“Write on my gravestone: ‘Infidel, Traitor’—infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.” ~Wendell Phillips. Image: Public domain.
Dr. Todd Arrington
@btarrington.bsky.social
Executive Director, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation. Views are mine alone. Historian. Writer. Veteran. Adjunct history instructor. Author of “The Last Lincoln Republican” (Univ. Press of Kansas, 2020). #ParkChat Hall of Famer. Pittsburgh sports fan.
Heard this on the way in this morning and it got me thinking about protest songs. What are your all-time favorite protest songs?
Fortunate Son
YouTube video by Release - Topic
youtube.com
Congratulations to Miss Virginia and Miss Virginia’s Teen who visited Jamestown yesterday and got to meet Mr. Dad Bod Runner-up #458.
Writing scripts for @hcrichardson.bsky.social’s @250to250.bsky.social project has been a career highlight for me. It’s been an honor to be involved in this important project. I’m proud of this script I wrote about signing of the Declaration of Independence. Heather’s reading makes it even better!
250 to 250@250to250.bsky.social · 3d ago@hcrichardson.bsky.social is an award-winning historian and the author of Letters from an American. Richardson revisits the Declaration of Independence and the principles of equality and self-government that set America on the road to becoming "the last, best hope of Earth." #WeAreAmerica250
"I Still Trust the People." ~Statement on grave marker of Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic New York Gov. who won the popular vote for president in 1876 but lost Electoral College to Republican Gov. Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio in a disputed election. Tilden (b. 2/9/1814) died OTD in 1886. Image: LOC.
President George Washington signed legislation OTD in 1790 creating U.S. Revenue-Marine, an armed service to enforce customs laws. Became U.S. Revenue Cutter Service in 1894. In 1915, it merged with U.S. Lifesaving Service to become U.S. Coast Guard. Image: USRC Massachusetts. US Coast Guard image.
“I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity?…I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD.” ~William Lloyd Garrison, “The Liberator,” Jan. 1, 1831. Image: Library of Congress.
"No man in this war has so well told the story of the American fighting man... He deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen." ~President Harry Truman on war correspondent Ernie Pyle after Pyle was killed on Okinawa in Apr. 1945. Pyle was born in Indiana OTD in 1900. Image: Library of Congress.
On Aug. 3, 1958, the world’s first nuclear submarine—the USS Nautilus—became the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographic North Pole. This clock from the Nautilus’s wardroom is at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and was displayed in my office when I was the Director there.
“War is at best barbarism…Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot, nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation. War is hell.” ~General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman, 1879. Image: Nat’l Archives.
For those of you who are verified here on @bsky.app… How long after being notified that your account had been verified did your blue checkmark appear? I assume it just shows up on its own at some point once you’ve been verified?
Pierre Charles L’Enfant was born in Paris OTD in 1754. After serving the American cause in the Revolutionary War, he worked as a New York architect. In 1791, President George Washington appointed L’Enfant to design the new federal city that became Washington, D.C. Image: Library of Congress.
OTD in 1923, President Warren G. Harding died unexpectedly in office while in San Francisco. Vice President Calvin Coolidge, visiting his parents in Vermont, took the presidential oath of office from his father, a justice of the peace, early on Aug. 3. Image: Nat’l Museum of American History.
“We want a country, and we are fighting for a country, which shall not brand the Declaration of Independence a lie. We want a country whose fundamental institutions we can proudly defend before the highest intelligence and civilizations of the age.” ~Frederick Douglass, 1864. Image: Public domain.
MTV premiered OTD 45 years ago: Aug. 1, 1981. I was just about to turn 8, and like many kids of the ‘80s, watching music videos on MTV became a big part of my childhood. MTV still exists but hasn’t shown many music videos in years. It’s all “reality” TV now. As if we need more of that. Image: MTV.
Have you heard the one about Robert Todd Lincoln being present at three presidential assassinations? Well…it’s not true. Here’s an article I wrote on this topic. Robert Todd Lincoln—the only child of Abraham and Mary Lincoln to survive to adulthood—was born on this day 183 years ago: Aug. 1, 1843.
“A Certain Fatality”: Robert Todd Lincoln and Presidential Assassinations
Few people know much about the younger Lincoln today, and what many think they know is incorrect. Lincoln was not present at three assassinations, though he was closely connected to them.
werehistory.org
It’s a scientific and literary fact that books written by Arringtons are scholarly, well-researched, and always deserving of bestseller status. I’m fully expecting this one by @laurenarrington.bsky.social to be a masterpiece. Thanks, Lauren, for sending me an ARC!
George H. Thomas, "the Rock of Chickamauga," born in Virginia OTD in 1816. Graduated from West Point in 1840, fought in Mexican-American War. When the Civil War began, remained loyal to the Union despite southern birth; several family members never spoke to him again. Image: Library of Congress.
Happy World Ranger Day! The International Ranger Federation marks each July 31 to celebrate the work of Park Rangers worldwide & honor the memories of Rangers who’ve died in the line of duty in the last year. Spending 25 years in the National Park Service was an honor and a great career for me.
“I spent 33 years and 4 months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for 1/4
Today is the 162nd anniversary of the Civil War battle of the Crater. Learn more about this fight and what it meant by checking out this great @civilwarmemory.bsky.social piece. You can trust him. He literally wrote the book on the Crater.
Kevin M. Levin@civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 6d agoTerror, Rage, and Revenge at the Crater #CivilWarMemory 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Social Security Act OTD in 1965, creating Medicare & Medicaid. Signing ceremony held at Truman Presidential Library in recognition of Truman's efforts to enact universal health insurance for all Americans during his own presidency. Image: LBJ Presidential Library.
“And we can no longer ignore the fact that we can’t sit down and wait for things to change. Because as long as they can keep their feet on our neck, they will always do it. But it’s time for us to stand up and be women and men.” ~Fannie Lou Hamer, 1964. Image: Harvard University.
“I am not so much alarmed at the excessive liberty which reigns…as at the inadequate securities which one finds there against tyranny.” ~Alexis de Tocqueville, "Democracy in America" 1835-40. de Tocqueville was born in Paris on this day in 1805. Image: Théodore Chassériau/public domain.
On this day 68 years ago-Jul. 29, 1958-President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Happy birthday, NASA! Image: NASA.
Fourteenth Amendment certified (officially included in the Constitution) OTD in 1868. Guarantees birthright citizenship, due process, equal protection of laws, & more. Also disqualifies from office any who have engaged in insurrection or rebellion. Interesting. Image: @zinnedproject.bsky.social
Yesterday’s post with a quote from Roberto Clemente has turned out to be one of my popular posts ever! Thanks to everyone who liked, reposted, and commented on it. My son plays hockey, not baseball, but here’s a great photo from a game last year. You’ll notice he wears Clemente’s number 21.
160 years ago today-Jul. 28, 1866-Vinnie Ream became both the first female and the youngest artist ever to receive a statue commission from the U.S. government. Her statue of Abraham Lincoln today resides in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Images: Library of Congress; public domain via Flickr.
“If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don’t do that, you’re wasting your time on this Earth.” ~Roberto Clemente. Image: MLB via Getty Images.
