Taking a break

I'm going to take a break from blogging for a while so that I can work on the next book.  Be back soon!

Maria von Trapp

One of my all time favorite movies is The Sound of Music.  The movie ends with the audience watching the von Trapp family climbing over the mountains into Switzerland.  I always wanted to know what happened to the family after that famous ending scene and here is what I found out.


First of all, I have to mention some of the real life facts which did not appear in the movie version of their life.  The real von Trapp children are named differently.  They are Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna, and Martina.  Maria and Georg von Trapp also had three children of their own named Rosmarie, Eleoanor, and Johannes.  The von Trapp family lost most of their money during the Depression and were forced to lay off their servants and take on boarders.  Eventually, they started singing publicly and toured Europe as the Trapp Family Singers.

The von Trapp family did indeed leave Austria because they did not approve of Germany annexing their homeland.  But they did not climb over the mountains, carrying their luggage with them.  They boarded a train and went to Italy.  They continued touring with their musical act and eventually moved to America.  They purchased a farm in Vermont and ran a singing camp.  Georg died of lung cancer in 1947.  The family decided to build a ski lodge on their Vermont property and it still exists there today.  Maria von Trapp ran the lodge for many years with the help of her son Johannes.  She died in 1987.

Lion Country Safari

Sorry that I did not get a chance to blog last weekend.  I was roughin' it at a campground site in the rain.  It was not an ideal time to get out my laptop computer.  Despite the soaking wet bedding and consequent lack of sleep, I had a really great time camping.  We went to Lion Country Safari which is located in South Florida.  It is a unique zoo that allows you to drive your car through a 4 mile stretch of the zoo. The kids loved driving next to the giraffes, ostriches, camels, chimps, and of course, lions.  Right next to this zoo, there is a campground for people who are brave enough to spend the night a short distance away from the lions.  Is was a surreal experience to be lying in my tent (trying to squeeze in a second or two of sleep) and hear all the lions roaring nearby.  The highlight of the trip was on our last drive through the zoo.  An enormous ostrich walked right next to our car and pecked on the driver's side window.  It was a trip that my family will never forget.

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny has arrived at the Silverglate house.  All the kids are hyper with the influx of candy.  This year, the Easter Bunny apparently decided to cut back on the amount of candy in the baskets.  It did not go unnoticed by my youngest.  He is holding a little grudge now.  But even though I have one Easter "Scrooge" in the house, I thought it might be interesting to talk about the origins of some of Easter's secular traditions.


Eggs have always been plentiful during the holiday.  Catholics were not allowed to eat eggs during the 40 days of Lent, so they naturally celebrated Easter with as many eggs as possible.  The Greek Orthodox would often dye their eggs red in order to symbolize the blood of Jesus.

The Easter Bunny has been around a long time.  Due to the rabbit's ability to get pregnant a second time even while being pregnant with a first litter, it has come to represent fertility.  The rabbit has always been present in Spring Festivals.  But the official Easter Bunny that can now be thanked for the fact that my kids' faces are smeared with chocolate, is first seen in Germany in the 1500s.  There, a magical hare named Oschter Haws, would leave good children a nest of colored eggs.  By the 1700s, the Easter Bunny had moved to America.  Pennsylvania Dutch children would make nests out of their capes and bonnets hoping that if they were well behaved enough, the Easter Bunny would fill them.

Spring Break

Sorry that I did not post last week.  It is Spring Break for the kids, so we decided to take a family trip up to the Smokey Mountains.  On the long car trip home, I asked the kids what their favorite part of the trip was.  It was not the many hikes through the mountains.  Not the amazing beauty of the majestic waterfalls.  And not the frolicking in the mountain river.  All of their favorite parts of our vacation were of the man-made variety.  I must admit, I was a little surprised.  


My oldest son was captivated by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.  He loved petting the stingrays and sharks (yes...I did say sharks!)  This, I get.  He has always loved marine life and it was a wonderful aquarium.  My middle son loved Ober Gatlinburg.  On the top of a mountain in Gatlinburg, Tennessee there is a quaint tourist attraction.  He had fun ice skating.  This, I get too.  I vividly remember visiting Ober Gatlinburg when I was about his age.  The whole experience was very nostalgic for me.  My youngest son, however, takes the cake.  His favorite part of our Smokey Mountain vacation was swimming in the hotel pool.  In all fairness, it was a great pool.  But I just wish that he had enjoyed the wonders of nature a little more.

The Green Chicago River

I've always found the dying of the Chicago River to be an interesting St. Patrick's Day tradition.  I looked up the story of how this cultural ritual started.  Here is what I found out.  Hopefully, it's not blarney!


