History Commons^™

Halfway Out Of The Dark: Christmas 1863, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

A note received any day letting you know a son is gravely wounded is horrible. Receiving it on the first day of December is particularly horrible. In this month of gathering together, hearing your son is suffering can't be cheering. [excerpt]

Tarnish'd With Ashes And Soot: A Classic Poem’S Dank Corners, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The legend is striking: Clement Clarke Moore, sitting with his children on a Christmas Eve in 1822, reading them a poem he has scrawled out that day, inspired by a winter shopping trip. Little Charity and Mary were likely entranced at six and three. Clement, a one-year-old, and Emily, a newborn, likely weren’t as enrapt by the lilting rhymes.

The poem for Moore’s children found new life a year later, published in a Troy, New York newspaper. And since then, A Visit From Saint Nicholas has been embedded in our culture. [excerpt]

And With The Sound The Carols Drowned: Captives In Bleak December, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

Christmas was coming, and a knot of officers of the 87th Pennsylvania suddenly found their December a bit brighter. Nine boxes had been sent along to the officers, packed to the brim with, "all kinds of necessaries and delicacies, such as will be conducive to our comfort and health while in our present condition." And the soldiers were pleased.

Any soldier would be pleased to have a pair of warm socks, a stack of stationary or a can of preserved vegetables from home. But these men were doubly pleased.

The letter of gratitude they wrote to the Gettysburg Compiler was …

An Evening With David Blight, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Monday evening, November 18, students from Gettysburg College got to sit down and discuss memory with Dr. David Blight from Yale University, author of the renowned work Race and Reunion. The session was conducted as an informal panel with Dr. Blight and Gettysburg College’s own Dr. Isherwood and Dr. Jordan. Dr. Blight spoke about beginning his work when memory studies was not an official field and stumbling his way headlong into working with the memory of the American Civil War. When discussing whether or not memory studies were a fad that would pass away, Blight reassured the audience that people …

Richard D. Dunphy: To Him, A War Goes On, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Although I have so far treated Richard Dunphy as a man who achieved heroism through valor and suffered greatly for it, there is another side to his character that I have not yet explored. In 1899, his wife, Catherine, accused Richard of being too irresponsible to handle his own pension money. Furthermore, she accused him of abusing his family and failing to pay his bills. To resolve this conflict, the Bureau of Pensions sent Special Examiner E. G. Hursh to Vallejo to investigate. He collected about a dozen depositions in order to evaluate the validity of these claims. Richard Dunphy …

Obsessive Digging In Carolina Sand And Baltimore Asphalt, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

My parents moved to Wilmington, North Carolina a couple years ago. I have to admit, I am fascinated when I visit the South, for the sheer fact that it is such a vastly different environment than I'm used to. For one thing, the war happened there. For another, the war got very complex and interesting there. [excerpt]

Roberts, Edwin T., 1920-1998 (Sc 1230), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1230. Letters, removed from genealogy notebooks prepared by Edwin T. Roberts, written by Thomas W. Jenkins of Bowling Green, Kentucky to his daughter, Ethel Mae Roberts, discussing his family and life in a Bowling Green boarding house.

Memorials (Sc 1235), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1235. Song written by a Mr. McCrerie of Petersburg following the death of his wife Anna and daughter Ellen.

Buckeye Blood Waters The Longleaf Pines, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

In the woods south of Wilmington, men in blue uniforms moved forward in a loose skirmish line. They were probing, trying to find General Hoke's last line of defense. Brig. General Charles Paine sent the men forward to develop the enemy. But in the pine thicket ahead, in a thin, ragged line, the bedraggled rebel troops likely had more to fear than bullets as those skirmishers probed and prodded on a February day in 1865. [excerpt]

Ashland Oil & Refining Company - Ashland, Kentucky (Sc 2791), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2791. Orientation and information kit prepared by Ashland Oil & Refining Company, Ashland, Kentucky, for Mrs. James I. Maguire, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and other guests of its 1969 Kentucky Derby Party. Includes informational letters, full guest list, event schedules, taxicab vouchers, the company’s 1968 annual report, and horse racing-related publications.

