the climb, we were provided with a time to report to the entrance to the lighthouse for the climb. Because of the age of the Bodie Lighthouse (construction completed in1872), the number of people that can be in it at one time (either climbing the stairs or at the top) is restricted. Our allotted entry time was about 1 hour away so we looked for something to do while waiting.
View of the Bodie Island observation deck taken from the top of the lighthouse.
We decided to venture down a well-built wooden pathway toward an observation platform in the distance. The foot trip to the platform took about 10 minutes winding through marsh, sea grass and other forms of vegetation including the blooming plants pictured. Sights from the platform and along the path were well worth the walk.
Among the scattered marsh and small lake-like bodies of water, the platform offered a unique view of area wildlife. In the distance, we observed a flock of egrets feasting on the cuisine offered by the marshy wetlands. Other birds that frequent the area are Canada geese, snowy white ibises, great blue herons, and even graceful white swans. Not only is the walk to the platform good exercise, but the views are quite worth the effort.
At about 10 minutes before our allotted time, we arrived at the entrance of the lighthouse to be greeted by a park employee who relayed some interesting facts about the lighthouse. The 15 acres of land upon which the lighthouse stands were donated by the lighthouse keeper of an earlier nearby lighthouse located on Pea Island. Several lighthouses have previously been constructed on the same 15-acre property that the Bodie Island Lighthouse currently occupies; the previous lighthouse was destroyed by the Confederate Army for fear that Union soldiers would use the lighthouse as an observation post.
There are 214 steps that lead to the top of the lighthouse with landings every 20 or so steps. Because of the age of the steps and the supporting structure, only one person at a time is allowed to climb the steps between each landing. In other words, when one person reaches a landing, another can venture up those same stairs. There are 9 landings in all on the journey to the top.
View from the top of the Bodie Island Lighthouse staircase, looking down.
There were 8 folks gathered for our “time slot ascent,” the maximum for a time slot. I happened to be the first person in line. The other 7 folks (Maureen was the 2nd in line) had to wait to begin their ascent until after I had reached the first landing, then the second, and so forth. I felt pressured to complete my climb rapidly, since the other folks were waiting. After completing the climb to about the 3rd landing (about 60 or so steps), my 71-year age started to catch up with me and I paused and let my wife go ahead of me. But let it be told that I did reach the top without any “major” pauses, albeit a little tuckered out. I must say, the trip back down was much easier!
The view from the top of the lighthouse was truly awesome. We could see the Atlantic Ocean, the Albemarle Sound, Manteo, and the tip end of Nags Head including the bridge. Additionally, the view to the south highlighted the terrain toward Oregon Inlet. From the 360-degree perspective at the top, we gained an appreciation for the quite diverse landscape surrounding the lighthouse. Because the top outdoor platform around the lighthouse was quite breezy, we had to hold onto our hats before stepping out on the platform!
I would highly recommend a visit to Bodie Island Lighthouse. Of all the lighthouses Maureen and I have visited, this one stands out as one of the best managed. The staff of dedicated employees and volunteers are all well versed on local relevant history and eager to share their knowledge. The whole experience was well worth our time.
Published September 15, 2017
Norman Rockwell:Family Outing to the Lake,
Going and Coming,
August of 1947
Published August 18, 2017
Local Dance Band Soul Intent
Serves the 50+ Age Group with Beach, Motown, 60's and 70's Music
By Randy Boone,
Leader and Drummer for Soul Intent
Soul Intent originated in 2014, when I got the idea of reviving the music many of the baby boomers grew up with in the 1960’s. I placed the following ad on Craigslist: “Older drummer looking for likeminded musicians to play Beach, Motown, 60’s and 70’s music.” From that ad came a stream of musicians. I also called some musicians I had played with in the 60's to see if they had any interest in playing again. Thinking most of them would probably just laugh at the idea, I was surprised and thrilled that several were anxious to pursue it.
Between old contacts, Craigslist and friends of musicians, Soul Intent began to take shape. The band rehearsed in an attic in Portsmouth, and our first gig was played on January 31st, 2015 at the Elizabeth Manor Country Club. The band began to grow in numbers and the attic was soon too small for rehearsals. A friend offered a warehouse for our use. Band members came and went, and offers for more gigs began to come.
Randy Boone, Leader and Drummer for Soul Intent
All of our original band members were 60 plus years old, except a young sax player. At the time he was the heart of the horn section of the band. When he told us he was moving, we knew we were in a jam. Luckily however, one of our trumpet players had played with a Peninsula saxophone player in the past by the name of Ron Lowder. Ron came and played with us at the Seawall Festival in June of 2015. I met with him shortly after that and Ron agreed to perform with us for one year.
The band had no idea Ron would become such a valuable part of it. His skills go far beyond playing a saxophone. They extend into the areas of composing, computer science, publishing and most of all patience. Soul Intent is now in its second year of Ron’s one year commitment. The CNC family already knows Ron as the webmaster for this website and a member of the CNU “1961 Club” (a group dedicated to finding and preserving artifacts from CNC First Decade forward.).
The purpose of Soul Intent is to play the music of our generation. It is not our goal to make you remember the songs we play. It is our goal to actually take you back in time. Many in our audience actually tell us for a brief moment in time they feel they are back in high school or college with that special person. It can be a very moving experience for the band and the audience.
There is not another band in Hampton Roads that does what Soul Intent does. The band has an amazing following of very loyal people. We receive messages from folks telling us how much they appreciate what we do for them. Soul Intent has truly touched a nerve and is filling a need for our generation. Most people that come to see us do not just like this band...they love it! They love where this music takes them. Our band has been directly responsible for the rekindling of a number of relationships and at least one marriage.
In 2016Soul Intent played over forty gigs, and we are booked for over thirty so far this year. Come see us at Yorktown beach on Thursday, June 15, at the Banque in Norfolk on Sunday, June 25, or at numerous dates at the Portsmouth waterfront. Additionally, we perform monthly at Roger Browns Restaurant on High Street in downtown Portsmouth. Check out our website for all our dates: www.soulintentband.com.Soul Intent: “Your trip down memory lane.”