The Plumber's Union, under the leadership of Stephen Bailey, was in charge of the St. Patrick's Day Festival in Chicago.  In the year 1961, a plumber came into Bailey's office wearing white coveralls which had bright green stains on them.  Bailey asked him how he got the stains and the plumber replied that he was putting green dye into the waste system in order to see if any of the pipes leaked into the Chicago River.  After the plumber left his office, Bailey realized that the union could make the St. Patrick's Day festival special that year by coloring the entire river green.  One hundred pounds of dye was dumped into the river that first year and turned the Chicago River into the Shannon River for an entire week.  Today, only forty pounds of a more environmentally friendly dye is used.  This amount keeps the river green for about five hours.

The History of March Madness

The school that I teach in is currently conducting a fundraiser called "March Madness."  All teachers are encouraged to raise money through various means.  Some teachers are selling muffins, some are selling feather earrings and the art teachers are making caricatures.  I am selling candy to my students, so you can guess how hyper they have been recently.  All the money goes to buying technology for the school.  I wish I could live in a time when the state of Florida bought technology for their schools, but money is really tight in education right now.


March Madness is the term which officially describes the NCAA basketball tournament that is held every year.  My sons are currently watching a lot of basketball, so I started to wonder about the history of the name  "March Madness."  Here is what I found out:


March Madness is based on an old phrase from the 16th Century, "Mad as a March Hare."  The rabbit mating season is in March and April.  Apparently, the male rabbits get a little wild and crazy during that time.  In regards to basketball, the first use of the term was by the Illinois High School Association to describe their annual basketball tournament.  The origins of this competition go all the way back to the early 1900s.  These high school basketball players captivated the state of Illinois once a year as they fought for the number one position.  The most famous  victory was in 1952.  Hebron, the winning team, was a school with only 98 students.  Brent Musberger, a Chicago sports announcer, is credited with first using the term March Madness for the college basketball tournament in 1982.  The name quickly became popular nationwide.  The name "March Madness" is now jointly trademarked by both the NCAA and the Illinois High School Association.   

Update on the Senator

Last January, I wrote about the burning of a tree name the Senator.  It was believed to be the fifth oldest tree in the world.  My family was saddened by the loss of this 3500 year old tree.  But we were probably more struck by the odd coincidence that we had visited the Senator just hours before it burned down.  The fire department had ruled out arson and thought that it might have been set by a burning ember from a lighting storm a few weeks earlier.  The official reason did not make much sense to me, but I believed it.  Any other alternate reason would sadden me too much.  If nature had decided to end the tree's life, then so be it.  But if a person had deliberately set the fire, then that would be infinitely worse.  I'm saddened to say that the fire was not created by nature.  Here is an update on the destruction of the Senator:


A 26 year old woman named Sara Barnes was arrested in connection with the burning of the Senator.  She admits to burning down the tree.  Apparently, she would spend many nights in the park doing drugs.  On the night of the fire, she and an unidentified person needed light in order to better see their drugs.  So they decided to make a fire by the tree.  Barnes took video footage with her cell phone as the fire quickly spread up the tree.  Why didn't she use her phone to call 911 instead of wasting valuable time taking pictures?  If she had, maybe the Senator would still be here.  There are many people outraged with Barnes right now.  They are posting violent remarks toward Barnes in the media.  I won't do that.  But you can imagine what I am thinking.

       
Related article:

The Senator

Busy weekend

I just got back from a Boy Scout camping trip with my sons.  There is too much laundry to do and I am too dirty to even think about blogging this weekend.  I'll write next weekend!

Major Henry Rathbone

In honor of President's day, I planned to write something about Abraham Lincoln.  But the  blog took a radical turn when I remembered a story that I heard about Major Henry Rathbone.  He and his fiance, Clara Harris, were the invited guests of Abraham Lincoln to the play at Ford's Theater.  They were seated right next to Mary Todd Lincoln and were in close proximity to the President when John Wilkes Booth entered the room.  Lincoln was shot first and Major Rathbone stood up in order to protect him.  Booth stabbed Rathbone and then made his escape.  He bled profusely and almost died that night due to the fact that every doctor's attention was toward the comatose president.  Luckily, a doctor was prevailed to tend to him at Clara's insistence.  Until recently, that was all that I knew about Major Henry Rathbone.  I never thought about what happened to him later in life, but upon investigation, I realized that his life took a permanently tragic turn that night at the theater.  