Lg Ms 028 Robin Lambert Collection Finding Aid, Elizabeth Sistare

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Description:

Robin Lambert was politically active in Maine for more than 40 years, was for many years the most prominent Republican to publicly support LGBT civil rights, and persuaded many in his party to join him in that struggle. He was one of the founders of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA)(now EqualityMaine) in 1984, and was twice recognized by MLGPA for his outstanding work for civil rights. As an early advocate of addressing the issues surrounding HIV and its impact on the state, Lambert was a founding member of both The Maine Health Foundation and The AIDS Project …

Another Real Gettysburg Address, 50 Years On, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

The following address, “100 Years After Lincoln's Gettysburg Address” by E. Washington Rhodes, editor-publisher of the Philadelphia Tribune and president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, was delivered at exercises in the Gettysburg National Cemetery Tuesday afternoon:

“I consider it a great privilege to have been invited as a representative of the American Negro people to participate in an occasion of such national, historic importance, at this time of racial tension and unrest. This, then, is an historic moment of high honor and high drama, which will be forever cherished by the American Negro people, as they march with heads …

Bowling Green Music Club - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 457), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 457. Minutes, governing documents, yearbooks, programs for public concerts, membership information, various reports, and news clippings for the Woman’s Music Club, the Bowling Green Music Club and the Bowling Green Junior Music Club.

Ambivalent About Tragedy: David Blight On Bruce Catton, Brianna E. Kirk

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

November 19, 2013, marked a momentous day in the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg – the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The 272 worded speech given four months after the Battle of Gettysburg assigned meaning to the intense fighting and death that had besieged the nation for two years. With the war’s end nowhere in sight, Lincoln directed the American people on how to fathom the tragedy that surrounded them, both figuratively and literally, at the dedication of the National Cemetery in 1863. 150 years after this speech, thousands gathered to celebrate and commemorate those few appropriate remarks Lincoln …

Scalia: A Real Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas, as he introduced the most potent speaker in Tuesday morning's ceremonies at Gettysburg, called it a, "special day," both in the lives of the handful of men and women raising their hands to take the oath of allegiance and become American citizens, but also, "in the life of our country." [excerpt]

Bowling Green, Kentucky Musical Fund Society (Mss 460), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 460. Minutes, financial records, governing documents and miscellaneous items of the Bowling Green Musical Fund Society, which was established in 1872 for “the cultivation of music and the social enjoyment of its members.”

Interpretation Is Evolution: Whose History?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

When I try to explain to non-history people what my degree means, I used to hit wall after all. It was so hard explaining exactly what, "Applied History," really means. People understand, "History," but the idea of public history has a certain brand of special sauce added on top.

I used to say something akin to, "doing Park Ranger things," though that never really worked. When I had a group on an historical landscape, I'd often just say, "Public History is this."

It doesn't work. Those definitions aren't clear. [excerpt]

The Deans' Bible Bibliography, Angie Klink

Supplementary Content for The Deans' Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality

This bibliography lists the resources used when researching The Deans' Bible: Five Purdue Women and Their Quest for Equality.

It's Ok To Giggle: Colbert's Gettysburg Address, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

There hasn't been all that much righteous indignation from the lands of historians and the historically inclined public. I'd wager they just haven't noticed. I was a little surprised, to be honest. As soon as I hit play on Stephen Colbert's rendition of the Gettysburg Address, part of Ken Burns' Learn the Address marketing initiative for his upcoming documentary, I figured the flame war was inevitable. [excerpt]

Jriles, Benjamin Edward (Sc 1218), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1218. "Christmas 1893," a poem written by Benjamin Edward Jriles, of Henderson County, Kentucky, detailing his adventure of driving a buggy from his home in Cairo, Kentucky to Ridgway, Kentucky, to eat Christmas dinner.