Rathbone always felt guilty that he had been unable to save the President's life.  He felt that things could have been different if he had just stood up a little sooner.  His mental state began to slowly deteriorate.  He still married Clara, however, and they went on to have three children.  He retired from the Army two years later.  Rathbone and his family moved to Germany in 1882 when he was appointed to the US Consul in Hanover.  By 1883, his mind had become deranged with overwhelming guilt.  He shot Clara (just like Abraham Lincoln has been shot) and tried to commit suicide by stabbing himself (just like he had been that fateful night at Ford's Theater).  Clara died, but Rathbone's injury was treated.  He was admitted into an asylum for the criminally insane and remained there until his death in 1911.    

Major Henry Rathbone is standing on the left

Why "The Ravens"?

I've had such a busy weekend.  This is the first moment that I have had to sit down at my computer.  The reason why I have been parted from my most beloved computer can be summarized in one word:  Football.  All of my children are obsessed with the game.  They spend their free moments either watching football on tv, watching football clips on youtube, or playing football in the back yard (which is what they are doing right now).  The two oldest boys play on a flag football team named after the Baltimore Ravens.  Their coach is a former NFL player who played on the Ravens when they won the Super Bowl during their 2000 season.  As I was whiling away the hours on the football field today, I began to wonder how the Baltimore Ravens got their name.  I had a pretty good guess.  I thought that it had something to do with the famous story, but I had no idea how it was connected to the city.  So here is a little history of the Baltimore franchise.


Baltimore used to have a football team named the Baltimore Colts, but the team moved to Indianapolis in 1984.  The residents of Baltimore still loved football and were able to lure a new team to their town in 1996.  The Cleveland Browns were ready to make the move, but the city of Cleveland insisted that they retain the name.  Therefore, they had to come up with a new name for their team.  They held a fan contest in Baltimore and "The Ravens" won the vote.  The rejected choices were the Marauders and the Americans.  The reason why the city of Baltimore chose the name is because the famous author, Edgar Allen Poe, spent several years of his life in that city.  In fact, he died there at the age of 40.  One of his most famous works was called "The Raven."

Andrew Carnegie: Philanthropist or Tyrant?

As I was doing some research for the next book that I am writing, I stumbled across Andrew Carnegie's famous essay "The Gospel of Wealth".  In this essay, he describes the necessary elements of capitalism, but he goes one step further and expresses his desire for philanthropy.  He felt that it was his duty to build schools, concert halls, and libraries in order to help the poor improve themselves.  And while Carnegie is famous for his generous donations to the poor, he is also famous for owning the Steel Mill which had one of the most violent strikes in American History.  I was fascinated by this man who professed helping the lower class, but when push came to shove, supported the oppression of union workers.  So I did a little more research on the Homestead Strike of 1892 in order to find out just exactly where Andrew Carnegie's sympathies lay.

Wealthy steel manufacturer, Andrew Carnegie, was on his annual vacation to Europe when the strike at Homestead took place.  He had left his general manager, Henry C. Frick, in charge of the steel mill.  The steelworkers' three year contract was up for renewal and Frick decided to lower their wages.  Frick also announced that he would no longer deal with the union and would only talk to workers individually.  The union balked at the wage cut and tried to get in touch with Carnegie in Scotland.  They had hoped that Carnegie's earlier support of the workers' right to form unions would call him into action against Frick, but he remained silent against their pleas.  Carnegie did, however, keep in constant communication with Frick.  One message to Frick stated "We...approve of everything you do.  We are with you to the end."

Frick, apparently now with the full approval of Carnegie, built a 12 foot high fence around the steel mill and vowed to only admit strikebreakers into the plant.  In order to guard the fence, Frick hired hundreds of  Pinkerton detectives and made arrangements for them to travel on boats down the river to his mill.  The workers discovered the plan to bring in the detectives and waited by the banks of the river.  They warned the Pinkerton detectives not to step off the barge, but they did anyway.  An all-out gunfight commenced which lasted for several hours.  The workers threw dynamite at the boats and they even rolled a burning train car downhill toward the detectives.  The Pinkerton detectives retreated, leaving 3 of their own dead along with 7 strikers.

The workers did not celebrate for long because the governor of Pennsylvania sent troops to bring order to Homestead.  The National Gaurd was used to guard the fence around the mill and would only allow in strikebreakers.  The union tried to hold out, but in the end, many workers conceded and went back to work for less pay and for a longer workday.  The strike leaders were arrested and the union lost all their power in the steel industry.

All of these drastic changes happened while Carnegie was on vacation.  While he did nothing to stop it, Carnegie later declared that he regretted his inaction and support of Frick's strategies.  Years later, Carnegie built a library, concert hall, gymnasium and swimming pool in Homestead in order to help the poor.  But I highly doubt it got much use since the residents were so busy with their twelve-hours a day, seven-days a week work shifts.  Although, maybe they got to enjoy the new amenities on the one day off they got every month. 

Calvin Coolidge: Quiet, but Funny

I was not making it up when I said that my kids would rather hear historical stories than nursery rhymes.  I'll prove it.  Last week, I was driving the kids home from school and my oldest son asked me "What was that story about Calvin Coolidge that you used to tell us?"  Here it is:

Calvin Coolidge was president during the prosperous 1920s.  He mastered the art of not doing much yet still remaining popular.  America loved him even though he didn't talk very often.  He attended many social dinners, yet sat in quiet solitude.  Even though he seemed morose at times, Americans were pleased with their quiet president.  As long as they made money, they did not care what their president did, or in this case, did not do.  He was affectionately given the nickname "Silent Cal".

During one dinner party, the hostess was determined to get the president to talk to her.  She turned to him and said "You must talk to me Mr. Coolidge.  I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you."  Coolidge did not even look at her but quietly said, "You lose."

My kids love that story.  But here is another Coolidge story that I have NOT shared with my kids:

Mrs. Coolidge was taking a tour of a farm and was led to look at the chicken coop.  Mr. Coolidge was taking the same tour but in a separate group.  The farmer pointed to a rooster that was very frisky.  He mentioned that the rooster had sex several times a day.  Mrs. Coolidge said to the farmer, "Tell that to my husband when he comes by."  Several minutes later, when the president's group came the chicken coop, the farmer told Coolidge what his wife had said.  Coolidge asked, "Is it with the same hen every time?"  The farmer said, "No.  It's with a different hen each time."  Coolidge replied, "Be sure to tell that to Mrs. Coolidge."

The Senator

As I was working on my computer last weekend, my husband came up to me and said "I want to get out of the house today.  Let's take the kids someplace interesting."  I was not very interested in going anywhere at the time.  I had a huge stack of papers to grade for school and the kids were happily content playing basketball outside.  But my husband was insistent.  He did not know where he wanted to go.  He just had to be outside since the weather was so nice.  So, he charged me with the job of figuring out where to go.  I reluctantly got on the computer to find someplace unique.  

I came across a place called "Big Tree Park" in Longwood that sounded perfect.  It was only a half hour away from us in Orlando.  We had never heard of it before but we decided to give it a try.  We quickly packed a picnic lunch, rounded up the kids and drove to the park.  The park itself was really small.  It had a few picnic tables and a fenced-off playground for the kids.  The real star of the park, however, was the gigantic tree named "The Senator."  It was huge!  The cypress tree had obviously been around for a very long time.  It even looked old.  It had a white tinge to its bark and the top of the tree looked rather gnarled.  The plaque next to the tree stated that the Senator was estimated to be 3500 years old.  

 I took this picture last Sunday (1/15/12)

Well, my family fell in love with this tree.  The kids had fun looking at it and getting their picture taken near the big tree.  My husband and I were in awe of how amazing this tree was.  We wondered about all the events that this tree has lived through.  The things that it must have seen!  It had been here when Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas.  It was already the "old guy on the block" during the American Revolution and Civil War.  But what really impressed me is that it had even been here when the Chinese worked on the Great Wall and when Rome was founded.  How amazing is that?  This tree was not just an inanimate object.  To me, it was a living creature.  I could almost sense his majestic soul emanating from his branches high above his neighboring trees. 

The next morning was Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  The kids and I had the day off, but we still woke up early anyway.  I was listening to the news while I was in the kitchen (those who live in Central Florida know exactly where I am going with this part of the story).  I heard the newscaster say "Big Tree Park" and a moment later, he said "fire."  I quickly ran to the television hoping that I had misheard that last word.  My hopes were in vain.  There, on the television, was the distinctive shape of the General in a fiery blaze.  I was stunned and heartbroken.  The Senator was the ONLY tree on fire in the forest.  All the other neighboring trees were untouched.  Firefighters were at the scene trying to put it out, but the tree was hollow, so that was making it difficult.  I was so sad when, an hour later, the news announced that it had officially fallen.  