Braly, William D. (Sc 1188), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1188. Letter written by William D. Braly, stationed near Tullahoma, Tennessee, to Miss A.E. Abernathy. He mentions that his regiment is guarding a bridge near Tullahoma, but he is chiefly concerned about not receiving a letter from her despite writing to her about a year earlier.

Meador, John, 1853-1944 (Sc 2779), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2779. Letter of John Meador, Bristow Station, Kentucky, to his brother A. G. “Gillie” Meador, Union City, Tennessee, 28 June 1873. He refers to Meador’s gaining possession of some land, mentions an outbreak of cholera in Bowling Green, and reports on his activities and the health of mutual friends.

“Consternation Was Depicted On All Their Countenances”: Gettysburg’S African American Community And Confederate Invasion, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

On June 15, 1863, Albert Jenkins’s Confederate cavalry brigade became the first of Lee’s men to enter the North when it crossed the Potomac River and headed for Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Lee had issued strict orders forbidding his men to damage or confiscate private property unless it was a requisition made for necessary supplies, and overseen by authorized Confederate staff. Jenkins’s men half-heartedly obeyed, and scoured the area for anything valuable, including African Americans, fugitive or legally free, who might be sold into slavery. One horrified Chambersburg resident watched local blacks attempt to hide in cornfields only to have troopers chase …

Dallas, William Robert, Sr., 1910-1997 (Mss 472), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 472. Correspondence, almost exclusively between William Robert Dallas, Sr., and his girlfriend, fiancé, and later wife Virginia “Ginny” Eileen Lindsay. Dallas was in the Army Air Corps and stationed in Louisville, Kentucky, while Ginny was living in her hometown of Ventnor, New Jersey, right outside Atlantic City. The letters are courtship related and are filled with plans for their wedding on 15 September 1945.

Topmiller Family Papers (Sc 2778), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2778. Letters and papers of various members of the Topmiller family of Kentucky, Tennessee and New Mexico. Includes letters of Benjamin E. Topmiller to his wife Jessie; letters of condolence to Jessie on her husband’s death; postcards from a World War I serviceman to a young lady in Owensboro, Kentucky; and letters to Victor Topmiller regarding his service to the Davet Home and School for Spastic Paralysis in Owensboro.

The Storm Breaks: Gettysburg’S African-American Community During The Battle, Brian D. Johnson

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

By late June 1863, though rebel troops had already occupied Gettysburg briefly, the threat to the borough grew still more ominous. Rebel troops had cut the town’s railroad lifeline to the north by destroying a bridge across Rock Creek, and convinced the local telegraph operator to flee with his equipment. The new isolation from news accentuated scattered reports of large forces, rebel and federal, approaching the borough from all directions. When federal cavalry arrived on June 30 to take up defensive positions west of town, Gettysburg residents sensed a looming battle. [excerpt]

Lg Ms 026 Michael Martin Papers Finding Aid, Nicholas Martin

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Description:

Print materials collected by this AIDS activist, primarily about the AIDS epidemic and treatment, including The AIDS Project in Maine.

Size of Collection:

1 ft.

Eddings, B. C. (Sc 1169), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1169. Letter written by B.C. Eddings, Yost, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, to Opalrae Johnson, Bowling Green, Kentucky. He is responding to Johnson’s letter breaking off their courtship.

'Dred Scott V. Sandford' Analysis, Sarah E. Roessler

Student Publications

The Scott v. Sandford decision will forever be known as a dark moment in America's history. The Supreme Court chose to rule on a controversial issue, and they made the wrong decision. Scott v. Sandford is an example of what can happen when the Court chooses to side with personal opinion instead of what is right.

Only Hindsight: Where Are The Historian Futurists?, John M. Rudy

Interpreting the Civil War: Connecting the Civil War to the American Public

A friend who is planning a pie-in-the-sky conference (about which I'm super excited) texted me today with a quick question. "Who would be a good 'Historian of the Future?'" he asked, adding the bonus that I could dream big. "Money no object," the next text read.

I was at a loss for a few minutes. Who is the historian of the future? Who is trying to visualize that skill-set, categorize that life, read the trends of the past and plot the course of history yet to come? [excerpt]