What are the odds, that on a whim, my usually lazy family would have the idea to go visit a tree that they never heard of before and then the NEXT DAY, the tree burns down?  I am so thankful that we got a chance to see it though.  I did a little research on the amazing history of this tree and here is what I found:

The Senator was estimated to be 3500 years old.  It was the 5th oldest tree in the world.  The Indians used to use it as a landmark when they traveled.  It reached as tall as 165 feet (not as big as the Redwood trees, I know, but it is huge by Florida standards!)  The tree is named after Senator M.O. Overstreet who donated the land for the park.  Unfortunately, a hurricane knocked the top part down in 1925.  So, it was reduced to being 118 feet tall in the latter years of its life.  And it was still the tallest tree this side of the Mississippi River.  In 1929, former president Calvin Coolidge visited the tree.  It was located in a relatively swampy part of Florida, but during the Depression, the Works Progress Administration build a walkway so that admirers could easily get to the tree. 

On January 16, 2012 the tree caught on fire and fell down.  As of now, no one is sure why this happened.  Originally, the fire department thought it was deliberately set by someone, but they do not think that is the case now.  Some other possible theories are that lightning struck it two weeks ago and a smoldering ember finally ignited or that the friction from the swaying of the tree caused it to catch on fire.  Whatever the reason for the fire, it still left an irreplaceable hole in Florida.           

The Death of Kitty Genovese

I had an awkward moment at school yesterday just after the bell rang to release my 4th Period Psychology class.  About half of my students had already left and the other half were still packing up their backpacks.  Suddenly, from the outside walkway, we heard a female's ear-splitting scream.  The students and I all looked at each other in confusion, but no one moved to the doorway.  Some students said "What was that?"  Still, no one moved to the doorway.  In all honesty, I assumed that it was a student just blowing off some steam during exam week.  One student even said "I wonder if someone is hurt out there," but no one moved to see if help was needed.  They continued to slowly pack up their books.  As the "responsible adult" in the room, I really should have gone outside to see what was going on, but I assumed that if something bad had truly happened, another teacher was dealing with it.  

Now, here comes the part when I felt pride in my students.  But it is not because they all realized that they needed to help this poor girl who had just screamed outside our door.  One of my students said "This situation is just like that psychology concept you taught us in the beginning of the year:  The bystander effect." The bystander effect states that a person in need is less likely to get help if there are a lot of people nearby.  All the other students were agreeing that this situation was just like the bystander effect and laughing over our lack of altruism.  I was so happy because I always love it when a student brings up a term that had not been discussed in a while.  It lets me know that they actually paid attention in class!  The students leisurely left the room joking around, and I doubt that any of them even looked to see if there was a female student in distress.  

The bystander effect is one of the most interesting concepts in psychology.  It has been proven that the more bystanders near a person who needs help, the less likely that they will give that help.  An injured person lying on the street is more likely to get help if one person is walking by rather than twenty people walking by.  While this may seem counter-intuitive, it does make psychological sense.  If you are the only person walking by, you know that it is your responsibilty to help.  If there are other people in the area, you shift that  responsibility to someone else.  Meanwhile, the others are shifting the responsility of helping back over to you.  The result: No on helps!  Psychologists who first studied the bystander effect were given their inspiration from the tragic story of Kitty Genovese.

At 3:20 AM on March 13, 1964, twenty-eight year old Kitty Genovese was walking back to her Queens apartment.  She had just gotten off work as a bar manager.  A man quickly walked up to Kitty and stabbed her. Kitty yelled out "Oh my God, he stabbed me!  Please help me!  Please help me!"  Many neighbors woke up and turned on their lights.  One man opened his window and said "Let that girl alone!"  The attacker fled the scene.  Some witnesses stated that they saw Kitty get up and stagger away so they went back to bed. 

Kitty did indeed try to move and get safely into the apartment building, but the entrance that she picked was locked.  She was trapped.  The attacker came back a few minutes later and stabbed her again.  He also raped her.  Kitty yelled out "I'm dying!"  Many neighbors were woken up again, yet still no one came to her rescue.  One witness called a friend and asked him for advice about what to do.  The friend told him to call the police, so he did.  That first call to the police took place at 3:50 AM...30 minutes AFTER the first attack.  The police and ambulance arrived within minutes, but Kitty soon died.

There is some debate on how many people witnessed the murder of Kitty Genovese.  The numbers range from 12 to 38 witnesses.  Some claimed that they thought that Kitty was in the midst of a lover's quarrel and they did not want to get involved.  Others thought that the loud noises were coming from people who had just left a bar.  Some witnesses, however, were undoubtedly aware that Kitty was being attacked.  Sadly, the bystander effect played a tragic part in her death.

 

Pickett's Charge

The Battle of Gettysburg is considered to be the turning point of the Civil War.  And while the North had been forced to retreat out of the town at the end of the first day, they had gained the advantage by the second day.  They had successfully held the high ground along Seminary Ridge and braced themselves for another day of attack.  Robert E. Lee knew that it was imperative that he gain control of Seminary Ridge in order to secure a victory.  His  main worry was that his Southern troops would have to march across one thousand yards of open territory, and thus would be easy targets for the Northern cannons which were entrenched on Seminary Ridge.

At 1:00 PM on July 3, 1863, Lee ordered his cannons to fire continuously on Seminary Ridge in order to destroy as many Northern cannons as possible before the Southern soldiers crossed the field.  At 2:00 PM, Lee ordered his Southern troops to begin marching across the wide, open clearing.  The troops were led by George Pickett, J. Johnston Pettingrew and Isaac Trimble.  The majority of soldiers were Virginian, but there was a large group from North Carolina as well.  They numbered 12,000 and were stretched out across a mile of territory.  One of the outnumbered Northerners described the Southern advance as an "ocean of men sweeping upon us."

Unfortunately for Lee, his Southern cannons had aimed too far behind the ridge and the Northern cannons had not been destroyed.  They began to fire on the Southern troops marching across the territory.  Pickett's troops had nowhere to hide and their numbers quickly fell.  A significantly smaller group reached the Northern line where they were forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat.  They soon realized that reinforcements were not coming to help them, so they had to retreat.  Less than half of the original 12,000 soldiers returned to Lee.  Many Southern soldiers reported that they saw Lee crying when Pickett's men came back in defeat.   When Lee told Pickett to prepare his division for a Northern counter-attack, Pickett told him that so many of his troops had just died that he did not even have a division anymore.

I recently spent New Year's Eve with my husband's family.  Knowing that I am interested in history, my brother-in-law began to describe a statue that he saw at the Gettysburg battlefield site.  I found his description so interesting, that I decided to make Pickett's Charge the subject for this week's blog.  Here is what my brother-in-law told me about the statue:

The man in the front is a Southern soldier looking at Seminary Ridge with fierce determination on his face.  And while many would think that he is the obvious star of the monument, it is the men in the background who are the most interesting to look upon.  The man on the back-left is very young.  He represents all the fresh, new soldiers who's first foray into battle was trial by fire at Gettysburg.  This green soldier is looking up at the large number of Northern soldiers on top of Seminary Ridge with fear in his eyes.  The man in the back-middle is a veteran soldier.  He is older and has experience in battle.  He is talking to the young soldier and giving him encouragement.  The above picture does not show this angle, but the veteran is also touching the young soldier's arm.  It appears as if he is pushing the young, inexperienced soldier onto the battlefield.  Apparently, this "forced encouragement" was how many of Pickett's soldiers made it across the killing field. 

Lesser Known Facts about the Roosevelt's

As a teacher, I feel obligated to assign my students a nightly reading out of their textbook.  Realistically, I know that only about 5% of my students actually read it.  I can usually tell which ones read the textbook and which ones don't.  When I taught AP United States History, however, I had a sure-fire way of finding out who the textbook-readers were.  

There was a section in the Great Depression chapter which was dedicated to Eleanor Roosevelt.  The section described all the amazing projects that she was involved in during her life.  Hidden in a little footnote, there is a blurb about Eleanor having a lesbian relationship with a reporter.  In every class, there would be one student who would raise their hand and ask if that footnote was true.  The rest of the class would quickly perk up as they learn this new piece of information (those were the students who obviously did not read the night before!)

I, myself, had never heard about that rumor, but I was compelled to do some research.  I found out that both Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt were very likely involved in clandestine affairs.  While many of Eleanor's relationships were never officially proven, they are generally regarded to be true.

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt.  She was also the fifth cousin of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  They began their relationship when Franklin was a student at Harvard and were married at a relatively early age.  Teddy Roosevelt, in fact, gave Eleanor away at her wedding.  The first ten years of their marriage were dominated with young children.  Eleanor felt that all she did was make babies during those years.

Their marriage reached a crisis when Eleanor discovered that Franklin was having a secret affair with her social secretary, Lucy Mercer.  Eleanor gave Franklin the opportunity to divorce her.  Franklin's mother threatened to disinherit him if he did.  So, in the end, Franklin ended his affair and stayed with Eleanor.  For Eleanor, the romantic relationship was never the same for her after the affair with Mercer.  But, she always respected her husband and he continually looked to her for advice.  When Franklin was struck with polio, Eleanor became his "legs" as well.  She would travel for him and relay important information.

Eleanor was rumored to have a few affairs of her own.  She was close friends with three openly gay women.  They all lived in the same house together and Eleanor would often spend the night.  Some historians also suggest that she had an affair with her bodyguard.  But Eleanor's most famous possible affair was with a female reporter named Lenora Hickok.  It is believed that this affair lasted for many years.  Lenora did give Eleanor a ring at one point.  Eleanor had also written some very intimate letters to Lenora.  Eleanor's relatives deny that this relationship ever became sexual.  They claim that Eleanor usually talked to many people in an overly affectionate way.

I did not write this post in order to besmirch the good name of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.  FDR is personally one of my favorite presidents.  And Eleanor is far and above my favorite First Lady.  She was such a wonderful and caring person.  During the Depression, Franklin worked hard to help the "forgotten man".  But this forgotten man did not usually include minorities and women (they were too low on the priority list).  It was outspoken and compassionate Eleanor who championed their plight.

The Original Family Feud

My sister is a big fan of the game show, Family Feud.  She convinced my husband, brother, brother-in-law and myself to submit an audition tape in order to appear on the show.  Keep your fingers crossed for us!

After we finished filming the audition, I started thinking about the most famous family feud in American History:  The Hatfield's and McCoy's.  So I decided to do a little research in order to find out what they were fighting over.  What I discovered was a confusing series of disputes which originiated during the Civil War.  There was even a forbidden love relationship that was reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet.

The McCoy family lived on the border of Kentucky.  They sided with the North during the Civil War and were led by "Ole Ran'l" McCoy who instilled in his sons a fierce family loyalty and pride. The Hatfield family lived on the border of West Virginia.  Even though their state sided with the North during the Civil War, they were Southern sympathizers.  The Hatfield's were led by the equally proud "Devil Anse" Hatfield.  Even though the two families were constantly at odds, they would often marry each other given the slim pickins of residents in the area.

The hostilities started when Ole Ran'l's Norther soldier brother was found dead in a cave.  The murderer was never found, but most people suspected the Southern sympathiser, Devil Anse Hatfield. The most famous feud between the two families was over a pig, believe it or not.  It began when Ole Ran'l McCoy visited his brother-in-law, Floyd Hatfield.  Ole Ran'l saw a pig that looked familiar and accused his brother-in-law of stealing it.  The fight went all the way to court.  The judge, a Hatfield as well, decided in favor of Floyd Hatfield.  That did not go over very well with Ole Ran'l McCoy.

In the midst of all this pig fighting, there was a blossoming love forming between the children of the leaders of each family.  Roseanna McCoy had fallen madly in love with Johnse Hatfield.  One night, while the two lovers were engaging in a private trist, Roseanna's three brothers broke in and abruptly ended their relations.  They grabbed Johnse and claimed that they were taking him to jail.  Roseanna knew that her brothers were probably going to kill Johnse before they get anywhere near the jail.  So she quickly went to Johnse's father, Devil Anse Hatfield, and informed him what her brothers had done.

Devil Anse Hatfield was able to save his son in time, but Johnse was too scared to continue his relationship with Roseanna.  He moved his attentions to Roseanna's cousin, which apparently was a more acceptable choice for the McCoy family.  Roseanna's story is tragic enough to rival Shakespeare's Juliet.  She was pregnant with Johnse's child, but soon miscarried.  She went back to her father, Ole Ran'l McCoy, where she was treated as a traitor because she revealed her brothers' plan to the enemy.  She died a few years later.

Roseanna's brothers later went on to stab and shoot Devil Anse Hatfield's brother.  The Hatfield's took revenge by killing the brothers in front of their pleading mother.  Over the next ten years, more beatings and killings occurred.  When all was said and done, 13 people were killed in this most famous family feud.

Spooky Death

Twenty years ago, when I watched Silence of the Lambs for the first time in the theater, I was too scared to go home.  I had to buy tickets to the next showing of a Steve Martin movie because I needed to force the spine-tingling terror out of myself.  As the years passed, I would periodically watch the movie on television.  I guess that I am a glutton for punishment because it would affect me just as much as the first time that I saw it. 

Last night, as I was watching Silence of the Lambs on television (yet again), I realized that I was no longer scared.  I found myself able to watch it without cringing under the covers of my bed.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it is because I have finally desensitized myself to creepy moths, clothes made out of skin and holes in the cellar.  But whatever the reason for the cessation of my fears, I am so proud of myself!  

This morning, I tried to think if there were any stories in history that still spook me out.  And I immediately thought of the death of Rasputin.     


Grigori Rasputin was a Russian monk who was rumored to have healing powers.  He was evenually hired by the tsar and tsarina of Russia.  They desperately need his help for their son, Alexie, who suffered from hemophelia.  Rasputin did such a good job that he eventually became a trusted adviser to the royal family.  Many Russians looked upon this favored relationship with suspicion and anger.  The husband of the tsar's niece, Felix Yusupov led a plot to murder Rasputin.  He invited the monk to his house on the pretense that he would meet and possiblibly have a sexual interlude with his wife.  Rasputin, who had a passion for wine and sex, willingly went to Yusupov's palace.  The plan was to serve the monk poisoned wine and pastries.  Yusupov and his accomplices wanted to do a thorough job so they put enough cyanide on the pastry to kill five men.

While Rasputin waited for Yusupov's wife, he offered him the poisonous fare.  At first, Rasputin refused, but then changed his mind and ate a pastry.  He should have quickly died after that, but Rasputin continued to eat, drink and be merry.  After a while, Yusupov began to get worried that the Rasputin would never die, so he shot him in the back.  Rasputin fell to the ground, apparently dead.  Yusupov went to inform his accomplices what happened and then went back to check on the body.  When he leaned in to check his pulse, Rasputin opened his eyes, sat up and began to choke the terrified unsuccessful murderer.  Yusupov was able to escape and run to the safety of his friends, while Rasputin also escaped and ran into the courtyard.

The assassins chased after Rasputin and shot him two more times.  Rasputin fell to the ground, apparently dead again.  Yusupov beat Raputin's head several times just for good measure.  They tied Rasputin's hands and feet, wrapped him in a blanket and dumped his body into a hole in the frozen river.  Rasputin's body was found two days later.  His had been found frozen in a way to indicate that he had tried to undo the rope.  And there was a small amount of water in his lungs as if he breathed it in.

Over the years, many people have questioned the validity of this story.  The main witness and perpetuater of the story was Yusupov.  He seemed to enjoy bragging about it.  Was it possible for a man to be poisoned, shot three times, have his head beaten in and still survive?  That is, survive long enough to be drowned.  If it is true, then it is pretty spooky.

Coincidence or Fate?

Years ago, when I was teaching an 11th grade American History class, I asked "Does anyone know the date that Congress signed the Declaration of Independence?"  Not one student raised their hand to tell me the answer to a question which I thought was obvious.  Some of them pretended to be working intently on their assignment while others avoided eye contact.  Even under those daunting conditions, I was not ready to give up.  I gave them hints like "It's a big holiday...It's in the summer."  Still, the room was eerily quiet.  Finally after a very long awkward pause, a girl raised her hand and asked "Isn't it July 4th?"  Even though she was correct, her answer upset me.  Because the only student who knew the answer to that question was a FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT from Spain!  I was flabergasted that the only person who knew the answer wasn't even from America.  

July 4th is a very important date in our history.  It was the day that we officially declared our independence from England.  But did you know that the creators of this famous document died on the 50th anniversary of its signing?  Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence while John Adams was on the committee which helped him.  Was this a coincidence that both great men died on the same day or was it  fate?

The political atmosphere during the early years of America was charged with rivalry and borderline hatred.  Two political parties quickly emerged by the time George Washington was finished with his second term in office.  Each disagreed on the direction that this young country should take.  The Federalists won the first victory when John Adams took office as the second President of the United States.  However, the Democrat-Republicans claimed the evenutual victory when Thomas Jefferson won the next two elections.  Even though Adams and Jefferson had been in agreement when they wrote and signed the Declaration of Independece in 1776, the bitter presidential campaingns against each other had left them nothing less than enemies.  Even though Adams was older, he would often gleefully boast that he would outlive Jefferson.

Years after both men had left office and retired in the comfort of their homes in Virginia and Massachusetts, they began to correspond with each other.  Their friendship, which had existed in the early days of the Revolution, gradually returned.  Jefferson spent his final years in physical discomfort with what was probably cancer.  It did indeed look as if Adam's prediction of outliving him would come true.  As the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was approaching, Jefferson would often awake from his sleep asking what day it was.  It seemed as if he was waiting for July 4th.

Adams' health had begun to fail as well.  July 4, 1826 found both Adams and Jefferson lying in their death beds.  Jefferson died a few hours before Adams.  Adams did not know that Jefferson had died and it is rumored that Adams said "Thomas Jefferson survives" just before he died.  It seems appropriate that both great men died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  A date which will (hopefully) be remembered for generations to come.